Wedding video gets second use — as evidence

May 16, 2008

Wedding video follies are a staple of blooper shows, and an old wedding tape is usually good for laughs based on clothing and hairstyles alone. But what if that video of your special day was entered as evidence in court? Would it still be funny?

The answer, at least in Baltimore County Circuit Court this week, was yes. Jurors chuckled as they watched snippets of a July 2005 wedding at the Essex home of Leroy Weinreich, who is being sued by Lonnie J. Nelson of Edgewood.

Nelson alleges he was injured when a pier collapsed on Weinreich’s property. His lawyers argued Weinreich did not warn guests the pier was unstable even though the family knew it needed repairs.

At trial, Weinreich’s wife testified that Nelson was nowhere near the affected area of the pier when it collapsed. Nelson’s lawyers then played a video taken at the wedding, which the Weinreichs were hosting for a close friend.

red-plastic-cup.jpg

The parts I saw Tuesday included the Weinreichs’ toasting the happy couple, some dancing and some drinking from red plastic cups (which were also entered as evidence). Jurors were scheduled to start their deliberations Friday.

Steve Wernick, a veteran video producer in Philadelphia, said it is rare for such tapes to be used in court but not unprecedented. An event video was used about six months ago to convict someone accused of stealing gifts from the function, said Wernick, who is also director of development with The 4EVER Group, a trade association for independent video producers.

Wernick said he has been hired with the intent to use his film as part of a lawsuit but has never had any of his event footage used in court. Still, he knows it could happen one day.

“Anyone with a camera knows anything can happen,” he said.

DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer

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