Rodriguez v. Webb

The plaintiff, Jacinto Rodriguez, Jr., was injured while crushing aluminum cans in a metal baling machine (baler) owned by the defendant, Robert Webb, Sr. d/b/a Bob’s Heavy Equipment. Following a trial in the Superior Court (Dickson, J.), the jury returned a verdict in the amount of $150,000, discounted by a finding of the plaintiff’s twenty percent comparative fault. See RSA 507:7-d (Supp. 1995). The defendant appeals, alleging, among other things, that the trial court erred by recognizing the tort of intentional spoliation of evidence, by admitting evidence of the defendant’s destruction of…