Title: "Trombetta Motions" & Spoliation Of Evidence In California Criminal Cases
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Content: If this evidence gets lost or mishandled, judges are likely to grant a Trombetta motion. In any event, the exculpatory or favorable evidence at issue must: have held this value before the evidence was lost or destroyed, and
be of such a type that an accused would not be able to get similar evidence by any other efforts. 2.2. Did the government act in bad faith? If a judge finds that the missing evidence was not favorable, then he can still grant the motion if he determines that the government acted in bad faith. “ Bad faith ” means that the government intentionally destroyed or mishandled evidence. Note that the negligent handling of evidence will not rise to the level of bad faith. This rule also applies to the situation where evidence was lost or mishandled by the government’s accident. So, for example, consider a person that was arrested for the rape of his ex-girlfriend.