The State v. Hatcher

• Decision Date: 21 March 2011
• Docket Number: No. 26950.,26950.
• Citation: 708 S.E.2d 750,392 S.C. 86
• Parties: The STATE, Petitioner,v.Ricky L. HATCHER, Respondent.
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court

392 S.C. 86

708 S.E.2d 750

The STATE, Petitioner,

v.Ricky L. HATCHER, Respondent.

No. 26950.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

Heard Feb. 16, 2011.Decided March 21, 2011.

Attorney General Alan Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, Senior Assistant Attorney General Harold M. Coombs, Jr., all of Columbia; and Solicitor William Benjamin Rogers, Jr., of Bennettsville, for Petitioner.Appellate Defender Elizabeth A. Franklin–Best, of South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, of Columbia, for Respondent.Justice BEATTY.

This Court granted the State's petition for a writ of certiorari to review State v. Hatcher, 384 S.C. 372, 681 S.E.2d 925 (Ct.App.2009), in which the Court of Appeals reversed the conviction and sentence of Ricky L. Hatcher on drug charges on the ground the State failed to establish a sufficient chain of custody for the drug evidence. We reverse.

I. FACTS

Hatcher was indicted for distribution of crack cocaine and distribution of crack cocaine within one-half mile of a public park for selling crack to an undercover informant (“Buyer”) working with the Marlboro County Sheriff's Office on October 6, 2006.

At trial, the Buyer testified that he met with two officers on October 6, 2006 in downtown McColl. They searched the Buyer before providing him with $40.00 to make a drug purchase and fitting him with a concealed wire. The Buyer went to Hatcher's residence and purchased two pieces of crack cocaine from Hatcher. The two pieces were individually wrapped inside small pieces of plastic cut from the corners of a sandwich bag. The ends of the plastic were tied into knots. The Buyer estimated he was in Hatcher's residence for about three to five minutes before he left and delivered the crack to the officers, who were waiting nearby. The Buyer identified State's Exhibit 1, which included the crack and two baggies, as being the items that he received from Hatcher.

Sergeant Jeffrey Locklear of the Marlboro County Sheriff's Office testified that he and another officer, investigator Brittany English, met the Buyer at 12:25 p.m. on October 6, 2006. Locklear confirmed all of the details testified to by the Buyer.

Regarding the receipt of the drug evidence, Sergeant Locklear testified that the Buyer gave him the crack, which was contained in “two tiny plastic corners” cut from sandwich bags and tied into knots. Locklear placed the crack (still tied in their original packages) inside a plastic evidence bag and “sealed [it] with a glue-type seal.” He stated the only way the bag could be opened is by cutting it open. Locklear put identifying information on the bag, including the case number, the date of 10/06/06, the time of 12:39 p.m. when he retrieved the drugs from the Buyer, the approximate weight of the drugs, and that the purchase was made at Second Street in McColl from Ricky Hatcher. Locklear sealed this package inside a second bag produced by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) specifically for the transportation of items to the SLED laboratory for testing. Locklear stated he personally transported the sealed evidence to SLED.

Locklear testified that after the drugs were tested, the SLED agent processing the case repackaged the drugs in a heat-sealed bag (that must be cut open) and marked the bag with blue writing. SLED returned the heat-sealed bag to the sheriff's office. Locklear identified the heat-sealed bag presented at trial as the same one that he had personally transported to the court that day.

A forensic scientist with SLED, Marjorie Wilson, testified as an expert in the analysis of controlled substances and stated that she was the person responsible for processing and testing the drug evidence in this case at SLED. Wilson stated she retrieved the evidence from the Log–In Department at SLED and that it was still sealed in a Best Evidence Kit (or bag).¹ Wilson testified she broke the seal on the evidence bag and inside she found a second bag from the Marlboro County Sheriff's Department that contained “two clear plastic corner bags.” Both of the plastic corner bags were still knotted, with a rock-like substance inside them.

Wilson removed the substances from the corner bags and analyzed them before re-packaging the contents into two Ziploc bags. She placed the repackaged evidence into a heat-sealed pouch and wrote her initials on it and the date it was sealed of “5/04/07.” She returned the pouch to SLED's Log–In Department, which then gave the evidence back to the Marlboro County Sheriff's Department. Wilson identified the SLED heat-sealed bag, which was still sealed and bore her initials, as the one she had returned to the SLED Log–In Department. She confirmed that it was in the same condition as when she had sealed it.

The State moved for the admission of State's Exhibit 1, and defense counsel objected on the basis the chain of custody had not been sufficiently established. The trial judge overruled the objection and admitted the drug evidence. Wilson then further testified that she had performed preliminary and confirmatory testing on the rock-like substances in State's Exhibit 1 and concluded that crack cocaine was in each of the two packages. Wilson confirmed that she performed her testing on May 4, 2007, and that she sealed the evidence with the notation, “MW, L0706559, Seal Intact,” and the date, “05/04/07.” She also placed identifying marking on the individual corner bags and on the Ziploc bags with the repackaged evidence.

A jury found Hatcher guilty as charged, and the trial judge sentenced him to concurrent terms of fifteen years in prison. Hatcher appealed his conviction and sentence, and the Court of Appeals reversed on the basis the State failed to establish a sufficient chain of custody for the drug evidence. State v. Hatcher, 384 S.C. 372, 681 S.E.2d 925 (Ct.App.2009). This Court granted the State's petition for a writ of certiorari.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

“The admission of evidence is within the discretion of the trial court and will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion.” State v. Pagan, 369 S.C. 201, 208, 631 S.E.2d 262, 265 (2006). “An abuse of discretion occurs when the conclusions of the trial court either lack evidentiary support or are controlled by an error of law.” Id.

III. LAW/ANALYSIS

“[T]his Court has long held that a party offering into evidence fungible items such as drugs or blood samples must establish a complete chain of custody as far as practicable.” State v. Sweet, 374 S.C. 1, 6, 647 S.E.2d 202, 205 (2007); see also Benton v. Pellum, 232 S.C. 26, 33, 100 S.E.2d 534, 537 (1957) (stating “it is generally held that the party offering such specimen is required to establish, at least as far as practicable, a complete chain of evidence”).

“Where the substance analyzed has passed through several hands the evidence must not leave it to conjecture as to who had it and what was done with it between the taking and the analysis.” Benton, 232 S.C. at 33–34, 100 S.E.2d at 537 (citation omitted). “Testimony from each custodian of fungible evidence, however, is not a prerequisite to establishing a chain of custody sufficient for admissibility.” Sweet, 374 S.C. at 7, 647 S.E.2d at 206 (citing State v. Taylor, 360 S.C. 18, 27, 598 S.E.2d 735, 739 (Ct.App.2004)). “Where other evidence establishes the identity of those who have handled the evidence and reasonably demonstrates the manner of handling of the evidence, our courts have been willing to fill gaps in the chain of custody due to an absent witness.” Id.

[6] “Proof of chain of custody need not negate all possibility of tampering so long as the chain of possession is complete.” State v. Carter, 344 S.C. 419, 424, 544 S.E.2d 835, 837 (2001). “In applying this rule, we have found evidence inadmissible only where there is a missing link in the chain of possession because the identity of those who handled the [substance] was not established at least as far as practicable.” Id. (emphasis added).

In finding the chain of custody insufficient in Hatcher's case, the Court of Appeals stated that “Officer Locklear and [SLED] Agent Wilson both acted as custodians of the evidence,” but “neither is directly linked to the other by testimony or documentary evidence.” Hatcher, 384 S.C. at 376, 681 S.E.2d at 927–28. Specifically, the court stated that the person who received the evidence at SLED is not personally identified and there were no details presented about how the evidence was handled while in Officer Locklear's possession or once it was surrendered at SLED. Id. at 376–77, 681 S.E.2d at 928.

The Court of Appeals acknowledged that South Carolina case law provides that the chain of custody need be established only “as far as is reasonably practicable” and that each person who handled the evidence is not required to testify, but nevertheless stated that “South Carolina courts have consistently held that all persons in the chain of custody must be identified and the manner of handling the evidence must be demonstrated.” Id. at 377, 681 S.E.2d at 928 (emphasis added).

The Court of Appeals relied in large part upon its opinion in State v. Chisolm, 355 S.C. 175, 584 S.E.2d 401 (Ct.App.2003), in which it effectively held South Carolina law requires every individual who handled the evidence to be specifically identified, either by providing testimony under oath or producing sworn statements pursuant to Rule 6(b), SCRCrimP. The Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, subsequently overruled Chisolm in State v. Taylor, 360 S.C. 18, 27, 598 S.E.2d 735, 739 (Ct.App.2004), stating that, “[t]o the extent [ Chisolm] can be read to require the testimony of each person in the chain of custody under all circumstances, it is inconsistent with the precedent established by our supreme court, and is hereby overruled.”

Although Hatcher asserts our cases hold all individuals must be identified without exception, this appears to be an...