Opinion ID: 1827084
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether the State's release of his pickup and the claimed loss of exculpatory evidence denied him a fair trial.

Text: According to Arguello, after he was attacked by Poor Thunder and High Crane, he ran to his pickup in the parking lot of the bar in an attempt to escape. When he arrived at his pickup, he claims he found the driver's side door open and the back window on the passenger side broken. After throwing the knife and tire iron into the back of the pickup, Arguello fled the scene in the pickup. The police took possession of the pickup after Arguello's arrest. There was testimony that none of the windows on the pickup were broken. The pickup was later released by the State to the mortgagee bank. Arguello filed a motion to dismiss due to destruction of evidence. According to Arguello, the State's failure to follow release of evidence procedures as to his pickup denied him a fair trial. He argues that, because his attorney was never notified that the pickup was going to be released, he was unable to conduct an independent examination of the pickup for evidence, including fingerprints and fibers placing Poor Thunder, High Crane, Tony Cook (Cook) or others inside or near the pickup. The trial court denied his motion, finding that, while the State did release the pickup without notifying him, the State was acting in good faith and any evidence that may have been lost by the release was not exculpatory. SDCL 23A-37-15 provides: Before any property is returned to the owner pursuant to § 23A-37-14, the law enforcement personnel in possession of the property shall notify the defendant that the property will be returned to the owner. Upon a motion made by the defendant and upon good cause shown that the property contains exculpatory evidence of the defendant's innocence, the court may order the law enforcement personnel in possession of the property not to release it to the owner. The State's violation of SDCL 23A-37-15 does not automatically vitiate the conviction. State v. Lyerla, 424 N.W.2d 908, 911 (S.D.1988) (citation omitted). The State's destruction of evidence favorable to Arguello is a violation of due process if the evidence requested by Arguello and destroyed by the State is material either to guilt or punishment. Id. at 910 (citing Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963); United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976)). The state's duty to preserve evidence is limited to evidence that might be expected to play a significant role in the suspect's defense. To meet this standard of constitutional materiality, evidence must both possess an exculpatory value that was apparent before the evidence was destroyed, and be of such a nature that the defendant would be unable to obtain comparable evidence by other reasonably available means. California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 488-89, 104 S.Ct. 2528, 2534, 81 L.Ed.2d 413, 422 (1984) (footnote omitted) (citation omitted) (emphasis added). Additionally, Arguello must show that the State acted in bad faith in releasing the pickup. Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51, 58, 109 S.Ct. 333, 337, 102 L.Ed.2d 281, 289 (1988). The record indicates that the State conducted lab tests on various specimens and items including those taken from Arguello's pickup. The results were provided to Arguello. If Arguello felt that the pickup contained additional evidence which may have been exculpatory in nature, he had an opportunity to conduct his own forensic analysis before the pickup was released to the bank. According to the State at the Motions Hearing, the pickup was held by the State for a considerable period of time. The State released the pickup only after Arguello's creditor brought a civil proceeding to gain title to the pickup. Presumably, Arguello was notified of this proceeding. Additionally, the State offered to assist Arguello in getting the pickup returned. If Arguello believed the pickup contained exculpatory evidence, he should have actively conducted his own forensic examination prior to the release of the pickup or have accepted the State's offer to assist him in getting the pickup returned. We do not find that the release of Arguello's pickup resulted in the loss of evidence that might be expected to play a significant role in his defense.