Requests to preserve video surveillance may likely broaden, and will certainly require more trips to discovery court, thanks to a recent opinion by the Pennsylvania Superior Court. The court’s words should also motivate those controlling cameras to re-evaluate video retention policies.

In Marshall v. Brown’s IA, 2019 Pa. Super. 94 (March 27), the court addressed the scope of video preservation requests, the sufficiency of a camera owner’s response and the ramifications of not doing the utmost to preserve potentially relevant evidence. The Marshall opinion will likely embolden litigants to demand preservation of more hours from more camera locations, under the threat of sanctions for not doing so. Meanwhile, the burden will be foisted onto camera owners and, ultimately, the discovery courts, to sort out the reasonableness of the requests.