BUSH v. STATE12/1/1995
with the evidence.' Ex parte Jones, 592 So.2d 210, 212 (Ala. 1991); Harrell v. State, 608 So.2d 434, 437 (Ala.Crim.App. 1992). Moreover, the evidence need not negate the remotest possibility of substitution, alteration, or tampering, but instead must prove to a reasonable probability that the item is the same as it was at the beginning of the chain. Id., at 437; Ex parte Williams, 548 So.2d 518 (Ala. 1989). Evidence has been held correctly admitted even when the chain of custody has a weak or missing link. Gordon v. State, 587 So.2d 427, 433 (Ala.Crim.App. 1990), rev'd, 587 So.2d 434 (Ala.), on remand, 587 So.2d 435 (Ala.Cr.App.), appeal after remand, 591 So.2d 149 (Ala. Crim. App. 1991); Shute v. State, 469 So.2d 670, 674 (Ala. Crim. App. 1984). In Gordon, this court held that because there was no evidence that the victim's body had been tampered with in any way, a sufficient chain of custody had been established. Gordon, 587 So.2d at 433."
Slaton v. State, 680 So.2d 879 (Ala. Cr. App. 1995).
There is nothing in the record to suggest that the bodies had been tampered with or altered before arriving at the forensics laboratory where the autopsies were performed. In fact, the appellant does not allege that the bodies were tampered with or altered, nor does he advance any reason why he thinks he has been denied a substantial right or why the failure to show a chain of custody of the bodies has affected the fairness and integrity of the trial so as to rise to the level of plain error.
"After finding error, an appellate court may still affirm a conviction on the ground that the error was harmless, if indeed it was. Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967); Sattari v. State, 577 So.2d 535 (Ala. Cr. App. 1990), cert. denied, 577 So.2d 540 (Ala. 1991); A.R. App. P. 45. The harmless error rule applies in capital cases. Ex parte Whisenhant, 482 So.2d 1241 (Ala. 1983); Henderson v. State, 583 So.2d 276 (Ala. Cr. App. 1990), aff'd, 583 So.2d 305 (Ala. 1991), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 908, 112 S.Ct. 1268, 117 L.Ed.2d 496 (1992); Musgrove v. State, 519 So.2d 565 (Ala. Cr. App.), aff'd, 519 So.2d 586 (Ala. 1986), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1036, 108 S.Ct. 2024, 100 L.Ed.2d 611 (1988). . . . In order for a constitutional error to be deemed harmless under Chapman, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the verdict. In order for the error to be deemed harmless under Rule 45, the state must establish that the error did not or probably did not injuriously affect the appellant's substantial rights."
Guthrie v. State, 616 So.2d 914, 931 (Ala. Cr. App. 1993). Although the state failed to establish a complete chain of custody of the victims' bodies and to lay a proper predicate, in this case we find that if it constituted error not to do so, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, and it certainly did not rise to plain error. In our opinion, the failure of the state to prove a chain of custody of the victims' bodies did not contribute to the verdict nor did it injuriously affect the appellant's substantial rights.
We find no merit to the appellant's contention that error occurred when the state failed to prove that the bodies autopsied by Dr. Gilchrist were those of Dominguez and Adams. At the crime scenes, the victims were identified and photographs were made of them, which were introduced into evidence. Dr. Gilchrist also identified and photographed the bodies, and testified extensively about the injuries they sustained and the causes of their deaths. The identity of the bodies can hardly be questioned, and it is highly unlikely that anything occurred to the bodies that would cause one to question the accu
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