East Texas Theatres, Inc. v. Rutledge
Supreme Court of Texas
453 S.W.2d 466 (1970)
Relevant factsFree
Sheila Rutledge (plaintiff) was struck by a whiskey bottle thrown from the balcony of a theater owned by East Texas Theatres (defendant) as she left after a midnight movie during which the audience had intermittently been boisterous, though the commotion had ceased before the movie ended and no one identified the bottle thrower. A jury awarded Rutledge damages on her theory that the theater's failure to remove rowdy patrons caused her injury, and the court of appeals affirmed.
IssueFree
Whether a plaintiff must show that her injury would not have occurred but for the defendant's negligent conduct in order to prove that the conduct was the cause in fact of her injury.