Puritan Insurance v. Superior Court

In this case we consider what discovery sanctions are appropriate where a party’s expert inadvertently loses an object of real evidence crucial to the litigation before an opposing party has had a chance to inspect or test the object. We conclude the party whose expert lost the object is properly precluded from introducing at trial expert testimony based on an examination of the lost object. However, authentic photographs of the object that are available to all parties, and expert testimony based exclusively on an examination of the photographs, should not be excluded from trial as a discovery sanction.

Factual and Procedural Background

The missing object is a conveyor belt drive shaft used at Warm Springs Dam near Geyserville, California. The shaft failed on April 23, 1981. Five months prior to its failure the shaft had been repaired by Tri-C Machine Corporation (Tri-C).

Puritan Insurance Company (Puritan) issued a policy of insurance to its insureds Gordon H. Ball, Inc., Auburn Constructors, and Dillingham Corporation which covered, among other things, loss or damage to property including the conveyor belt system of which the drive shaft was a part. Pursuant to this…