Opinion ID: 2075889
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Shift of Burden of Proving Causation

Text: Appellants contend, finally, that the trial court erred in refusing to apply an exception to the general rule that the plaintiff bears the burden of proving causation, and hence to instruct the jury that the burden was on the defendants to show that they did not cause the harm. We think the trial judge correctly recognized the inaptness of that exception to the circumstances of this case. In Bowman v. Redding & Co., 145 U.S. App.D.C. 294, 449 F.2d 956 (1971), the Circuit Court adopted a rule shifting to multiple defendants the burden of disproving that each was the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury when the plaintiff has established, by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) that both defendants were wrongdoers, and (2) that one or the other, but not both, was the cause of the injury, and when further the jury is unable to find, by a preponderance of the evidence, which defendant caused the injury. In these circumstances, the burden will shift to each defendant to absolve itself of liability, either for the purpose of avoiding a verdict for the plaintiff or for avoiding a claim of contribution by the other defendant. If neither defendant can prove it did not cause the death, they would both be liable. 145 U.S.App.D.C. at 306, 449 F.2d at 968. See also Canterbury v. Spence, 150 U.S. App.D.C. 263, 287, 464 F.2d 772, 796, cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1064, 93 S.Ct. 560, 34 L.Ed.2d 518 (1972). This rule is derived from an exception set forth in the RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS, § 433B (3) (1965): Where the conduct of two or more actors is tortious, and it is proved that harm has been caused to the plaintiff by only one of them, but there is uncertainty as to which one has caused it, the burden is upon each such actor to prove that he has not caused the harm. The reason for this exception to the general allocation of burden of proof is the injustice of permitting proved wrongdoers, who among them have inflicted an injury upon the entirely innocent plaintiff, to escape liability merely because the nature of their conduct and the resulting harm has made it impossible to prove which of them has caused the harm. Id. comment f. The Restatement rule is in turn drawn from the California Supreme Court decision of Summers v. Tice, 33 Cal.2d 80, 199 P.2d 1 (1948) (en banc), where one member of a hunting party injured by a single shotgun pellet in the eye sued two others who had negligently fired their shotguns simultaneously in his direction. The plaintiff recovered against both defendants, although the injury could only have been caused by one. The court observed: When we consider the relative positions of the parties and the results that would flow if plaintiff was required to pin the injury on one of the defendants only, a requirement that the burden of proof ... be shifted to defendants becomes manifest. They are both ... negligent toward plaintiff. They brought about a situation where the negligence of one of them injured the plaintiff, hence it should rest with them each to absolve himself if he can.... Ordinarily, defendants are in a far better position to offer evidence to determine which one caused the injury. Id. at 86, 100 P.2d at 4. This court has not expressly adopted the Bowman /Restatement rule in the context of multiple tortfeasors, but has applied the principle to impose joint liability on two insurers when neither was able to prove that its policy was not in effect at the time of the loss, expressly relying on Bowman, Summers, and Restatement § 433B. TransAmerica Ins. Co. v. Diplomat Parking Corp., 282 A.2d 564, 566 (D.C.1971). Appellants requested a burden-shifting instruction at trial. After considering the fact that Dr. Cohn was not a party before the court and the effect this would have if the burden were shifted to Dr. Brady, the court denied the request for the instruction and instead charged the jury that if it found Brady negligent and that his negligence proximately caused the injury, it must find for the plaintiffs even if it concluded that some other person not joined as a defendant (Dr. Cohn) participated in causing the injury, and that the negligence of that person was greater. Appellants assert that the facts of this case warrant shifting the burden of proof of causation to [the] defendants, and that Cohn's absence from the trial strengthens, rather than weakens, the reason for applying a burden shift. Because Cohn had settled, they reason, it would have been far easier for Brady to prove that he was the sole cause of the injury. Appellees counter that appellants point to no facts of record at all (relying merely on theories expressed in closing argument) indicating that both Cohn and Brady were negligent but that only one caused the entire injury. They argue that, in any event, no burden shift was proper because only one party alleged to be negligent was before the court. It is elementary that an instruction should be given only when there is sufficient evidence to support it. Ceco Corp. v. Coleman, 441 A.2d 940, 949 (D.C.1982). The Bowman shift is an equitable tool used to resolve a dilemma on the jury's part that could lead to nonrecovery by an obviously deserving plaintiff: the impossibility of determining which of multiple defendants caused the injury when it is clear that all were negligent, but only one could possibly be the proximate cause. Conversely, if there is no reasonable possibility that the jury will face that dilemma on the evidence presented, the instruction is not needed and ordinary instructions on concurrent proximate causation suffice, because the plaintiff can readily meet his burden by showing that the negligence of both actors substantially contributed to the injury. On the facts of this case, we conclude appellants could not prove with the requisite degree of factual certainty that, assuming both doctors were negligent, the negligence of only one or the other caused the injury, but not both. The much more probable inference is that, if both doctors were negligent, the negligence of both concurred to proximately cause the injury. Even if Dr. Brady was the physician who pulled the baby through the pelvis without first checking its position, it is undisputed that Dr. Cohn misdiagnosed the baby's position in the first place, and that the forceps slipped off the baby's head at least twice while he was using them. Assuming both doctors acted negligently, the evidence simply does not support the conclusion that Dr. Cohn and Dr. Brady could not both have contributed to the injury. Accordingly, the judge instructed the jury properly that if the negligence of both concurred to produce the injury, it must return a verdict for the plaintiffs. The circumstances of this case were not those that give rise to the extraordinary measure of shifting the burden of proof on causation. Dr. Cohn's absence from the case also counsels against application of the exception. The Restatement acknowledges that generally, application of the shift has been limited to situations where all of the actors involved have been joined as defendants. RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS, supra, § 433B, comment h. The general rule reflects the rationale of the burden-shift, which recognizes the superior position of defendants in relation to the plaintiff to prove causation, and assumes that, absent a shift, both defendants will be silent, and plaintiff will not recover; with alternative liability, however, defendants will be forced to speak, and reveal the culpable party, or else be held jointly and severally liable themselves. Hymowitz v. Eli Lilly & Co., 73 N.Y.2d 487, 505, 541 N.Y.S.2d 941, 946, 539 N.E.2d 1069, 1074, cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 110 S.Ct. 350, 107 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989). Cohn's absence, however, substantially undermines the premise of the shift: that the truth as to causation will emerge from the crucible of self-interest. Cohn had no incentive, indeed no opportunity, to develop a record showing that he did not cause the injury because, as a non-party, he did not face the prospect of joint and several liability for the jury verdict as the price of his silence. Perhaps more importantly, Brady, just as much as the plaintiffs, was denied the opportunity to test Dr. Cohn's case. We do not know whether, in attempting to exculpate himself, Cohn would have instead persuaded the jury that he alone was negligent or the sole cause of the injury. In these circumstances, no conspiracy of silence among defendants worked to the unfair prejudice of the plaintiffs.