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Stevens v. Allen6/28/1999
had it and what was done with it between the taking and the analysis. Benton, 232 S.C. at 33-34, 100 S.E.2d at 537 (citations omitted.).
Here, the sample was taken at Piedmont Medical Center and sent to a laboratory in New Jersey. The Personal Representatives failed to provide the testimony of any of the technicians that handled the sample once it reached the lab in New Jersey. Dr. Orthman could not provide the names of the individuals that handled the sample. According to Dr. Orthman, the specimen was shipped in a bottle with a screw top, but it was probably not sealed. Dr. Orthman said "a few people" would have handled the specimen once it was at the lab. In Raino v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., 309 S.C. 255, 422 S.E.2d 98 (1992), the Supreme Court noted:
Appellants contend that this case is distinguishable [from Benton] because here the sample was tested within twenty minutes in a lab two hundred feet from the trauma room and "all of the persons who handled the blood in the trauma protocol are medically qualified...." Regardless of the distance to the lab, appellants do not know who handled the blood. There are not mere gaps in the chain. Appellants failed to establish the proper chain of custody. Raino, 309 S.C. at 258, 422 S.E.2d at 100.
The Personal Representatives have failed to provide a sufficient chain of custody for admittance of the medical report. The admissibility of evidence is left to the sound discretion of the Judge, and the refusal to admit the urinalysis report in this case was not an abuse of discretion. See State v. Cribb, 310 S.C. 518, 426 S.E.2d 306 (1992); Raino, supra; State v. Williams, 297 S.C. 290, 376 S.E.2d 773 (1989); Benton v. Pellum; 232 S.C. 26, 100 S.E.2d 534 (1957).
CONCLUSION
We hold the Personal Representatives are entitled to a new trial absolute. A verdict finding a defendant liable for proximately causing a plaintiff's injuries, but awarding "Zero Dollars" in damages is facially inconsistent. We conclude the Personal Representatives have failed to establish a proper chain of custody in regard to the urinalysis results encapsulated in the laboratory report.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
CURETON and STILWELL, JJ., concur.
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