After Sylvia Powers slipped and fell in a Piggly-Wiggly grocery store owned and operated by Southern Family Markets of Eastman, LLC “Southern”, she filed a complaint for damages against Southern in the Superior Court of Dodge County.1 Prior to trial, Powers filed a motion for sanctions based on alleged spoliation of video evidence and a motion to compel discovery. After oral argument, the trial court denied Powers’ spoliation motion and entered an order resolving the discovery disputes. The trial court also granted Southern’s motion in limine prohibiting both parties from making any argument or eliciting any testimony concerning the alleged spoliation of video evidence. Following a jury trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Southern. Powers appeals, contending the trial court erred 1 in denying her motion regarding spoliation of the video evidence and 2 in excluding all testimony regarding such evidence. In addition, Powers contends the trial court erred in its ruling on her motion to compel discovery. For the reasons explained below, we affirm.
The evidence shows that, on May 27, 2008, Powers went to into the Piggly-Wiggly store to shop for groceries. After paying for her selected items, Powers was attempting to exit the store when she slipped and fell. Although Powers testified that she did not see anyone mopping the floor prior to her fall, an employee of Dimitrov’s Cleaning Service, an independent contractor, had been cleaning the floors in the vicinity where Powers fell. When the store manager, Mike Law, responded to the incident, he observed two “wet floor” signs and a mop machine in the area where Powers had fallen. When he asked Powers what had happened, she told him that she knew the floor was wet, and she stated that she thought she would be okay and that she did not need any medical assistance. After Powers walked out of the store, Law went back to his office and signed an incident report, which he is required to do in the ordinary course of business whenever a slip and fall occurs. It was Law’s responsibility to perform investigations and gather information concerning incidents that occurred in the store. As a part of his investigation of this case, Law drew a diagram of the incident and took pictures of the area where the incident occurred.
