State v. Hart

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE. 
IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS
PROVIDED BY RULE 239(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

In The Court of Appeals

The State,       
Respondent,

v.

Jabbar Hart,       
Appellant.

Appeal From Florence County

James E. Brogdon, Jr., Circuit Court
Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2004-UP-359

Submitted March 19, 2004 – Filed June
4, 2004

AFFIRMED

C. Rauch Wise, of Greenwood, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney
General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Attorney General David Spencer, all of Columbia;
and Solicitor Edgar Lewis Clements, III, of Florence, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Jabbar Hart (Appellant) appeals
his conviction for two counts of distribution of cocaine, contending the trial
court erred in admitting the cocaine into evidence due to alleged flaws in the
chain of custody.  We affirm pursuant to Rule 220(b)(2), SCACR and the following
authorities:  State v. Carter, 344 S.C. 419, 544 S.E.2d 835 (2001) (holding
evidence concerning the chain of custody should establish the chain as far as
practicable, but need not negate all evidence of tampering as long as the chain
is complete; in applying this rule, courts have found the evidence inadmissible
only where there is a missing link because the identity of those who handled
the specimen was not established as far as practicable; however, if the identity
of those who handled the specimen is established, evidence regarding its care
goes only to the weight of the evidence, not its admissibility); State v.
Singleton, 319 S.C. 312, 317, 460 S.E.2d 573, 576 (1995) (“The party offering
evidence must trace possession of the substance and what was done with it from
the time it was taken until final analysis.”); State v. Williams, 297
S.C. 290, 376 S.E.2d 773 (1989) (stating the admission of evidence requiring
a chain of custody is discretionary with the trial judge and will not be reversed
absent an abuse of that discretion).

AFFIRMED.

GOOLSBY, HOWARD, and BEATTY, JJ., concur.