Footwear can change quickly after a fall. A person may clean the sole, wear the shoes again, replace an insert, dry wet material, discard a damaged shoe, or return the pair to a retailer. The walking surface may also be cleaned, repaired, resurfaced, moved, or exposed to different weather and traffic. Preserving both records helps prevent later descriptions from depending only on memory.

A footwear-and-path record should preserve the exact shoes, their condition before and after the event, the route taken, observed movement, the surface encountered, handling history, and the limits of any conclusion.

Identify the exact footwear

  • Pair and individual shoe, wearer, manufacturer, brand, model, size, width, color, materials, sole pattern, labels, serial or lot information, purchase source, and approximate acquisition date
  • Laces, straps, fasteners, inserts, orthotics, heel components, tread, repairs, modifications, and any part that detached or changed
  • Typical use, frequency, prior wear, prior damage, cleaning, maintenance, storage, earlier photographs, receipt, product description, and witness knowledge
  • What the person was wearing on each foot, whether the shoes matched, and any difference between the item described at the scene and the item later produced

Photograph condition before cleaning or use

  • Overall views of each side, upper, inside, toe, heel, complete sole, labels, inserts, fasteners, and both shoes together
  • Close views of wear, cut, tear, deformation, detached material, embedded object, transferred material, moisture, residue, debris, or other observable condition
  • Scale, orientation, consistent lighting, original file metadata, image index, photographer, date, and a note identifying what each image is intended to show
  • No cleaning, drying method, testing, scraping, cutting, repair, disassembly, or continued use until a preservation decision has been made

Map the actual walking path

  • Starting point, intended destination, direction, exact route, turns, stairs or ramps, threshold, mat, transition, obstruction, handrail, lighting, and approximate contact point
  • Walking pace and observed movement described by the person with first-hand knowledge, without filling gaps through assumption
  • Surface condition along the approach as well as at the reported point, including changes that occurred before photographs or measurements were taken
  • Nearby people, employees, customers, video systems, inspection or cleaning activity, weather, and time references that may help test the chronology

North Carolina Rule of Evidence 602 concerns personal knowledge. Rule 701 limits lay opinion to inferences based on the witness’s perception that are helpful to understanding the testimony or a fact in issue. These rules support recording who actually observed the shoes, route, movement, and surface instead of turning a second-hand account into a fact.

Maintain custody and inspection history

  • Where each shoe was recovered, who collected it, date and time, container, seal or label, storage location, environmental condition, and access list
  • Every transfer, recipient, purpose, date, condition before and after, photographs, test or inspection, sample taken, and return
  • Original digital files retained separately from compressed, annotated, cropped, or shared copies
  • Missing item, uncertain identity, undocumented handling, continued wear, cleaning, prior damage, or changed condition recorded as a limitation

Rule 901 addresses authentication or identification. A custody log does not determine admissibility or responsibility, but it can help connect an item and its recorded condition to the person, event, and later inspection.

Separate observation from technical opinion

A person can record visible wear, moisture, residue, or damage without deciding friction, slip resistance, gait, defect, contamination source, or causation. Rule 702 addresses qualified expert testimony based on sufficient facts or data and reliable methods. When a question requires technical analysis, preserve the item and the known conditions so a qualified reviewer can explain both the method and its limits.

The related guide to preserving measurements and condition evidence after a serious fall covers the scene surface and dimensions. This page owns the separate footwear, walking-path, custody, and observation record.

Rosensteel Fleishman Car Accident & Injury Lawyers provides information about Charlotte slip-and-fall claims. Footwear and scene evidence should be preserved without unsafe testing or conclusions that exceed the available foundation.

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