Alvarez

This is an appeal by the Orange County District Attorney following a dismissal of robbery charges against defendants Daniel Alvarez, Jr., Juan Jose Renteria, and Michael Abel Cisneros. The defendants brought a motion to dismiss the case based primarily on California v. Trombetta (1984) 467 U.S. 479 [ 81 L.Ed.2d 413 , 104 S.Ct. 2528 ] (Trombetta), arguing the prosecution and the police had failed to preserve evidence from two police-controlled cameras in the vicinity of the robbery.

The trial court determined on the night of the incident in question that one of the defendants, Cisneros, specifically asked the senior officer on the scene, a detective, to check any relevant video. The detective replied, “If I had video cameras of what took place, that’s part of my job. My job is not to arrest people that aren’t guilty of something.” Yet the detective later admitted he had never reviewed any video himself, nor asked anyone else to do so. He asserted it was not his responsibility.

The court also found the issue of retaining video was raised during a hearing shortly after defendants’ arrest, giving the prosecution notice the defense wanted to review any available video…