Well the thing with Jerry's horse and Res Ipsa Locquitur (if it applied) is that proving the circumstances of the injury may not be necessary. Its possible that all that the plaintiff would have to demonstrate is that the horse was sound when it was delivered for care. I'm assuming a stable veternarian looked at the horse and made the decision to load her and deliver her to the clinic. If the vet testified that the horse was sound when checked at the stable, (perhaps her knees were even checked), if the loading crew testified the horse was delivered without incident, if someone testified the horse was off when it was picked up and if I'm on a jury and hear "Res" jury instructions, if I hear testimony regarding a "football" type injury and hear the horse was lame when picked up from the clinic after coming in to be checked for a throat infection. I'd be prone to rule for the plaintiff. State Law's differ, so the jurisdiction is important. I could be all wet, but if there is an action I believe its one of "Res".

But the advice Jerry says he was given would seem to rule out an action even if the clinic signed a receipt that stated the horse was sound when it arrived. How can a clinic receive a sound horse and return a lame one and maintain nothing happened while the animal was in its care? A horse walks in...a horse limps out. If the jurisdiction recognizes Res Ipsa Loquitur to me its an issue of proving soundness pre delivery and unsoundness upon return. Not an issue of proving how the injury occured. Res was designed to pierce the "secrecy of silence" among doctors for messing up and not divulging when someone left a sponge in the body. It's a George W. Bush concept. (Not the stupidity rather the coverup)

Pete Rose on the other hand accepted a ban and now has admitted to the gambling. His situation is the antithesis of Res. He's come clean and served his 14 years. Despite his admission and the MLB's desire to get him back in the game some people want to continue to persecute him. I think MLB realizes he's served his time and that the crime wasn't egregious. If you're looking for real crime take a close look at the national sponge doctor.

CtC