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Rule 34A.02 Other Spoliation

Rule 34A. Spoliation of Evidence

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Rule Text

Rule 37 sanctions may be imposed upon a party or an agent of a party who discards, destroys, mutilates, alters, or conceals evidence.{Amended by order filed December 29, 2005, effective July 1, 2006.]

Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)

This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.

If you or someone acting on your behalf gets rid of, damages, changes, or hides evidence that matters to a case, the court can punish you for it. This applies whether the evidence is thrown away, destroyed, altered, or simply hidden from the other side.

The punishment comes from Rule 37, which gives judges several options. A judge might tell the jury they can assume the missing evidence would have hurt your case. The judge could also block you from using certain evidence or arguments, dismiss part or all of your case, or in serious situations, rule against you completely.

This rule exists to keep both sides honest during a lawsuit. Evidence needs to stay available so the court can look at the full truth. If someone destroys or hides evidence on purpose, or even carelessly loses something they should have kept, they risk serious consequences that can hurt their chances of winning the case.

Committee Notes

Advisory Commission Comments [1992].

Concern over destructive testing of real evidence prompted this addition to the Rules of Civil Procedure. If one party's expert destroys a tangible thing in testing, the opponent will be deprived of similar testing and may be without evidence to support a claim or defense. Requiring a motion, which would put the opponent on notice, and giving the court discretion to set conditions should prevent an unjust result. The rule applies, however, only where a civil action has been commenced.

Advisory Commission Comments [1994].

The amendment provides for destruction or other disposition in addition to testing.

Advisory Commission Comment [2006].

The rule has a new, broader heading. Rule 34A.02 is new. Also, Rule 37 sanctions are made available against offenders. Those sanctions include, at 37.02, refusal to allow claims or defenses; even dismissal of a plaintiff’s complaint and entry of default judgment against a defendant are possible.

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Last updated: August 2026

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