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Law 101: Legal Guide for the Forensic Expert

Maintaining Laboratory Information

Photo of a lab technician studying an evidence sample.
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) (see reuse policy).

Information generated from laboratory analysis should be maintained by the laboratory indefinitely. Other documents submitted with the evidence may also be kept in the laboratory's case file (e.g., police reports, submitting agencies' presumptive analysis reports, chain-of-custody forms). All of this information may be subject to discovery if the case goes to trial.

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