1. © 2012 Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 4.2
The Chain of Custody
© 2012 Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. An example of a handwritten chain of custody.
Figure 4.2.1a
An example of a handwritten chain of custody.
© 2012 Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

3. An example of a handwritten chain of custody.
Figure 4.2.1b
An example of a handwritten chain of custody.
© 2012 Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

4. © 2012 Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
Figure 4.2.2
The complexity of a chain of custody for a piece of evidence increases as more personnel access it, and this complexity is compounded by each additional piece of evidence cataloged in a case. Here, a single item of evidence is diagrammed. First it is collected at the scene (1) and handed off to the detective by the CSI (2), who submits it to the evidence clerk at the laboratory (3). The clerk transfers the evidence to the vault (4), from which four scientists retrieve the item of evidence for each of their analyses (5–8), returning it after they are done (9–13). When all exams are completed, the evidence is taken from the vault by the clerk (14) and returned to the detective for storage (15) until trial when it is presented in court (16). In this hypothetical example (chain of custody protocols vary by jurisdiction), this one item of evidence has 16 exchanges associated with it, all of which must be documented.
© 2012 Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.