Spoliation A guide about evidence for the welding Community |
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Author:
| Grantham, Jesse |
ISBN: | 978-1-934918-02-9 |
Publication Date: | Dec 2009 |
Publisher: | Jesse A. Grantham Enterprises, Incorporated
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Book Format: | Paperback |
List Price: | USD $9.99 |
Book Description:
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This guide is for the welding community of experts,
adjusters, investigators and litigants to address
evidence spoliation issues in civil proceedings. Professionals
who intend to contribute to the honesty,
impartiality, fairness and equity of the legal system
should be dedicated to the protection of all evidence
pertaining to determining the truth during discovery
and court proceedings. Professionals in these matters
should perform under a standard of behavior that
requires adherence...
More DescriptionThis guide is for the welding community of experts,
adjusters, investigators and litigants to address
evidence spoliation issues in civil proceedings. Professionals
who intend to contribute to the honesty,
impartiality, fairness and equity of the legal system
should be dedicated to the protection of all evidence
pertaining to determining the truth during discovery
and court proceedings. Professionals in these matters
should perform under a standard of behavior that
requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical
conduct.
Although evidence spoliation is a concern to the
court, spoliation may also involve attention to routine
business practices, including ownership, storage,
examination and destruction. It is important to have
consistent evidence retention policies for property and
records with jurisprudence issues in mind. Eliminate
risk and ensure compliance with legal expectations.
In the 1600’s, an English court confronted one of
the first recorded instances of evidence spoliation in
Armory v. Delamirie. In that case, a chimney sweep
found a jeweled ring and took it to a jeweler for appraisal.
When the jeweler returned the ring without
the stone, the chimney sweep brought an action to
recover the gem. Since the jeweler had retained the
stone, the Judge instructed the jury to “presume the
strongest case against the jeweler and make the value
of the best jewels the measure of damages”. The ruling
of the court became the now familiar axiom that a
party should be held accountable for improperly withholding
or discarding evidence: “Omnia
praesumuntur contra spoliatorem” which means all
things are presumed against a wrong doer.
Since the Armory case, courts and litigants continue
to wrestle with evidence spoliation in the context
of truth and justice in civil proceedings. Newspaper
headlines report that evidence tampering is
considered a game, whose rules are easily broken.
One study concluded that almost half of all litigators
believed that spoliation was a frequent occurrence.
When litigation is pending, threatened or reasonably
foreseeable, spoliation of all items that may
be evidence in a case becomes an area of legal interest
to the court. When placed on notice of possible
litigation, it is necessary to notify opposing interests
to save all evidence. Anyone handling what
may be considered evidence should preserve it for
the court’s purposes.