United States v. Roy L. Barton

Roy L. Barton appeals from the judgment of conviction and the sentence imposed following the entry of his conditional guilty plea to manufacturing marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). Law enforcement officers discovered a marijuana manufacturing operation in Barton’s home during the execution of a search warrant. Barton moved to suppress the evidence seized from his home on the ground that the allegations in the search warrant affidavit concerning the presence of an odor of marijuana at his residence were false. At the time of the suppression hearing, the marijuana plants that were seized by the officers had decomposed due to the officers’ failure to place the plants in ventilated plastic bags. Barton contends that the failure to preserve the marijuana plants deprived him of due process, because he was denied access to evidence that would have impeached material allegations in the affidavit for a search warrant.

This case presents the question whether the negligent destruction of evidence that tends to impeach allegations demonstrating probable cause in an affidavit for a search warrant violates due process. We must also decide whether the district court erred by…