Date: 2010-08-16 Docket: 08-CV-00352197SR  Master Short. |  Link

In this defamation and libel case, the defendant asks for production of the plaintiff's hard disk so that it can prove that the plaintiff himself had planted racist and misogynist messages on a NeoNazi website. Given that the suit was brought under Rule 76 (The Simplified Procedure) and the breadth of the request, the Master analyzes the proportionality principle as it is applied to discovery as well as the new rule related to discovery planning. Applying both proportionality (para 114) and the limitation on the scope of discovery in libel cases (from para 123), the Master agrees that a forensic examination of the hard disk be made on a mirror copy by an independent computer expert. (para 161) looking for limited information as he specifically directs.