Adkins v. Wolever, 6th Cir. Mar. 21, 2008
07-1421 Adkins v. Wolever
Before: MARTIN and SUTTON, Circuit Judges; OBERDORFER, District Judge.1
BOYCE F. MARTIN, JR., Circuit Judge. Kenneth Ray Adkins brought an action in federal court against Basil Wolever, a guard at the Ionia Maximum Correctional Facility in Ionia, Michigan. Adkins alleges that Wolever assaulted him in his cell and caused serious injuries. At trial, Adkins asked the district court for an instruction on the alleged spoliation of the film and photographic evidence of the alleged assault, which Adkins maintains was destroyed in contravention of prison policy. The district court denied the instruction, finding that Michigan law did not provide for a third-party spoliation sanction. Because the district court did not abuse its discretion under the present law of our Circuit, we AFFIRM the verdict, along with the hope that an en banc panel will change this law to recognize the power of the federal courts to order such sanctions in appropriate circumstances. … Adkins v. Wolever.
- The Honorable Louis F. Oberdorfer, Senior United States District Judge for the District of Columbia, sitting by designation. [↩]
