Cite as: 540 U. S. 544 (2004)
Per Curiam
indicate that the alleged cocaine was destroyed in bad faith," id., at 15, the court further determined that Newberry dictated dismissal because, unlike in Youngblood, the destroyed evidence provided respondent's "only hope for exoneration," App. to Pet. for Cert. 15, and was " 'essential to and determinative of the outcome of the case,' " App. to Pet. for Cert. 16 (quoting Newberry, supra, at 315, 652 N. E. 2d, at 291). Consequently, the court concluded that respondent "was denied due process when he was tried subsequent to the destruction of the alleged cocaine." App. to Pet. for Cert. 16. The Illinois Supreme Court denied leave to appeal.*
We have held that when the State suppresses or fails to disclose material exculpatory evidence, the good or bad faith of the prosecution is irrelevant: a due process violation occurs whenever such evidence is withheld. See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U. S. 83 (1963); United States v. Agurs, 427 U. S. 97 (1976). In Youngblood, by contrast, we recognized that the Due Process Clause "requires a different result when we deal with the failure of the State to preserve evidentiary material of which no more can be said than that it could have been subjected to tests, the results of which might have exonerated the defendant." 488 U. S., at 57. We concluded that the failure to preserve this "potentially
*Respondent suggests that we lack jurisdiction because the Appellate Court relied on Newberry, which in turn relied on an adequate and independent state ground. See, e. g., Michigan v. Long, 463 U. S. 1032, 1040- 1042 (1983). Respondent is correct that Newberry relied on both the Due Process Clause, and in the alternative, Illinois Supreme Court Rule 415(g)(i) (1990). 166 Ill. 2d, at 314-317, 652 N. E. 2d, at 290-292. The Appellate Court, however, relied only on the portion of Newberry that addressed due process, and the Appellate Court based its decision solely on the Due Process Clause. Accordingly, we have jurisdiction to review that decision. See, e. g., Long, supra, at 1038, n. 4 ("We may review a state case decided on a federal ground even if it is clear that there was an available state ground for decision on which the state court could properly have relied" (citing Beecher v. Alabama, 389 U. S. 35, 37, n. 3 (1967) (per curiam))).
547
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