California Court of Appeal

In plaintiff's suit for negligence under the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, arising from injuries plaintiff sustained when he fell off of a counter stool at a restaurant operated by defendant, trial court's grant of defendant's motion for summary judgment is reversed as, although the presumption of negligence established by Evidence Code section 646 disappears upon the introduction of evidence tending to rebut the presumed fact, the plaintiff is still entitled to rely on the logic of the underlying common law inference of negligence if the evidence supports it, and here, the unrebutted predicate facts were enough to raise a triable issue of material fact requiring denial of defendant's motion for summary judgment.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/05/2010
• Published 11/05/2010

Judges

• EPSTEIN

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• George T. Kelly, Joseph L. Stark