Any attorneys here? When was the chain of custody precedent set?

Question

Was the precedent set in British common law, and if so when? I need to know for a homework assignment but I can't seem to find the information from an Internet search.

chain of custody as it pertains to evidence collection, storing, etc. to make sure it isn't tampered with. But when was the precedent established? Thanks!

Answer 1

Most of our (US) general precedents come from British law.

When you say "chain of custody -- do you mean child custody -- or custody of evidence?

For child custody, the issues are large set by statute -- legislators decided how they wanted things to be.

For evidence -- the concept of chain of custody derived from the evidentiary requirements of laying a proper foundation.

For evidence to be admitted, it must be shown to actually be what it claims to be. And the only way to do that is to trace what happened to it back from the point of trial to the point where it became evidence -- hence a need for a "chain" of testimony establishing that it was not tampered with at each step along the way.