Washington V. Wright

Andrew James Wright was convicted in a jury trial of first-degree murder, while armed with a deadly weapon, in the death of his wife, Kathleen Wright. He urges reversal of this conviction on several grounds, including a claimed violation of due process by the destruction of numerous items of material evidence prior to trial. The destruction was undertaken by or at the direction of officers investigating the crime without consent of appellant or the superior court. Finding a serious breach of appellant's due process rights, we must reverse the conviction and dismiss the charges.