P. v. Fernandez CA2/1
Luis Fernandez (Fernandez) appeals from a judgment sentencing him to three years in state prison for willfully inflicting a corporal injury on a cohabitant resulting in a traumatic condition (Pen. Code, § 273.5, subd. (a) ). Fernandez complains that his due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution were violated when police failed to preserve a digital audio recording of the victim’s statements. We disagree. Although the recording may have been “potentially useful” to Fernandez’s defense, we find, pursuant to Arizona v. Youngblood (1988) 488 U.S. 51, 58 (Youngblood), that there was no due process violation because substantial evidence supports the trial court’s finding that the police did not act in bad faith.
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