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LIVE INTERSECTION
Q: While crossing the street near an intersection, walking on a manhole
cover, I experienced an electric shock. At that time, an electrician was in the
process of performing electrical repair and maintenance work at the intersection,
pursuant to a contract with the city. Various light poles had been
removed and replaced by temporary ones, and a temporary overhead power
line had been run. Stray voltage has been found in the area.
A: Your attorney will seek to invoke the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur – to
prove from circumstantial evidence that your accident resulted from an impropriety
attributable to the work of the electrician. You must establish that the
accident is of a kind that ordinarily does not occur in the absence of negligence,
that the instrumentality causing the accident was in the exclusive control of the
electrician, and that you did not contribute to this accident.
Pedestrians are not subject to this kind of electric shock absent
negligence. As to the element of exclusive control, the electrician was in the
process of working at the intersection. You have told me nothing to indicate
that you caused or contributed to this unfortunate occurrence. Rather, it
appears simply that stray voltage had gotten loose.
It is possible that the electrician will argue that it had no duty to a
mere third-party. If so, your attorney will reply that the electrician had no
right to launch a force or instrument of harm. Once the jury finds, under res
ipsa loquitur, that the electrician negligently caused your electric shock, it
necessarily follows that the electrician launched a force or instrument of harm.
19th Annual
Great Lawn Summer Concert
St. John’s University, in partnership with the Queens Symphony Orchestra, presents
A Midsummer’s Enchanted Evening
M1-11250-RM
Featuring Christopher Macchio, Tenor, and
Martin Majkut, Queens Symphony Orchestra’s newly appointed Music Director
Enjoy an evening of enchanting arias and songs sung by tenor Christopher Macchio,
plus the lush and romantic Symphony No. 5 by Tchaikovsky.
Wednesday, August 2, at 7 p.m.
St. John’s University, Great Lawn
FREE Admission and Parking
For more information, please contact the
Office of Community Relations at 718-990-5892 or
communityrelations@stjohns.edu, or visit stjohns.edu.
Sponsored by:
St. John’s University Italian Cultural Center