When someone is facing one or more felony charges for a serious crime, they have the right to make sure the evidence being used against them is handled properly from the moment law enforcement encounters it.
Everyone who handles that evidence needs to follow procedures to ensure that it’s not contaminated, lost or switched with something else. What’s known as the “chain of custody” cannot be broken.
Unfortunately, defendants can’t just assume the evidence being used to charge, prosecute and potentially convict them hasn’t been compromised. If it has, or even if there’s a chance that it has, that evidence can be ruled inadmissible. Without it, one or more charges may have to be dropped.
How can the chain of custody be broken?
Evidence that can be compromised by a broken chain of custody can include anything from blood and other DNA evidence to alleged narcotics to a computer or flash drives to allegedly stolen items and much more. Even fingerprints can be mishandled.
There are multiple ways for a chain of custody to be broken. Some of the most common include the following:
- Crime scene contamination: For example, maybe an unauthorized person was allowed into an active crime scene before law enforcement finished processing it or an officer stepped in a footprint on the ground.
- Improper handling: For example, maybe an officer handled evidence with their bare hands or used gloves.
- Improper storage: For example, maybe an officer didn’t take evidence directly from the crime scene to a secure storage location or didn’t seal it in approved, tamper-proof packaging.
These are just a few examples. The more a piece of evidence is moved around (for example, taken to a lab for analysis), the more opportunities there are for contamination.
Showing that evidence may have been compromised
Most defendants, or even their attorneys, don’t see most of the “links” in the chain of custody to know that it has been incorrectly labeled, transported or handled. However, if there’s any reason to believe it might have been, they can do some investigating to learn more about its handling. The defense only has to show that there’s a reasonable possibility of evidence being compromised to get it thrown out and get charges reduced or dropped.
Identifying issues with the prosecution’s evidence and their case is just one of the responsibilities of an experienced criminal defense team. When your future is on the line, it’s crucial to have this experience behind you.