Valentine v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp.

The majority of the Court having chosen to reverse the Trial Judge and apply the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, I must respectfully dissent on this question.

The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur is, as the defendant suggests, a rule of evidence, the applicability of which is to be determined in each case. Langlinais v. Geophysical Service, Inc., 237 La. 585, 111 So.2d 781 (1959). In the Langlinais case, as pointed out by both the plaintiff and the defendant, the necessary requisites for the application of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur are as follows:

“ * * * an accident of such a nature that…