Suppression of DataMaster test results; Sanctions for a public body’s willful & intentional failure to comply with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (MCL 15.231 et seq.); MCL 15.240b; People v. Anstey; Whether the Michigan State Police’s (MSP) failure to preserve the booking room video after defendant made a timely FOIA request constituted a violation of his due process rights; People v. Dickinson; Arizona v. Youngblood; People v. Johnson; “Bad faith”; Commercial Union Ins. Co. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co.

Holding that the circuit court erred by affirming the district court’s suppression of evidence and dismissal of defendant’s OWI charge, the court reversed and remanded. He was charged with OWI, but the district court granted his motion to suppress his DataMaster test results and dismissed the charge. The circuit court ultimately agreed and affirmed. On appeal, the court agreed with the prosecution that “suppression of the DataMaster test results was not an appropriate remedy for a violation of FOIA because MCL 15.240b does not expressly provide for suppression of evidence as a remedy for violation of the statute.” It noted that while “Anstey permits the possibility that a FOIA violation may result in suppression of evidence if that violation causes a constitutional violation, suppression is not appropriate just because FOIA was violated.” It also agreed with the prosecution that the district court incorrectly determined that the MSP acted in bad faith when it failed to preserve the booking room video. “Although the evidence could allow a finder of fact to infer incompetence on the part of the official actors in this case, there is no evidence of official animus on the part of the MSP post or” its FOIA Unit. “Problems undoubtedly existed, but negligence such as that shown by the record here does not create a due-process violation, and defendant has failed in meeting his burden to prove bad faith.”