Vera

MEMORANDUM *

Defendant John Vera appeals the district court’s denial of his pretrial motion to *331 dismiss the indictment based on pre-indictment delay and destruction of potentially exculpatory evidence. Vera also contends that the court erred in calculating his base offense level and in refusing to depart downward. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Vera first contends that his conviction for possession of ephedrine with knowledge it would be used to manufacture methamphetamine violated his due process rights because the government recklessly destroyed potentially exculpatory evidence that “could have assisted [him] in presenting a defense” to the original charge of manufacturing methamphetamine. “[U]n-less 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.” Grisby v. Blodgett, 130 F.3d 365, 371 (9th Cir.1997) (quoting Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51, 58 , 109 S.Ct. 333 , 102 L.Ed.2d 281 (1988)).

An officer does not act in bad faith unless he or she acts with the purpose of depriving the defendant of the potentially…