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State v. Blackwell7/14/2000
orses a departure from the decisions of the Georgia Supreme Court. This Court has no such authority.
(b) So, in order to dismiss the indictment, the State must have acted in "bad faith" of a constitutional dimension by failing to preserve Blackwell's urine sample. Perhaps in recognition of such, the majority also holds that "the trial court implicitly found bad faith here based on the State's disregard of its discovery order[.]" This holding is incorrect both legally and factually.
i. The type of "bad faith" that has constitutional dimension is motivated by a specific intent, i.e., a "conscious effort to suppress exculpatory evidence." Trombetta, supra at 488. "Bad faith" of a constitutional dimension is not the generalized, undefined "bad faith" referenced in OCGA § 17-16-6 which can be deliberate conduct motivated by anything from anger to stubbornness, based on the trial court's discretionary determination, and applies equally to the defense as well as the State. The type of "bad faith" that results in a constitutional due process violation cannot be found "implicitly" simply because there is a statutory discovery violation. The words, "bad faith," may be the same. But the legal concepts are not.
ii. All participants in the court below agree that "the sample was no longer there because of crime lab policy," not because there was an attempt to suppress exculpatory evidence. No one acted in "bad faith" of a constitutional dimension under the facts of this case:
In failing to preserve samples for respondents, the officers here were acting in good faith and in accord with their normal practice. The record contains no allegation of official animus towards respondents or of a conscious effort to suppress exculpatory evidence. Trombetta, supra at 488.
iii. Blackwell did not claim below and has not claimed on appeal that the State acted in "bad faith" in destroying the tested urine sample. And there was no finding of "bad faith" by the trial court: "[Trial Judge:] I'm not trying to go against the district attorney's office on any specific ground[.]"
Accordingly, the State did not get a chance to defend against such charge at trial or on appeal. For this Court to now make such a serious finding as "bad faith" of a constitutional dimension on the record before us - without permitting the State any opportunity to respond - is truly "fundamentally unfair."
3. This case makes clear the old axiom "bad cases make bad law." The record in this case is deficient: it is unknown whether the sample was destroyed before or after the trial court's order; it is unknown whether the crime lab was aware of the court's order at the time of the destruction; it is unknown whether the trial court dismissed the indictment based on constitutional "fundamental fairness" grounds or based upon a violation of a duty the prosecutor allegedly held under the discovery statute; there was no finding of bad faith or allegation of such; the State did not get to defend against any allegation of bad faith; and the trial court dismissed the State's indictment when such remedy was not available for a discovery violation, if one existed.
I believe that this case should be remanded for specific findings of fact and conclusions of law. Let the trial court and the parties decide what happened to Blackwell's urine sample, when it happened, and why. Let the trial court determine whether there was "bad faith" on the part of the State and give the State an opportunity to defend against such charge. Let the trial court then fashion a legal remedy appropriate to its specific factual findings on this subject, with a right in the non-prevailing party to appeal. On t
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