CALIFORNIA EVIDENCE: CIVIL AND CRIMINAL
...Presumptions & Burden of Proof
......Res Ipsa Loquitur (RIL)
.........Res Ipsa Instruction Improper
............Possible Malpractice
3 Cards On This Topic:

RIL instruction properly denied where P did little more than show possibility of negligence, rather than probability.

Mere fact injury rarely occurs does not justify inference of negligence. Policy considerations favoring medical treatment procedures.

Occurrence of known potential complication of operation about which P had been warned will not support conditional RIL instruction, even if injury "unexpected and unusual."