Litigation Hold Memorandums - Martin County, Florida

given the instruction that they can infer that the deleted e-mails contained information
detrimental to the Deputies.
As to the Sheriff, the Court found that he as defendant was given a copy of the preservation
letter, and was among those who did nothing “to see that the SCSO employees complied
with the SCSO’s legal obligations to preserve the evidence relevant to the Plaintiff’s
Case.”
As to the legal advisor, even though he circulated the preservation letter, and while not a
defendant in the case, never issued any “litigation hold memos to suspend all orders,
practices, or policies that could lead to the destruction of evidence relevant to this
case.”
The sanctions for a finding of spoliation include the award of attorney’s fees and costs associated
with the motion, and the imposition of jury instructions which have detrimental and adverse
inferences against the defendants. Initially a request of over $300,000 in attorney’s fees and
costs was requested by the Plaintiffs. While the judge has yet to rule on the exact amount, she
has ruled that the attorney’s fees and costs are to be awarded.
I recently spoke to the Legal Advisor for Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and he stated that this
matter is presently being appealed. While he believes that the actual awards will be significantly
reduced, the award of some amount will still be ordered. At present, The Florida Sheriff’s Self-
Insurance Fund, which also represents the MCSO and its Deputies in these matters, is covering
the costs of the sanctions. Nevertheless, as the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office was given
notice of the preservation issue, if this matter proceeds to trial, there will be at the very least jury
instructions which will be adverse to the SCSO.