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Rule 196.5. Destruction or Alteration (Aug. 1998)

TEXT

Testing, sampling or examination of an item may not destroy or materially alter an item unless previously authorized by the court.

Aug. 4, 1998, eff. Jan. 1, 1999.

Notes and Comments

Comments to 1999 change:

1. "Document and tangible things" are defined in Rule I 92.3(b).

2. A party requesting sampling or testing must describe the procedure with sufficient specificity to enable the responding party to make any appropriate objections.

3. A party requesting production of magnetic or electronic data must specifically request the data, specify the form in which it wants the data produced, and specify any extraordinary steps for retrieval and translation. Otherwise, the responding party need only produce the data available in the ordinary course of business in reasonably usable form.

4. The rule clarifies how the expenses of production are to be allocated absent a court order to the contrary.

5. The obligation of parties to produce documents within their possession, custody or control is explained in Rule 192.3(b).

6. Parties may request production and inspection of documents and tangible things from nonparties under Rule 205.3.

7. Rule 196.3(b) is based on Tex. R. Evid. 1003.

8. Rule 196.1 (c) is merely a notice requirement and does not expand the scope of discovery of a nonparty's medical records.

AMENDMENTS

Nov. 9, 1998, eff. Jan. 1, 1999