Just quickly because I have to go to work....
1. Wasn't it in early 2006 in an email from Kratz to Culhane, something about Wiegert checking on the blood to see if it was what it was? So who knew about the blood early on? The State or was it just SA rambling on about ALL the blood they have taken from him over the years. I don't think SA had any way of knowing that it was literally sitting in a box on the counter in Manitowoc County Court house.
2. LeBeau's EDTA testing was peer reviewed? When and where is this? The only peer reviewing of EDTA testing I am aware of without going hunting is the 1996 EDTA test for the OJ case, and it was peer reviewed and determined to not be reliable, I think?
3. The FBI lab is only available to the State and LE, it is not available to defendants AFAIK. So the defense was expected to find a lab to do a test that was not being done and pay for that? They didn't have unlimited funds like the State did. Wasn't it determined that Buting and Strang made less then minimum wage on this case with the funds available to them from SA's settlement?
4. Literally having a test done while the trial has already started is not playing fair IMO. The State knew about the blood long before the defense did, again IMO, and why did they wait to have the FBI do the test? Give the defense time to possibly find someone?
I think it's quite possible that some of these world renowned scientists that have contacted Zellner have 'peer reviewed' the FBI's testing, and I would not be surprised to find out that it's just an unreliable test period.
JMO
Navel gazing over when the State knew about the existence of the blood vial sweeps aside the real issue.
The blood vial was the most vital part of their defense, it was to be their showcase moment, their "red letter day". They did not reveal that the vial would be introduced as evidence until 6 days before the deadline.
You can say that the State knew of the vial since Nov '05 but they did not know the Defense was intending to walk into the courtroom with the styrofoam packaging and tell the jury that this is where they got his blood from until it was far too late. It was a dirty tactic imo, but fortunately it was thwarted by science and the Courts.
Four weeks into the trial, and the defense finally decides they want to do their own testing and asked for a continuance or a mistrial (lost count of how many times they called for a mistrial).
This is some of what the Judge had to say
The Court also concludes that if the defendant had felt the testing of the blood was important, the defendant had adequate opportunity in which to arrange for such testing. The defendant could have sought release of the blood vial much earlier and requested permission to test it himself under Section 971.23 (5).
In the alternative, if the defendant did not want to risk spending resources on a test which could possibly produce inconclusive or unfavorable results, the defendant could have disclosed the existence of the blood evidence earlier, asked the Court to set a deadline for the State to conduct any testing that it wished to conduct and still allow the defense adequate time to make its own decision as to whether or not it wanted to independently test the blood vial, all of which could accomplish been accomplished well before the start of trial in this case.
The Court believes the defense decision not to pursue identification of the blood vial until very close to the discovery deadline was a decision that the defense was entitled to make.
[...]
Finally, by waiting until shortly before the time it was permitted to do so, the defense may have left the State with less time to prepare to meet the evidence and, specifically, with not enough time in which to conduct the States own tests. It certainly appeared, based on the original State request to adjourn the trial, that that may well have been the case here."
Source =
http://static1.squarespace.com/stat...40/Jury-Trial-Transcript-Day-16-2007Mar05.pdf