Opinion ID: 1702850
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: whether a separate cause of action against third parties for negligent and/or intentional spoliation of evidence should be recognized by the mississippi courts?

Text: ¶ 6. Richardson urges this Court to adopt and recognize a tort claim for the spoliation of evidence, whether that spoliation be negligent or intentional. Alternatively, Richardson urges this Court to hold that Sara Lee is liable under a general theory of negligence. In all fairness, we should state here that after the notice of appeal had been filed in this case, and after the Supreme Court Clerk's establishment of the briefing schedule as set out in her letter of October 14, 2002, this Court had the opportunity to consider a claim for intentional spoliation of evidence. Dowdle Butane Gas Co. v. Moore, 831 So.2d 1124 (Miss.2002). In Dowdle, decided on December 5, 2002, this Court refused to recognize a separate tort for intentional spoliation of evidence against both first and third party spoliators. Id. at 1135(¶ 28). Inasmuch as we were requested in Dowdle to consider only a claim for intentional spoliation of evidence, the question of whether we will recognize a separate cause of action for negligent spoliation of evidence we leave for another day. Id. at 1127(¶ 7). Today, we are confronted with that question. In writing for the Court in Dowdle, Presiding Justice Smith provided an overview of this theory's origin in California and how different jurisdictions have dealt with both intentional and negligent spoliation of evidence. See generally id. at 1133-35. The reasoning of this Court (and that of other jurisdictions) in refusing to recognize a separate tort of intentional spoliation included infringement on the rights of property owners, endless litigation, and uncertainty of the fact of harm. This Court held that: Nontort remedies for spoliation are sufficient in the vast majority of cases, and certainly, as the California courts have learned after 14 years of experience with this tort, any benefits obtained by recognizing the spoliation tort are outweighed by the burdens imposed. Id. at 1135(¶ 30). The Dowdle reasoning in refusing to recognize an independent cause of action for intentional spoliation of evidence gains even more force when applied to the issue of whether to recognize an independent cause of action for negligent spoliation of evidence. Accordingly, we decline Richardson's invitation to recognize this independent tort. ¶ 7. Under his alternative theory of negligence, Richardson claims that the duty to preserve the Orderpicker was created upon receipt of a letter from Richardson's counsel to Sara Lee, dated November 14, 1994, requesting an opportunity to inspect the Orderpicker. However, Richardson fails to identify any statute or case that placed a duty on Sara Lee to preserve the Orderpicker. The failure to cite any authority can be treated as a procedural bar, and this Court is under no obligation to consider the assignments. Smith v. Dorsey, 599 So.2d 529, 532 (Miss.1992). ¶ 8. Notwithstanding the procedural bar, this Court is not persuaded that the November 14, 1994, letter was sufficient to place an affirmative duty on Sara Lee to preserve the Orderpicker. There is nothing further in the record addressed to Sara Lee concerning the Orderpicker until the June 18, 1996, Subpoena Duces Tecum, nearly nineteen months later. We find this letter insufficient to establish a duty by Sara Lee to preserve the Orderpicker for use in litigation by Richardson. ¶ 9. For these reasons, this issue is without merit, and the trial court's actions were thus proper.