Re:FBI agent pleads guilty to wiping hard-drive containing e...
by cogman10 on Friday August 19, 2022 @12:38PM
(#32523213)
The destroyed drive was discovered before the trial started and there was a motion for dismissal that was made, appealed, and ultimately denied because
A. The evidence was available through other means
B. It was not strong enough to exculpate the defendant
[1]
I agree that taking a strong inference against actions of prosecution when evidence is destroyed and unrecoverable. However, in this case, that's not what happened. Evidence was destroyed, but it was also preserved in other locations (it was uploaded on dropbox).
Our court system, while weak in many areas, isn't terrible in this sort of circumstance. It doesn't take hard lines because things are tricky.
This sort of problem with evidence is made to come out of the regular court proceedings. It's why discovery happens before we start a trial.
A. The evidence was available through other means
B. It was not strong enough to exculpate the defendant
[1]
I agree that taking a strong inference against actions of prosecution when evidence is destroyed and unrecoverable. However, in this case, that's not what happened. Evidence was destroyed, but it was also preserved in other locations (it was uploaded on dropbox).
Our court system, while weak in many areas, isn't terrible in this sort of circumstance. It doesn't take hard lines because things are tricky.
This sort of problem with evidence is made to come out of the regular court proceedings. It's why discovery happens before we start a trial.
[1] https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca8/18...