In my view the question of whether the law is unbiased and “fair” is more important to resolve than whether accidentally erasing a phone seized by law enforcement counts as spoiling evidence.

There’s no point arguing that storing a vat of milk in the sun counts as the law enforcement impounding incorrectly or the suspect deliberately arranging evidence to destroy itself, when the crux of the matter is that the defendant is a black woman in Alabama so has no chance of a fair trial regardless how airtight the case might seem.