CLVII. James Craig Trial — COURT RESUMES AFTER BREAK
It’s 3:25 PM. Afternoon recess is over.Court is now back in session. Jury has returned Proceedings continue Next witness expected soon
CLVIII. James Craig Trial — CHAIN OF CUSTODY CHALLENGED
Defense: You received the blood from Dr. Lear’s office, right?
Toxicologist: Correct.
Defense: But you don’t know how Dr. Lear got it?
Witness: No idea.
CLIX. James Craig Trial — ONLY 5 OUT OF 67 SAMPLES TESTED
Out of 67 items sent, the lab tested just 5:
3 hospital blood samples 1 liver sample 1 hair strand
No full drug panel run on the hair.
CLX. James Craig Trial — MISSED DRUG HISTORY?
Defense asks if expanded drug testing was done to explore past benzodiazepine use.
Witness: No.
No hair test segmenting, no discussion about testing for older drugs.
CLXI. James Craig Trial — CYANIDE HALF-LIFE DEBATED
Witness told jurors cyanide’s half-life is ~30 min.
But in an email to prosecutors, he admitted: It can range from 20 min to 2 hours Sent a paper where a woman’s cyanide rose 4 hours after injection
CLXII. James Craig Trial — CYANIDE ADMINISTRATION METHOD
Defense quotes article provided by the witness: “Most poisonings occur via oral ingestion.” “Injections are more common in suicides.”Witness tries to downplay that part of the article.
CLXIII. James Craig Trial — NO BRIGHT RED BLOOD
Defense: If cyanide was present, wouldn’t the blood be cherry red?
Witness: That’s typical, but I didn’t inspect the color of the samples.
CLXIV. James Craig Trial — BITTER ALMOND TEST?
Cyanide is said to smell like bitter almonds.
Witness: Only about 40% of people can smell it—maybe less.
He didn’t confirm if anyone detected an odor in this case.
CLXV. James Craig Trial — THE BIAS QUESTION
Defense presses on forensic bias.
Witness: I avoid news about my cases to stay neutral. Says truth matters more than outcome—“the goal is to get to the truth.”
CLXVI. James Craig Trial — THE DANGER OF FORENSIC BIAS
Defense: Your own thought process—prejudices, conscious or subconscious—should never cloud results.
Witness: Correct. You have to interpret only what’s in front of you.
CLXVII. James Craig Trial — TOO MUCH INFO CAN TAINT RESULTS
Witness says there’s a balance: Enough info to know what to test But not so much that outside theories bias your analysis
CLXVIII. James Craig Trial — TOXINS CONFIRMED, NOT ORIGINS
Defense: You’re sure toxins were present?
Witness: Yes.
But he admits: Doesn’t know how they got there Doesn’t know who administered them
CLXIX. James Craig Trial — TIMING REMAINS UNCERTAIN
Witness can’t say exactly when exposure occurred.He can only give estimates based on detection windows and half-lives—not exact timestamps.
CLXX. James Craig Trial — ABSORPTION METHOD UNKNOWN
Witness confirms he doesn’t know: Whether toxins were swallowed or injected How the body absorbed them
He only reports what was found.
CLXXI. James Craig Trial — LAB TECHS STAY BLIND TO FACTS
Redirect Prosecutor: Do the analysts know anything about the facts of the case?
Witness: No.
They’re told only which tubes to test — no names, no story.
Just another specimen on a Tuesday.
CLXXII. James Craig Trial — WHY BENZOS DON’T SHOW IN HAIR
Hair testing can’t detect single doses of benzodiazepines. Only chronic or frequent use may leave detectable traces Too little drug, too much hair Confirmed by internal lab experts
CLXXIII. James Craig Trial — INFO CAME FROM THE SUSPECT
The only person who said Angela Craig took benzodiazepines?
The suspect himself.
Coroner Dr. Lear confirmed that’s the sole source of that claim.
CLXXIV. James Craig Trial — THE ARTICLE ABOUT CYANIDE
Defense cited an article where a woman’s cyanide rose from 3.4 to 4.1 in one hour.
But this case? The rise was from 1.8 to 3.7 over eight hours.
Witness: “Very different scenarios.”
CLXXV. James Craig Trial — WHY SINGLE EXPOSURE MAKES NO SENSE
Witness: A single cyanide dose doesn’t cause levels to rise over 8 hours—especially not while the victim is alert and talking.That pattern suggests multiple or sustained exposures.
CLXXVI. James Craig Trial — CAN TOXINS CHANGE IN THE TUBE?
Jury asked: Once blood is drawn, can toxin levels change over time?
Witness: “For the drugs we’re talking about today — in general, no.”
CLXXVII. James Craig Trial — TETRAHYDROZOLINE HALF-LIFE
Jury asked: What's the half-life of tetrahydrozoline?
Witness: “Approximately four hours.”That means half of it exits the bloodstream every four hours after exposure.
CLXXVIII. James Craig Trial — DRUGS THAT KILL TOGETHER
Q: Do cyanide, arsenic, and tetrahydrozoline interact?
A: Yes.
Arsenic and cyanide both block ATP, your body’s energy supply.
They can work synergistically.
