Also known as: destruere · destruction · destroy · waste
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An act of complete overthrow and demolition of that which was previously built and made.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Dustin Donovan approaches Diana Delgado outside her home and demands her purse. When she resists, Dustin threatens to burn down the house with her family inside if she does not comply. Diana hands over the purse because the threat places her family at immediate risk of death or serious injury. The threat satisfies the intimidation element because it targets destruction of the dwelling.
Devon Drake contracts to buy Denise Donovan's lakeside cabin. Before closing a fire destroys the cabin. Under equitable conversion Devon bears the risk of loss and must still pay the full purchase price even though the structure no longer exists.
Delta Dynamics receives an email from opposing counsel that is clearly privileged. After notification Delta must promptly destroy all copies and may not use or disclose the information until the privilege claim is resolved.
Dominic Drake, a lawyer, learns that his client plans to shred documents with potential evidentiary value in pending litigation. Dominic may not counsel or assist the client in destroying those documents.
Davenport Pharmaceuticals contracts with Dillon Energy to purchase a unique reactor required for a manufacturing process. Before delivery the reactor is destroyed by fire. The destruction discharges the duty because the reactor's existence was a basic assumption of the contract.
Officers knock at Dorothy Daniels's home and announce their presence. They hear sounds indicating she is flushing drugs down the toilet. The officers may enter without a warrant because they reasonably believe evidence is being destroyed and did not create the exigency by prior Fourth Amendment violation.
A threat satisfies the element only if it creates an immediate risk of death or serious physical injury to the victim or a person in the victim's presence. A threat to destroy the victim's dwelling house meets this standard while a threat to damage other property does not.
Under the majority rule of equitable conversion the buyer bears the risk of loss once the contract is formed and must pay the full price even if the property is destroyed before closing.
…however, it was a matter of dogma. For them the embryo was animate from the moment of conception, and abortion meant destruction of a living being. The abortion clause of the Oath, therefore, "echoes Pythagorean doctrines," and "[i]n no other stratum of Greek opinion were such views held or proposed in the same…
…Constitution has dealt with this deadly danger to the press in the only way possible without leaving the free press open to destructionby granting the press an absolute immunity for criticism of the way public officials do their public duty. Compare Barr v. Matteo, 360 U. S. 564. Stopgap measures like those the Court…
…the following corollaries have been deduced: a power to create implies a power to preserve; a power in a different hand to destroy what another creates is incompatible; and where such repugnancy exists the supreme authority must control. The power of Congress to create and continue the bank having been affirmed,…
…was important in the State involved, concluded that the State had not exceeded “its constitutional powers by deciding upon the destruction
…do we perceive any merit in the argument that to afford juveniles the protection of proof beyond a reasonable doubt would risk destruction of beneficial aspects of the juvenile process.[^maj-4] Use of the reasonable-doubt standard during the adjudicatory hearing will not disturb New York's policies that a finding that a child…
The receiving party must promptly return, sequester, or destroy the information and any copies, must not use or disclose it until the claim is resolved, and must take reasonable steps to retrieve any information already disclosed.
No. A lawyer is prohibited from unlawfully altering, destroying, or concealing material having potential evidentiary value or from counseling or assisting another person to do so.
Destruction discharges the duty when the thing's existence was necessary for performance and its non-occurrence was a basic assumption on which the contract was made.
Police may enter when they reasonably believe evidence is being destroyed, the exigency arises after they knock and announce, and they did not create the exigency through an actual or threatened Fourth Amendment violation.