Legal Question in Criminal Law in South Carolina

Re: murder investigation evidence

It probably would not be grounds for a mistrial, but could be gounds for Prosecutorial Misconduct or a Motion for Supression of evidence, or possibly an appeals issue. That is a very brief answer to what is probably a complicated and detailed question. Of course I would need to know a whole lot more about the case and the lost evidence. If I was an attorney on the case I would be asking other questions. One, if they lost the photos, then what about the copies of the photos and the disk or negatives? Its hard to believe that there would only be one copy. Also, all physical evidence is photographed and forensic evidence is recorded. So where are the photos of the shirt and the forensic reports on the shirt. I would also inspect the Chain of Custody of the photos and shirt. Chain of Custody is detailed documentation of evidence, that shows who found it, who took it into custody, where it was stored, who handled it, etc. Hope that helps.