Court Opinion

ID: 9672754
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:59:37.359229+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:18.115763
License: Public Domain

MONTGOMERY, Judge
(dissenting).
I disagree with the majority opinion in the application of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. The opinion holds that the proof showed that the injury sustained was due to the voluntary act of the appellant or was contributed to by a course of conduct of his own choosing. I take this to mean that the voluntary act or course of conduct was appellant’s election to go down the sliding board. Therein lies the fallacy in the application of the principles of res ipsa lo-quitur.
The injury sustained by appellant was caused by the unusually slick condition of the slide which was unknown to him. This is apparent from the proof in the case which showed that appellant was thrown six or eight feet into the air and dropped several feet toward the bottom of the dip. Rides over the same slide on previous occasions had not resulted in any such action. This result ordinarily would not have occurred except for negligence on the part of someone. The slick condition of the slide was an instrumentality within the exclusive control of the defendant. Once the appellant started the downward course on the slide, he was wholly subject to the action caused by the sliding on the slick surface of the instrumentality. It was not shown that there was any voluntary action or contribution on the part of appellant after he was once committed to the slide which could or did have anything to do with the resulting injury. Therefore, it is felt that the case should have been submitted to the jury on the evidence subn&ted in appellant’s behalf.
EBLEN, J., joins in this dissent.