State of North Dakota v. Alex Kenny Eggleston

Summary

The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed Alex Kenny Eggleston’s convictions for knowingly causing bodily fluids to contact correctional facility employees. The court held that Eggleston failed to establish actual prejudice from pre-indictment delay or the State’s failure to preserve surveillance video, and failed to show bad faith in the loss of the video. The court also summarily affirmed the district court’s admission of the slang term “shit bomb” to describe the liquid mixture.

Holdings

1. A defendant alleging a due process violation based on pre-indictment delay must prove actual prejudice; Eggleston failed to do so because his assertion that he no longer independently recalled the incident did not establish actual prejudice.
2. A defendant challenging the State's failure to preserve evidence must show actual prejudice, and when the evidence was within the State's possession, must also present evidence of bad faith. Eggleston showed neither because he merely speculated that the video might have been exculpatory and offered no evidence that it was destroyed with intent to deprive the defense of information.
3. The district court did not abuse its discretion by permitting the State to use the term "shit bomb" to describe the liquid mixture, and the issue was summarily affirmed.

Questions Presented

1. Whether pre-indictment delay violated Eggleston's due process rights when he claimed the delay impaired his recollection.
2. Whether the State's failure to preserve the surveillance video violated due process.
3. Whether the district court abused its discretion by permitting the State to use the slang term "shit bomb" to describe the liquid mixture.

Disposition

affirmed