Opinion ID: 1057800
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: spoliation of facebook evidence

Text: On January 9, 2009, during the pendency of the actions, Lester sent a message through Facebook to David Tafuri (“Tafuri”), an attorney for Allied Concrete. As a result, Tafuri was able to access Lester’s Facebook page. On March 25, 2009, Allied Concrete issued a discovery request to Murray, seeking production of “screen print copies on the day this request is signed of all pages from Isaiah Lester’s Facebook page including, but not limited to, all pictures, his profile, his message board, status updates, and all messages sent or received.” Attached to the discovery request was a copy of a photograph Tafuri downloaded off of Lester’s Facebook account. The photo depicts Lester accompanied by other individuals, holding a beer can while wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with “I ♥ hot moms.” That evening, Murray notified Lester via email about the receipt of the discovery request and the related photo. The next morning, on March 26, 2009, Murray instructed Marlina Smith (“Smith”), a paralegal, to tell Lester to “clean up” his Facebook page because “[w]e don’t want any blow-ups of this stuff at trial.” Smith emailed Lester requesting information about the photo. Smith also told Lester that there are “some other pics that should be deleted” from his Facebook page. In a follow-up email, Smith reiterated Murray’s 4 instructions to her, telling Lester to “clean up” his Facebook page because “[w]e do NOT want blow ups of other pics at trial so please, please clean up your facebook and myspace!” 2 On April 14, 2009, Lester contacted Smith and informed her that he had deleted his Facebook page. The next day, Murray signed and served an answer to the discovery request, which stated “I do not have a Facebook page on the date this is signed, April 15, 2009.” Allied Concrete subsequently filed a Motion to Compel Discovery. On May 11, 2009, Murray told Smith to obtain the information requested in the March 25, 2009 discovery request. Smith contacted Lester, who eventually reactivated his Facebook page. Smith was then able to access and print copies of Lester’s Facebook page. 3 After Smith printed the Facebook page, consistent with the previous directive to “clean up” his Facebook account, Lester deleted 16 photos from his Facebook page. On May 14, 2009, Murray sent the copies of 2 Both of these emails were part of the same email thread (collectively referred to as the “March 26, 2009 email”). In a subsequent email, dated November 23, 2010, Murray referred to the March 26, 2009 email as a “stink bomb.” Allied Concrete makes much of this fact, even though Murray clearly explains in the November 23, 2010 email that the March 26, 2009 email is a “stink bomb,” not because of the content of the email, but because the email would probably upset the trial court. 3 Smith only printed screen shots of the Lester’s Facebook page. These screenshots included small “thumbnail” versions of photographs Lester had uploaded to his Facebook page. Aside from the thumbnail versions, Smith did not print actual copies of any of the pictures Lester had uploaded to his Facebook page. 5 Lester’s Facebook page to Allied Concrete. On October 12, 2009, Murray provided additional, updated copies of Lester’s Facebook page to Allied Concrete. At a deposition on December 16, 2009, Lester testified that he never deactivated his Facebook page. As a result, Allied Concrete had to subpoena Facebook to verify Lester’s testimony. Allied Concrete also hired an expert, Joshua Scotson (“Scotson”) to determine how many pictures Lester had deleted. Scotson determined that Lester had deleted 16 photos on May 11, 2009. This was later confirmed by an expert hired by Lester to examine Scotson’s methodology. All 16 photos were ultimately produced to Allied Concrete. On September 28, 2010, Allied Concrete served a subpoena duces tecum on Smith, seeking production of all emails between herself and Lester between March 25, 2009 and May 15, 2009. On November 17, 2010, the trial court ordered Lester to file a privilege log, listing everything he claimed was privileged and the basis for the claim. On November 28, 2010, Lester filed an enhanced privilege log. However, Murray intentionally omitted from the enhanced privilege log any reference to the March 26, 2009 email. 4 4 Post-trial, Murray initially claimed that the omission was a mistake on the part of a paralegal. However, Murray subsequently admitted he concealed the email out of fear that the trial court would grant a continuance. 6 Ultimately, the trial court decided that Allied Concrete was entitled to sanctions against Lester and Murray. After a further hearing on the matter, the trial court sanctioned Murray in the amount of $542,000 and Lester in the amount of $180,000 to cover Allied Concrete’s attorney’s fees and costs in addressing and defending against the misconduct.