The People v. Miguel Viruet

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals held that the trial court erred by failing to give an adverse-inference jury instruction after police lost surveillance footage that the defendant had diligently requested and that was reasonably likely to be materially important. The Court nevertheless affirmed the conviction, concluding that the error was harmless because the proof of guilt was overwhelming; Judge Wilson dissented.

Holdings

1. When a criminal defendant acts with due diligence to request evidence that is reasonably likely to be of material importance and the State destroys or fails to preserve that evidence, the defendant is entitled, upon request, to an adverse-inference jury instruction. The lost nightclub surveillance video satisfied that standard because it captured the shooting and eyewitnesses near the scene and might also have captured the earlier altercation.
2. The trial court's failure to give the adverse-inference instruction was harmless because the proof of defendant's guilt was overwhelming and there was no significant probability that the jury would have acquitted defendant had the instruction been given.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a defendant who diligently requested lost surveillance footage was entitled to a mandatory adverse-inference jury instruction when the footage was reasonably likely to be of material importance to the case.
2. Whether the trial court's failure to give the requested adverse-inference instruction was harmless error.

Disposition

affirmed