Semet v. Andorra Nurseries, Inc.

Semet (plaintiff), injured after a ladder owned by Andorra Nurseries (defendant) collapsed while he worked on its roof, sought to introduce a photograph an accident investigator took of a ladder nearly two months after the accident, shown to the investigator by an unidentified Andorra employee whose knowledge of the accident or the ladder's identity was never established; Semet himself was not present during that investigation and was unfamiliar with the ladder that had collapsed under him. At trial, over three years after the accident, Semet sought to testify the photograph accurately depicted the actual ladder involved, but the judge excluded the evidence and entered an involuntary nonsuit, which an appellate court declined to remove; Semet appealed further.