Prima Facie Case

What Is A Prima Facie Case?

A prima facie case is proof, not persuasion. The plaintiff does not have to convince anyone of anything to make one; the plaintiff only has to offer evidence on every element of the claim that a reasonable jury could accept. Whether the jury does accept it is a separate question decided later, under the greater-weight-of-the-evidence standard that governs civil cases.

The same words describe a different idea when a statute speaks of “prima facie evidence.” There the law says that proof of one fact is enough to establish another fact unless it is rebutted. A plaintiff who proves the first fact has made a prima facie showing on the second and the issue goes to the jury, which may still be persuaded the other way by contrary evidence.

What Does A Prima Facie Case Of Negligence Require In North Carolina?

Evidence on four elements. The injured person must show that the defendant owed a duty of care, that the defendant breached it, that the breach was a proximate cause of the injury, and that the injury produced actual damages. If any one of the four has no supporting evidence at the close of the plaintiff’s case, the defendant moves for a directed verdict under N.C. R. Civ. P. 50, and the judge, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff as North Carolina courts require, decides whether a reasonable jury could find for the plaintiff.

Which North Carolina Statutes Create Prima Facie Evidence In An Injury Case?

The most useful is N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-71.1. In any action for injury, property damage, or death arising from a motor vehicle accident, proof that the defendant owned the vehicle at the time of the crash is prima facie evidence that it was being operated with the owner’s authority, consent, and knowledge. Proof that the vehicle was registered in a person’s or company’s name is prima facie evidence of ownership and that the driver was someone for whose conduct the owner was legally responsible, acting for the owner’s benefit and within the scope of employment. The statute lets an injured person get the owner’s or employer’s liability to the jury with a registration record, leaving it to the owner to rebut.

Other statutes work on the evidence rather than the presumption. In a dram shop claim, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 18B-122 keeps the burden of proving a negligent sale on the plaintiff but makes proof that alcohol was sold to an underage person without a request for identification admissible as evidence of negligence, while allowing the seller to answer with proof of good practices, a misrepresented age, or duress. A violation of a public-safety statute such as the speed law can establish negligence per se, which supplies the duty and breach elements at once if the plaintiff is in the class the statute protects and the violation caused the injury.

• § 20-71.1(a): ownership at the time of the crash is prima facie evidence the driver had the owner’s consent.
• § 20-71.1(b): registration is prima facie evidence of ownership and of the owner’s responsibility for the driver’s conduct within the scope of employment.
• § 18B-122: a sale to an underage person without asking for identification is admissible evidence of negligence.
• Negligence per se: violating a safety statute can establish duty and breach together.

How Is The Prima Facie Case Tested At Trial?

Twice, in most trials. When the plaintiff rests, the defense moves for a directed verdict, arguing that one or more elements have no evidentiary support. If the motion is denied, the defense presents its case and both sides may renew the motion at the close of all the evidence. North Carolina courts view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party at each stage, so the question is never whether the plaintiff’s evidence is strong, only whether it exists on every element.

A worked example: Denise is hit in a Fayetteville parking lot by a box truck registered to a regional supply company. The driver says he was running a personal errand. Under § 20-71.1, the registration is prima facie evidence that he was driving for the company’s benefit within the scope of his job, so the company cannot win a directed verdict on the agency question; the jury hears the driver’s story and the company’s dispatch records and decides. Denise has made her prima facie case against the company with a registration printout and the crash report, and the rest is a credibility contest.

How Does Contributory Negligence Fit With The Prima Facie Case?

It sits on the other side of the courtroom. The plaintiff’s prima facie case covers the plaintiff’s elements. Contributory negligence is an affirmative defense, and under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-139 the party asserting it carries the burden of proving it. In other words, the defense must make its own prima facie showing that the injured person was negligent and that the negligence was a proximate cause of the injury before the issue goes to the jury. A defendant who offers no evidence of the plaintiff’s fault does not get a contributory negligence instruction.

That symmetry matters in practice. Because North Carolina bars recovery entirely when the plaintiff’s negligence contributed to the injury, the defense works hard to assemble evidence of carelessness, and the plaintiff’s lawyer works equally hard to keep that showing from reaching the jury or to answer it with last clear chance or gross negligence. A plaintiff who makes a clean prima facie case and leaves the defense without evidence of contributory negligence is in the strongest position a North Carolina injury case allows.