State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Municipality of Anchorage

I agree with part II of the court’s opinion, holding that the trial court did not err by refusing to instruct the jury on strict liability. However, I also believe that the trial court did not err in refusing to instruct the jury on res ipsa loquitur. The court holds, in essence, that the breakage of water mains due to frostjacking “does not ordinarily occur [in Alaska] in the absence of someone’s negligence.” Widmeyer v. Southeast Skyways, Inc., 584 P.2d 1, 11 (Alaska 1978). As the court acknowledges, the applicability of res ipsa loqui-tur, and thus the propriety of an instruction, is a…