said by Kilroy :

That should be sufficient to get him off the hook. As most of the people here know erasing a drive so that you can find no evidence isn't just deleting the file.

said by MrBentor :

Actually not. Contrary to common belief, generally, and in practice, you are guilty until proven innocent. This is especially true in a civil claims. You have to disprove an allegation and the burden of proof against a defendant is much lower then a criminal court.