Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

Criminal Law

: Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

Evidence Issues in a DUI Case: Chain of Custody

By Baker Associates

Last week, a blog discussed the right of the defendant to have certain non-essential witnesses sequestered so as to prevent the potential for bias. Failure to properly sequester a witness can result in a new trial and potentially an acquittal. Using the same facts as described in the Tennessee DUI case, State v. Anderson, the ?chain of custody? issue will be discussed here. Chain of custody refers to the documentation of evidence as it passes from person to person, agency to agency. Because evidence is used to convict people of crimes, the state has the initial burden to prove that evidence was scrupulously and carefully handled so as to prevent, for example, the appearance that evidence may have been fraudulently planted or mistakenly identified...continue to full post

Full post as published by Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog on June 09, 2009 (boomark / email).