Spoilation Instructions Against Plaintiff for Losing Evidence
Stuart Senior Partner, Nora Bailey, Esq., prevailed on a Motion for Valcin Adverse Inference Instruction in a premises liability/personal injury matter styled Plaintiff v. Atlantis Cove, LLC. Plaintiff alleged that she sustained permanent and disfiguring burns for an incident that occurred in her rental apartment at the Defendant’s premises on July 16, 2021, resulting in $156,000 in medical bills from burn treatment, skin grafting, and a potential neurological injury. The Plaintiff claimed that the Defendant’s cooking range was defective and “electrocuted” her, causing a fire and the resultant injuries. Defendant made numerous requests to inspect the range and its component parts, but by the time the inspection proceeded, the stove was dismantled and was missing its burners, drip pans, cord, and plug. After deposing the Plaintiff and a witness, as well as propounding targeted discovery requests as to the missing items, a hearing was held requiring Plaintiff to produce same to the Defendant. Despite this, the Plaintiff only produced one burner, the cord and plug, and a frying pan, but none of the other 3 burners or any of the 4 drip pans. Accordingly, Ms. Bailey filed a Motion for Valcin Adverse Inference Instruction, arguing that Plaintiff had a duty to preserve the evidence and failed to do so, prejudicing the defense’s ability to litigate the case. The Court agreed, and ruled that the jury will be instructed that there is a rebuttable presumption against the Plaintiff that the stove’s component parts – those produced improperly and those never produced – were harmful to her case, and Plaintiff would be required to overcome said presumption by the greater weight of the evidence.
