The First National Bank of Chicago, of the Will of Wayne J. Hart, Deceased v. Material Service Corporation, a Corporation

BAUER, Circuit Judge.

The disposition of this admiralty collision case depends on whether the rule of The Pennsylvania, 86 U.S. 125, 19 Wall. 125, 22 L.Ed. 148 (1873), should have been applied by the district court. The rule shifts the burden of proof in collision cases to the defendant if its vessel was in violation of a statutory navigation rule at the time of the collision.

I

On April 20,1973, at about 8 p. m., appellant’s decedent, Wayne J. Hart, was approaching the Congress Street Bridge in the South Branch of the Chicago River from the south in his 16-foot long motorboat. The defendant’s…