Jury to Determine Question of Bad Faith and Whether to Draw Adverse Inference as Sanction for Loss of Video Pursuant to Document Retention Policy

Rattray v. Woodbury County, 2010 WL 5437255 (N.D. Iowa Dec. 27, 2010)

In this case, the court imposed sanctions for defendants’ failure to preserve relevant video footage and ordered an instruction allowing the jury to determine whether the recording was destroyed in bad faith and, if so, to infer that it would have been unfavorable to the defendants. In so holding, the court cited as an important factor that the video was the only recording of what occurred, “which weighs heavier in this case than the lack of actual knowledge that litigation was imminent at the time of the destruction.”

Rattray was arrested on August 16, 2006 for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. As part of the booking procedure, Rattray was strip searched. At that time, she refused to submit to the search, screamed “Rape!”, and told the officers she intended to file a lawsuit. There was no dispute that the Woodbury County Jail recorded Rattray’s treatment following her arrest. On September 14, 2006, Rattray filed a motion seeking an order for the production of the recording in her criminal case. On September 15, 2006, the Iowa district court entered an order to preserve “any video recordings of [Rattray], at the time she was booked into the jail … with respect to the charge (OWI) pending in this case.” On October 24, 2006, Rattray’s counsel in her criminal case sent a letter to the Sheriff’s Department complaining about Rattray’s treatment “and demanding answers” but did not specifically threaten litigation or request a copy of the video recording.

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Source: ediscoverylaw.com