United States v. Federico Gonzalez-Hernandez

MEMORANDUM

Gonzalez-Hernandez appeals his conviction, alleging (1) that the Government violated his due process rights by failing to preserve potentially exculpatory evidence, i.e., two photographs of a bush splattered in blood from the scene of the altercation, and (2) that there was insufficient evidence. We affirm.

1. “[F]or destruction of evidence to rise to the level of a constitutional violation, [the defendant] must make two showings.” United States v. Sivilla, 714 F.3d 1168, 1172 (9th Cir. 2013). First, the- defendant must demonstrate “that the government acted in bad faith, the presence or absence of which turns on the government’s knowledge of the apparent exculpatory value of the evidence at the time it was lost or destroyed.” Id. (quoting United States v. Cooper, 983 F.2d 928, 931 (9th Cir. 1993)). Second, the defendant must show “that the missing evidence is of such a nature that the defendant would be unable to obtain comparable evidence by other reasonably available means.” Id. (quoting California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 489 , 104 S.Ct. 2528 , 81 L.Ed.2d 413 (1984)).

The district court did not clearly err in concluding that the Government acted without bad…