State v. Wooten

In State v. Wooten, 2000 WL 33114375 (Del. Super. 2000), the exclusion of a blood test in DUI case was dismissed on grounds the State failed to establish chain of custody because there was a discrepancy in testimony provided by the State's chain of custody witnesses. Wooten at page 7. The investigating and packaging officer testified that the blood sample was sealed in two or three different envelopes, while the forensic chemist testified that he retrieved the "envelope," which was sealed without mention of additional packaging or signatures. (Wooten at 7). The court concluded that facts, whether there was missing or misidentified evidence, remained in dispute on appeal and the record reflected the State's witnesses testified inconsistently, which the State, in its briefings, failed to eliminate any reasonable probability that the evidence had been tampered or altered. Wooten at 7-8.