Opinion ID: 2154496
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Equipment and Other Materials Purchased from Commercial Sources

Text: Finally, Dr. Vossoughi testified that UDC had destroyed equipment and other items he had purchased from commercial vendors. These items included scientific and medical instruments, tools and other devices; cameras and other photographic equipment; computer parts; a refrigerator; laboratory and office supplies; and scientific publications. The commercially available items fell into two subcategories: a group of 86 items for which Dr. Vossoughi was able to produce receipts (or other documentation) showing the original purchase price; and a group of 38 items for which Dr. Vossoughi had no receipts. Dr. Vossoughi described these latter items individually and stated what he had paid for each of them. The original cost of the items in the first group amounted to $33,830; however, as the receipts showed, 18 of the items, costing a total of $7,435, were purchased with UDC funds and belonged to UDC. In the second group, Dr. Vossoughi acknowledged that eight items, costing a total of about $182,620, were bought with UDC funds and similarly belonged to UDC. Dr. Vossoughi testified that the original cost of the remaining 30 items in the second group added up to approximately $67,000. Most of the commercially available items belonging to Dr. Vossoughi were at least eleven years old; Dr. Vossoughi brought them with him to UDC from Catholic University. Dr. Vossoughi testified that he used these items regularly in his work and that they were subject to wear and tear. He was not able, however, to estimate a current fair market value for the items. When he was asked on cross-examination whether the items had appreciated or depreciated in value, Dr. Vossoughi testified, I can tell you this. All computer-related items are cheaper every day, as we experience. All laboratory instruments, medical devices, or medical experiment-related devices, every week the prices go up, just like that. Dr. Vossoughi sought to recover the cost of replacing most of this property without taking wear and tear and depreciation into account, on the ground that (except for a few items such as the cameras or the refrigerator) used equipment and supplies were not available for purchase on the open market.