Chapman, MD v. Harner

T1 This case requires us to determine whether the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur shifts the burden of proof to the defendant, as we held in Weiss v. Axler, 137 Colo. 544, 559, 328 P.2d 88, 96-97 (1958), or whether it shifts only the burden of production, in accordance with the more recently adopted Colorado Rule of Evidence ("CRE") 301. 1 While the court of appeals felt compelled to follow Weiss and disregard CRE 301 in the absence of any clear statements by this Court overruling our precedent, it specifically requested that we consider and resolve the tension between the two. Harner v.…