Court Opinion

ID: 9537280
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 07:15:15.814885+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:56:22.039538
License: Public Domain

DENECKE, J.,
specially concurring.
I specially concur only to emphasize that the instruction on “proximate cause” should not be given. The instruction given is taken almost verbatim from the Uniform Jury Instruction No. 15.01. This instruction is no longer correct for the reasons stated in the majority opinion and in the specially concurring opinion in Stoneburner v. Greyhound Corp., 232 Or 567, 375 P2d 812 (1962).
“Proximate cause” is no longer an acceptable phrase. It intermingles the issue of physical causation with that of under what circumstances causally connected conduct imposes liability. The phrase is misleading to the jury because “cause,” in its customary meaning, has no connection with the issue of when liability should be imposed for causally connected conduct.