Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
U

United States v. Olson

846 F.2d 1103 (1988)

From our private database of 46,400+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

United States v. Olson

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
846 F.2d 1103 (1988)

SC

Facts

Clifford Olson (defendant) was charged with murder. At trial, the prosecution sought to introduce bullets and bullet fragments taken from the victim’s body. After this evidence initially was sealed at the crime scene and taken to the crime lab, FBI Agent Gregory Hunter unsealed the evidence and packed it in cotton in preparation for it to be shipped to a different FBI lab. Agent Hunter died before trial, so the prosecution was not able to present specific evidence of how or when the evidence was replaced in the cartons. Olson objected to the introduction of this evidence based on a lack of a chain of custody. The trial court overruled the objection and admitted the evidence. Similarly, Olson objected to the introduction of a lead fragment that allegedly fell out of the victim’s arm when his body was moved at the crime scene. The prosecution testified that a police officer picked up the lead and that an FBI agent gave the same piece of lead to another FBI agent later in the day. Olson’s objection to the lead was that there was no evidence connecting the lead that the police officer picked up with the lead that the FBI agent handed off later in the day. The trial court overruled this objection as well. The jury convicted Olson. He appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Coffey, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 826,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 826,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,400 briefs, keyed to 991 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 826,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,400 briefs - keyed to 991 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Evidence

Key Terms