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51 Duke L.J. 1803 (2001-2002)
Linking the Culpability and Circumstantial Evidence Requirements for the Spoilation Inference

handle is hein.journals/duklr51 and id is 1813 raw text is: Notes LINKING THE CULPABILITY AND CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SPOLIATION INFERENCE DREw D. DROPKIN INTRODUCrION In the summer of 1989, Donald Vodusek, Sr., fueled his boat for a family trip from Pasadena, Maryland, to Baltimore's inner harbor.' Approximately thirty minutes after he siphoned gas into the cabin cruiser in preparation for departure, Vodusek turned on the boat's bilge pump.a Tragically, the boat exploded? Vodusek suffered second- and third-degree burns and died three months later due to bum- related complications.4 Shirley Vodusek, Donald's wife, filed suit in federal district court5 against the boat's manufacturer, Bayliner Marine Corporation, and the retail dealer of the boat, Stammer's Marine Center, Inc., al- leging that a faulty bilge pump switch ignited vapors from a leaky fuel system to cause the fatal explosion.6 Vodusek retained Douglas Hal- sey, an expert in marine vessel safety, to examine the boat and to pre- sent testimony supporting Vodusek's theory! During the pretrial Copyright © 2002 by Drew D. Dropkin. 1. Vodusek v. Bayliner Marine Corp., 71 F.3d 148,151 (4th dr. 1995). 2. Id. 3. Id. 4. Id. 5. The district court's decision in Vodusek was unpublished, and the synopsis of the un- derlying facts provided in this Note draws entirely from the summary of the facts provided by the court of appeals. 6. Vodusek, 71 F.3d at 151. 7. Id. at 155.

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