State v. Matafeo

OPINION OF THE COURT BY

LUM, C.J.

The issue raised in this interlocutory appeal by Defendant-Appellant Samuel Taulagi Matafeo (Appellant) from the trial court’s order denying his motion to dismiss the complaint is whether the inadvertent destruction of evidence by the police relating to his defense resulted in a denial of his right to due process *184under the fourteenth amendment of the United States Constitution and article I, section 5 of the Constitution of Hawaii.

Upon a careful review, we cannot conclude that a trial without the destroyed evidence would be fundamentally unfair to Appellant,…