| Venue: | Court of the Exchequer |
| Facts: | A barrel of flour falls out of Boadle's window onto Byrne. Owie. He remembers nothing. Some witnesses sort of corroborate. |
| Posture: | Finding for the plaintiff at trial, Boadle appeals. |
| Issue: | How can we find for the plaintiff, if there's no evidence? |
| Holding: | Well, we do. Sometimes the presumption of negligence can arise from the mere fact of an accident. |
| Rule: | We coin the phrase res ipsa loquitur. |
| Reasoning: | People who own barrels have a duty not to let them fall. If it falls, you probably failed that duty. |
| Dicta: | |