Testimony Notes – 2 March, 2007
State Crime Lab trace evidence specialist Kenneth Olson examined skull entrance defects from cranial sections. He attempted to claim the defects were “consistent with” shooting but was challenged and his claim was struck.
Olson found trace amounts of lead from one defect and larger amounts of lead from another.
He agreed that some bullets have a jacket that is copper or silver. Not mentioned was that 22 caliber bullets are also available with a polymer tip. He was not given either of the bullet fragments for testing.
Dr. Jeffrey Jentzen the Medical Examiner Milwaukee County was hired by the prosecution as a consultant. He met with Leslie Eisenberg and other principles before forming a conclusion.
He stated that this was death by homicide. There were two gunshot entry wounds and no exit wounds. The body burning seemed to be a major factor in his conclusion of homicide.
He was asked by the defense about shooting a corpse. Dr. Jentzen went on a tangent by talking about shooting a skeleton. When brought back to the question, he admitted that the wounds were consistent with shooting a corpse.
However, he insisted that the death was a homicide. He would not consider any other possibility. Jentzen at one point claimed he gave legal opinions. That statement was struck from the record.
When I am dealing with doctors who are dogmatic, and inflexible, I have the liberty to fire them (and I do). In court, the business of refusing to consider possibilities can and does lead to wrongful imprisonment.
The trial recessed early and will not resume until Tuesday next week. Issue that are present are
- The access of Teresa Halbach’s voicemail after the Arrest of Steven Avery.
- The use of all the DNA from the belated magic bullet which precludes independent verification. The Defense wants that evidence thrown out.
- The FBI blood test is possibly complete. Judge Willis has not ruled on the admissibility of the results. This is an untested and unverified method; the protocol is than a week old. The defense wants to be able to verify this test, but presently only the FBI has used this method. The FBI has had time from the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial to work out a protocol. They seem to have come up with this very fast.
in category Steven Avery
