State v. Banks

ARNOLD, Chief Judge.

Defendant first argues that his conviction should be vacated and the charges dismissed because the police department’s destruction of the rape kit violated his constitutional and statutory rights to a fair trial. This argument fails.

Defendant’s argument is based on the theory that the victim fabricated the story that he raped her. He contends therefore, that DNA testing could have exonerated him by excluding him as the source of semen collected by the hospital nurse and placed in the destroyed rape kit.

Without question, the State violated the rules concerning the…