What is the legal chain of custody?

Definition(s): A process that tracks the movement of evidence through its collection, safeguarding, and analysis lifecycle by documenting each person who handled the evidence, the date/time it was collected or transferred, and the purpose for the transfer. Source(s):

What happens if the chain of evidence is broken?

The biggest risk of breaking chain of custody is holding evidence that is inadmissible in court. If the chain of custody is broken, vital evidence could be deemed legally worthless. Sloppy chain of custody work can mean losing a client’s case and failing to serve justice.

What is the chain of custody and why is it important?

The chain of custody is the most critical process of evidence documentation. It is a must to assure the court of law that the evidence is authentic, i.e., it is the same evidence seized at the crime scene. Although it is a lengthy process, it is required for evidence to be relevant in the court.

What happen to the case when the chain of custody is broken?

If there are any discrepancies in the chain of custody and law enforcement cannot prove who had the evidence at a particular time, the chain of custody is broken and the defendant can ask to have the evidence declared inadmissible so that it cannot be used to try to convict the defendant.

What is a chain of custody form used for?

A chain of custody form, or CCF, is a document used to keep track of a specimen in the drug testing process. It tracks the specimen from the moment the donor provides the specimen to the collector until the reporting of the specimen analysis from the MRO to the DER.

What happens to evidence if the chain of custody is not maintained?

Non-compliance with the said procedure renders the evidence non-admissible, resulting in the eventual acquittal of the accused if there is no other sufficient evidence to convict him.

How do you maintain a chain of custody?

To maintain the chain of custody for evidence collected during medical forensic examinations, label each item of evidence with the initials of everyone who handled it, the date, a description and source of the specimen, the name of the examiner, and the name of the patient.

Why chain of custody is important in investigation?

Without a continuous record showing that evidence has been kept safe and secure from the crime scene or mortuary to the lab and ultimately the courtroom, evidence may be rendered inadmissible in court. All of all, the preservation is the very importance of COC in court of law.

Who is responsible for the custody of the collected pieces of evidence after its collection?

An identifiable person must always have the physical custody of a piece of evidence. In practice, this means that a police officer or detective will take charge of a piece of evidence, document its collection, and hand it over to an evidence clerk for storage in a secure place.

What is a chain of custody form labcorp?

Labcorp Web COC is an innovative drug testing specimen collection tool that guides the collector through each step of the collection process to produce a federally regulated or non-federally-regulated chain of custody form on-site.

What is the procedure for chain of custody?

The term ‘chain of custody’ refers to the protocol for handling physical proof that will be introduced in a courtroom, ensuring evidence complies with the rules of criminal procedure. Basically, there are rules for managing different types of evidence and keeping it reliable, and this is the set that applies to the admissibility of material things.

What happens if you break chain of custody?

If the chain of custody is broken, vital evidence could be deemed legally worthless. This often happens if the chain of custody form or evidence bag is mislabeled, if the transfer takes an unreasonable amount of time, or if the evidence falls into the wrong hands.

What is the purpose of a chain of custody?

Chain of custody is the paper trail of evidence that is to be used in a court trial. The purpose of the chain of custody is to show that the evidence has in no way been tampered with from the time of collection until it is entered into court.

What are the steps in the chain of custody?

chain of custody. Documentation of all the steps that evidence has taken from the time it is located at the crime scene to the time it’s introduced in the courtroom. All steps include collection, transportation, analysis, and storage processes.