Effective Use of Dash Camera Videos in Civil Litigation

• Overview

In Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 380-81, 127 S. Ct. 1769, 167 L. Ed. 2d 686 (2007), United States Supreme Court held that at the summary judgment stage a court need not accept the nonmovants version of the facts where it is "so utterly discredited by the record that no reasonable jury could have believed [it]. The Court of Appeals should not have relied on such visible fiction; it should have viewed the facts in the light depicted by the videotape.

Since that holding, the use of police dash camera video has gained increasing importance in civil litigation. This OnDemand Webinar will explore the importance of dash cam video both from the perspective of the plaintiff and defendant. This program will address issues of spoliation that arise when video is erased or discarded and issues regarding possible alteration of video. This latter point has become a point of contention in the era of digital video. This OnDemand Webinar will also address issues related to training and to policies and protocols for the use and retention of videos.

This program will benefit attorneys involved in civil litigation involving police misconduct cases, both from the plaintiff's perspective and the defendant's perspective. This OnDemand Webinar will also benefit attorneys who work for or advise governmental entities on the use of video and on the development of policies addressing video usage and retention.

Authors

Agenda

Use of Video in Civil Litigation

• Video Evidence Supersedes Other Evidence

• Use at Summary Judgment Stage

• Use at Trial

Issues Arising From Video

• Spoliation Claims

• Integrity of Video Evidence

• Ambiguous Video

Policies and Training

• Violation of Policy Requirements

• Digital Systems and Training

• Incomplete Video Record