Laura Babcock Murder Trial 11.14.17 - Day 15

[Inspector_North]

1 inch = 25.4 millimeters

error - Approx. 12.7 millimeters

She did the comparison on multiple bones. So the error is not in DM's favour. moo

 

[Kamille]

Millard now back to questioning Rogers about her "methodology."
by Adam Carter 11:07 AM

 

[Kamille]

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
1m1 minute ago
The mineral parts of the bone don't burn, do they? #Millard prompts, but they can crack and twist and warp under high heat, and "that could change the dimensions of the bones, couldn't it?" Rogers agrees. #LauraBabcock

 

[Kamille]

"There's quite a few species out there that share characteristics with human bones?" Millard asks. "Um no ... humans are fairly distinctive," Rogers says, because we walk upright.
by Adam Carter 11:08 AM


Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
27s27 seconds ago
Millard wants to know if Rogers was looking for bones when she first looked at the photo. She says no; the first thing is to eliminate items that are not bone, but a couple jumped out for her as being similar to human. #LauraBabcock

 

[EspressoBean]

"There's quite a few species out there that share characteristics with human bones?" Millard asks. "Um no ... humans are fairly distinctive," Rogers says, because we walk upright.
by Adam Carter 11:08 AM


Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
27s27 seconds ago
Millard wants to know if Rogers was looking for bones when she first looked at the photo. She says no; the first thing is to eliminate items that are not bone, but a couple jumped out for her as being similar to human. #LauraBabcock

And biology, not one of his framed certificates.

 

[Kamille]

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
20s21 seconds ago
Rogers disagrees with #Millard that many animal bones are similar to human bones. Human bones usually distinct. "But you don't have the whole bone in this case do you?" #Millard presses.

 

[Kamille]

Millard now asking if the "tubes" seen inside the incinerator were on a "flat plane." Rogers says it's possible, but she's not sure. Millard now saying the grid overlay on the photo is set up as a flat plane.
by Adam Carter 11:10 AM

 

[inbetweendoors]

DM is not letting go here at all. Actually he can't. IF he has any hope of creating doubt this is the place. He must create doubt that those are NOT human bones in that Incinerator. This, right here, is do or die for him.

Dr. Rogers is going to stick to her guns. She knows that those are human bones in there.

MOO

I was about to say something similar. I get we love to hate on DM, but what else would he do here in his defense? Or even legit defense attorneys for that matter?
Seems fair to me. He has to try to argue her findings or else he may as well just roll over.

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[Kamille]

"Essentially you're telling us that you can't for certain identify what species these bones came from." Millard says. "Correct," Rogers answers.
by Adam Carter 11:11 AM

Millard is now done. Jennifer Trahearne, co counsel for Mark Smich, now starting her cross.
by Adam Carter 11:12 AM

 

[Kamille]

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
2m2 minutes ago
"Essentially you're telling us you can't identify with certainty what species those bones are from," #Millard says. "Correct." Those are all his questions. Jennifer Trehearne now, for #Smich

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
1m1 minute ago
Trehearne and Dungey are #Smich's two lawyers. Trehearne is asking about the joint surfaces, which are different in human and animal bones. The photo resolution is not clear enough for Rogers to make absolute finding.

 

[thor124]

"Would you care to say then that you eyeballed this in the case of the blue grid?" Millard asks. "Yes, and used a ruler," Rogers asks. Millard asks what degree of error is involved there. "That would be difficult to assess," Rogers says.
by Adam Carter 10:54 AM

Millard asks what degree of error is involved in the grid itself. Rogers says it may be off by half an inch one way or another.
by Adam Carter 10:55 AM

That's not good. A 1/2" either way on a 2" grid is a 25% margin of error, which puts some of the measurements she used to rule out deer bones in question. :/

 

[Kamille]

"You can't see the joint surfaces in these two photos you've been provided, correct?" Trehearne asks. Rogers says you can't completely see them because of the photo resolution.
by Adam Carter 11:13 AMReplies

Trehearne now showing the grid overlay photo inside the incinerator again.
by Adam Carter 11:15 AM

 

[deugirtni]

Yay! A.C. is back!

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Unfortunately he has said it is his last day

 

[JuneBug67]

Truth be told there probably were measurement errors due to all the factors being discussed. The bones were estimated to be at or slightly less than that for the average female, and Laura was 7 inches taller than the average female. Regardless, I don’t see a path to reasonable doubt that Laura’s body was in that incinerator.

 

[EspressoBean]

Truth be told there probably were measurement errors due to all the factors being discussed. The bones were estimated to be at or slightly less than that for the average female, and Laura was 7 inches taller than the average female. Regardless, I don’t see a path to reasonable doubt that Laura’s body was in that incinerator.

She was 7 inches taller than the average female? :thinking:

 

[Kamille]

Trehearne now going through the way the bone sits on the grid in the photo.
by Adam Carter 11:17 AM

 

[Kamille]

The witness is now giving really specific evidence about the size of the bones, and how they sit on the grid.
by Adam Carter 11:18 AM

 

[RandomName479]

Truth be told there probably were measurement errors due to all the factors being discussed. The bones were estimated to be at or slightly less than that for the average female, and Laura was 7 inches taller than the average female. Regardless, I don’t see a path to reasonable doubt that Laura’s body was in that incinerator.

I don't recall her being 5'11"......do you have a link to that? (average Canadian female is 5'4 1/2" according to Wikepedia)

 

[Fionn]

I was about to say something similar. I get we love to hate on DM, but what else would he do here in his defense? Or even legit defense attorneys for that matter?
Seems fair to me. He has to try to argue her findings or else he may as well just roll over.

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I agree with you that he has to ask those questions but he may have stopped short of having an expert witness state that human bones are fairly distinctive.


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[Kamille]

I was about to say something similar. I get we love to hate on DM, but what else would he do here in his defense? Or even legit defense attorneys for that matter?
Seems fair to me. He has to try to argue her findings or else he may as well just roll over.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

He and MS's defence had the option of asking two questions.

You can't say for certain what species those bones are?

You can't say for certain those are human bones in there?

To both questions she has already answered that she could not. Letting her show off to this jury just how skilled she is in this field by asking more questions is a mistake IMO.