no eyewitness rule
no-eyewitness rule. Torts. The largely defunct principle that if no direct evidence shows what a dead person did to avoid an accident, the jury may infer that the person acted with ordinary care for his or her own safety. • In a jurisdiction where the rule persists, a plaintiff in a survival or wrongful-death action can assert the rule to counter a defense of contributory negligence. [Cases: Death 58(1). C.J.S. Death §§ 141–145, 213–214.]
