Department of Social Welfare v. Miller

2 Citing cases

  1. State v. McAllister

    2008 Vt. 3 (Vt. 2008)   Cited 11 times
    Explaining that "[t]he law makes no distinction between the weight given to either direct or circumstantial evidence" and affirming criminal convictions based largely on circumstantial evidence

    ΒΆ 10. "Generally, chain of custody is established if a sample is sealed and labeled upon collection and received by the technician performing the test in that condition." Dep't of Soc. Welfare v. Miller, 157 Vt. 92, 96, 595 A.2d 288, 290 (1991); see also State v. Comstock, 145 Vt. 503, 506-07, 494 A.2d 135, 137 (1985) (holding that a chain of custody is sufficient where the evidence arrived at the lab through the mail in the same condition as when the officer prepared it, with seal intact, and where there was "no evidence of tampering with, change in, or confusion of the sample during the mailing"). "The identity of a specimen used in drug testing need not be proved beyond all possibility of doubt to be admissible."

  2. State v. Tester

    2009 Vt. 3 (Vt. 2009)   Cited 14 times
    Finding the State provided a sufficient chain of custody for DNA swab samples, even though the nurse failed to keep records of each step in collecting and storing the evidence, where the nurse testified that she took the samples according to rape kit instructions and established protocols and sealed and labeled them

    The State generally can meet its burden with respect to the chain of custody by demonstrating that "a sample is sealed and labeled upon collection and received by the technician performing the test in that condition." Dep't of Soc. Welfare v. Miller, 157 Vt. 92, 96, 595 A.2d 288, 290 (1991); see also State v. Comstock, 145 Vt. 503, 507, 494 A.2d 135, 137 (1985) (holding that a chain of custody is sufficient where the evidence arrived at the lab through the mail in the same condition as when the officer prepared it, with seal intact, and where there was "no evidence of tampering with, change in, or confusion of the sample during the mailing"). "The chain need not be perfectly established."