ON the way to Forensic Laboratory, Malaysia Royal Police Force in Cheras, I make a call to my friend and ask him about his case in Session Court KL who are getting the result from the judge today. I hope I can hear a good answer but unfortunately he lost his case. The judge said his case so many weaknesses and need so many to be improved. If we need her full judgement, the judge asked our officer to appeal within fourteen days.My friend mentioned to me that’s our weight of admissibility for our evidence is very low and chain of custody for our physical evidence is questionable. The picture of the incident cannot be tendered in court because our investigation is not the originated of the photo taken.
What is evidence? What is a chain of Evidence?
Evidence is required to confirm, supplement or disprove reasonable lines of enquiry. If enforcement action or legal proceedings are subsequently taken, it may be required in order to prove that an offence has been committed.
Facts may be proved in court not just by oral evidence on oath, but also by ‘documentary’ and ‘real’ evidence (i.e. "physical evidence"). There is an overlap between these two types of evidence but, in general:
a. 'documentary evidence' is a document in which information of any description is recorded. As well as information recorded on paper, a ‘document’ will include photographs, sound and video recordings and computer data;
b. 'real evidence' is a material object, the nature, condition or value of which is either in issue or relevant to the offence you are seeking to prove.
Continuity and integrity of exhibits - Chain Of Custody
1. You must ensure that all exhibits are kept safely and that there is a clear, identifiable audit trail from the moment that exhibits are seized to the moment they are presented in evidence. This is because the prosecution may have to prove that the exhibit before the court is the same exhibit that was referred to by the witness in his or her statement, or that the exhibit has not been tampered with illicitly while being retained for court proceedings.
2. In establishing this chain of evidence, each person handling an exhibit must write a brief statement identifying the exhibit and its whereabouts, stating when they received it and who they received it from, and saying to whom they passed it and when.
3. So, for example, in respect of a sample which is seized and taken to a laboratory for testing, you need to obtain statements covering all the stages from the taking of the sample or the taking into possession of an article, through submission to the laboratory, testing etc, and to its production in court. You should obtain a statement from the officer carrying out the analysis to be able to say how the sealed sample came into the possession of that officer and how it was identified.
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