Final answer:
Police personnel are most likely to have custody of physical evidence and bring it to the courtroom, as they are responsible for ensuring the evidence's integrity through chain of custody procedures. Other court participants like defense attorneys, witnesses, and judges interact with the evidence but do not maintain its custody.
Step-by-step explanation:
The police personnel are typically responsible for the custody of physical evidence and its presentation in the courtroom. During a criminal trial, evidence must be handled and submitted following the chain of custody procedures to ensure its integrity is maintained.
Once collected, the evidence is usually taken to a police lab for analysis and safely stored in the evidence room. When needed for trial, the evidence is retrieved, and an officer, often the case officer or an evidence technician, will transport it to court.
This individual is also generally responsible for presenting the evidence during the trial under the direct supervision of the prosecuting attorneys.
Defense attorneys, witnesses, and judges are not responsible for maintaining the custody of evidence. Instead, their roles involve interacting with the evidence during the course of the trial.
Defense attorneys may challenge the admissibility or authenticity of evidence, witnesses may provide testimony related to the evidence, and judges ensure the proper rules of court procedure and evidence handling are followed.