Baez v. City of New York

It is axiomatic that to prevail in a civil action a plaintiff must prove each element of an asserted cause of action. However, there are times when a defendant’s own inaction or omission, such as a failure to produce demanded, relevant records, may entitle a plaintiff to an inference that such evidence, if produced, would support the plaintiffs position. To the extent that the plaintiffs proof is lacking in this case, his inability to establish the City’s responsibility for the claimed defect was directly attributable to the City’s inexplicable inability to provide records that, in all…