It is no surprise that a substantial portion of the population take part in social media. After making a claim for personal injuries, a defendant may request access to an injured person’s Facebook account. Defense attorneys will do this to find out if the injured person’s claims are consistent with the plaintiff’s claims.
Many people think they can “beat” the system and merely delete their Facebook. This may cause serious problems to someone’s personal injury case. “The destruction or significant alteration of evidence, or the failure to preserve property for another’s use as evidence in pending or reasonably foreseeable litigation” is a violation of the discovery rules. Mosaid Techs., Inc. v. Samsung Elecs. Co., Ltd., 348 F. Supp. 2d 332, 335 (D.N.J. 2004).
Just recently, the New Jersey District Court in the matter of Gatto v. United Airlines and Allied Aviation Services., et al., No. 10-CV-1090 (D.N.J. March 25, 2013) dealt with this precise situation. Because the Court determined that the plaintiff destroyed evidence in a pending litigation. The Court noted that plaintiff had a duty to maintain his Facebook account.
When a court makes a determination that a party has destroyed evidence, it may dismiss an action, exclude evidence, or allow the jury to infer the offending party was destroying evidence that would hurt them. Mosaid, 348 F. Supp. 2d at 335.
Here at Ginarte Gonzalez Winograd L.L.P., we provide high-caliber representation to New York / New Jersey personal injury victims and their families. Contact our office at 1 (888) GINARTE for free consultation and we will make sure your rights are not lost. You can also use our online contact form.