A New Jersey judge who allowed a lawyer to plug an evidentiary gap with a Wikipedia page has been reversed on the ground that the online encyclopedia that "anyone can edit" is not a reliable source of information.
"[I]t is entirely possible for a party in litigation to alter a Wikipedia article, print the article and thereafter offer it in support of any given position," an appeals court held. "Such a malleable source of information is inherently unreliable and clearly not one 'whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned,'" such as would support judicial notice under New Jersey Evidence Rule 201(b)(3).
The ruling tossed out a judgment in a collection case, Palisades Collection v. Graubard, A-1338-07, in which the plaintiff relied on a Wikipedia entry to help trace ownership of a credit-card debt to establish standing to sue.
In 2005, Palisades Acquisition X, a Palisades Collection subsidiary, bought Steven Graubard's delinquent Visa account debt from Chase Bank USA, along with numerous other accounts identified on a compact disc or CD handed over as part of the transaction.
Palisades' lawyers at Pressler & Pressler in Parsippany contacted Graubard about the debt in February 2006, advising him the company bought the account "previously owed to Chevy Chase Bank" and was seeking to collect an outstanding balance of $30,543. Graubard disputed the claim and stated he had never held a Chevy Chase credit card, and Palisades sued.
During a bench trial before Bergen County Superior Judge Brian Martinotti, Graubard contended that Palisades lacked standing. The challenge for Palisades' lawyer, Thomas Brogan, was to show how the obligation wound up in the company's hands, providing proof for each step of the way.
A balance transfer authorization showed that in 1999, Graubard transferred an $18,000 balance from a prior credit card to a Bank One Credit card. Palisades also had an April 25, 2003, Bank One statement reflecting Graubard's $522 payment on a $25,733 balance.
To Continue Reading: Click Here
----------------------------------------------
Source: law.com
By: Mary Pat Gallagher
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment