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State v. Youngblood12/28/1989
In this appeal on remand from the United States Supreme Court, Larry Youngblood once again argues for reversal of his convictions for child molestation, sexual assault and kidnapping because evidence crucial to his defense was lost.
We find that Youngblood was deprived of a fair trial and denied due process of law under the Arizona Constitution and well-established Arizona case law because the failure to preserve certain evidence resulted in prejudice to him. We reverse his convictions and the sentences imposed, and dismiss the case.
FACTS
David, the ten-year-old victim, had left a church service he was attending with his mother around 9:30 p.m. on the night of October 29, 1983, and had gone to a nearby carnival where he was approached by a
middle-aged black man of medium height and weight. David, described as a very observant youngster, testified that his assailant was a black man named Damian or Carl who had greasy grey hair, facial hair, no facial scars, and whose right eye, to David's best recollection, was almost completely white. His assailant wore brown leather or plastic loafers. The evidence established that Larry Youngblood is a thirty-year-old black male who has dry black hair, a scar on his forehead and a bad left eye. He wears cloth-laced shoes and walks with a noticeable limp due to a foot injury received in an automobile accident when he was a child. He always wears glasses in public.
After attempting to persuade David to get into the car, the assailant grabbed him, threw him into the car and held him by his hair, continually pushing his head down on the floorboard, while driving away. Country music was playing on the radio. At some point, the assailant stopped the car near a ravine or wash and fondled and molested David. He then took David to an unidentified, sparsely furnished house where he sodomized him four times. He threatened to kill David if David told anyone about the incident. He also told David during the acts of anal intercourse that David was "too small," that the assailant had done this with his nephew so many times that his nephew's anus "was already stretched out." Later, he used a jumper cable to start the car and returned David to the carnival. The episode lasted about an hour and a half.
David was taken to Kino Hospital. Hospital personnel used a sexual assault kit to preserve evidence of the molestation. The kit included a tube for collecting a blood sample, a paper to collect a saliva sample, microscopic slides used to make smears (for female victims) and a set of swabs used to collect evidence. In this case, rectal and throat smears were made, and samples of the victim's blood and saliva were taken. The state's criminalist found evidence of semen present on the rectal smear. He did not attempt to quantify the amount of semen on the swab until a year after the assault had occurred. At that point he found no blood group substances on the swabs.
In addition, David's clothing was taken as evidence. The clothing was never refrigerated, and no testing was done until 15 months after the assault. Semen was found on the clothing, but no blood group substances were found on the underwear or the tee shirt stains. Samples of David's hair were taken to compare with any evidence found in Youngblood's car.
David described the assailant's car as a medium-sized, two-door sedan with a trashy interior and a noisy muffler. He testified that the car started with an ordinary ignition key. He also testified that there were blankets or sheets on the seats of the car but that he was not able to see them because the car was dark. The car radio
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