Cain v. George

After the plaintiffs' child died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a motel room, the parents (plaintiffs) sued the motel (defendant), alleging a defective gas heater; evidence also showed a chair near the heater was smoldering when firefighters arrived. At trial, the court allowed the motel's owners to testify from their own knowledge that numerous prior guests had occupied the room without complaint, supporting the inference that the smoldering chair, not the heater, was the carbon monoxide source; the jury found the death an unavoidable accident not caused by the motel's negligence, and the parents appealed the admission of that testimony as hearsay.