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MMLU / A defendant is on trial for possession of heroin. During the prosecution's…

Problem

Answer published by the source. Consult the official source to check your work against its answer.

question

A defendant is on trial for possession of heroin. During the prosecution's case-in-chief, a police officer testifies that he watched another officer seize a bag of white powder from the defendant and seal it in an envelope, which both officers initialed and dated and then placed in the police property room. The prosecutor then calls a chemist to testify that she obtained, intact from the property room, the dated, sealed envelope with the initials of both police officers, whose handwriting she recognized police officers, whose handwriting she recognized from previous experience, and that testing disclosed that the powder therein was heroin. The defendant argues that the prosecutor has not sufficiently authenticated the powder tested by the chemist as the powder that was seized from the defendant. Is the chemist's testimony admissible?

choices

  1. No, because the chemist lacks firsthand knowledge that the powder came from the defendant.
  2. No, unless the envelope and powder are produced in court or their absence is explained.
  3. Yes, because an object in official custody is self-authenticating.
  4. Yes, because the powder is sufficiently identified as having come from the defendant.

subject

professional_law

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Source and history

task_id
d258258b-8728-50da-98f0-87842155b24f
task_key
all--test--d258258b-8728-50da-98f0-87842155b24f
task_revision_id
1
config / split
all / test

Official source

initial import