Court Opinion

ID: 9538150
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 07:31:20.450954+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:57:34.643504
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE GROVES
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. In doing so, I apply my views only to the irrelevancy of good or bad faith in preservation of breath samples, and not to other situations in which this court has already ruled or may rule in the future. My opinion is as expressed in Lauderdale v. State, 548 P.2d 376 (Alaska 1976) as follows:
*43“As to the due process argument, Lauderdale points to the following statement of the United States Supreme Court in Brady v. Maryland:
“[T]he suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution.
“The difficulty with reliance on that statement is that the Supreme Court was speaking of evidence ‘favorable’ to the accused. Here, we have no idea as to whether the evidence sought, that is, the ampoules, would be favorable to the accused or not, and this could not be known until a scientific study and analysis of the ampoules had been made.
“But Lauderdale’s point as to due process is well taken. He is asking for an opportunity to test the reliability or ‘credibility’ of the breathalyzer test results. This is closely analagous, if not equivalent, to the case where defense counsel, by cross-examination, tests the credibility of a witness who testifies against an accused. Cross-examination in such a case is a matter of right, and the purpose of that right is to attempt to bring out facts which will tend to discredit the witness by showing that his testimony was untrue.
“It does not matter that defense counsel cannot know in advance what pertinent facts may be brought out in cross-examination. . . .” * * *
“The state found it impossible to produce the ampoules, probably because the test ampoule, if not also the reference ampoule, was destroyed after the test was made in keeping with routine police procedures. The good or bad faith of the state in not being able to produce the evidence is of no import. Criminal Rule 16(b)(7) contemplates discovery by an accused of relevant material that possesses materiality to the preparation of the defense. As we have stated, the ampoules were relevant and material because they were an essential part of the breathalyzer test which gives rise under the statute to a presumption of intoxication depending upon the results of the test. The existence of the rule was notice to the state that such evidence might be the object of discovery, and therefore should be preserved for a reasonable length of time. The state’s duty of preservation was as operative as the duty of disclosure.
“The state speaks of ‘serious difficulties’ and ‘tremendous efforts’ in adopting procedures to preserve the ampoules. We are not convinced by this argument. We are certain that the state, with all of its vast human resources, will be able to find suitable methods to preserve the ampoules for later scientific analysis when discovery is sought by a defendant under Criminal Rule 16.”
MR. JUSTICE ERICKSON concurs in this dissent.