Unfortunately for the Marinos, they plastered over the holes in the wall where the handrail had been attached, depriving defendant Nartker the opportunity to inspect the alleged defective installation. The trial court excluded certain evidence as a result of the plastering and then granted summary disposition because the Marinos couldn't make out their case.

The Court of Appeals affirmed. It's funny the kind of things that are obvious to lawyers that might not be obvious to laypeople. Assuming that there was nothing sneaky about the Marinos' plastering, one can only wonder what they were thinking. Maybe they fixed it before they decided to file suit, or before her injury became obvious. Who knows. But the bottom-line is that you can't expect to file suit against someone and simultaneously destroy the central evidence in your case without dire legal consequences.