Opinion ID: 525360
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Lost Semen Sample.

Text: 13 According to the state, the Supreme Court decision in Arizona v. Youngblood compels a conclusion that the appellant's due process rights have not been violated. --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 333, 102 L.Ed.2d 281 (1988). We agree. 14 According to the Court in Youngblood, the failure of a state to preserve evidence of which no more can be said than it could have been subjected to tests, the results of which might have exonerated the defendant, is not a denial of due process of the law unless a criminal defendant can show bad faith on the part of the police. Id. 109 S.Ct. at 337. In that case, the police collected the rectal swabs and the clothing on the night of the crime; defendant was not taken into custody for six weeks. The failure of the police to refrigerate the clothing and to perform tests on the semen sample can at best be described as negligent. Id. The evidence--such as it was--was made available to the defendant. There was no suggestion of bad faith on the part of police and hence no violation of the Due Process Clause. Id. 15 Mitchell does not complain that the state did not disclose relevant police reports, which contained the relevant information about tests performed on the sample and the victim's examination at the hospital. Accordingly, Brady does not apply to this case. Rather, Mitchell complains that the state's failure to preserve a semen sample denied him the opportunity to perform a PGM enzyme analysis which could have provided potentially exculpatory evidence. 16 Contrary to appellant's contention, the fact that the PGM analysis would have been performed had the semen sample been preserved is not evidence that the police acted in bad faith. First, Mitchell was not identified in the photographic lineup until after his arrest on September 27, 1981, approximately three months after the semen sample was collected. The police did not know whether the semen sample would have exculpated Mitchell when they failed to perform further testing and when they failed to refrigerate the sample. Second, the police followed departmental procedure in not sending the sample to the FBI given the fact that no suspect had been identified; the police department itself lacked the capability to perform the tests. Thus, the police were acting in accord with their normal practices and had no constitutional duty to perform any particular test. Youngblood, 109 S.Ct. at 338 (police are free to use or not to use any particular investigatory tool). 17 Next, appellant contends that the Youngblood bad faith standard does not apply to this case because the state made use of the results of the ABO blood group testing in its case in chief. In Youngblood, the state did not attempt to make any use of the materials in its own case in chief. 109 S.Ct. at 336. Although unclear, the appellant appears to be arguing that the three-step analysis described in Trombetta should therefore be applied to this case. California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 488-89, 104 S.Ct. 2528, 2533-34, 81 L.Ed.2d 413 (1984). 18 Appellant's contention is erroneous. The state did not present evidence of the results of a PGM enzyme analysis in its case in chief. The state did present the results of the ABO blood group testing. Mitchell was free to emphasize to the finder of fact that 40% of the black population had the same blood group secretor as Mitchell and to present any contrary evidence of his actual ABO blood type. 19 Even under Trombetta, however, the appellant must show that the police did not act in good faith. In this case, the police did not know the semen samples would have exculpated [Mitchell] when they failed to perform certain tests or refrigerate [certain samples], Youngblood, 109 S.Ct. at 336-37 n. 1; hence there was no bad faith on the part of the police. 20 Since there is no evidence to support a finding of bad faith on the part of the police and 'failure to preserve potentially useful evidence does not constitute a denial of due process of law,' appellant's due process rights were not violated. Id. at 337. 21