Arizona v. Youngblood

"Arizona v. Youngblood" ussc|488|51|1988 was an important Supreme Court of the United States case about criminal law.

Facts

A boy was molested and sodomized. The rape kit and his clothes were not properly preserved. The boy picked the defendant out of a photo lineup as a rapist.

Next, the case developed as follows:

Issue

The defendant claimed that the state disposed of potentially exculpatory evidence by not properly preserving the evidence.

Holding

The court held that this is not a constitutional violation unless the state acted in bad faith. “We therefore hold 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 US 51, __(1988).] The court relied on United States v. Marion, ussc|404|307|1971, United States v. Lovasco, ussc|431| 783|1977, and other cases for its reasoning.

ee also

* Miranda v. Arizona
* Due Process Clause

References

External links