Court Opinion

ID: 9633854
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 12:03:43.029126+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:08:43.848902
License: Public Domain

Mallery, J.
(dissenting) — I dissent. The oldest and most extensively used fabric known to man is cotton. Men have burned themselves with it from time immemorial and probably always will. It is a material suitable for shirts. Manufacturers and sellers of cotton articles are not insurers of the shirt-wearing population.
The respondent proved the shirt in question was made of cotton gingham and that it “exploded” for some wholly unexplained reason.
Respondent failed to prove what caused the explosion. Hence, recovery must be predicated solely upon the proposition that cotton gingham is not suitable material for shirts, and its use for that purpose is, therefore, a breach of the implied warranty of fitness.
If all the facts in the case warranted application of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, respondent would be excused from proving what caused the explosion. That doctrine is not available to respondent because he was in control and possession of the shirt during the period in question. Hence, *566the cause of the explosion is the proper subject of proof — not of speculation by a jury.
“It is a question for the jury” is a ready formula, but it does not apply to questions of law. What constitutes a prima facie case is a question of law. The cause should not have been submitted to the jury.
October 24, 1957. Petition for rehearing denied.