To say some lawyers had been waiting for years for a recent decision out of the Supreme Court of Texas is not hyperbole, according to Miriam Rozen in “Spoliation of Evidence: Long-Awaited Ruling by Texas High Court, Possible New Rules,” published in LTN’s sister publication Texas Lawyer.
The case, Brookshire Brothers v. Alridge, reversed a trial court’s $1 million judgment for Jerry Alridge, a former professional football player, because of instructions given to the jury, said Rozen. It clarified when to give spoliation instructions to a jury. A party must have intentionally concealed and destroyed discoverable evidence, explained Rozen, or, in a rare occasion, if it’s extremely prejudicial.
