Opinion ID: 1791708
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of the Crack Cocaine into Evidence.

Text: ¶ 23. At trial, Johnson failed to object either to the chain of custody or to the admission of the cocaine introduced into evidence, yet he asks this Court to address the propriety of the judge's admission of the cocaine for the first time on appeal. This Court normally reviews a judge's decision to admit or exclude evidence for an abuse of discretion. Graves v. State, 492 So.2d 562, 565 (Miss.1986). However, a defendant's failure to make a contemporaneous objection to the introduction of evidence at trial waives review of the matter on appeal. Lambert v. State, 574 So.2d 573, 575 (Miss.1990). As such, an appellant must rely on plain error to raise the assignment on appeal. Foster v. State, 639 So.2d 1263, 1289 (Miss.1994) (citing Gray v. State, 487 So.2d 1304, 1312 (Miss.1986)). An error is deemed plain error when the substantive rights of a defendant are affected. Grubb v. State, 584 So.2d 786, 789 (Miss.1991). ¶ 24. Johnson objects to the judge's admission of the crack cocaine introduced at trial, which he raises for the first time on appeal, based on an alleged break in the chain of custody. The record reflects that the State offered sufficient testimony from Officer Tolbert, Officer Holifield, and Brandi Goodman to satisfy the requirement of M.R.E. 901(a) [5] for establishing a proper chain of custody for admission of the cocaine at trial. Moreover, the trial court specifically asked defense counsel if he had any objections to introduction of the cocaine either as an exhibit for identification purposes only or for admission into evidence and counsel did not object on either occasion. As the trial court properly admitted the cocaine into evidence without any objection from Johnson, it cannot be said that the trial court abused its discretion or committed plain error. We find that Johnson's claim of a break in the chain of custody is procedurally barred. Further, we find his claim is without merit.