Where do you work?
California Department of Justice Crime Lab.
What is your title?
Senior Criminologist. Worked for the DOJ since 1997. Bachelors Degree in Forensics, minor in Chemistry and Biology. Private Forensic Company employee for 15 years prior to joining the DOJ.
How many times have you testified?
Over 200.
**She qualified as an expert witness, which means that she is able to give her opinion.
What was your involvement timeline with this case?
September 2006-Summer 2007. On and off in 2008.
How much time have you invested in this case?
500 hours, 750 hours including help.
How much evidence did you collect?
~100 items.
What was your initial involvement in this case?
My focus was McClish's truck.
What did you do February 23, 2007?
Investigated McClish's truck, inspected stains, tested negative for blood, went back to check.
Was Mata there? Why?
Yes, he let me into the locked CSI Garage as I do not have access.
Tell me about the fox tails you found and collected?
I collected from standing outside the car and reaching in. Put and taped in envelope.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 94
Picture of fox tail (LW15 item number)
When you collected it, did you notice the blood immediately?
No, it just looked dirty.
What else did you take to the lab to look at further?
Swabs from the headlight switch, and the bottle opener on the key chain.
Did the headlight switch screen positive for blood?
Yes.
What did you look at? Chronologically.
Looked at the items submitted by the Sheriff.
The camo hat.
Cellphone, keys, belt, shoes and credit cards.
What did you do next?
Vacuumed sections of the truck with an evidence gatherer (read: vacuum with a filter on it).
Labeled REG-15#6.
The sample was taped, sealed and initialed in a bag within a bag.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 111
Pic of vacuuming contents.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 112
Contents of bag open, shows filter. Contents: Hair, vegetation with red stains that appears to be blood.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 113
Pic of fox tail(s) magnified.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 114
Pic of vegetation with blood, (REG-15#6A).
**Mrs Walker went over lab procedure, which includes completely cleaning with bleach.
What did you do after that?
Searched the canister for more vegetation with red staining (had not yet been proven to be blood).
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 116
Pic of bloody fox tail, on post it note it was packed in, REG-15#6B.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 117
Pic of separation of trace items, zoomed in, tarp material on post it note, REG-15#6E.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 118
Non-zoomed picture of REG-15#6E.
What did you do with REG-15#6A and REG-15#6B?
I sent them to the DOJ's DNA lab. (seen by Sacramento DOJ Lab trace expert Faye Springer).
Blue/green trace material also sent.
Did you find any hair?
Yes, REG-15#6C. The hair was also sent to Faye Springer at the DOJ Lab.
Did you return to the truck to gather more evidence?
Yes I did, April 25, 2007.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 119
Diagram of Michael McClish's truck with notes of where evidence was gathered from. LW15 (another bloody fox tail, or fox tail with blood on it, so as to not confuse all the UK'ers reading this...) labeled near the 4WD shifter.
[Question I missed]?
In April when I went back to the truck I knew more what to look for [fox tails with blood].
JMM-7#2 : Vegetation with red stain, found near passenger seat.
JMM-7#1 : More bloody vegetation, found under passenger seat.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 103
Pic of item JMM-7#2
JMM-7#5 : Located in door jam, weather stripping of passenger door. Another fox tail with blood on it.
JMM-7#7 : Front passenger floor, bloody fox tail, stuck in carpet.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 120
Microscope picture of JMM-7#7, bloody fox tail with bloody debris.
JMM-7#9 / JMM-7#10 : MORE BLOODY FOXTAILS, WITH BLOOD ON THEM.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 105
Pic of 4WD shifter, near driver seat, location of HMM-7#9/#10.
**She described removing the seats of the car (driver/passenger), going over the seats with tape to collect evidence, vacuuming the entire car for any more evidence that they may have missed, and Flourozene (what I wrote down they tested the truck with to see if there was blood present. Only UV/blood reactive chemical I knew about was Luminol, not sure if I missed something here... But they both do the same thing) testing the entire truck interior. Walker also collected trace material off Asha's sweatshirt, tarp remnants and fox tails were present.
REG-9#X Asha's Sweatshirt
How much tarp material was on the sweatshirt?
~40ish (these are barely visible, if at all, with the naked eye). It was present on every part of the sweatshirt.
Fox tails were also present around the wasteband for the sweatshirt, pants and socks.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 121
Pic of lower waistband of sweatshirt.
REG-9#9B : Tarp material from Front / Back of the right arm.
REG-9#9D : More tarp material.
REG-9#9N : Fox tails with staints similar to those found in McClish's truck.
~10 stains present on the sweatshirt that tested positive for blood.
REG-9#11 : Pants: 5 red stains positive for blood. Turquoise trace material.
REG-14 : Vacuuming of Melissa'svan, no tarp material present.
Fox tails present on shoelaces.
LW-15 : Bloody fox tails on backpack.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 123
Pic of bloody fox tails from backpack.
Backpack tested positive for blood.
LARA WALKER PRESENTED 3 PEOPLES EXHIBITS SHE PREPARED HERSELF,
these showed 3 pictures taken at different times in most cases by multiple different people showing that there was no change in the areas where evidence was gathered. IE fox tails collected in 2007 were photographed in place in 2006.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 125
Photo 1088 - Gidding - September 12, 2006.
2 more pictures showing the passenger area between the seat and door where collections took place.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 126
3 photos showing time lapse, didn't note what part of vehicle.
PEOPLES EXHIBIT 127
3 photos showing time lapse, showing door jam area, passenger side.
**There were objections from the defense when Lara Walker testified to PE 125-127 BECAUSE HER SAYING WHEN GIDDING TOOK THE PICTURES IS HEARSAY. Even though he already testified under oath about said pictures, when they were taken, and this was admitted into evidence. Another case of "Why?" It's like TW objects for the sake of objecting, even if said objection is sustained it bears no change to the case.
Were you present at the scene where Asha's body was found? Her autopsy?
No, no.
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DEFENSE:
Evidence was not sent directly by you to the lab?
No, it was released to the Sheriff's Office, and they would send. But I saw the receipts of the lab.
What about false positives in blood tests?
Yes, Horseradish and Rusty both give false positives. But they appear different from blood, easy to distinguish. Harder with rust.
**COURT RECESS, WASNT ABLE TO MAKE THE REST OF HER TESTIMONY**
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