DEFENDANT FAILED TO “AUTHENTICATE” THAT EVIDENCE
After JP filed a personal injury case, the defendants sought to submit video surveillance evidence which purportedly supported their contention that they “neither created nor had notice of the allegedly wet floor that caused plaintiff's fall.”
When their motion for summary judgment – pre-trial relief in their favor – was denied by the Bronx County Supreme Court, the defendants appealed.
On its review of the record, the Appellate Division, First Department, noted that because defendants did not offer a “proper foundation,” or otherwise “authenticate” the video evidence, the court below had thus “providently exercised its discretion” when it denied them the requested relief.
[A video is usually authenticated by testimony or other evidence reinforcing that it accurately depicts what it purports to show. In the absence of such demonstration, a could may decline to entertain such a submission – as was the case here.]
Now that’s one for the record ….
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DECISION