Commonwealth v. Henderson

A judge of the Superior Court dismissed an indictment charging the defendant with unarmed robbery. We transferred the Commonwealth’s appeal to this court and now affirm the judge’s order.

A police officer who interviewed the victim after an unarmed robbery in August, 1987, wrote down the victim’s description of her assailant. That description, which has been lost or destroyed, was potentially exculpatory evidence. There is no indication that the government lost or destroyed the evi dence in bad faith. In such a situation, the law of the Commonwealth provides that, on a motion to dismiss…