Default Judgment Recommended for Destroying Evidence by Replacing Computer
Abajournal.com reports that a federal magistrate in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) has recommended a default judgment as a penalty for the intentional destruction of evidence. According to the report, the destruction was accomplished by secretly replacing the defendants' computer. The post ("Magistrate Rcommends Default Judgment for Destroyed Evidence”). is by Debra Cassens Weiss.
According to Abajournal.com , the defendants apparently tampered with their new computer’s calendar/clock to make it seem like an older computer and uploaded files (apparently other than the files sought for discovery).
A default judgment is a severe penalty; in effect, the defendants will have lost the case.
This story serves as a reminder that records on your computer are evidence. In case of a lawsuit, the computer records become discoverable. As illustrated in this case, the penalties for intentional destruction of evidence can be severe.
Image: Blue gavel from Wikipedia Commons.
