What Is Spoliation of Evidence, and What Happens If Evidence Is Destroyed in a Georgia Case?

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Evidence can decide a case, so what happens when it is lost or destroyed matters a great deal. Georgia law addresses this through the doctrine of spoliation, which gives courts tools to respond when a party fails to preserve evidence it had a duty to keep. This guide explains what spoliation is, when the duty to preserve arises, the sanctions available, and the adverse inference charge.

What Spoliation Is

Spoliation is the destruction, alteration, or failure to preserve evidence that is relevant to actual or contemplated litigation. It can be intentional, such as deliberately discarding a defective product, or it can result from carelessness, such as routinely recycling surveillance footage without preserving the relevant portion. Either way, the concern is the same: a party that should have kept evidence did not, and the other side is now deprived of proof it might have needed.

Spoliation is not about the merits of the underlying claim. It is about conduct toward the evidence, and Georgia courts treat the integrity of the evidentiary process as something worth protecting.

When the Duty to Preserve Arises

A party does not have to preserve everything forever. The duty to preserve evidence arises when litigation is pending or reasonably foreseeable. The key trigger is foreseeability: once a party knows or reasonably should know that the evidence may be relevant to a dispute that has begun or is likely, the obligation to preserve attaches.

This means the duty can arise before a lawsuit is filed. A business that receives notice of a serious injury on its premises, or a driver involved in a significant collision, may be on notice that litigation is foreseeable and that relevant evidence, such as video, vehicle data, or a physical object, must be preserved. Whether the duty had arisen at the time evidence was lost is often a central factual question.

Available Sanctions

When a court finds that spoliation occurred, it has a range of responses, and Georgia courts consider the circumstances, including the degree of fault and the prejudice to the other side, in deciding what is appropriate. The available measures run along a spectrum.

At the more serious end, a court may dismiss the spoliating party’s claim or strike its defenses, though such severe sanctions are reserved for serious cases. In between, a court may exclude certain evidence or testimony, or give the jury an instruction addressing the loss. The court tailors the response to the severity of the conduct and the harm it caused, rather than applying a single fixed penalty.

The Adverse Inference Charge

One of the most significant remedies is the adverse inference charge. This is a jury instruction telling the jurors that they may infer the missing evidence would have been unfavorable to the party that failed to preserve it. In effect, the party that destroyed or lost the evidence may have to face the jury’s assumption that the evidence would have hurt its position.

The adverse inference is powerful because it turns the absence of evidence into a point against the spoliating party. Whether it is given, and how it is worded, depends on the court’s assessment of the conduct, with more culpable behavior more likely to draw the instruction. For the party deprived of the evidence, it can partly offset the disadvantage of not having the proof itself.

Key Takeaways

  • Spoliation is the destruction, alteration, or failure to preserve evidence relevant to actual or contemplated litigation.
  • The duty to preserve arises when litigation is pending or reasonably foreseeable, which can be before a suit is filed.
  • Sanctions range from dismissal or striking defenses in serious cases to exclusion of evidence or jury instructions.
  • The adverse inference charge lets the jury infer the lost evidence would have been unfavorable to the party that failed to preserve it.

This article provides general information about Georgia law and is not legal advice. Statutes and court decisions change, and how the law applies depends on the specific facts of a situation. For advice about a particular matter, consult a licensed Georgia attorney.

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