Mangual v. Berezinsky
Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division
53 A.3d 664 (2012)
Felix and Judith Mangual (plaintiffs) were standing on the highway shoulder next to their overheated car when Lazar Berezinsky's (defendant) vehicle crossed the median, spun 180 degrees across two oncoming lanes in clear, dry midday conditions with little traffic, and struck them. Berezinsky claimed he was obeying traffic laws at 50-55 mph on a road he'd driven over a hundred times and knew had potholes, testifying his car pulled left suddenly and felt as though a wheel hit a hole, though he clarified he only felt as if that happened rather than confirming it, and his car then spun sideways into the Manguals 'for unknown reasons' despite his attempt to straighten out. The trial court granted the Manguals partial summary judgment on liability under res ipsa loquitur, and Berezinsky appealed.
Whether, in most jurisdictions, establishing the elements of res ipsa loquitur creates a permissive inference of negligence letting the injured party survive a no-evidence challenge and reach the jury, and also allows summary judgment for the injured party if the evidence establishes negligence as a matter of law.