Welch v. Neisius

The two principal issues are:

1. Did the court err in instructing the jury as to the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur?

2. Was the plaintiff negligent as a matter of law in the manner in which he attempted to enter the trailer?

In our earlier cases this court consistently held that three elements must be established to invoke the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur: (1) The accident must be the kind which ordinarily does not occur in the absence of someone’s negligence; (2) it must have been caused by an agency or instrumentality within the exclusive control of the defendant; and (3) it must not have been…