MELVIN COVINGTON v. STATE OF FLORIDA (2023)

The sole issue raised in this appeal was the trial court's denial of a motion in limine seeking to exclude drugs seized during an undercover drug operation.¹ There were seizures of crack cocaine occurring on two separate days. The grounds for the motion to exclude centered on the Lake County Sheriff's Office handling of the drugs when submitted to their evidence custodian.

When evidence is logged into the Lake County Sheriff's Office it is given a computer-generated number. The drugs seized on separate days in this case and turned into the evidence room, because of human error, were assigned the same number. When that error was noticed by the evidence custodian, she corrected that mistake, handwriting the proper number on the exhibit. FDLE, who tested the drugs, provided their own unique numbers on each separate submission.²

Below, Covington correctly acknowledged there was no evidence of tampering. To support the exclusion of evidence due to a gap or as in this case, an irregularity in the chain of custody, Covington must demonstrate a probability of tampering. Armstrong v. State, 73 So. 3d 155, 171-72 (Fla. 2011). Having failed to do so, the trial court properly denied the motion in limine.

AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

1.   This case was transferred from the Second District Court of Appeal to this Court on January 3, 2023.

2.   There was no evidence as to any discrepancy in the description of the evidence nor had any seals been broken.

COHEN, J.

NARDELLA, J., and SASSO, M.L., Associate Judge, concur.