SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1CR05-801 06/09/03

LOST EVIDENCE

There has been testimony in this trial that the [police] [State’s lab] [lost] [failed to preserve] evidence which they [collected] [had in their possession] during the investigation of this case.  I shall refer to all such evidence as “lost evidence.”

An absence of evidence may form the basis for a reasonable doubt.  If you find that the [police] [State’s lab] [lost] [failed to preserve] important evidence which might have helped (Def)_______________, and if you find that the State has not provided a satisfactory explanation for the loss, then you may draw an inference that the lost evidence would have been favorable to (Def)_______________.  You are not required to draw any inference.  You should consider all of the evidence in the case and give it the weight you think it deserves.