Page 79 of The Accomplice
‘Correct.’
‘May I approach the witness ?’ I asked, and Judge Stoker nodded.
‘Professor, I’ve watched you testify before, some years ago, but I never had the opportunity to meet you until now. It’s a pleasure, sir,’ I said, then walked up to him and held out my hand.
Johnson smiled, rose a little off his feet and we shook hands, briefly. When he sat back down he had a look of relief. White had prepped him hard for this case, and probably told him I was a real tiger who would try to tear strips clean off his flesh. He was beginning to think he was in for a much smoother ride. For now, I wanted to keep it that way. Get him settled. Relaxed.
‘Professor, you analyzed the stains on my client’s blouse. Did you happen to find any of my client’s DNA in the fabric ?’
He leaned back in his chair, crossed one long leg over the other and folded his hands in his lap. He’d been prepared for this question. The trick was delivering the answer so that it didn’t sound rehearsed or inauthentic.
‘Your client’s DNA would’ve gotten on the blouse if it had been worn. DNA from sweat can easily get into a fabric. However, the laundering of the garment may have removed your client’s DNA.’
‘But not the blood ?’
‘No, blood is a lot harder to remove from nylon and cotton than sweat. It stains badly, tainting the fibers, sometimes forever. A bit like red wine.’
‘I see. And if my client had never even worn that shirt there would be none of her DNA on it either, is that right ?’
‘Probably.’
‘You didn’t test for my client’s DNA, did you ?’
He smiled at the jury, gave his answer, ‘No, there would’ve been no point if the garment had been through the washing machine like this one.’
‘But if you haven’t tested for my client’s DNA, then there’s no way of telling if she’d even worn this shirt before, is there ?’
He cleared his throat. Getting a little more uncomfortable. I didn’t want to make him squirm. Not yet.
‘I don’t know if your client routinely washed her new shirts before wearing them.’
‘Good, I’m glad you conceded that point,’ I said, and quickly moved to another question as Johnson opened his mouth, about to say that he hadn’t conceded anything.
‘Professor, you are not a blood spatter analyst, are you ?’
‘No, I am not. But as you have yourself reminded me, I have testified in hundreds of felony trials in my career, most of them murders, and I have experience of examining blood. To me, the pattern of those stains looked like splashing. As if she was in the room when Stacy Nielsen was killed, or perhaps wielded the knife herself.’
‘You are very far away from your lab and your machines now, Professor. You are aware that there is an ongoing justice department investigation into testimony from blood spatter analysts resulting in numerous wrongful convictions ?’
‘I’m aware of the investigation.’
‘You haven’t seen any blood spatter analysis reports in relation to the staining on the blouse you examined ?’
‘No, I have not. I don’t believe such an expert was engaged.’
Now we were getting somewhere. White wanted someone to say that Stacy Nielsen’s blood got on Carrie Miller’s blouse because she was present during the murder. Unfortunately, every blood spatter expert east of the Mississippi was refusing to consult on cases until the outcome of the justice department investigation. They didn’t want any exposure. Testifying in a high-profile multiple-murder trial might make their name a little more prominent and provoke the kind of thorough investigation that could lead to the Justice Department crawling over their entire careers. In the absence of a blood spatter expert, White had pushed the good professor here into uncomfortable territory, trying desperately to connect Carrie Miller to the crime scene.
‘Professor, there is no biological or forensic trace evidence linking my client to any of the crime scenes in these cases, is that your understanding ?’
‘Apart from the blood, which I examined, no. No, there’s not.’
It was time to put the professor down.
‘What is primary transfer ?’ I asked.
‘That is where material, usually biological material, transfers from the victim to the suspect. Like blood spatter.’
‘What is secondary transfer ?’
