Isaac S. Johnson, Defendant Below, Appellant v. State of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee

Summary

The court held that police had a duty to gather and preserve the clothing that concealed weapons underlying the possessory-offense charges because the clothing could have been material to Johnson's defense. Although the missing evidence was not sufficiently case-dispositive to require dismissal, the court required a missing-evidence instruction allowing the jury to infer that the clothing would have been exculpatory. The court was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the failure to give that instruction was harmless, so it reversed and remanded for further proceedings.