Oliver v. State, 498 S.W.3d 320

On May 9, 2014, Little Rock police Sergeant Andre Dyer observed a GMC truck at a well-lit intersection; he saw the driver extend his arm and fire three rounds into the air. Dyer pursued the truck, which parked by a dumpster at an apartment complex.
A revolver with three live rounds and three shell casings was found by officers near the dumpster; officers testified multiple officers handled the gun and ammunition without gloves; subsequent fingerprint testing was inconclusive and no gunshot-residue test was performed.
Trencie Oliver (defendant) was the truck’s driver; his nephew Gregory was the passenger. Gregory gave inconsistent statements identifying Oliver as the shooter and later denying seeing a gun. Oliver admitted a gun was in his truck and that it had been fired three times but claimed Gregory fired it or they were merely ‘‘playing.’’
Oliver was convicted in Pulaski County Circuit Court of second-degree unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle and possession of a firearm by certain persons; sentenced as a habitual offender to concurrent thirty-year terms.
On appeal Oliver contended: (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss (sufficiency), (2) the State destroyed/preserved evidence improperly (GSR and fingerprint issues), and (3) the trial court erred admitting the revolver, rounds, and casings. The Court of Appeals affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Oliver)	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for unlawful discharge from a vehicle	Dyer’s eyewitness testimony and recovery of the gun near dumpster support conviction	Either Gregory fired the shots or evidence was insufficient; court should review all evidence for clear error	Affirmed; substantial evidence supported conviction (reckless firing into a populated area creates substantial risk)
Sufficiency for prohibited possession (felony possession)	Evidence showed Oliver, a felon, possessed the firearm	Oliver challenged sufficiency on appeal	Affirmed; issue waived for appeal because not raised properly below
Preservation/handling of evidence (due process)	No bad-faith shown; State not required to preserve evidence absent bad faith	Officers contaminated evidence (no gloves) and prevented exculpatory testing; GSR not done	Affirmed; defendant failed to preserve bad-faith claim below and Arizona v. Youngblood requires proof of bad faith
Admissibility of revolver, rounds, casings	Evidence corroborated Dyer’s observations and was cumulative of Oliver’s admissions	Admission prejudiced defense because handling destroyed exculpatory prints/GSR and foreclosed definitive ID	Affirmed; trial court did not abuse discretion and Oliver suffered no prejudice because evidence was cumulative and exclusion would not have aided defense

Thornton v. State, 433 S.W.3d 216 (Ark. 2014) (establishes substantial-evidence standard applies to criminal bench trials)
Harris v. State, 480 S.W.3d 229 (Ark. Ct. App. 2016) (bench-trial dismissal is sufficiency challenge reviewed under substantial-evidence standard)
Houston v. State, 120 S.W.3d 115 (Ark. Ct. App. 2003) (issues not raised in dismissal motion are waived on appeal)
Morgan v. State, 480 S.W.3d 867 (Ark. Ct. App. 2016) (statutory placement in gang statute does not make offense dependent on gang proof)
Zawodniak v. State, 946 S.W.2d 936 (Ark. 1997) (statutory interpretation where gang-act placement does not add elements)
Lewis v. State, 396 S.W.3d 775 (Ark. Ct. App. 2012) (State must preserve evidence only when it is obviously exculpatory and irreplaceable)
California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479 (1984) (due-process claim for destroyed evidence requires evidence be both exculpatory and irreplaceable)
Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51 (1988) (absent bad faith by police, failure to preserve potentially useful evidence does not violate due process)
Grant v. State, 161 S.W.3d 785 (Ark. 2004) (standard for reversal of evidentiary rulings: abuse of discretion and prejudice required)