First, Mr. Matheson, on this question of the amount of blood taken from the reference sample, were the figures that you were discussing with Mr. Blasier just estimates of the amount of blood that was taken out?
When criminalists would draw the blood at SID to use it, did they actually measure it or did they estimate how much they were taking?
Yeah, when you take blood out of the blood vial for testing, do you measure it or do you estimate the amount you're taking?
In fact, in connection with this case, didn't you once make an estimate and then go back and do a precise measurement to see how close your measurement was?
Even the second one wasn't a precise measurement. Yes, I did first an eyeball guess of how much blood was in the blood vial. Later on I did what I thought was a more precise way of measuring it and was significantly off.
On the day we did the inventory of the evidence, I eyeballed it and concluded in the chart there was approximately 2 milliliters of blood in that vial.
KEY QUOTEAnd then when you later went back and did the more precise measurement efforts, what did you come up with?
In regard to this issue of the blood under Nicole's fingernails, is part of your opinion that -- well, first let me start off with your opinion to what's the most likely, and as to the correct EAP type for that blood?
Well, given that particular sample, looking at all of the other information associated with the -- where the sample was taken from, I -- and not just looking totally at the analytical information, the most likely conclusion is that it's a degraded BA, and that it came from Nicole Brown.
Can you tell the jury some of the -- of the circumstances that you took into account in reaching that conclusion?
Well, having done a number of fingernail scrapings type of analysis, particularly when there is a lot of blood involved, the most common source of blood under the nails is the victim's own blood.
As a matter of fact, it's very rare to finds somebody else's blood under a victim's fingernails. It does happen occasionally, but it's fairly rare.
In this particular case, having seen some of the crime scene photographs and her hands, there was blood present on it, and along with the known fact that EAP can degrade to a B, that I've seen in other tests that I've performed, I feel the most likely explanation, though I can't rule out the other possibility, most likely is that the blood that's there is from Ms. Brown.
Now, in addition to that, Mr. Matheson, you -- we have heard in the courtroom the testimony of Gary Sims and Dr. Robin Cotton, both of whom independently performed PCR tests, different PCR tests on the blood under Nicole's fingernails, both of which concluded that that blood had DNA type that was consistent with Nicole Brown Simpson and did not show a mixture containing any other person's blood.
Would those test results confirm your conventional serology opinion that this is Nicole's blood under the fingernails?
And as to all of the other blood that was at the crime scene that you did conventional serology tests on, was all of that typing consistent with coming from either one of the victims or Mr. Simpson?
Right now, no. I'd -- I'd have to look at a property report. I don't believe it came from the crime scene.
On the day we did the inventory of the evidence, I eyeballed it and concluded in the chart there was approximately 2 milliliters of blood in that vial. Later on I did what I thought was a more precise way of measuring it and was significantly off.
It's very rare to find somebody else's blood under a victim's fingernails. It does happen occasionally, but it's fairly rare.
I think it confirms that the most likely answer is that it's her own blood.