Opinion ID: 1199641
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Whether the judge abused her discretion in refusing to give a Willits instruction

Text: ¶ 61 The defense introduced evidence that Jeneane ate chicken and creamed corn around 6:30 the evening she disappeared. A pathologist testified that based on the contents of Jeneane's stomach, she died sometime within two hours of her last meal. He explained that under normal conditions, it takes about two hours for the gastric process to empty the stomach, and Jeneane's stomach had been full. Defendant told police he visited his wife in the hospital from 6:30 to 8:30 the evening of Jeneane's disappearance, although the timing of his visit was disputed. The autopsy revealed that Jeneane's stomach contents included meat. The state did not retain a sample of the contents. Defendant requested a Willits instruction on the grounds that had the state preserved a sample of Jeneane's stomach contents, the meat could have been determined to be chicken and a more exact time of death could have been established, perhaps during Defendant's visit to the hospital. ¶ 62 When police negligently fail to preserve potentially exculpatory evidence, an instruction pursuant to State v. Willits, 96 Ariz. 184, 393 P.2d 274 (1964), permits the jury to infer that the evidence would have been exculpatory. To be entitled to a Willits instruction, a defendant must prove: (1) that the state failed to preserve material evidence that was accessible and might tend to exonerate him, and (2) resulting prejudice. State v. Leslie, 147 Ariz. 38, 47, 708 P.2d 719, 728 (1985). We review the refusal to give a Willits instruction for an abuse of discretion. Id. A trial court does not abuse its discretion by denying a request for a Willits instruction when a defendant fails to establish that the lost evidence would have had a tendency to exonerate him. State v. Bolton, 182 Ariz. 290, 309, 896 P.2d 830, 849 (1995); State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 627, 832 P.2d 593, 644 (1992). ¶ 63 Defendant would have benefitted little from the stomach contents being tested and identified conclusively as chicken. The jury had already heard that the stomach contents were meat and that Defendant told his wife he prepared chicken on the evening in question. All that Defendant could have gained from a precise determination of the stomach contents was certainty that Jeneane's last meal was chicken, rather than some other meat. The critical question, however, was not what Jeneane ate but when she ate. Even though Defendant claimed to police that he had been at the hospital from 6:30 to 8:15 p.m., the testimony of two other witnesses failed to support his assertion. The facts supporting Defendant's timing argument are highly questionable at best. We find, therefore, that the state's failure to preserve the evidence did not significantly prejudice Defendant. The trial judge did not abuse her discretion in refusing to give a Willits instruction. J. State's evidence of sexual misconduct ¶ 64 Defendant argues that the state's evidence of sexual misconduct violated his due process rights and that the probative value of such evidence was substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effect. The state contends that Defendant waived any specific objection to admission of the evidence because he failed to sufficiently object either during trial or by motion. An objection is sufficiently made if it provides the judge with an opportunity to provide a remedy. See State v. Detrich, 188 Ariz. 57, 64, 932 P.2d 1328, 1335 (1997). The objection may be made during the course of trial or by motion. State v. Burton, 144 Ariz. 248, 250, 697 P.2d 331, 333 (1985) ([W]here a motion in limine is made and ruled upon, the objection raised in that motion is preserved for appeal, despite the absence of a specific objection at trial.). Errors not objected to will be reviewed only for fundamental error. State v. Willoughby, 181 Ariz. 530, 546, 892 P.2d 1319, 1335 (1995). 1. Arrangement of Jeneane's pants and underpants ¶ 65 Defendant made no objection and did not file a motion in limine with respect to testimony on the arrangement of Jeneane's clothes. R.T., May 23, 1994, at 129-30. The state claims the evidence was relevant to show motive and to complete the story of the offense. Cf. State v. Guerra, 161 Ariz. 289, 292-93, 778 P.2d 1185, 1188-89 (1989). It is difficult to see the relevance of this evidence to the charges against Defendant or to ascertain just what story was being completed. But if it was error to admit this evidence, it certainly was not fundamental. 2. Swab testing ¶ 66 The state introduced testimony of the expert who tested swabs taken from Jeneane's mouth, vagina, and rectum. The expert testified that the test results were moderately positive but inconclusive, likely due to decomposition of the body, thus rendering the expert's final conclusion negative. Defendant asserted in his motion in limine that the foregoing evidence is not relevant and is not probative, but is prejudicial and will mislead the jury. Thus, objections based on Rules 401 and 403 are properly before this court. ¶ 67 Rule 401 states that  `[r]elevant evidence' means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. The state's swab testing testimony did not meet the minimum requirements of relevance. Defendant was not charged with sexual assault; nor was there any evidence that he ever had a sexual relationship with Jeneane or made any sexual advances toward her. If, as the state contends, the evidence shows motive, there is no evidence connecting that motive to Defendant. Further, any minimally probative value of this evidence was substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effect. The examination of the state's expert who conducted the test strongly suggested that the findings were not reliable enough to confirm there had been a sexual assault. If the state's expert was forthright enough to say that the findings were so inconclusive he had to reach a negative conclusion, then admitting the evidence so that the jury could reach a different conclusion merely invited the jury to speculate and posed a serious threat of misleading. The testimony thus permitted the jury to decide on an improper basis, such as emotion, sympathy, or horror. See State v. Mott, 187 Ariz. 536, 545, 931 P.2d 1046, 1055 (1997); see also Bennett v. PRC Public Sector, Inc., 931 F.Supp. 484, 502-03 (S.D.Tex.1996) (holding that conclusions based on unreliable evidence have substantial prejudicial effect). ¶ 68 The judge should have excluded the testimony. But because we reverse on other grounds, we need not engage in a harmless error analysis. Unless the state can establish affirmative evidence of sexual assault and somehow connect it to Defendant, the evidence should not be admitted on retrial.