JA: How many individuals did you take hair samples from?
SS: I took hair samples from, well, I received hair samples from 18 individuals. I used 15 in this study.
JA: And were these hairs that were actually pulled from the volunteer individuals?
SS: Yes that is correct.
JA: What was the gender distribution of these individuals?
SS: Males and females.
JA: What were the ranges of the individuals?
SS: The youngest was 3, the oldest was I believe 53. I may have to check, 53 or 53.
JA: In their 50's?
SS: Yes.
JA: Okay. And what variety of environmental conditions did you expose these hairs to in order to study?
SS: Indoors, on a window sill. Indoors buried in potting soil with plants that were watered and fertilized. Indoors submerged in water. Outdoors in an area exposed to sunlight. Outdoors in a wooded area not exposed to sunlight. And in 3 vehicles, the trunk of a vehicle that was used during the time period. Underneath the seat of the second vehicle that was also used during the time period and on the dash and trunk of the third vehicle that was not used during the time period and was parked, remained stationary throughout the time period and was parked in direct sunlight.
JA: When you say used during the time period, you mean someone's vehicle that was actually used on a daily basis?
SS: Correct. I mean someone continued about their normal use with the hairs in their location.
JA: And how did you place the hairs or isolate them so that they would be undisturbed for the study, like in the cars for instance?
SS: I used tape to fold over the distal and tip end of the hairs leaving the proximal root of the hairs exposed and then I gave these hairs to individuals to place in the vehicles and told them not to clean. We agreed they would place these hairs as their vehicle is or whatever the conditions, however they exist.
JA: Alright. And did you check the hairs at intervals as to each environmental condition or just at the end?
SS: I would check sort of around earlier time periods around 1 to 4 weeks then I would check at a longer time period. So the ones collected at a shorter time period were collected and examined, there were additional hairs that were not disturbed and those were placed between 3 months and approximately 7 months.
JA: Is the difference between what you refer to as post mortem banding and other types of decomposition a subtle difference?
(Baez objects, it is overruled)
SS: In my opinion, it's an obvious difference.
JA: And in your study when you examined all of these hairs from all of these different environmental conditions from live people did you find any that would qualify in your opinion as post mortem banding?
SS: No I did not.