Res Ipsa Loquitur
Those of you with some knowledge of Latin may appreciate the term res ipsa loquitur. Literally this Latin term means the thing speaks for itself. Res ipsa loquitur is a rule of evidence that states that a jury may conclude that a defendant is negligent if in fact the plaintiff has been injured:
- as a result of an instrumentality which is in the exclusive control of that defendant;
- the defendant has or should have exclusive knowledge of the way that instrumentality was used;
- the injury is one that would not normally have occurred if the instrument had been used properly.
To take a textbook example of that, suppose you are walking down the street and a dresser drawer falls on your head. It so happens that the dresser drawer came from the apartment window above and had been placed there by the tenant who was doing some spring cleaning and the tenant accidentally bumped the dresser drawer. Have the elements of res ipsa loquitur been met in this instance? They probably have been in that the dresser drawer was in the exclusive control of the defendant, the defendant had exclusive knowledge as to how the dresser drawer was used and finally the injury is one that would not normally have occurred if the dresser drawer had been used properly.
As long as you can prove those basic elements, you probably would be entitled to recover money against that tenant for her negligence.
