Opinion ID: 2111189
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Alleged Failure to Preserve Evidence.

Text: Castor next contends that the district court erred when it failed to dismiss or grant other relief due to the State's failing to preserve and protect exculpatory evidence it seized pursuant to a search warrant in violation of the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. Specifically, she alleges that a police officer was permitted to testify over her objection that while searching the interior of Browns home on December 18, 1996, pursuant to a warrant, he observed a portion of the wall and baseboard behind a sofa which appeared to have been recently cleaned, but took no photographs and did not remove the wall panel and baseboard for further examination. Castor argues that this was prejudicial because the State argued that she had cleaned the area in question to remove evidence that she had shot Brown while he was asleep on the sofa. She also contends that the State failed to preserve various items of personal property which had been in the house prior to its search by police and which she contends would have been useful to her defense. Castor filed a pretrial Motion to Identify and Preserve Evidence in which she requested that specific items of physical evidence seized from the crime scene be identified and preserved. The trial court determined that there was no issue ripe for determination because identification of the seized evidence could be accomplished by motion pursuant to § 29-1912 and because Castor was protected by Neb.Rev. Stat. § 29-1913(2) (Reissue 1995) from any destruction of evidence due to neglect or intent. The court did, however, request the State to preserve all seized evidence and not to conduct experiments on evidence that would consume the entirety of the sample being tested. Subsequently, on August 13, 1997, Castor filed her Motion to Dismiss or for Other Relief Based on State's Failure to Safely Preserve Evidence at 512 W. 21st St., Kearney, Nebraska. At the hearing on the motion, Castor introduced photographs of the exterior of Brown's house, the search warrants issued, and copies of photographs of the interior of Brown's house. The trial court found that Castor's motion addressed only items taken from the home by police or other items taken by police in their custody as evidentiary matters and that nothing in the motion requested the State to preserve the crime scene, the home, or any contents therein for subsequent investigation by Castor. The court found that Neb.Rev.Stat. § 29-818 (Reissue 1995) was not applicable and that there was no showing of bad faith on the part of the State to substantiate an alleged denial of due process. It therefore denied the motion. Castor relies in part upon § 29-818, which provides: Property seized under a search warrant or validly seized without a warrant shall be safely kept by the officer seizing the same unless otherwise directed by the judge or magistrate, and shall be so kept so long as necessary for the purpose of being produced as evidence in any trial.... We conclude that this statute has no application in this case because Castor has not identified any item of property seized from Brown's home at the time of its search which was not properly preserved. Rather, her argument appears to be that police failed to seize and preserve certain objects from the house which she contends would be exculpatory. Under certain circumstances, the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment may require that the State preserve potentially exculpatory evidence on behalf of a defendant. California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 104 S.Ct. 2528, 81 L.Ed.2d 413 (1984). To meet the standard of constitutional materiality in such circumstances, 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. 467 U.S. at 489, 104 S.Ct. 2528. Additionally, it is uncontroverted that unless a criminal defendant can show bad faith on the part of the police, failure to preserve potentially useful evidence does not constitute a denial of due process of law. Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51, 58, 109 S.Ct. 333, 102 L.Ed.2d 281 (1988). See State v. Tanner, 233 Neb. 893, 448 N.W.2d 586 (1989). The presence or absence of bad faith by the police for purposes of the Due Process Clause must necessarily turn on the police's knowledge of the exculpatory value of the evidence at the time it was lost or destroyed. Youngblood, 488 U.S. at 57 n. , 109 S.Ct. 333. See, also, Tanner, supra . We find nothing in this record which would indicate that the investigating officers acted in bad faith. Accordingly, we find no merit to this assignment of error.