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People v. Camp9/7/2004
Defendant, William Camp, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) (625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(2) (West 2002)). After discovery began, defendant moved to dismiss the charge, arguing that he could not receive a fair trial because the State had lost a videotape of his field sobriety tests. The trial court dismissed the charge with leave to reinstate should the tape be recovered. The State appeals (see 188 Ill.2d R. 604(a)(1)), contending that the dismissal was an excessive sanction for the inadvertent loss of the tape. We agree. Therefore, we reverse the judgment and remand the cause.
On November 3, 2002, defendant was charged with DUI. Although the arresting officer's sworn report stated that defendant had had a blood- or breath-alcohol content (BAC) of 0.93, the complaint charged defendant with DUI (625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(2) (West 2002)) but not with driving with a BAC of 0.80 or more (625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(1) (West 2002)). On November 8, 2002, defendant filed a general motion for discovery. On August 23, 2003, defendant moved to quash his arrest and suppress evidence (motion to quash), alleging that the arresting officer lacked reasonable suspicion to stop him or probable cause to arrest him for DUI.
*259 On September 24, 2003, while his motion to quash was pending, defendant moved to dismiss the complaint. Defendant did not invoke a statutory ground for dismissal (see 725 ILCS 5/114-1(a) (West 2002)) but relied on due process. Defendant's motion, supported by the affidavit of his attorney, Byron Sloan, alleged as follows. Through discovery, defendant became aware of a videotape of him performing field sobriety tests immediately before his arrest. On April 7, 2003, defendant learned the State's Attorney's office had the tape. That day, the tape was released to defendant and Sloan. After viewing the tape, they believed that it was essential to their case because it showed defendant performing well on the tests under difficult conditions, in contradiction to the arresting officer's report. That same day, defendant returned the tape to the State's Attorney's office. However, after April 7, 2003, he was told that the State could not locate the tape.
**982 ***338 According to defendant, allowing the State to proceed with the case would violate due process because he would be unable to present evidence that was crucial to both his motion to quash and his defense at trial. At the hearing on the motion, defendant acknowledged that the State had not acted in bad faith. However, he asserted that, under People v. Newberry, 166 Ill.2d 310, 209 Ill.Dec. 748, 652 N.E.2d 288 (1995), bad faith was not needed to establish a due process violation. Defendant maintained that the tape was important because it showed that he had been driving properly before he was stopped, thus supporting his motion to quash, and it portrayed him performing the field sobriety tests well. Defendant reasoned that, without the tape to use as evidence at trial, he would have to rely solely on his own testimony to rebut the officer's account of the field sobriety tests.
Assistant State's Attorney Michael Myzia responded that, after defendant filed his motion to quash, Myzia obtained the case file and tried to find the videotape. Neither Myzia nor the other assistant State's Attorney involved in this case had viewed the tape, and they had no idea of its contents or whereabouts. Myzia contended that Newberry was distinguishable because, unlike the drugs that were destroyed in Newberry, the tape itself did not give rise to the State's case. Also, he urged, the court could impose a sanction short of dismissal, such as instructing the jury that it could "take the disappearance of evidence in a manner disadvantageous to the prosecution."
The trial court agreed wi
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