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Armstrong v. State

A bag of clothing that defendant's stepfather's attorney gave to police was admissible based on the state's chain of custody evidence.

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A jury convicted Joshua Armstrong of felony murder, armed robbery, and burglary for his involvement in the killing of Blanche Atwood. The principal issue on appeal is whether the State satisfied chain of custody requirements for a blood-stained t-shirt that had the victim’s DNA on it. Because we find there was a sufficient evidentiary foundation to admit the t-shirt into evidence and Armstrong’s other enumerations of error are without merit, we affirm.1

On September 3, 1998, Armstrong and an accomplice, Tony Elam, skipped school and forced their way into the home of Blanche Atwood, whose grandson was a drug dealer. They beat Atwood to death and stole money, drugs and a cellular telephone from the house. Then, they changed out of their bloody clothes and used the cell phone and some of the money from the robbery to purchase tattoos and drugs. Elam later bragged about killing an elderly lady to get money for his tattoos. Armstrong also admitted to friends his participation in stealing from Atwood; he denied beating her, however.

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