Ortega

We granted review to decide under what circumstances, if any, a store owner may be liable for injuries to a business invitee from a dangerous condition on its premises where the evidence fails to show how long the dangerous condition existed prior to the injury. The cases require that an owner must have actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition before incurring liability. (Hatfield v. Levy Brothers (1941) 18 Cal.2d 798, 806 [ 117 P.2d 841 ] (Hatfield); Girvetz v. Boys’ Market, Inc. (1949) 91 Cal.App.2d 827, 829 [ 206 P.2d 6 ] (Girvetz).) The plaintiff has the burden to prove the owner had actual or constructive notice of the defect in sufficient time to correct it. (Louie v. Hagstrom’s Food Stores (1947) 81 Cal.App.2d 601, 606 [ 184 P.2d 708 ] (Louie).) The question here is: If the plaintiff has no evidence of the source of the dangerous condition or the length of time it existed, may the plaintiff rely solely on the owner’s failure to inspect the premises within a reasonable period of time in order to establish an inference that the defective condition existed long enough for a reasonable person exercising ordinary care to have discovered it? We conclude…

I concur in the judgment and in the opinion of the court for the reasons stated in my dissenting opinion in Saelzler v. Advanced Group 400 (2001) 25 Cal.4th 763, 781 [ 107 Cal.Rptr.2d 617 , 23 P.3d 1143 ] (Saelzler).

Here and in Saelzler , an injured person seeks damages from the owner of the premises where the injuries occurred. In Saelzler , a Federal Express employee attempting to deliver a package received serious injuries when she was beaten and sexually assaulted at a 28-building, 300-unit apartment complex. (Saelzler, supra, 25 Cal.4th at p. 769 .) She sued the owner of the property to recover damages for her injuries. (Ibid.) Here, a man shopping at a Kmart store slipped and fell on milk spilled near a refrigerator display case, seriously injuring his knee. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 1204.) He sued the corporation that owns and operates the store to recover damages for his injuries. (Ibid.)

Here and in Saelzler , the immediate or direct cause of the injury was the conduct of an unidentified third person or persons. In Saelzler , the immediate or direct cause of the woman’s injuries was the assault committed by three unidentified criminals who beat her and tried to rape her.…