State v. Burnett, KCD
| Decision Date | 06 July 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. KCD,KCD |
| Citation | 538 S.W.2d 950 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Tommy Turner BURNETT, Appellant. 28164. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Terry E. Brummer, Columbia, for appellant.
John C. Danforth, Atty. Gen., Charles L. Howard, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.
Before TURNAGE, P.J., and WELBORN and HIGGINS, Special Judges.
Appeal from conviction of possession of more than 35 grams of marijuana. §§ 195.017, 195.200, RSMo 1969. The appellant does not challenge the sufficiency of evidence except to question whether there were breaks in the chain of custody of ten bags purported to contain marijuana, State's Exhibits 5 through 14, sufficient to render them inadmissible. Affirmed.
On September 24, 1974, at approximately 9:00 a.m., William R. Simpson informed Sergeant Bill D. Smith of the Missouri State Highway Patrol that he had just observed a man placing a large quantity of green vegetation in a van parked alongside Interstate Route 70 west of Columbia. Sergeant Smith pursued the van east on I--70, radioed for assistance, and later stopped the van east of the intersection of I--70 and U.S. Highway 63 South. Upon observation of the green vegetation in the van, Sergeant Smith arrested the driver, defendant Tommy Turner Burnett, for possession of marijuana. Deputy Miller and Deputy Ehrsam of the Boone County sheriff's office assisted in stopping the van. Deputy Miller stayed with the van at the scene and when it was towed to the sheriff's office; Deputy Ehrsam transported the defendant to the sheriff's office; Sergeant Smith proceeded to the sheriff's office. At the sheriff's office, these officers locked the van and sealed it with stickers. Later in the day, Sergeant Smith, assisted by Deputy Ehrsam and Trooper Burning, removed the vegetation from the van, inventoried it, and put it in plastic bags which were tied and marked with evidence tags. The bags were then taken to the jail garage for storage. Deputy Matney was the jailer on duty and he closed the garage door to complete the storage operation. Sergeant Smith identified State's Exhibits 5 through 14 as 'the bags (10) that were used when we took the plant material from the vehicle and * * * put it in the bags and these are the tags that was put on them when we marked them.'
On September 25, 1974, Sergeant Smith went to the jail where Deputy Lory Rennie was present, loaded the bags, Exhibits 5 through 14, on a truck and transported them to the Trace Substance Laboratory at the University of Missouri. No one was present at the laboratory and Sergeant Smith restored the bags at the jail garage with Deputy Rennie present.
On September 26, 1974, Sergeant Smith again obtained Exhibits 5 through 14 from the jail with Deputy Rennie present and delivered them to Steve Morris at the Trace Laboratory Center.
Deputy Thomas D. Miller participated in the arrest of defendant Tommy Turner Burnett at approximately 9:15 a.m., September 24, 1974, near the intersection of I--70 and U.S. 63 South in Boone County. Following the arrest, Deputy Miller stayed with defendant's van and contents while it was being towed to the sheriff's office where it was sealed and secured by Sergeant Smith.
Jailer David H. Matney was present at the jail on September 24, 1974, at approximately 5:10 p.m., when Sergeant Smith and his assistants (Deputy Ehrsam and Trooper Burning) 'unloaded a van and put eight containers of evidence in the garage,' after which he closed and locked the garage.
On September 25, 1974, at approximately 3:15 p.m., Trooper Smith came to the garage and, with jailer Matney's help, loaded the evidence, after which jailer Matney closed the garage. At 4:50 p.m., Sergeant Smith returned the evidence and jailer Matney put it in the garage and locked the door.
On September 26, 1974, Dr. Steve Morris, senior research chemist for the University of Missouri at the Environmental Trace Substance Research Center, received Exhibits 5 through 14 (the bags) from Sergeant Smith and delivered them to Terry Baxter who does analyses for the Center.
Terry Baxter accepted the delivery of Exhibits 5 through 14 from Sergeant Smith and Doctor Morris for analysis. His analysis showed that each of Exhibits 5 through 14 contained marijuana, the total weight of which was 57,661 grams, 127 pounds. Later on September 26, 1974, due to lack of storage space at the laboratory, and after his analysis, Terry Baxter returned the evidence to the police department where it was given to Officer Heidy. In the course of the analysis, Mr. Baxter worked on ten bags of evidence material. He was assisted by Susan Bryan, his technician. She helped separate leaves from stalks and, after the analysis,...
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Smith v. Com., 780171
...110 Ariz. 51, 514 P.2d 1239 (1973); State v. Williams, 346 So.2d 181 (La.1977); Nix v. State, 276 So.2d 652 (Miss.1973); State v. Burnett, 538 S.W.2d 950 (Mo.App.1976); Eisentrager v. State, 79 Nev. 38, 378 P.2d 526 (1963); Contu v. State, 533 P.2d 1000 (Okl.Crim.1975); 29 Am.Jur.2d Evidenc......
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State v. Wagner, 38935
... ... We disagree. There is no requirement that everyone who touches an exhibit must testify, or that the state exclude every possibility of tampering, in order for the evidence to be admissible. State v. Burnett, 538 S.W.2d 950, 952-53(2-4) (Mo.App.1976); State v. Winters, 525 S.W.2d 417, 426(20-21) (Mo.App.1975). Contrary to defendant's suggestion of the opportunity for interference with the evidence, the evidence possessed sufficient assurance that no one had tampered with the exhibit and that the ... ...
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State v. Gardner, 10462
...Gardner, supra, 534 S.W.2d at 290. The state does not have to negate every possibility of tampering with the exhibit. State v. Burnett, 538 S.W.2d 950, 952 (Mo.App.1976). We believe that the chain of custody here was sufficiently established. Point V is Defendant contends that the state's c......
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State v. Robinson
...the evidence afford a reasonable assurance that the exhibit was in the same condition at trial as when first obtained. State v. Burnett, 538 S.W.2d 950, 952 (Mo.App.1976). All of the testimony relative to the bullet, State's Exhibit No. 16, came in without objection. Defendant made no motio......