2011.06.06 TRIAL Day Eleven (Afternoon Session)

[Hisimage]

When JB is done in the state will straighten this all out--in about 30.5 seconds.

 

[anb]

I have missed the past hour of testimony. Anything big? Thanks!

 

[okiedokietoo]

JB: you were given list of items found in the trash -
Dr Vass: yes you did not see them just given list -
JB:you don't know chem breakdown of these items - you can't testify what in garbage because you didn't witness them -
Dr Vass: correct
JB: those samples taken in aug 2008

JB: you know air free flowing - you did comparisons month 1/2 later

 

[Turnadot]

Why can't Baez see that by his "bull dog" demeanor with Dr Vass he's helping to push the needle into KC's arm? This upsets me. I don't like KC, but Baez's disregard for his own client bothers the heck outta me.

Today, more than ever, it's clear he has no business defending anyone in a death penalty case. I'm not saying he can't learn and grow, but Baez's client deserves better than what he's capable of.

 

[Liz]

Some jurors have turned their chairs toward Vass on the stand. Others are sitting forward. #CaseyAnthony -fell

by cfnews13casey via twitter at 11:41 AM (PDT)

 

[everyoneneedsavoice]

Wonder if the DT was aware of the Rachel Tolleson Case here in TX; where LIBS was used by Oak Ridge Scientist to identify chemical elements of tree wood, for the 1st time. Some of the same names have came up in Vass' testimony this morning.

Outcome: Guilty - sentenced to death

In fact, Madhavi Martin (mentioned this morning) is the same physicist who performed the LIBS on the wood logs.

<snip>

In March 2004, a woman who had been missing for a week was found strangled and stabbed to death in a field in Collin County, Texas. Around her body lay pieces of partially burned logs. Her murderer apparently had tried to ignite the wood pieces in an attempt to burn her body. The attempt failed because the wood was too green.

Madhavi Martin, a physicist in ORNL's Environmental Sciences Division...had begun studies of the chemical composition of wood, using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.

Martin was not told that, of the 14 logs she was asked to analyze, 10 were retrieved from the crime scene and 4 from another place the suspect had been. "I analyzed all 14 pieces and found they had an identical spectrum," she says. "They all came from the same tree or from trees found in the same geographical area. I examined the burned parts of the logs and the unburned parts. The data revealed that the wood pieces had the same elemental content."

LIBS is a technique that produces a chemical "fingerprint" of wood or any other material, based on heavy metals and other trace elements.

http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/v38_3_05/article19.shtml
http://prc.utk.edu/martin.htm

<snip>

The scientists working on this technique were able to compare certain elements of each remaining log of wood from both the crime scene and the party. The Collin County Sheriff’s Office was 99.99 percent confident the logs were identical, being from the same tree or at least from the same stand of trees. This resulted in the suspect being found guilty of capital murder.
He is now on death row at the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/...n=display_arch&article_id=1718&issue_id=12009


<snip>

“The wood [from both fires] was from the same d*** tree!” He says.

It was also the first time tree ring science had ever been applied to a murder investigation.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...&gl=us&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.com


PS - the defense in this case thought it was junk science too!:floorlaugh:

 

[BuffaloPI]

JB: "You do know that air... is a free flowing environment?" :banghead:

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Is it just me, or does JB not listen to the answers to his questions?

JB wouldn't understand the answers, so why bother to listen? He just likes to hear himself talk.

 

[zoey]

Do expert witnesses get paid to testify in these type of cases?

not enough......

 

[rosepetal1065]

JB is going over and over the same things....they just panned over the courtroom, SA looking bored

 

[FaerieB]

CFNews13Casey Casey Anthony News13
Some jurors have turned their chairs toward Vass on the stand. Others are sitting forward. #CaseyAnthony -fell

 

[Bittiness39]

JB: Because the samples were not taken from the car on July 15th or before then the samples are not valid...you don't know what the trash in ICA's car did?
Dr. Vass: No. Not before that time...I don't. Samples were from August 30th 2008.

OT:Who is the blonde with the bangs directly mostly behind JB...? If this has been asked and answered I appologize but she has been front and center behind him for days now...or behind the podium...

 

[grandmaj]

Baez is so disorganized any points he might earn are lost on the jury.

 

[SailorMoon]

I'm getting grossed out by Baez constantly wiping his nose and then handling the states exhibits that he has in his hands. Really Baez??

 

[kantoo]

Do expert witnesses get paid to testify in these type of cases?

yes, most do

Dr. Vass is doing this without pay

 

[Mountain_Kat]

JB really needs to learn to ask clear questions. That seems pretty basic to me. You don't ask, "Could you hand me that?" and expect someone to know you want the salt shaker.

Geez. This is tiresome.

 

[BigFatMommyDog]

here's a question I'm not sure anyone can answer but wouldn't there be a chemical released that is COMPLETELY unique to human decomposition itself? Like the specific chemical compound that makes up the smell that everyone says is totally unique to the smell of human decomp? Follow me?

if I understand correctly - it's more in the percentage of each compound rather than one particular compound

 

[momshrink]

Does anybody remember the potential juror that has narcolepsy?

It's contagious and I now have it too but it only kicks in when JB is cross examining witnesses. I feel so sorry for this jury. Coming back after lunch and listening to this day after day is so painful. At least I can go and nap or get up and walk around.

:floorlaugh::floorlaugh::floorlaugh:

 

[Kentjbkent]

Any word of the jurors during this cross? I wonder how they're doing, and if they're taking notes...?

Jim L just tweeted that "some" jurors are taking notes....

(see above posting)

 

[Amster]

Witness is laughing at JB's ignorance