You are here: / / PLAINTIFF DID NOT DEMONSTRATE SANCTIONS FOR SPOLIATION OF EVIDENCE WERE...
, ,

PLAINTIFF DID NOT DEMONSTRATE SANCTIONS FOR SPOLIATION OF EVIDENCE WERE WARRANTED; THE VIDEO FOOTAGE FOR THE DAY OF THE FALL HAD BEEN AUTOMATICALLY DELETED BEFORE THE PRESERVATION LETTER WAS RECEIVED; HOWEVER DEFENDANTS HAD PRESERVED 52 SECONDS OF VIDEO SHOWING JUST BEFORE THE FALL, THE FALL AND PLAINTIFF WALKING AWAY (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the restrictions placed on defendants’ presentation of evidence of liability relevant to plaintiff’s slip and fall constituted an abuse of discretion. Plaintiff fell on March 24, 2018, and defendants received a letter requesting that 12 hours of video footage be preserved on April 9, 2018. By April 9 the video had been automatically deleted. Defendants had preserved 52 seconds of the video which included just before the fall, the fall, and plaintiff walking away:

The plaintiff did not establish that the defendants were placed on notice that the video evidence might be needed for future litigation before the surveillance footage was automatically deleted … . Further, the defendants’ preservation of only a portion of the surveillance footage did not indicate a culpable state of mind, as the defendants’ representative averred in an affidavit that, on the date of the accident, she saved a 52-second clip of the incident. The representative testified at her deposition that to locate this clip, she had entered the date and time that the alleged accident occurred, and she averred that, by the time she received the preservation letter, the surveillance footage had been automatically deleted … . In addition, the plaintiff did not establish that the absence of the additional surveillance footage deprived her of the ability to prove her case … . De Abreu v Syed Rests. Enters., Inc., 2024 NY Slip Op 05326, Second Dept 10-30-24

Practice Point: The criteria for spoliation of evidence were not met by the facts here. The video footage for the day of the fall was automatically deleted before the preservation letter was received. Defendants preserved video footage of just before the fall, the fall and plaintiff walking away.​

 

You might also like
IN MOVING TO VACATE A MORE THAN $2 MILLION DEFAULT JUDGMENT IN THIS MED MAL CASE, DEFENDANT DOCTOR RAISED A QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER SHE WAS EVER SERVED WITH PROCESS; A HEARING IS REQUIRED (SECOND DEPT).
THE APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO FILE A LATE NOTICE OF CLAIM SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED; THERE WAS NO SHOWING THE CITY AND FIRE DEPARTMENT HAD TIMELY KNOWLEDGE OF A POTENTIAL NEGLIGENCE ACTION ARISING FROM A RESPONSE TO A 911 CALL (SECOND DEPT).
ALTHOUGH THE EVIDENCE WAS DEEMED LEGALLY SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT THE CONVICTIONS STEMMING FROM AN ATTACK ON THE COMPLAINANT, THOSE CONVICTIONS WERE DEEMED AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE BECAUSE OF THE WEAKNESS OR ABSENCE OF IDENTIFICATION EVIDENCE (SECOND DEPT).
THE WAIVER OF APPEAL WAS NOT KNOWINGLY, VOLUNTARILY AND INTELLIGENTLY MADE (SECOND DEPT).
THE PLAINTIFF IN THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION DID NOT SUBMIT THE BUSINESS RECORDS DEMONSTRATING DEFENDANT’S DEFAULT; PLAINTIFF’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).
Licensing Officer Has Broad Discretion Re: Denial of Application for a Pistol Permit
LANDSCAPER AND ITS INSURER STRICTLY LIABLE FOR OIL DISCHARGE ON PLAINTIFFS’ PROPERTY; OIL LINE SEVERED DURING SPRINKLER REPAIR.
SEPARATE COUNTS FOR A CONTINUING OFFENSE RENDERED INDICTMENT MULTIPLICITOUS.

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

FATHER’S PETITION FOR PERMISSION TO RELOCATE WITH THE CHILDREN SHOULD... THE FORECLOSURE ABUSE PREVENTION ACT (FAPA) APPLIES RETROACTIVELY TO THE 2005...