Harris v. State

Appellant Duan Jamal Harris appeals his convictions of attempted rape and second-degree battery, for which he received consecutive sentences totaling 744 months in the Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC). He argues that evidence of swabs contained in a sexual-assault kit were admitted improperly at trial both (1) in violation of the Confrontation Clause and (2) without a proper chain of custody. We affirm.

I. Facts

On January 8, 2018, appellant was charged with rape in violation of Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-14-103 (Supp. 2017) and battery in the second degree in violation of…