conclude that the dock-plate would not have malfunctioned in the absence of negligence on the part of the party in control and that Goodrich was the party in exclusive control. If so, then the Shulls were entitled to have the jurors instructed that if they did find those elements established by a preponderance of the evidence, they could infer that Goodrich was negligent.

A.

PROBABILITY OF NEGLIGENCE
When Shull arrived at Goodrich's plant he was directed to dock #7, one of Goodrich's eighteen loading docks. Each dock is equipped with a dock-plate. The dock-plate is a mechanical device consisting of a metal plate with a sixteen to eighteen inch metal lip, both operated by a torsion spring. The dock-plate is activated by pulling a ring which releases a spring raising thering but it would not respond. James Vogel, a Goodrich employee, then arrived at the scene and was successful in activating the dock-plate. Vogel and Shull testified they had problems getting the dock-plate to stay in a locked position. The first two times Vogel activated the dock-plate, it would spring up and the two men walked it down. On each of these first two attempts the dock-plate would not stay down but instead would "pop up" a couple of inches. The two men attempted the same process a third time and both testified that after they walked the dock-plate down it appeared locked. Vogel walked to his fork truck and Shull walked into the trailer. While Shull was on the lip of the dock-plate, the plate suddenly released