Opinion ID: 178833
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether the Charges Should Be Dismissed Based on Destroyed Evidence

Text: Webster next contends the district court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the indictment because his due process rights were violated when state officials destroyed evidence while the case was still pending. The district court's denial of a motion to dismiss the indictment because of the destruction of evidence is reviewed de novo. United States v. Williams, 577 F.3d 878, 882 (8th Cir.2009). The Supreme Court has held that unless a defendant can show bad faith on the part of police, failure to preserve potentially useful evidence does not constitute denial of due process of law. United States v. Scoggins, 992 F.2d 164, 167 (8th Cir.1993) (citing Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51, 109 S.Ct. 333, 102 L.Ed.2d 281 (1988)). Moreover, the evidence must have had apparent exculpatory value and comparable exculpatory evidence must not have been reasonably available to the defendant. United States v. Malbrough, 922 F.2d 458, 463 (8th Cir.1990) (citing California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 488-89, 104 S.Ct. 2528, 81 L.Ed.2d 413 (1984)). We have previously held state authorities did not act in bad faith when they destroyed evidence pursuant to a court order. Scoggins, 992 F.2d at 167 (citing Malbrough, 922 F.2d at 463). The destruction of evidence in this case occurred pursuant to the Des Moines Police Department's procedure of destroying evidence on a bi-annual basis. Each officer is given a printout of their locker, or evidence related to the cases in which they are involved, in order to verify whether the evidence can be destroyed. After receiving verification from the officers, the evidence custodian examines the records of the Polk County Attorney's Office to assess the current disposition of the cases. In Webster's case, Walters, as the local case agent, failed to place a notice of transfer in the case file or inform the evidence custodian, Officer Kelley Evans, that Webster had been indicted in federal court. The records in the Polk County Attorney's Office showed Webster's state case was closed. Accordingly, Evans sent the entire packet of evidence to the Attorney's Office to be reviewed by attorneys in the drug and gang unit, who rely on the same internal records as those reviewed by Evans to assess whether a case is still open. Evans subsequently received an order from a state district court judge directing the evidence be destroyed, and he destroyed all the evidence referenced in the order, including the evidence in Webster's case and hundreds of other cases. Prior to its destruction, the evidence was sent to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Criminalistics Laboratory for official analysis. A report from the lab detailed the results from the analysis, including the quantity and makeup of the drugs. The district court determined the normal procedure in destroying evidence was followed, despite Walters's accidental oversight regarding the status of Webster's federal case. It held there was no evidence of bad faith on Walters's part, and while the procedure could possibly be improved to enhance communication between state and federal agents, it concluded the lack of bad faith was dispositive to Webster's claim. Moreover, the court stated the destroyed drug evidence did not have exculpatory value to Webster, and the government still bore the burden of proving the existence and quantity of the drugs at trial. On appeal, Webster concedes the state had a policy in place to track evidence, but he asserts it was recklessly ignored. He argues a showing of recklessness, rather than a showing of bad faith, is enough to meet his burden. Webster contends the district court mischaracterized Walters's oversight as accidental or negligent because Walters knew the case was in federal court and he was tasked with putting a notice in the file to preserve the evidence. To this end, Webster describes Walters's eight years of experience, as well as Walters's personal involvement with this case as the arresting officer and the person to whom Webster made inculpatory statements. Given these circumstances, Webster asserts Walters's reckless actions constituted a due process violation. Webster also places blame on the Polk County Attorney's Office, particularly Dan Voogt, the prosecutor in Webster's state case, and Robert DiBlasi, an Assistant County Attorney. Webster argues these individuals signed off on the destruction of Webster's evidence, despite knowing of the pending federal case. Moreover, Webster asserts the evidence had exculpatory value because he was not able to independently test the crack cocaine to determine its quantity and purity. He contends he should not be required to blindly accept the government's test results. As an initial matter, we reject Webster's invitation to impose a lesser standard of culpability on the part of the government in this case. The Supreme Court has stressed the importance for constitutional purposes of good or bad faith on the part of the Government when the claim is based on loss of evidence attributable to the Government. Youngblood, 488 U.S. at 57, 109 S.Ct. 333. In light of Youngblood, we have required a showing of bad faith to sustain a due process claim based on the failure to preserve evidence. Scoggins, 992 F.2d at 167. Moreover, we have stressed that the burden of demonstrating bad faith on the part of the government resides with the defendant. Id.; Youngblood, 488 U.S. at 58, 109 S.Ct. 333. Under Youngblood, we agree with the district court there is no evidence of bad faith on the part of the individuals involved which would constitute a due process violation. At most, the record shows Walters acted negligently in failing to notify Evans of the federal indictment, which is not enough for Webster to demonstrate a due process violation. See United States v. Iron Eyes, 367 F.3d 781, 786 (8th Cir.2004) ([T]he record in this case shows that, at most, the police acted negligently in allowing [the evidence to be destroyed]; there was no evidence of bad faith.). Webster's argument the district court mischaracterized Walters's conduct is unavailing because Webster maintained the burden to show bad faith on the part of the state officials, and he failed to present any evidence in the record tending to show anything more than mere negligence. Instead, the record shows the evidence was destroyed along with evidence from hundreds of other cases during a bi-annual standard procedure, and was signed off on by a state court judge. We are also unpersuaded by Webster's argument the destroyed evidence would have been exculpatory. First, we agree with the district court that the presentation of the crack cocaine itself at trial would tend to be more inculpatory than exculpatory. While there remains a small possibility that further testing of the drugs by Webster would have revealed errors in the government's lab analysis, the Supreme Court has rejected similar arguments as a basis for demonstrating the exculpatory value of destroyed evidence. See Trombetta, 467 U.S. at 489, 104 S.Ct. 2528 (Although the preservation of breath samples might conceivably have contributed to respondents' defenses, a dispassionate review of the Intoxilyzer and the California testing procedures can only lead one to conclude that the chances are extremely low that preserved samples would have been exculpatory.). Webster attempts to distinguish his case from Trombetta based on the possibility of life imprisonment he potentially faced if his case proceeded to trial, whereas the defendants in Trombetta confronted far less severe penalties pursuant to their charges for driving while intoxicated. Such discrepancy is of no consequence to our inquiry of whether the government exhibited bad faith in destroying evidence and whether the evidence was exculpatory to the defendant. In other words, our focus remains on whether the defendant's constitutional due process rights have been violated by the government's conduct, irrespective of the ultimate sentence a defendant receives. See id. at 488, 104 S.Ct. 2528 (discussing whether California's policy of not preserving breath samples is with or without constitutional defect). Finally, Webster asserts the destruction of evidence denied him his Sixth Amendment right to have the jury determine the facts of his case. He suggests the jury would have been deprived of the ability to assess the true type, purity, and quantity of drugs involved in his offense. We disagree. The government at all times retained its burden to prove the elements of the offense and the drug quantity attributable to Webster, even if the destruction of the evidence presented further challenges to the government in achieving such purpose. Webster was free at trial to cross-examine the government's witnesses to that effect, calling into play the government's conduct in destroying the evidence. See Williams, 577 F.3d at 882 (noting the defendant's argument that the condition of a firearm destroyed before trial was material to his guilt was rebutted by the fact the defendant could cross-examine the government's expert regarding the firearm's condition). In addition, we have rejected similar claims from defendants who have asserted an inability to test the destroyed evidence due, in part, to the ability of the defendant to cross-examine the government's witnesses. Id. at 883; see also Trombetta, 467 U.S. at 490, 104 S.Ct. 2528 ([T]he defendant retains the right to cross-examine the law enforcement officer who administered the Intoxilyzer test, and to attempt to raise doubts in the mind of the factfinder whether the test was properly administered.). Under these circumstances, we affirm the district court's denial of Webster's motion to dismiss.