Judge David N. Hurd
Plaintiff filed suit against defendants alleging violations of constitutional rights arising from an altercation outside a café. Judgment was entered for plaintiff, and against defendant company in the amount of $110,000— $100,000 in punitive damages and $10,000 in compensatory damages for loss of due process through evidence destruction. Defendant company argued that there was insufficient evidence to show it intentionally destroyed or lost the evidence. The court disagreed, finding that despite two preservation orders, defendant did not place the relatively small hard drive containing video evidence in a large safe located in its office. Nor did defendant heed an officer’s advice to simply videotape the screen as the images on the hard drive were displayed. The court reasoned that this behavior supported the jury’s reasonable inference that the subsequent destruction or loss of evidence was not the result of recklessness or negligence, but deliberate conduct by defendant. It also denied defendant remittitur of the punitive damages award that it argued was excessive. The court reasoned that even though defendant’s conduct did not involve violence, its complete disregard and disrespect for court orders was reprehensible.
