NC · jury_instructions
N.C.P.I.—Civil 744.12
PRODUCTS LIABILITY-SELLER'S AND MANUFACTURER'S DEFENSE OF OPEN AND OBVIOUS RISK.
NOTE WELL: Use this instruction only with causes of
action arising on or after January 1, 1996.
The (state number) issue reads:
"Was the plaintiff's [injury] [death] [damage] caused by [an open
and obvious risk] [a risk that was a matter of common knowledge]
associated with the (name product)?"4
You will answer this issue only if you have answered the (state
number) issue "Yes" in favor of the plaintiff.
On this issue the burden of proof is on the defendant. This means
that the defendant must prove, by the greater weight of the evidence,
that the plaintiff's [injury] [death] [damage] was caused by [an open and
obvious risk] [a risk that was a matter of common knowledge] associated
with the (name product). (A risk is open and obvious when it would be
apparent to a reasonable and prudent person under the same or similar
circumstances.) (A risk is a matter of common knowledge when it is
known by most reasonable and prudent persons in the community).
Finally, as to this issue on which the defendant has the burden of
proof, if you find by the greater weight of the evidence that the plaintiff's
[injury] [death] [damage] was caused by [an open and obvious risk] [a
risk that was a matter of common knowledge] associated with the (name
product), then it would be your duty to answer this issue "Yes" in favor of
the defendant.
If, on the other hand, you fail to so find, then it would be your duty
to answer this issue "No" in favor of the plaintiff.
History
N.C.P.I.—Civil 744.12 (May 1999). N.C. Gen. Stat. § 99B-5(b). Prepared by the North Carolina Conference of Superior Court Judges' Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions, assisted by the UNC School of Government; published by the School of Government.
Provenance
- Source
- sog.unc.edu
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-24
- Edition
- 2026-09-24
- Content hash
4a76be8813fab5106fc43b255a5c9cec7ccee628bb7fb9322404aaaeb275a7be
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