After tripping and falling on a large mat in a hospital lobby, Caryl Rosen filed a lawsuit claiming the mat’s condition caused her injuries. The hospital preserved video from one camera that showed the fall and shared it with her attorney. However, two other cameras in the area were not saved, and Rosen argued that earlier footage or different angles might have helped show the mat was unsafe.
She asked the court to penalize the hospital for not preserving more video, but the trial judge found that the hospital had kept the only footage that actually showed the incident. The judge also did not allow the jury to hear about the missing video or assume it would have helped Rosen’s case. The jury ultimately sided with the hospital.
An appellate court initially disagreed, suggesting the missing footage could have been important. But the state’s highest court reversed that decision, ruling that the trial judge acted reasonably. The court found no clear evidence that the additional video would have changed anything and upheld the verdict for the hospital.
