VERDICT WATCH GA - Quinton Simon - Missing From Home - Mom ARRESTED- Savannah #5

[iamshadow21]

This witness speaks well, looks at the jury while speaking. She comes across as comfortable on the stand and knowledgeable in her field.

 

[iamshadow21]

Fentress is showing pictures to the jury and explaining taking samples from them for testing. We are not seeing the visuals. A larger bone, she took a square from it. A smaller bone, the entire bone was used.

The results were in the realm of quintillions that both bones were from the child of LS and BM.

 

[iamshadow21]

Hilliard on cross.

Hilliard says he doesn't usually get a witness like her so he's going to ask a bunch of questions. Asking about the difference between alleles, genes and DNA, and she's giving a short explanation about where they look and what they compare. Fentress look at twenty one locations for the DNA that is different between individuals. Less than one percent of our DNA is different to each other.

Hilliard asks why the two numbers between the two bones are different. She explains why sometimes the numbers are higher or lower based on the quality of the sample they're able to extract.

They clean the bones, use a dremel tool to remove some material, grind it down to a fine powder, then mix it with the chemicals to get their sample.

 

[tlcya]

quintillions.

 

[iamshadow21]

The results are generated in a table which shows the numbers for each location. If the unknown subject is the child of the parents who gave samples, an examiner will be able to see the numbers correlate with one or both of the parents' numbers at each point. (My poor summary of what she said.)

 

[iamshadow21]

Next witness: Cynthia Morris-Kukoski

FBI chemistry unit, toxicologist.

Qualified as an expert witness.

She tested the pillow and pillowcase.

 

[iamshadow21]

Not enough material from the pillow to test for tox.

Also received what looked like brain tissue which was found in the frontal bone, presumably from the landfill search.

Received it from Dr Christensen, sealed it in bags and cold stored it.

 

[iamshadow21]

Tested the brain tissue for cocaine and its metabolites.

The portion of the sample is mixed and ground with water. She creates control/negative samples, too.

All of the samples are tested. They used liquid chromatographic mass spectrometer I think she said?

It's very technical, and she's making it as simple as she can, but it's still technical. She knows it and Dean knows it, and he lightly jokes about it. There's a small ripple of laughter about it.

Cross

Hilliard asking about the difference between negative and not detected.

The sample was tested for cocaine, meth, fentanyl, Oxycodone. Not detected.

Hilliard asking how the spectrometer works. He's playing dumber than he is in my opinion, because he's asking precise questions about how it exactly detects different chemicals.

Asking what exactly detected, not detected, inconclusive etc means by the standards of the testing.

 

[iamshadow21]

She was also given a pink washcloth, a shirt and pants and a towel.

The washcloth and towel were unsuitable for testing.

She tested stains from the shirt and pants.

That's all for this witness, she is excused.

Two hours break, because the next witness isn't ready till then. Back for 1pm (1:30 with delay.)

 

[MsMarple]

Good morning! Just checking in as we have company. @iamshadow21 thank you for the morning’s reporting, sounds like you had to convey some difficult and technical testimony. Well done as I got a good grasp from your explanation, thank you very much!

 

[iamshadow21]

We're back.

Jury returning.

 

[iamshadow21]

Next witness: Dr Lora Darrisaw.

Medical examiner for GBI.

Qualified as an expert witness.

 

[iamshadow21]

Explaining what a medical examiner is and what their role is.

Explaining what an autopsy is. External and internal examinations are the two parts to an autopsy.

They start with the circumstances they know surrounding the death. They also refer to the person's medical history and information from their families.

 

[iamshadow21]

After the FBI examination, she received the remains of Quinton.

Because he was skeletal, her examination was primarily an inventory of his bones.

She's talking about the strict category requirements for a diagnosis of SIDS. Quinton doesn't seem to meet them. He was over a year old, and there were suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

 

[iamshadow21]

Cross.

Clarifies the condition of the remains she received and the condition of them.

He clarifies that she could not do a standard autopsy because the remains were skeletal.

He's asking about asphyxia and sleeping environment. She says that a twenty month old is able to adjust their own position because they are ambulatory. She doesn't think she was told about the vomit in the travel cot, when asked by Hilliard.

The witness is excused.

 

[iamshadow21]

Det Lemmons back on the stand.

Dean is asking about LS's false statements that are listed in the indictment.

They know what purchases LS made at the circle K.

Two natural lite cans. Cigarillos.

 

[iamshadow21]

Asking about the material found in the back of the Dodge.

Showing a photograph of the back of the dodge with the cereal spread all across the back of the car. It's an even spread. I've always thought it looked like what you do when you deodorise a carpet with those scented powders.

They're trying to show a clip from an interview where LS is explaining how the stuff got there. The tech is not working. After a brief struggle by Dean, we're on break while they sort it.

 

[CHEL]

Prepare your ears for the screeching of her voice in these videos.

Nvm. She is all "sad"

 

[iamshadow21]

The feed cut back in awkwardly.

We're looking at boxes of rice cereal.

Apparently there were a couple of boxes outside on the tiki bar when investigators arrived. LS put them inside later, I think Lemmons said.

 

[MsMarple]

Interesting, Leilani is watching testimony of detective Lemmons and her eyes start blinking rapidly. I’ve seen this with her before. I think (so only IMO) that it’s a “tell” which indicates stress. The detective is talking about some lies from Leilani so it fits.
JMO