JUNE 26 - Defense attorney Peter Neufeld took a broad swipe at the prosecution's DNA evidence, trying to cast doubt on all the frequency numbers meant to implicate O.J. Simpson.
His questions to genetic statistician Bruce Weir repeatedly focused on the databases used by Cellmark Diagnostics and the California Department of Justice lab, with Neufeld suggesting that the samples were not large enough to include a representative sample.
Weir agreed that the perfect database would include everyone in the world but he said that would be impossible to do. A representative sample is the next best thing, he said, but Neufeld suggested that that was not what prosecutors had used in the case.
Neufeld labeled the data bases "convenient samples," not random samples, and made the point that at least one Cellmark database did not include Asians and a portion of the FBI database did not include blacks.
But Weir testified that Neufeld's emphasis on the racial make-up of the sample group was misguided. He said the databases used were perfectly acceptable and that the numbers based on it were accurate.
Weir, however, was forced to admit that his calculations of genetic frequencies in mixed blood stains were "consistently wrong" because of his computer programming error.
"It was worse than I realized," he said.
Weir went through the frequency numbers with Neufeld, giving his corrected figures. Weir admitted that revised figures increased the chances that blood could have come from other people, but the figures still supported the prosecution's theory of the case.
Regarding the four blood drops from the Bronco console and one from the glove found at Simpson's estate, Weir admitted the corrected figures indicated the blood could have come from at least twice as many people. For example, three stains on the console that prosecutors say is a mixture of Simpson's and the two victims, were originally calculated by Weir to indicate a chance of 1 in 1,400 that any two people could be responsible for the stains. The corrected figure was 1 in every 570 people.
Weir's testimony involved stains that contained a mixture of blood from at least two people. His mistakes, however, all involved stains that DNA experts had already said probably included Simpson's blood. As a result, the defense contended Weir's errors were biased because they made it appear very unlikely that someone other than Simpson could have contributed to a stain.
Under redirect questioning by prosecutor George Clarke, Weir insisted he did not give special weight to the fact that some of the blood stains had been linked to Simpson and the victims.
Weir's testimony was followed by the start of hair and trace evidence. Prosecutor Marcia Clark asked a police laboratory technician to tell exactly how each piece of evidence was opened, examined, packaged and, in some cases, placed in an evidence freezer.
Witness Denise Lewis said she processed hairs, fibers from Simpson's Bronco and clothing from both victims, but didn't handle bloody gloves and a ski cap collected in the case.
JUNE 27 - The prosecution began presenting the final pieces of physical evidence intended to link O.J. Simpson to the two murder victims and the Akita dog whose howls may have signaled the bloody killings.
Susan Brockbank, a police department criminalist in the trace analysis laboratory, testified that in June 1994, she collected hair and trace evidence from the bloody glove found at the Bundy crime scene, from the victims' clothing and from the blue knit cap found at the crime scene. She also took hair and other evidence from the brown plaid cap, the towel, the piece of plastic and the shovel, all found in O.J. Simpson's Ford Bronco.
In July 1994, after analyzing the hair and trace evidence, Brockbank collected 93 hairs from Simpson's head.
Prosecutors contend the cap belonged to Simpson and that he dropped it as he fled Nicole Brown Simpson's condominium. One of the gloves was found at his estate, the other at the murder scene.
The prosecution plans to call an FBI expert to link the hairs to Simpson, his former wife and Nicole Brown Simpson's dog, Kato.
The questioning of Brockbank followed a now typical prosecution pattern. Prosecutor Marcia Clark, trying to preempt defense claims about sloppy police procedures, asked Brockbank to detail the precautions she took in handling the evidence. In often tedious testimony, Brockbank described how Latex gloves, laboratory coats, packing tape, butcher paper, boxes, bleach and the folders to store evidence, known as bindles, were repeatedly changed to avoid contamination.
Clark also asked about possible mistakes.
For example, FBI analyst Doug Deedrick found more hairs on the gloves and knit cap than Brockbank initially reported. The witness suggested that this was because she had mounted the hairs with roots on the microscope with water, which, she explained, is not the best way to mount evidence onto a microscope. She said hersupervisor, Gregory Matheson, told her to use a water mount to avoid risk of degrading possible DNA samples in the hair.
The jury also heard the conclusion of testimony from another police criminalist. Denise Lewis. She testified about her role in receiving items of evidence, such as Nicole Brown Simpson's dress and underwear.
JUNE 28 - The court day came to an abrupt halt after defense attorneys complained that prosecutors did not turn over demonstration boards crucial to the state's case.
The defense was particularly upset about a board depicting a virtual trail of fibers from Ronald Goldman to O.J. Simpson. Prosecutors say the blue-black cotton fibers found on Goldman's shirt match those on the glove found at Rockingham and on the socks found in Simpson's home. The board displays photographs of the fibers. Additionally, Judge Lance Ito said prosecutors have a photograph of Simpson wearing blue or black clothing on the night of the murders.
Defense attorneys asked the judge to prevent the state from using the board, saying they had not seen it before Wednesday. Prosecutor Marcia Clark argued the board and the photographs it shows are not evidence. The evidence, she said, consists of the results of the fiber analysis and FBI agent Doug Deedrick's report detailing those results. The defense has that information, Clark said.
In the end, Judge Ito recessed court early to allow defense attorneys to review the photo board. He will ask the lawyers Thursday if they have had enough time to construct a response to the board. If they haven't, he said he will impose other sanctions, possibly barring prosecutors from using the board.
The defense also objected to three other boards, but Judge Ito overruled the objections. One of the boards shows photographs comparing dog hairs. The prosecution contends that hairs matching Nicole Brown Simpson's white Akita were on the gloves found at the Bundy and Rockingham crime scenes. Prosecutors also say that hairs matching Simpson's black Akita were found at the crime scene and on the Bundy glove.
Defense attorney F. Lee Bailey noted that hairs matching the white Akita are not significant because the dog could have been at Simpson's home at any time. Bailey also argued that prosecutors failed to mention that black dog hairs similar to those from Simpson's Akita were found at Goldman's apartment. He said that information should have been included in the chart, but Judge Ito ruled that Bailey could raise these points during cross-examination.
Another chart shows that fibers similar to the carpet from Simpson's Ford Bronco are consistent with fibers on the glove found at Rockingham and the knit cap found at Bundy. The chart also includes information from the Ford Motor Company, which indicates that Bronco carpets are not all made of the same fiber.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have even more hair and fiber evidence linking Simpson to the murders. It includes fibers from Nicole Brown Simpson's dress found on Goldman's shirt. Prosecutors are expected to argue that Nicole Brown Simpson was killed first and that the assailant then turned to Goldman, leaving her dress fibers on his shirt.
The day's testimony came from police criminalist Susan Brockbank, who testified about the debris she and the FBI's Deedrick removed form Goldman's blood-soaked shirt. Deedrick is expected to testify that this debris included the blue-black fibers.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Robert Blasier first established that hair and trace evidence is not as scientific as fingerprint or DNA evidence. He then asked about possible contamination, focusing on whether the police detectives investigating the murders could have transferred trace evidence by going from Nicole Brown Simpson's house to Simpson's house and then back to the Bundy crime scene.
JUNE 29 - It was a bad day for the prosecution, but it could have been worse.
Judge Lance Ito ruled prosecutors could not offer a report that closely links carpet fibers on murder scene evidence to O.J. Simpson's Bronco. But he rejected a defense request for the most severe of sanctions -- barring FBI Special Agent Doug Deedrick from testifying.
The ruling followed emotional arguments over the report, which details the rarity of carpet fibers found on one of the leather gloves and the knit cap.
Defense attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. referred to the state's failure to turn over the report as "the most egregious violation of all" in the case.
The prosecution had provided the defense a conclusive report prepared by Deedrick. However, a more extensive writing in Deedrick's possession was discovered by the defense. In the report, entitled, "The Search for the Source," Deedrick wrote that only Ford Broncos made in 1993 and 1994 had the kind of carpet tied to the killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
Prosecutor Marcia Clark stressed that she only learned of the report Wednesday night, stating that this was not a willful violation of the discovery rules. She pleaded with the court to sanction her directly and not the people of California or the families of the victims.
Clark's legal argument was that the law required only the turning over of conclusions reached by expert witnesses not notes which lead a witness to those conclusions.
"They've been denied nothing," she said, her voice rising. "There has never been a defendant in the history of this state ... that has had everybody bend over backwards for him the way this one has."
An infuriated Cochran countered that no defendant had ever had so many government agencies and law officials massed against him. The lawyer said the defense followed the same investigative path as the FBI but was denied data by the carpet manufacturer and in fact was given "disinformation" by the company, which said the carpet was common.
"We're fighting the power of the government," Cochran said, waving his arms and at times pointing his finger into the lectern. "When the FBI calls, it's a different matter."
The judge finally ruled Deedrick could testify but could not offer any testimony about the rarity of the fibers,their color, formation or date of production, which was included in the report. As a result, the prosecution only will be able to elicit testimony as to Deedrick's opinions, which are based on microscopic analysis.
During his testimony, Deedrick described his education and experience. A 23-year veteran of the FBI, he has conducted approximately 500,000 comparisons of hair and fiber evidence in nearly 4,000 cases.
Meanwhile, prosecutors confirmed that their final witness will be Nicole Brown Simpson's mother, Judith Brown.
JUNE 30 - An FBI evidence expert testified that hairs similar to Nicole Brown Simpson's hair were found on a pair of bloody gloves the prosecution claims O.J. Simpson wore when he allegedly killed his ex-wife and Ronald Goldman.
The expert, Doug Deedrick, also said hairs similar to Goldman's were found on the right hand glove, discovered at Simpson's home several hours after the murders. In addition, Deedrick said, hairs similar to Simpson's head hairs were found on Goldman's shirt, and limb hair -- coming from the limbs rather than head -- was found on Goldman's shirt and in the Rockingham glove.
Head hairs similar to Simpson's and his ex-wife's also were found on the knit watch cap recovered from the murder scene.
Deedrick was ordered by Judge Lance Ito not to use the word "match" when describing the similarity between the hairs after the expert had explained that hair and fiber analysis was an inexact science. Instead, he testified that the evidence hair had the same microscopic characteristics as known hair samples from the victims.
