Opinion ID: 532063
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Admission into Evidence of the Packaged Methamphetamine

Text: 44 Casto contends that a break in the chain of custody pertinent to Government Exhibits Two, Three, Four, and Five, the packages of methamphetamine sold to the undercover agents by Gutierrez, should have rendered these exhibits inadmissible. Shortly after Officer Martinez seized the packages, they were sealed and sent to a Drug Enforcement Agency laboratory in Dallas, Texas. Over two months later the packages were tested by Frank Medina, a forensic chemist at the lab. Medina found that the packages contained methamphetamine. He then sent the packages back to Martinez, who held custody of them until trial. During the period between the arrival of the packages at the laboratory and Medina's testing, the packages were kept in a vault where a technician had placed them upon their arrival at the laboratory. 45 Martinez and Medina testified at trial as to their custody of the packages, but the technician did not testify. According to Casto the trial judge erred by disregarding this evidentiary flaw and allowing the packages into evidence. We disagree. 46 A trial judge is correct in allowing physical evidence to be presented to the jury as long as a reasonable jury could decide that the evidence is what the offering party claims it to be. United States v. Jardina, 747 F.2d 945, 951 (5th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1058, 105 S.Ct. 1773, 84 L.Ed.2d 833 (1985); FED.R.EVID. 901. Any question as to the authenticity of the evidence is then properly decided by the jury. Thus, a break in the chain of custody affects only the weight and not the admissibility of the evidence. Id. The trial court was correct to admit the packages of methamphetamine.