Complex Lit Blog

Video Authentication — Surveillance Video Not Self-Authenticating, Particularly When Edited, Blurry and Shot from Significant Distance — Rule 59 Standards re Erroneous Evidentiary Ruling — Remittitur Standards

Leo v. L.I. RR, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56953 (S.D.N.Y. April 30, 2015): Plaintiff Brian Leo commenced this lawsuit under the Federal Employers Liability Act ("FELA"), 45 U.S.C. § 51 et seq., seeking recovery for physical and other injuries suffered while employed by the defendant Long Island Railroad Company ("LIRR" ...

Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — Secretary of State Website Records — When Public Records Are Presumed Authentic and Trustworthy, Burden of Showing a Basis for Exclusion Falls on Opponent of the Evidence

Bank of Am., N.A. v. 04, Inc. (In re Owner Mgmt. Serv., LLC), 2015 Bankr. LEXIS 1468 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. April 29, 2015): Well-settled Ninth Circuit precedent specifically deals with evidentiary objections at the summary judgment stage. In general, at the summary [*11] judgment stage, the Court does not focus on the admissibil ...

Text Messages Insufficiently Authenticated by Testimony That Proponent Identified Owner of Phone from Which Texts Were Sent at an Uncertain Later Time and That He Couldn’t Recall How He Accessed or Copied the Messages

Barker v. Computer Sci. Corp., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39994 (E.D. Va. Mar. 27, 2015): Plaintiff Damien Barker ("Plaintiff" or "Barker") began his employment with Computer Science Corporation ("CSC") in February 2011 as a systems analyst. (Dkt. No. 77-6 at 2-3). In this position, he provided technical suppo ...

Facebook and Twitter Authentication — Maryland Rethinks Griffith and Adopts Circumstantial Approach to Social Media Evidence — What Is a Social Media Cracker?

Sublet v. State, 2015 Md. LEXIS 289 (Md. Ct. App. April 23, 2015): The rapid rise of social networking websites,1 themselves a branch of social media,2 once again [*2] gives us cause to explore the authentication of documents related to this genre, under Maryland Rule 5-901, which prov ...

Sublet v. State, 2015 Md. LEXIS 289 (Md. Ct. App. April 23, 2015): The rapid rise of social networking websites,1 themselves a branch of social media,2 once again [*2] gives us cause to explore the authentication of documents related to…

Admission of Printouts of Text Messages Forwarded from One Phone to Another in Pieces for Printing OK under Best Evidence Rule — Forwarded Text = Duplicate — Absence of Original Excused Due to Inability to Print It

People v. Davis, 2015 Ill. App. Unpub. LEXIS 885 (Ill. Ct. App. April 24, 2015): 1 Held: The trial court's admission into evidence of a forwarded text message did not violate hearsay or best evidence rules and, accordingly, did not constitute plain error. 2 Following a bench trial in 2013, defendant Timothy Davis ...

Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — Corporate Website to Ascertain the Service It Offers — Software Tool Used by Testifying Expert Is Not Itself an Expert and Need Not Be Disclosed under 26(a) — Akin to Assistant to Expert

Capitol Records, LLC v. Escape Media Grp., Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183098 (S.D.N.Y. May 28, 2014), adopted, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38007 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 25, 2015): In 1999, a teenage college dropout finished writing software for an internet service called Napster that would allow people to swap music stored on their compute ...

Text Authentication by Recipient That She Knows Number to Be Sender’s, That He Called Her between Texts and by Contents: No One But Sender Had Motive to Threaten or Complain Recipient Had Snitched Just before Sender’s Trial

Butler v. State, 2015 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 491 (Tex. Ct. Crim. App. April 22, 2015): Appellant was convicted of the aggravated kidnapping of his girlfriend, Ashley Salas. On direct appeal, he complained that the trial court admitted certain text messages into evidence that Appellant claimed were not properly authenticated. Th ...

Butler v. State, 2015 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 491 (Tex. Ct. Crim. App. April 22, 2015): Appellant was convicted of the aggravated kidnapping of his girlfriend, Ashley Salas. On direct appeal, he complained that the trial court admitted certain text …

Spoliation — Erroneous Adverse Inference Instruction Limited to Damages Does Not Require New Trial on Liability or on Unaffected Damages Award

Blue Sky Travel and Tours, LLC v. Aqeel, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 5166 (4th Cir. Mar. 31, 2015): In this appeal concerning the breach of an oral contract, we consider whether the district court erred in denying the defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law asserting a defense of the statute of frauds. We also consider

Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — Noticing Other Court’s Records on 12(b)(6) Motion Doesn’t Convert It to Motion for Summary Judgment — Res Judicata Affirmative Defense Testable on 12(b)(6)

Busby v. Bank of Am., N.A., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44223 (S.D. Ohio April 3, 2015): Plaintiff alleges that she is the record owner of a residential property at 251 Trumpet Drive, West Carrollton, Ohio, which is her primary home. Id. at PageID 2, ¶¶ 4-5. The Complaint contains a lengthy section labeled Factual Allegations whi ...

Circumstantial Twitter Authentication: Witness Testifies She Often Communicated with Defendant on Account, That It Showed Photos of Defendant and Her, Used Terms Often Used by Defendant and Had Photo of Guns Allegedly Used in Crime

Wilson v. State, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 378 (Ind. Ct. App. April 30, 2015): [1] On March of 2013, Jonte Crawford and Appellant-Defendant Donnell Wilson shot and killed two rival gang members. During Wilson's trial, the trial court allowed Appellee-Plaintiff the State of Indiana to enter into evidence several Twitter posts al ...

Wilson v. State, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 378 (Ind. Ct. App. April 30, 2015): [1] On March of 2013, Jonte Crawford and Appellant-Defendant Donnell Wilson shot and killed two rival gang members. During Wilson's trial, the trial court allowed Appellee-Plaintiff …

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Video Authentication — Surveillance Video Not Self-Authenticating, Particularly When Edited, Blurry and Shot from Significant Distance — Rule 59 Standards re Erroneous Evidentiary Ruling — Remittitur Standards

Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — Secretary of State Website Records — When Public Records Are Presumed Authentic and Trustworthy, Burden of Showing a Basis for Exclusion Falls on Opponent of the Evidence

Text Messages Insufficiently Authenticated by Testimony That Proponent Identified Owner of Phone from Which Texts Were Sent at an Uncertain Later Time and That He Couldn’t Recall How He Accessed or Copied the Messages

Facebook and Twitter Authentication — Maryland Rethinks Griffith and Adopts Circumstantial Approach to Social Media Evidence — What Is a Social Media Cracker?

Admission of Printouts of Text Messages Forwarded from One Phone to Another in Pieces for Printing OK under Best Evidence Rule — Forwarded Text = Duplicate — Absence of Original Excused Due to Inability to Print It

Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — Corporate Website to Ascertain the Service It Offers — Software Tool Used by Testifying Expert Is Not Itself an Expert and Need Not Be Disclosed under 26(a) — Akin to Assistant to Expert

Text Authentication by Recipient That She Knows Number to Be Sender’s, That He Called Her between Texts and by Contents: No One But Sender Had Motive to Threaten or Complain Recipient Had Snitched Just before Sender’s Trial

Spoliation — Erroneous Adverse Inference Instruction Limited to Damages Does Not Require New Trial on Liability or on Unaffected Damages Award

Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — Noticing Other Court’s Records on 12(b)(6) Motion Doesn’t Convert It to Motion for Summary Judgment — Res Judicata Affirmative Defense Testable on 12(b)(6)

Circumstantial Twitter Authentication: Witness Testifies She Often Communicated with Defendant on Account, That It Showed Photos of Defendant and Her, Used Terms Often Used by Defendant and Had Photo of Guns Allegedly Used in Crime

Recent Posts

Rule 37(c)(1) Exclusion of Untimely Expert Report: Failure to Argue Harmlessness Essentially Waives Issue

Rule 37(b) Sanctions — Exclusion of Supplemental Expert Report for Advancing New Opinions — Third Circuit Exclusion Factors — “Importance of Excluded Evidence:” If, As Proponent Argues, There Is Nothing New, Then Exclusion Doesn’t Harm Proponent; If There Is, It Harms Opponent

RICO Pleading: Generic Allegations of Fraud (Failing Even to Set Forth Any False Representation) And Extortion (Failing to Describe Actual Threats) Too Conclusory to State a Claim

RICO Pleading: Statutory Directive That RICO Be Liberally Construed Does Not Extend to More Liberal Pleading Requirements

FRAP 38 Sanctions Imposed Due to the “Striking Legal Emptiness” of Brief/Appeal, “A Legal Nothingburger” — Bad Faith Not Required: An Appeal “May Also Be Frivolous If It Is Filed Out Of Sheer Obstinacy” (Good Quotes)

RICO: Hobbs Act does not apply when the alleged extortion is meant to benefit the state

RICO: Indirect Injury Unrecoverable — Indirect Purchaser Rule Imported from Antitrust

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