Plaintiff tells appellate court defendant deleted electronic notes, cites metadata backdating

In rebuttal, Joyce Williams told the court the defendant admitted to deleting electronic evidence that could have shown the notes were created in 2022. "It is undenied here that the defendant is the 1 that went into his computer without anyone's knowledge, deleted things that he thought were not important which included a version of the clinical notes," Williams said.

Williams said metadata had been altered or was inconsistent across devices, describing expert testimony that showed backdating and other irregularities that prevented reliable proof the notes originated in 2019. She said discovery misconduct and late‑disclosed communications between defense counsel and an expert about deleting files undermined the trial process and had not been evaluated by the trial court under a bad‑faith standard. Williams asked the panel to reverse and remand for a new trial on those grounds.

Defense counsel did not address the spoliation allegations at length during the argument, saying only that the jury had considered all evidence and rejected the plaintiff's claim. The panel took no oral ruling and recessed after argument.