Landon Stinson
1 min
"401.7 RES IPSA LOQUITUR
If you find that ordinarily the [incident] [injury] would not have happened without negligence,
[and that the (name the item) causing the injury was in the exclusive control of (defendant) at the time it caused the injury,]*
[and that the (name the item) causing the injury was in the exclusive control of (defendant) at the time the negligent act or omission, if any, must have occurred and that the (name the item), after leaving (defendant’s) control, was not improperly used or handled by others or subjected to harmful forces or conditions,]*
you may infer that (defendant) was negligent unless, taking into consideration all of the evidence in the case, you find that the (describe the event) was not due to any negligence on the part of (defendant).
NOTE ON USE FOR 401.7
*Use the second bracketed paragraph in cases involving exploding bottles, see, e.g., Burkett v. Panama City Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 93 So. 2d 580 (Fla. 1957), or other instrumentalities that are no longer in the defendant’s control at the time of plaintiff’s injury. Compare Wagner v. Associated Shower Door Co., 99 So. 2d 619 (Fla. 3d DCA 1958). Use the first bracketed paragraph in all other cases."