Defense Expert Casts Doubt On Socks And Gloves
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Dec. 16, Noon) -- Defense bloodstain expert Herbert MacDonell testified Monday morning in the O.J. Simpson civil trial, telling jurors that a blood stain on Simpson's socks soaked through to the opposite side -- which would have been impossible if the sock was being worn. MacDonell also said that the stain could not have come from a drip or spatter, but rather was the result of compression.
Monday afternoon, forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden is scheduled to take the stand to testify about the length of the struggle between the murderer and victims Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. The defense revealed its witness list for the rest of this week, which includes Al Cowlings, Cora Fischman, Kato Kaelin, and O.J. Simpson himself on Friday afternoon. Simpson is expected to testify on direct for about an hour. Because of a court holiday break, he will then continue his testimony on Jan. 6. The videotaped deposition of Henry Lee will likely be pushed back until January.
The socks, which DNA tests showed had blood similar to Simpson's and his ex-wife's, were found on the floor next to Simpson's bed the day after the murders. The defense has contended that the blood was planted, and MacDonell's testimony gave credence to that theory.
MacDonell said he noticed about a dozen microscopic "little red balls" on the inside of the sock, opposite a large stain that plaintiffs DNA experts say was Nicole Brown Simpson's blood. MacDonell showed jurors a photograph of one of the balls, taken by defense expert Henry Lee.
"Is that consistent with somebody compressing and getting blood on . . . the sock and pushing it into the sock?" lead defense attorney Robert Baker asked.
"Yes, it is," MacDonell replied.
On cross-examination, the plaintiffs advanced theories to contradict MacDonell. Attorney Edward Medvene noted that the "little red balls" could have been transferred when the sock was being inspected or swabbed by LAPD criminalists. Perhaps the blood flaked off the elastic sock and landed on the opposite side, Medvene said. He also pointed out that the Simpson may have been perspiring when he was wearing the sock, which would have made a wet transfer possible.
The bloodstain in question, Medvene also noted, was only one of numerous stains -- on two socks -- that police found. MacDonell did not testify about problems with two stains on that sock which were consistent with Simpson's blood. Nor did he talk about the second sock, which also had stains consistent with Nicole Brown Simpson's blood.
MacDonell testified about his experiment with Aris Isotoner leather gloves. Using a vial of his own blood, MacDonell poured some of it on the gloves and worked it into the leather. After drying, MacDonell said, the gloves did not shrink.
However on cross-examination, Medvene pointed out that MacDonell used new gloves when he conducted his experiment. The expert had no idea, Medvene asserted, what had happened to the gloves prior to the murders.
"You don't know if they left Los Angeles on the hands of somebody who was a television commentator at football games in Buffalo, in the snow," Medvene asked.
-Robert Schmidt
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