What is chain of custody and why does it matter?
Every transfer is supposed to be recorded. Seized at the scene, logged into property, transferred to the lab, analyzed, returned to storage, produced for court. Each handoff generates a record and a signature.
Why it matters is straightforward: the State has to establish that the substance tested is the substance seized from this person. Gaps in the trail put that link in question.
What produces gaps in practice — evidence logged under the wrong number, transfers without documentation, packaging opened and resealed without a record, seals that don't match, weights that change between the property receipt and the lab report, or storage conditions that don't meet requirements.
A weight discrepancy deserves particular attention where a trafficking threshold is involved, because a few grams can be the difference between charges.
These are paper questions with paper answers, and the paper is obtainable.
There's usually a document that settles it — the question is whether anyone's asked for it. ---
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