United States v. Collado
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
957 F.2d 38 (1st Cir. 1992)
While fleeing arrest, Francisco Collado (defendant) dropped a bag containing packets of cocaine and heroin, which Officer Venditto retrieved and brought to the police station, logging it in a seizure report and placing it in a secure evidence safe per standard procedure. Detective Purro retrieved the bag and report from the safe the next day, and the police testing unit held the bag until Collado's trial for possession with intent to distribute. Collado objected to the bag's admission at trial, arguing the prosecution failed to properly authenticate it as the same bag he had dropped, but the district court admitted it and Collado was convicted.
Whether a party can authenticate an item of physical evidence, such as drugs seized during an arrest, by establishing an unbroken chain of custody showing the item was not altered.