Gallagher v. Pequot Spring Water Co.
Circuit Court of Connecticut, Appellate Division
199 A.2d 172 (1963)
Gallagher (plaintiff) became nauseous after drinking a beverage bottled by Pequot Spring Water Company (defendant) at her wedding, and eighteen months later at trial introduced a bottle she claimed was the one in question, showing an ambiguous substance barely visible through dark glass that neither she nor her mother could clearly identify, relying instead on wedding guests' excited exclamations at the time that they saw a roach in the bottle. The jury awarded Gallagher judgment, and Pequot appealed, arguing she never established a proper foundation for the bottle's admission and that the commotion itself, not any actual contamination, may have caused her injuries.
Whether a plaintiff seeking to admit an object as real evidence of her injuries must establish an unbroken chain of custody connecting the object to the incident.