Art. 158-B. The chain of custody comprises trace tracking in the following steps: (Included by Law No. 13,964, of 2019) (Effective)
I – recognition: act of distinguishing an element as of potential interest for the production of expert evidence; (Included by Law No. 13,964, of 2019) (Effective)
II – isolation: act of preventing the state of things from changing, by isolating and preserving the immediate, mediate and related environment to the traces and crime scene; (Included by Law No. 13,964, of 2019) (Effective)
III – fixation: detailed description of the trace as found at the crime scene or in the body of evidence, and its position in the examination area, which may be illustrated by photographs, filming or sketches, being essential its description in the expert report produced by the expert responsible for the service; (Included by Law No. 13,964, of 2019) (Effective)
IV – collection: act of collecting the trace that will be submitted to expert analysis, respecting its characteristics and nature; (Included by Law No. 13,964, of 2019) (Effective)
V – packaging: procedure whereby each collected trace is packed individually, according to its physical, chemical and biological characteristics, for later analysis, with a note of the date, time and name of the person who carried out the collection and packaging; (Included by Law No. 13,964, of 2019) (Effective)
VI – transport: act of transferring the trace from one place to another, using the appropriate conditions (packaging, vehicles, temperature, among others), in order to guarantee the maintenance of its original characteristics, as well as the control of its possession; (Included by Law No. 13,964, of 2019) (Effective)
VII – receipt: formal act of transferring ownership of the trace, which must be documented with, at least, information referring to the procedure number and related judicial police unit, place of origin, name of the person who transported the trace, tracking code, nature of the examination, type of trace, protocol, signature and identification of who received it; (Included by Law No. 13,964, of 2019) (Effective)
VIII – processing: expert examination itself, manipulation of the trace according to the appropriate methodology for its biological, physical and chemical characteristics, in order to obtain the desired result, which must be formalized in a report produced by an expert; (Included by Law No. 13,964, of 2019) (Effective)
IX – storage: procedure referring to the storage, under appropriate conditions, of the material to be processed, stored for counter-expertise, discarded or transported, linked to the corresponding report number; (Included by Law No. 13,964, of 2019) (Effective)
X – Disposal: procedure related to the release of the trace, respecting the legislation in force and, when applicable, through judicial authorization. (Included by Law No. 13,964, of 2019) (Effective)
Remission: See comments to Article 158-A .
