- law.dawg
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VegasInc recently reported on the interesting lawsuit between Carrie Zeravica and the New York – New York Hotel and Casino, which stems from a 2007 shooting at the casino that injured 5 people.
Zeravica sued NY-NY after being shot, alleging that lax security was responsible for a number of permanent injuries (an alleged permanent leg injury from a gunshot requiring her to wear a brace and that she has allegedly suffered severe emotional distress with fear and anxiety about being in crowded places and being alone).
What makes this case interesting, is that NY-NY recently sought private MySpace and Facebook posts through discovery to determine if Zeravica really is permanently injured, as she claims.
According to the article, NY-NY attorneys have surveillance footage from a private investigator showing, among other things, Zeravica allegedly “depositing a large trash bag into a garbage can, and then departing for a concert with a large cooler. At the concert, she walked half a mile up a hill to the stadium entrance, the investigator reported. In the parking lot before the concert, plaintiff is seen drinking beer, talking with friends and tailgating.”
Allegedly, NY-NY also has at least partial MySpace postings in which Zeravica’s mood is listed as “Sooooo excited” and she posted on another page that she had been having “so much fun doing everything!!”
Now, it looks like NY-NY’s attorneys have sought to compel the production of all Zeravica’s Facebook and MySpace postings and pictures since 2007.
So, what did you all learn from this story? Has anyone had this discovery issue come up in an local state court case? If so, how did it turn out for you?
Have used, and know of at least one other attorney using, a social media posting to show Plaintiff that their claims were questionable at best and fraudulent at worst. Both involved a claim of disability where Plaintiff was clearly moving well or participating in a strenuous physical activity they claimed was now impossible. My case went away and the other settled for nuisance value. I now advise all clients to be very careful about what they let the world know via social media. I explain that in a big criminal case the police/prosecutor has the option to subpoena a cell tower dump to prove or disprove a general area where a phone was pinging, especially if it could put the defendant (or at least their phone) near the scene of the crime.
I suspect it will become even more important in civil cases as the technology advances. I was recently amazed when I found out that a prosecutor friend has a GPS feature enabled that posts some sort of a Facebook message like “user is checked in at location X.” Could make for an interesting line of discovery. Whether the Court will allow a fishing expedition in this case is to be seen, but I know it is pretty standard in my practice area to do a Google, Facebook and MySpace search on everyone involved for potentially useful information.
"…I know it is pretty standard in my practice area to do a Google, Facebook and MySpace search on everyone involved for potentially useful information."
I worked for a State Attorney General's Office (not Nevada) and this was our standard practice. With some efficient digging, there is almost always helpful information available through Google or Facebook.
In some jurisdictions you receive a list of the jury panel a few days prior to trial. I have done the same thing with jurors in those instances and found some interesting comments — political leanings, etc.