ASTM_E_1492_-_11.pdf

Designation:E149211Standard Practice forReceiving,Documenting,Storing,and Retrieving Evidencein a Forensic Science Laboratory1This standard is issued under the fixed designation E1492;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon()indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.1.Scope1.1 This practice describes procedures and techniques for aforensic science laboratory to protect and document the integ-rity of items of physical evidence with respect to suitability forscientific testing,and admissibility as evidence in litigation.1.2 This practice recommends generally accepted profes-sional principles and operations,although the facts and issuesof each situation require consideration,and frequently involvematters not expressly dealt with herein.Deviations from thispractice should be based on specific articulable circumstances.1.3 This practice offers a set of instructions for performingone or more specific operations.This standard cannot replaceknowledge,skill or ability acquired through appropriate edu-cation,training,and experience and should be used in conjunc-tion with sound professional judgment.1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns,if any,associated with its use.It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.2.Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:2E860 Practice for Examining And Preparing Items That AreOr May Become Involved In Criminal or Civil LitigationE1188 Practice for Collection and Preservation of Informa-tion and Physical Items by a Technical InvestigatorE1459 Guide for Physical Evidence Labeling and RelatedDocumentation3.Significance and Use3.1 Prior to being presented in court,a foundation must beestablished showing how evidence was collected,who col-lected the evidence,where it was collected,who has hadcustody of the evidence,how the evidence has been processed,and when changes of custody have occurred.3.2 Following the procedures outlined in this practice canserve to protect the chain of custody of the evidence while theevidence is at the forensic laboratory.Refer to Practice E1188for chain of custody information and procedures prior tosubmission to the laboratory.4.Procedure4.1 Receiving and Identifying the Evidence:4.1.1 When evidence from a particular incident is firstbrought to the laboratory,assign a unique numeric or alphanu-meric laboratory case number,and use that case number whenidentifying the submitted evidence as well as all subsequentitems of evidence submitted to the laboratory from the sameincident or case.Laboratory numbering may adopt similar casenumbers to those assigned by field investigators,consistentwith Practice E1459.4.1.1.1 Record the laboratory case number in a permanentlaboratory record along with the following information:sub-mitting agency and agency case number,date the case wasreceived at the laboratory,name of the person receiving theevidence,and a listing of the items.4.1.1.2 Identify the person delivering the evidence andrecord that persons name in the record of the chain of custodywhen evidence is delivered in person.Document shipping andreceipt information for evidence received through a publiccarrier.4.1.1.3 Items,or areas of items,that require protection fromloss,cross-transfer or contamination shall be submitted in asealed condition or sealed immediately upon receipt at thelaboratory.When requested,the laboratory staff shall provideinstructions to the submitter in proper methods of packagingevidence.4.1.1.4 A laboratory employee competent to evaluate thematerial shall determine whether improper packaging hasdiminished or destroyed the value of the material for laboratoryanalysis.4.1.1.5 If an item is submitted to the laboratory that has noapparent value,or diminished value as evidence,then thelaboratory shall still take the necessary steps to preserve the1This practice is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E30 on ForensicSciences and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E30.11 on Interdisciplin-ary Forensic Science Standards.Current edition approved June 1,2011.Published July 2011.Originally approvedin 1992.Last previous edition approved in 2005 as E1492 05.DOI:10.1520/E1492-11.2For referenced ASTM standards,visit the ASTM website,www.astm.org,orcontact ASTM Customer Service at serviceastm.org.For Annual Book of ASTMStandards volume information,refer to the standards Document Summary page onthe ASTM website.Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959.United States1 chain of custody of that item.Notify the submitter as soon aspractical regarding the value of the submitted evidence.Labo-ratory policy may dictate that improperly pa