A little more info based on my experience as a juror in a negligence case.
The plaintiff has to prove two things
1. The standard operation and
2. That violating the standard caused harm
In the case for which I served, the term for #1 was "Standard of Care" for a medical professional. This is where expert witnesses are called in to try to establish the standard among the defendant's peers.
Phone records and other data will be reviewed to determine if the power company took reasonable action in leaving this wire unattended. From the limited information we have, it's hard to say from the outside looking in. But everything from that day will be scrutinized to find just where the ball was dropped.
Then in the second part, both sides will argue the cause and effect. In this case, was the power company's negligence the cause of the victim's death? This is where the trespassing argument will come into play. The power company will say that the victim was at fault for being in a closed area.
In my case, had we found that the doctor had violated the standard of care (we didn't), we then would've had to assign a percentage of the blame. In my case it was to three different entities, the patient, the doctor, and the mamography dept at the hospital (where the defense tried to deflect blame). If the percentage of blame for the defense was greater than 50%, they would be required to pay that percentage of the settlement amount.
So the victim here will probably have a small percentage of the blame for entering the park illegally. However the power company seems to be shouldering the majority of blame for leaving the downed wire live in a public space.
The plaintiff has to prove two things
1. The standard operation and
2. That violating the standard caused harm
In the case for which I served, the term for #1 was "Standard of Care" for a medical professional. This is where expert witnesses are called in to try to establish the standard among the defendant's peers.
Phone records and other data will be reviewed to determine if the power company took reasonable action in leaving this wire unattended. From the limited information we have, it's hard to say from the outside looking in. But everything from that day will be scrutinized to find just where the ball was dropped.
Then in the second part, both sides will argue the cause and effect. In this case, was the power company's negligence the cause of the victim's death? This is where the trespassing argument will come into play. The power company will say that the victim was at fault for being in a closed area.
In my case, had we found that the doctor had violated the standard of care (we didn't), we then would've had to assign a percentage of the blame. In my case it was to three different entities, the patient, the doctor, and the mamography dept at the hospital (where the defense tried to deflect blame). If the percentage of blame for the defense was greater than 50%, they would be required to pay that percentage of the settlement amount.
So the victim here will probably have a small percentage of the blame for entering the park illegally. However the power company seems to be shouldering the majority of blame for leaving the downed wire live in a public space.