Joseph Hage Aaronson

Text Authentication — Party Possessed Phone, Witness Texted Phone Number, Witness’s Cell Ties Number to Party’s Name, Party Acted Per Earlier Texts, Witness Called Number 6 Hours after Texts & Party Answered — Affirmed on Other Grounds

People v. Sissac, 2015 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1504 (Cal. Ct. App. Mar. 3, 2015): The San Diego County District Attorney charged Demetrius Sissac with first degree, special circumstance murder (Pen. Code, 187, subd. (a)) in connection with the October …

Sanctions — Rule 37(b)(2) and Inherent Power — Default Judgment Requires Willfulness, Bad Faith or Fault, Not Inability to Comply

Klein v. Harper, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 1839 (10th Cir. Feb. 4, 2015): Under Rule 37(b)(2), "a district court may issue sanctions, including default judgment against the disobedient party when a party disobeys a discovery order." Klein-Becker USA, LLC…

Spoliation — Adverse Inference Instruction Appropriate for Deactivation of Facebook Account Shortly after Initiating Lawsuit and Producing Only Substantially Illegible Printouts of Contents

Abeyta v City of N.Y., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 23480 (2d Cir. Dec. 15, 2014): Plaintiff Andrew Abeyta appeals from the District Court's November 22, 2013 judgment, after a jury trial, in favor of defendants on his claims for false…

YouTube Video of Defendant Rapping about Crimes Unfairly Prejudicial When Offered to Prove Intent or Motive to Participate in Different Sort of Crime Committed Many Months Later

People v. Foster, 2015 Mich. App. LEXIS 1012 (Mich. Ct. App. May 19, 2015): Defendant, Tamaine Lamanual Foster, appeals as of right his jury trial convictions of first-degree felony murder, MCL 750.316(1)(b); armed robbery, MCL 750.529; being a felon in…

LinkedIn Authentication: Merely Downloading Ostensible Social Media Profile and Offering It, without More, Fails to Authenticate It, Which Also Renders Its Contents Hearsay

Lindschei v. Natus Med. Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40255 (N.D. Ga. Mar. 30, 2015): Plaintiffs [*14] also object to the Court's consideration of exhibits attached to the declarations: a document purporting to be Plaintiff Blades's resume from Indeed.com (attached…

Is the Cost of Bates Stamping Taxable under 28 U.S.C. § 1920? Circuit Split — Video Dep Fees Taxable If Incurred Close to Trial, for Unavailable Witnesses — Cost of Burning Docs onto Disk Taxable under 2008 Amendment

Azdel v C&D Zodiac, Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39329 (W.D. Va. Feb. 18, 2015): a. Videographer Fees C&D first seeks costs for obtaining video recordings of the depositions of witnesses who could not be subpoenaed and would not voluntarily…

“Witnesses Cannot Refuse to Answer Questions Merely Because They Choose Not to — There Is No Opt-Out Box on a Subpoena” — Judicial Options, from Pillow to Sledgehammer — Judge Must Actually Exercise Discretion — Good Quotes

Barnett v. Norman, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 5145 (9th Cir. Mar. 31, 2015): Prisoner Troas Barnett appeals a jury verdict that rejected his pro se § 1983 claims of excessive force by prison guards. On appeal and now with assistance…

Rule 804(b)(6) — Hearsay Exception — Forfeiture by Wrongdoing — Applies to Conspirator A Who Didn’t Directly Procure Witness’s Unavailability Where Conspirator B Did So in Course & Scope of Conspiracy and Misconduct Was Reasonably Foreseeable

United States v. Cazares, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 7949 (9th Cir. May 14, 2015): A jury found defendants Fernando Cazares, Gilbert Saldana, Alejandro Martinez, and Porfirio Avila guilty of violating 18 U.S.C. § 241 by conspiring [*5] to intimidate African-American…

RICO — Municipal Entities Immune: Not Able to Form Mens Rea, Not Liable for Treble Damages (Which Are at Least Partly Punitive) — Fact of Loss, Not Loss of Legal Entitlement, Sufficient to Show Conclusive Enough Damages

Gil Ramirez Grp., LLC v. Houston Independent Sch. Dist., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 8171 (5th Cir. May 18, 2015): This case, involving multiple causes of action based on allegations of bribery to procure construction contracts, was filed against Houston Independent …

No Spoliation Unless Person Was on Notice That Evidence Was Potentially Relevant to Litigation Before It Was Destroyed

Salas v. Independent Elec. Contractors Inc., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 7957 (9th Cir. May 14, 2015): 7. The district court's finding of no spoliation is not clearly erroneous. Salas made no showing that IES or IEC destroyed [*4] evidence, much…

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Text Authentication — Party Possessed Phone, Witness Texted Phone Number, Witness’s Cell Ties Number to Party’s Name, Party Acted Per Earlier Texts, Witness Called Number 6 Hours after Texts & Party Answered — Affirmed on Other Grounds

Sanctions — Rule 37(b)(2) and Inherent Power — Default Judgment Requires Willfulness, Bad Faith or Fault, Not Inability to Comply

Spoliation — Adverse Inference Instruction Appropriate for Deactivation of Facebook Account Shortly after Initiating Lawsuit and Producing Only Substantially Illegible Printouts of Contents

YouTube Video of Defendant Rapping about Crimes Unfairly Prejudicial When Offered to Prove Intent or Motive to Participate in Different Sort of Crime Committed Many Months Later

LinkedIn Authentication: Merely Downloading Ostensible Social Media Profile and Offering It, without More, Fails to Authenticate It, Which Also Renders Its Contents Hearsay

Is the Cost of Bates Stamping Taxable under 28 U.S.C. § 1920? Circuit Split — Video Dep Fees Taxable If Incurred Close to Trial, for Unavailable Witnesses — Cost of Burning Docs onto Disk Taxable under 2008 Amendment

“Witnesses Cannot Refuse to Answer Questions Merely Because They Choose Not to — There Is No Opt-Out Box on a Subpoena” — Judicial Options, from Pillow to Sledgehammer — Judge Must Actually Exercise Discretion — Good Quotes

Rule 804(b)(6) — Hearsay Exception — Forfeiture by Wrongdoing — Applies to Conspirator A Who Didn’t Directly Procure Witness’s Unavailability Where Conspirator B Did So in Course & Scope of Conspiracy and Misconduct Was Reasonably Foreseeable

RICO — Municipal Entities Immune: Not Able to Form Mens Rea, Not Liable for Treble Damages (Which Are at Least Partly Punitive) — Fact of Loss, Not Loss of Legal Entitlement, Sufficient to Show Conclusive Enough Damages

No Spoliation Unless Person Was on Notice That Evidence Was Potentially Relevant to Litigation Before It Was Destroyed

Recent Articles

§ 1927 Sanctions — Must A Lawyer Who Unreasonably and Vexatiously Multiplies Federal Court Proceedings Be Acting “As An Attorney” When Committing the Misconduct To Be Subject to Sanction under § 1927?

Rule 37 Sanctions — Unfamiliarity With Litigation Process Does Not Excuse Intentional Disregard of Court Order — Also Affirming Rule 26(g) Sanctions on Clients and Counsel for False Representations That All Responsive Documents Had Been Produced

Supreme Court: Notice of Appeal Filed After The Original Deadline But Before Reopening by The District Court Is Timely — It Relates Forward to The Date of The Order Making The Appeal Possible — Second Notice of Appeal After Reopening Unnecessary

Rule 37 Default Judgment: Second Circuit’s Four-Factor Test for Imposing Defaults and Three-Factor Test for Lifting Them

RICO: Cover-Up Within Limitations Period of Untimely RICO Violation “Was Merely A Continuation” Of The Original Injury And Could Not Be Used “As A ‘Bootstrap’ To Salvage [The] Time-Barred Claims–Declining to Apply Pinkerton Doctrine to Civil RICO Claims

Inherent Power — Circumstantial Evidence — Fact That Bad Faith May Be Shown by Establishing That Conduct Was So Egregious It Was Necessarily Committed in Bad Faith Does Not Mean That Bad Faith Must Be The Sole Explanation for The Bad Conduct

RICO Causation: Testing Labs’ Misstatements As to Alcohol Tests’ Efficacy Not Communicated to Plaintiffs’ Employers Did Not Cause Plaintiffs’ Professional Harm

Rule 37(d) Sanctions — For Failure to Serve Answers, Objections, Or Written Response to Discovery Requests — Are Not Limited to Intentional Misconduct; Even Innocent Mistakes May Be Covered

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