In the case of Greg Moore et al. v. Sean Garnand et al., the plaintiffs, the Moores, alleged violations of their constitutional rights stemming from the execution of search warrants related to an arson investigation. The Moores contended that the warrants, which were executed shortly after the incident, were not based on probable cause and included significant misrepresentations. As part of the litigation, they filed a motion compelling the defendants to produce additional discovery materials, specifically metadata from photographs taken during the searches, which they believed was essential for reconstructing the sequence of events.

The court addressed the Moores' motion for discovery, acknowledging that the defendants failed to disclose critical metadata associated with several photographs originally held by the Tucson Police Department. This metadata was argued to be crucial for understanding the timeline of the investigation, as it may contain information that witnesses can no longer recall. The plaintiffs contended that the defendants' obligations under the Mandatory Initial Discovery Pilot Project required the inclusion of such electronic data from the outset. The defendants argued that the Moores should have known that the photographs originally contained metadata and their failure to raise the issue before now must be a “strategic decision.” The defendants also argued that placards “were filled out by the police officers who took the photographs” and therefore the metadata was not necessary to divine the sequence of events that took place when the defendants executed their search warrants.

The court did not agree that these placards are a good substitute for the metadata and found merit in the Moores' argument, stating that the metadata should have been part of the initial disclosures, aligning with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure regarding the production of electronically stored information. Ultimately, the court granted in part the Moores' motion, ordering the defendants to produce the requested photographs along with their metadata within ten days. This ruling underscores the importance of thorough and timely disclosure in legal proceedings, particularly when electronic evidence is involved, as it can significantly impact the case's outcome and the plaintiffs' ability to substantiate their claims.

Reach out to Caitlin Oyler, Counsel at CODISCOVR. Caitlin has over a decade of experience providing high-level advice to clients regarding all phases of the eDiscovery life cycle and managing high-profile document collections, reviews, and productions.