Lueter

Having prevailed at trial on a tort claim of negligent spoliation of evidence, cross-complainants (hereafter plaintiffs) respond to the appeal of cross-defendants (hereafter defendants) by asserting that “negligent spoliation is alive and well in the Third [Appellate] District.” (Citing Johnson v. United Services Automobile Assn. (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 626 [ 79 Cal.Rptr.2d 234 ] [recognizing a limited cause of action for negligent spoliation of evidence].) Our short answer is, “not any more.”

The evidence at issue was part of a tire tread that came off the wheel of an oil tanker when the tire blew out and the tanker crashed. The driver and the owner of the tanker wanted the tread as evidence for a lawsuit filed against them by motorists who were injured as a result of the crash. However, the piece of tread had been taken from the scene of the crash, and later discarded, by employees of the law enforcement agency that investigated the accident. Consequently, the driver and the owner of the tanker, Cleo Lueter and Valley Slurry Seal Company (hereafter plaintiffs), sued the investigating agency and some of its employees for discarding the evidence. A jury awarded plaintiffs…