United States v. Howard-Arias
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
679 F.2d 363 (1982)
After a disabled fishing trawler was boarded by the Coast Guard, officers found roughly 240 bales of marijuana, which were recovered even after the boat sank and turned over to DEA agents. Howard-Arias (defendant), a crewmember, was charged with possessing marijuana with intent to distribute, and at trial the government authenticated the marijuana through the seizing Coast Guard officer, the officer who received it from him, a DEA custodian, and a DEA chemist -- but not the DEA agent who had transported it between those custodians. Howard-Arias was convicted and appealed, arguing this missing witness broke the chain of custody and made the marijuana inadmissible.
Whether physical evidence is inadmissible for a broken chain of custody when one custodian who briefly handled the evidence does not testify, but other witnesses account for the evidence's custody and establish it was not exchanged or altered.