Wackenhut Corporation v. Jesse James Gutierrez

This personal injury suit raises two issues pertaining to the trial court’s submission of a spoliation jury instruction. First, we consider whether the party opposing the instruction preserved error by responding to a pretrial motion for sanctions but later failing to formally object to the instruction’s inclusion in the jury charge until after it was read to the jury. Second, if error was preserved, we must determine whether the trial court committed reversible error by submitting the instruction. We answer both questions in the affirmative.

Wackenhut Corporation owned and operated a charter…