Opinion ID: 2583037
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jury instructions regarding spoliation of evidence

Text: Higgs contends that the district court abused its discretion when it refused to give Higgs' proffered spoliation instruction regarding the State's alleged failure to properly preserve evidence of an injection site tissue sample from Augustine's body. Higgs urges this court to apply the spoliation rule set forth in Bass-Davis v. Davis, 122 Nev. 442, 452-53, 134 P.3d 103, 109-10 (2006), to criminal cases. In Bass-Davis, a civil case, this court determined that even when missing evidence is not willfully destroyed, but rather is negligently destroyed, the party prejudiced by the loss of evidence is entitled to an adverse inference instruction. Id. We reject Higgs' suggestion that we extend the spoliation rule set forth in Bass-Davis to criminal cases. This court has articulated the rule for failure to preserve evidence in criminal cases, and we see no reason to depart from that standard. Due process requires the State to preserve material evidence. Steese v. State, 114 Nev. 479, 491, 960 P.2d 321, 329 (1998). The State's failure to preserve material evidence can lead to dismissal of the charges if the defendant can show `bad faith or connivance on the part of the government' or `that he was prejudiced by the loss of the evidence.' Daniels v. State, 114 Nev. 261, 267, 956 P.2d 111, 115 (1998) (quoting Howard v. State, 95 Nev. 580, 582, 600 P.2d 214, 215-16 (1979)). Moreover, district courts have broad discretion to settle jury instructions. Cortinas v. State, 124 Nev. ___, ___, 195 P.3d 315, 319 (2008). Our review is, therefore, limited to inquiring whether there was an abuse of discretion or judicial error. Id. In the present case, Higgs proffered three different adverse-inference jury instructions regarding spoliation of evidence. He asserted that the jury instructions were necessary because the State inadequately inspected and preserved the tissue sample from an injection site on Augustine's body. We disagree. The district court properly rejected Higgs' proffered jury instructions because there was no evidence that the State acted in bad faith, and Higgs failed to show he was prejudiced by the State's failure to preserve the tissue sample. First, Higgs does not argue that the State acted in bad faith, but that it was negligent in its preservation of the tissue sample. With no issue raised as to bad faith, nor any evidence supporting such a determination, we need only consider if Higgs was prejudiced by the spoliation. We determine that Higgs was not prejudiced by the spoliation of the tissue sample because the State did not benefit from its failure to preserve the evidence. See Sanborn v. State, 107 Nev. 399, 408, 812 P.2d 1279, 1286 (1991) (in holding that defendant was prejudiced by State's failure to preserve the evidence, the court explained that the State's case was buttressed by the absence of [the] evidence). The State's forensic toxicologist, Dr. Clark, admitted that she could not confirm that the tissue sample was from the site at which the succinylcholine was administered. More importantly, the defense's forensic toxicologist, Dr. Sohn, testified that while he could not retest the tissue sample to date it, he did examine it microscopically. He stated that his microscopic examination, along with the autopsy pictures of the site led him to conclude  with medical certainty  that the wound could not have been inflicted before Augustine was admitted to the hospital. The failure to preserve the tissue sample prevented Dr. Sohn from dating the tissue sample, not from forming a medical conclusion in support of Higgs' defense that he did not inject his wife with succinylcholine. Accordingly, Higgs was not prejudiced by the State's failure to preserve the tissue sample from the injection site.