Criminal Practice – Threatening Letters – False Chemical Threat

A jury could reasonably find mailings conveyed a false chemical threat even without explicitly referencing a chemical weapon and that alleged gaps in the chain of custody affected the weight, not the admissibility, of the DNA evidence linking the defendant to the letters

The Fourth Circuit upheld convictions for mailing threatening letters containing harmless white powder.

The Fourth Circuit affirmed a South Carolina man’s convictions for cyberstalking, mailing threatening communications and making false chemical-threat hoaxes arising from a scheme to implicate his estranged wife during contentious divorce proceedings. According to the government’s evidence, defendant repeatedly directed police attention toward his wife and ultimately mailed anonymous threatening letters containing a white powdery substance while attempting to make it appear that she was responsible. Although laboratory testing later revealed the powder was harmless, the mailings prompted emergency responses and a criminal investigation.

On appeal, the defendant principally argued that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions under the federal false-chemical-threat statute because the letters did not explicitly mention chemical agents, toxins or weapons. The Fourth Circuit rejected that argument. The court explained that the statute focuses on a defendant’s conduct and the surrounding circumstances rather than requiring an express written threat referencing a chemical weapon. Here, the defendant mailed threatening letters that contained an unidentified white powdery substance. The court found a reasonable jury could conclude that including the powder in the envelopes was intended to convey the false impression that the letters contained a dangerous chemical substance and that recipients could reasonably believe an attack was occurring. The reaction of recipients and law-enforcement personnel, including the involvement of emergency responders and the state bomb squad, reinforced the reasonableness of that belief.

The court also rejected challenges to the admission of key physical evidence and DNA results linking the defendant to the mailings. Investigators discovered the defendant’s DNA on postage stamps attached to one of the threatening letters. The defendant argued that gaps in the chain of custody rendered the evidence inadmissible, particularly because a police officer who initially collected and stored the evidence died before trial and could not testify. According to the defendant, the government could not fully account for the handling of the evidence between its collection and later forensic testing.

The Fourth Circuit held that those concerns went to the weight of the evidence rather than its admissibility. The court emphasized that a perfect chain of custody is not required and that evidence may be authenticated through both direct and circumstantial proof. Witness testimony, photographs, doorbell-camera footage, and testimony from investigators who later handled the evidence provided sufficient support for a jury to conclude the items were authentic. Defendant was also permitted extensive cross-examination regarding alleged investigative shortcomings and possible breaks in the chain of custody. Because there was no evidence that the items had actually been substituted or tampered with, the district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the evidence.

Affirmed.

U.S. v. McCaslan (Lawyers Weekly No. 003-014-26, 16 pp.) (Per Curiam) Appealed from the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Spartanburg (Donald C. Coggins, Jr., J.) ON BRIEF: Christopher W. Adams, ADAMS & BISCHOFF, LLC, Charleston, South Carolina; Matthew K. Winchester, LAW OFFICES OF MATTHEW K. WINCHESTER, Atlanta, Georgia, for Appellant. Brook B. Andrews, Acting United States Attorney, William J. Watkins, Jr., Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Unpublished