You are here: / / AN EXCEPTION TO THE BEST EVIDENCE RULE APPLIED, ALLOWING TESTIMONY DESCRIBING...
,

AN EXCEPTION TO THE BEST EVIDENCE RULE APPLIED, ALLOWING TESTIMONY DESCRIBING THE CONTENTS OF DESTROYED VIDEO SURVEILLANCE (FOURTH DEPT). ​

The Fourth Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Bannister, determined an exception to the best evidence rule applied and testimony about the contents of a destroyed video surveillance was properly admitted in this grand larceny case:

Defendant appeals from a judgment … arising from the theft of wireless speakers valued in excess of $3,000 from a Target store … . Prior to trial, the People moved in limine for permission to introduce testimony from the store’s asset protection team leader (APT leader) regarding the contents of destroyed video surveillance footage that had depicted the incident. * * *

The best evidence rule “simply requires the production of an original writing where its contents are in dispute and sought to be proven” …  “The rule protects against fraud, perjury, and inaccurate recollection by allowing the [factfinder] to judge a document by its own literal terms” … . “Under a long-recognized exception to the best evidence rule, secondary evidence of the contents of an unproduced original may be admitted upon threshold factual findings by the trial court that the proponent of the substitute has sufficiently explained the unavailability of the primary evidence . . . and has not procured its loss or destruction in bad faith” … . The proponent of the secondary evidence “has the heavy burden of establishing, preliminarily to the court’s satisfaction, that it is a reliable and accurate portrayal of the original. Thus, as a threshold matter, the trial court must be satisfied that the proffered evidence is authentic and correctly reflects the contents of the original before ruling on its admissibility” … . * * *

… [T]he People met their burden of establishing that the APT leader’s testimony regarding the unpreserved footage was a reliable and accurate portrayal of the contents of that footage … . People v Jackson, 2020 NY Slip Op 07744, Fourth Dept 12-23-20

 

You might also like
WAIVER OF FOURTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS AS CONDITION OF PROBATION INVALID, DENIAL OF YOUTHFUL OFFENDER STATUS ENCOMPASSED BY WAIVER OF APPEAL (FOURTH DEPT).
ARBITRATOR EXCEEDED HIS POWERS BY REFUSING TO REVIEW THE ENTIRE RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS, AWARD PROPERLY VACATED.
SNOW REMOVAL CONTRACTOR’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED, CONTRACTOR DID NOT LAUNCH AN INSTRUMENT OF HARM.
UNAUTHORIZED USE OF A VEHICLE THIRD DEGRESS IS A LESSER INCLUSORY COUNT OF GRAND LARCENY FOURTH DEGREE (FOURTH DEPT).
Court Review of Sufficiency of Evidence Before a Grand Jury Explained
People’s Failure, at a Reconstruction Hearing, to Prove Defendant Was Present for the Sandoval Hearing Required Reversal and a New Trial
THE POLICE WERE AWARE THAT NO ONE ELSE WAS IN THE RESIDENCE AT THE TIME DEFENDANT LEFT THE RESIDENCE AND WAS ARRESTED; THERE WERE NO EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES JUSTIFYING THE WARRANTLESS SEARCH OF THE HOUSE AFTER DEFENDANT’S ARREST; THE WEAPONS SEIZED SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED (FOURTH DEPT
ALTHOUGH THE CANDIDATE’S RESIDENCE WAS BEING RENOVATED AND SHE TEMPORARILY LIVED ELSEWHERE SHE INTENDED TO RETURN TO THE RESIDENCE WHICH WAS INDICATED ON THE DESIGNATING PETITION, THE DESIGNATING PETITION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN INVALIDATED (FOURTH DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

HEARSAY INSUFFICIENT TO DEFEAT PLAINTIFF’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION IN... THE APPEAL WAIVERS WERE NOT EXECUTED UNTIL SENTENCING AND WERE THEREFORE INVALID;...