Mohammad Jon Khairandish v. State ( 2016 )

IN THE
TENTH COURT OF APPEALS
No. 10-15-00343-CR
MOHAMMAD JON KHAIRANDISH,
Appellant
v.
THE STATE OF TEXAS,
Appellee
From the County Court at Law No. 1
Brazos County, Texas
Trial Court No. 14-03694-CRM-CCL1
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Mohammad Jon Khairandish was convicted of driving while intoxicated and
sentenced to 60 days in jail with a $1,000 fine. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 49.04 (West
2011). Because the trial court did not err in overruling Khairandish’s chain of custody
objection, the trial court’s judgment is affirmed.
When arrested for driving while intoxicated, Khairandish refused to give a breath
or blood specimen. A warrant was issued, and Khairandish’s blood was drawn. In his
sole issue on appeal, Khairandish complains that the trial court improperly admitted the
blood draw kit evidence when the chain of custody was not properly established.
Specifically, Khairandish contends the State did not establish a chain of custody of the
kit, which contained a tube of Khairandish’s blood, because the officer who deposited the
kit in the evidence drop box did not verify his identifying mark on the kit and did not
testify that he retrieved the kit prior to trial; the evidence technician did not testify as to
when he drove the kit to DPS for testing; and there was no testimony as to when the DPS
lab received the kit.
Absent evidence of tampering, issues regarding the chain of custody bear on the
weight, rather than on the admissibility, of evidence. Davis v. State, 313 S.W.3d 317, 348
(Tex. Crim. App. 2010); Lagrone v. State, 942 S.W.2d 602, 617 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997). There
was no evidence and no suggestion of tampering with this evidence. Thus, chain of
custody had no bearing on the admissibility of the kit, and Khairandish’s objection to the
kit’s chain of custody was properly overruled.
Khairandish’s sole issue is overruled, and the trial court’s judgment is affirmed.
TOM GRAY
Chief Justice
Before Chief Justice Gray,
Justice Davis, and
Justice Scoggins
Affirmed
Opinion delivered and filed July 20, 2016
Do not publish
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