JURY BACK (10:09)
DIRECT EXAMINATION OF DR. HUNTINGTON BY JB - continued
Witness goes back to easel.
How does the bug activity tell you how long a person has been deceased? It all has to do with temperature. Cold blood insect's rate is dependent on temperature, if you know the stage, temperature and rate of development, it becomes a mathematical formulation. i.e. - farmer and degree day concept.
Size of larva has everything to do with what they have eaten, not age. Temperature is important. 1st stage maggot, at 70 degrees it takes about 8 hours for it to hatch, then one knows it has been at least 8 hours since the eggs were laid.
In a legal setting, they will take the daily temps, average daily temp or hourly temp, add them up towards a number of accumulated degree days that is necessary for the stage transitions. Mathematical computation between the days and the stages.
3 things needed to estimate insect age - 1. stage and species of sample (every species has different developmental rate). 2. Developmental rates - experimentally constructed using known temps and insects - growth curve or chart), 3. temperatures - temps the insects experienced during development - they look for a weather data recording station nearby - then compare to the scene.
JB - live human cadavers (what?)
Witness then referred to info that comes from the Body Farm for data. Also, he finds it impractical to use human body research facilities because the bodies are donated and have been dead for some period of time long before they get to the site of decomp. Pigs are used because they are readily available, cheap and very similar to human's both physically as well as their digestive processes and they can do a lot of research with a pig that they can't do with humans.
JB - showing the jury Defense Exhibit A-V - (JA - no objection as demonstrative only).
Witness - a photo of a car. He was conducting research in 09/10 in S.E. Nebraska. He received some cars from a junk yard. He was looking at what kind of barrier a trunk will form on colonizing insects.
OBJECTION BY JA - bolstering - SUSTAINED
Goal of study was to place pig bodies in the trunks and allow them to decompose to see what insect activity happens. He used a Ford Probe, not a Sunfire. The vehicle in the photo is the most intact of those he used.
He inspected the Pontiac Sunfire in 07/10. He looked at the trunk to see what kind of barrier
OBJECTION BY JA - expertise in trunk condition - OVERRULED.
The trunk of the Sunfire when he inspected it had the liner removed. He was looking for spaces or gaps or unsealed places that could allow an insect to pass through.
The car in his study is well sealed and in factory condition. He had pigs killed and placed them in the trunk of the vehicle in September and closed the trunk. He then waited, watched for insect colonization. He checked it daily. Weather was cool and rainy. The cooler it is, the more it suppresses insect activity. Rain also suppresses.
Next photo - taken through the back windshield (Exhibit D-AX). What you see is dead flies lining the back window ledge - blow flies - most common flies that colonize at a dead body
OBJECTION BY JA - time frame?
This photo was taken on Day 10 of the study.
How does this relate to FL weather?
OBJECTION BY JA - not qualified to make estimate - HHJBP - lets move on
If the temp is hotter, there is more bug activity. It is cooler in Nebraska.
The flies are blow flies - the most important flies to a forensic entomologist. Blow flies key in on dead animals. They show up in minutes to hours from death. They are outside and you don't notice them, but if you have a heart attack and die, they will be on you in a second. Fastest he's seen is 13 seconds.
Flies trapped in car were not there initially. Car was closed, windows up. The fact the flies are dead in the car is important. A fly that gains access to a sealed environment - the adult flies don't fight their way out.
Photo - Exhibit D-AW. This shows decomposed remains of pig when he opened the trunk on Day 11. White spots are maggots that have fed on pig and are actively crawling away from the pig and looking for a place to pupate. Decompositional fluid ring showing, extensive tissue loss - fly colonization starts in head and moves it way down. The maggot activity has caused disarticulation of skull. Some flies were attracted to the pig when he opened the trunk. Black material is decomp fluid - combo of body fluid, bacterial waste, maggot waste, maggot secretion. Is the stain distinguishable?
OBJECTION BY JA - stain is not Dr.'s expertise - OVERRULED
VOIR DIRE BY JA:
What expertise are you bringing to talk about the fluid in the picture. Years and years of observation. He has never analyzed the fluid.
HHJBP - OBJECTION OVERRULED.
Decomp fluid - most studies and cases have been in outdoor environments. The fluid goes into the ground and is very distinguishable. In cases like this with a mat or carpet, it is very noticeable.
OBJECTION BY JA - another discovery issue
SIDEBAR #4 (10:39)