The trial court further found that Detective Meyer was able to talk to LaBelle coherently and rationally. The trial court did not err in concluding that LaBelle's statement to Detective Meyer was voluntary. LaBelle next claims that the trial court erred when it denied her motion to dismiss based on an alleged failure of the State to produce exculpatory documentary evidence. Thus, it was not produced. A negligent failure to preserve evidence violates due process only if the evidence possessed an exculpatory value, which was apparent before it was lost, and the defendant is unable to obtain comparable evidence by reasonably available means.
Evidence is exculpatory when it raises a reasonable doubt about the defendant's guilt.
Tape number four is the focus of LaBelle's claim of error. Nothing in the record sheds further light on what happened to the tape. There is no evidence that any police officer deliberately destroyed tape number four in a conscious effort to suppress evidence known to be favorable to LaBelle. There is no evidence that if the tape was negligently lost, it possessed any exculpatory value which was apparent before it was lost. Although LaBelle claimed her register was not working properly, no other corroborative facts were presented to elevate the supposition to a level of an apparent exculpatory explanation sufficient to demonstrate a due process violation.