Jury won't hear about Apple and Samsung's lost e-mails

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Facing disclosure to a jury that both Apple and Samsung failed to uphold document retention laws, the two companies struck a deal to keep the matter private.

The offer came during a public hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh earlier today as both sides hashed out last-minute jury instructions and the particulars of a verdict form.

After Koh told Apple that she would be siding with Samsung over a retaliatory filing that would require her to tell jurors that both companies failed to retain e-mails (and other documents that might be critical to the case), Apple agreed to the idea.

Koh's order will arrive in signed form later tonight or early tomorrow, she told both sides at the end of the hearing.

At risk for both companies is appearing to have willfully hidden, or somehow failed on retaining e-mails, evidence that could have turned out to be crucial in deciding the outcome of the case.

Some of the most damning, or simply noteworthy evidence in the case has been the internal e-mail threads. On Apple's side, that's been exchanges between executives talking about designs, as well as a thread about a 7-inch version of the iPad. For Samsung, its been meeting notes citing a "crisis of design" as well as indications the company had been told by Google to make its products less similar to Apple's.

The evidence portion of ... [Read more]