State v. Walker, 522 P.3d 868

Walker crashed while attempting to pass on a two‑lane highway; the collision killed a passenger and left both cars undriveable.
Oregon State Police Trooper Dunlap impounded Walker’s Dodge Durango because Walker was driving uninsured with a suspended license and gave Walker a completed "Towed Auto Report" (Form 780) describing how to retrieve the vehicle.
The Durango was inspected by a trooper at the tow yard, then Dunlap verbally released it to the tow company; Dunlap did not place the vehicle into evidence or otherwise command preservation, and the tow company later foreclosed and sold the vehicle for scrap.
Walker moved to exclude mechanical evidence from the Durango, arguing the State violated his Fourteenth Amendment due process (and compulsory process) rights by failing to preserve the vehicle in bad faith; the trial court denied the motion after finding no bad faith.
At trial the State introduced mechanical evidence; the court instructed the jury it could convict on a nonunanimous verdict (10/12) though the jury in fact returned unanimous guilty verdicts on the counts submitted.
On appeal the court (1) held that bad faith is a question of fact and that the record supports the trial court’s finding of no bad faith, so exclusion was not required; and (2) held any instructional error was harmless because verdicts were unanimous. The judgment was affirmed.

Issue	State's Argument	Walker's Argument	Held
Whether the State’s failure to preserve the Durango violated due process by destroying potentially useful evidence	State: Vehicle was handled under routine statutory impound/tow practices; no bad faith in release and sale	Walker: Trooper failed to notify him adequately so vehicle was lost; loss deprived him of ability to test evidence and violated due process/right to compulsory process	Court: Bad faith is a factual inquiry; record supports trial court’s finding of no bad faith; denial of exclusion affirmed
Standard of review for bad‑faith finding	State: Trial court finding is factual and reviewed for sufficiency/clear‑error	Walker: Argued for a legal standard (less deferential)	Court: Bad faith is a question of fact; appellate review defers to trial court’s factual findings
Jury instruction permitting nonunanimous verdicts (plain‑error challenge)	State: Any instructional error harmless because the jury’s guilty verdicts were unanimous	Walker: Instruction allowed conviction on nonunanimous vote, was plain error	Court: Verdicts were unanimous; any instructional error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt; claim rejected

Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51 (establishes bad‑faith requirement for due process when potentially useful evidence is not preserved)
California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479 (routine destruction under standard practice does not automatically violate due process)
State v. Faunce, 251 Or. App. 58 (applies Youngblood in Oregon and distinguishes potentially useful vs. material exculpatory evidence)
State v. Johnson, 335 Or. 511 (deference to trial court factual findings and weighing of evidence)
State v. Ciraulo, 367 Or. 350 (harmless‑error analysis for jury unanimity/instructional defects)
United States v. Del Toro‑Barboza, 673 F.3d 1136 (9th Cir.) (negligence in preservation does not necessarily equal bad faith)