📄 Motion: exclude Dr. Bruce Weir DNA testimony — Wednesday, December 4, 1996
Address:
C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\DEC\4\MOTION-EXCLUDE-DR-BRUCE-WEIR-D.DOC
TRIAL
▲ Day 25 of 57

Motion: exclude Dr. Bruce Weir DNA testimony

Date: Wednesday, December 4, 1996 • Utterances: 21
Defense attorney Robert Blasier moved to exclude DNA statistician Dr. Bruce Weir from testifying, arguing that plaintiffs violated a stipulation by presenting substantially revised frequency numbers (including one going from 1-in-3,000 to 1-in-6-billion) with no discovery or work papers. Judge Fujisaki declined to exclude Weir outright but required plaintiffs to make him available for deposition before testifying, which was scheduled for the following day.
1 (The following proceedings were held in open court outside the presence of the jury.)
2 MR. BLASIER:

Your Honor, the next witness is Dr. Bruce Weir, who's been called to testify to frequency numbers for DNA mixtures. I am making a motion that he be excluded from testifying for the following reasons:

We had a stipulation with the plaintiffs in this case, that with respect to experts that testified in the criminal trial, if their civil trial testimony was going to be the same, then we would save money and time by not taking their depositions, since they weren't going to say anything different. We relied on that in not taking Dr. Weir's deposition.

This morning, I had a paper passed to me just across the table, giving a whole new set of numbers, frequency numbers, that are different from what he testified to at the criminal trial.

Further, there is one statistic on here regarding the frequency of the combined 303, 304, 305 of the Bronco that was a completely new figure. There was never frequency testified to about that at the criminal trial.

Mr. Lambert indicated he used the same method but he came up with different numbers. I asked if there were any work papers. He said, no, he doesn't have any work papers.

Some of these numbers are substantially different. One of them with respect to stains G1 and G2 on the Rockingham glove, the number that he testified at the criminal trial as the most frequent occurrence was 1 in 3,000. It's now 1 in 6 billion.

These are substantial differences. We have not had any discovery on this. We object to him -- them calling this witness at this time based on violation of the stipulation that they signed.

3 MR. LAMBERT:

Yes, Your Honor, Dr. Weir did testify at the criminal trial about this very same subject matter, frequency calculation, just to mixtures.

He's not talking about the single stains, but the mixtures only, and the only number that wasn't presented at criminal trial was one for the 303, 304 and 305 combination because that -- at the time that he testified that test hadn't been done.

It was done later in the case so that's the only new mixture number that he's testifying to.

Other than that, he's recalculated some of the mixture numbers and, in fact, he published these results. They know them. Everyone's seen them. They've been published in journals. That is accessible to everyone.

It's basically the same testimony as before. The numbers are slightly different, but it's the same methodology that he's got on the report.

In fact, you might remember, Your Honor, it was at their insistence that mixture calculations be put into evidence. They insisted that we put those into evidence at the beginning of the case. That's why we are about to do it.

4 MR. BLASIER:

Your Honor, the law requires statistics under People versus Barney. These statistic mixtures aren't available. The difference in 1 and 3,000 and 1 in 6 billion is a substantially new calculation, something new.

I would move to exclude the new stain, 303, 304 and 305. I would also move to exclude any testimony about these new numbers. We've had no discovery about them at all.

5 MR. LAMBERT:

Your Honor, these aren't new numbers. They've been recalculated.

6 THE COURT:

You just finished telling me that the test wasn't made until later. How could they not be new numbers?

KEY QUOTE
7 MR. LAMBERT:

I agree 303, 304 and 305 is a new number. At the time of his testimony that item had not been tested by the underlying laboratory. Very late in the criminal case they did an RFLP test on 303, 304 and 305.

All he's done is add that one new calculation using the same methodology that he already testified three days in the criminal trial about -- all this methodology.

He's now calculated, used the same methodology to calculate it for that one stain that he did for all the other mixtures. That's the only thing that's new. And it's not even new. It's only just the same apply to the same formula in the computer to a new set of data. So there's nothing new about that.

8 THE COURT:

I'm inclined not to permit him to testify unless he's subject to a deposition.

KEY QUOTE
9 MR. LAMBERT:

If you want, Your Honor, we can present him for a deposition, they can ask him about these numbers and we can call him later.

10 THE COURT:

Why can't you do that?

11 MR. LAMBERT:

I'll willing to do that, Your Honor. We can have him this afternoon.

12 MR. PETROCELLI:

He can have his deposition taken this afternoon.

13 MR. BLASIER:

I'm not prepared to do a deposition this afternoon based on new numbers I'm given this morning with no new discovery, no work papers.

KEY QUOTE
14 THE COURT:

Where are his work papers?

15 MR. LAMBERT:

He doesn't have work papers.

This a computer program. He simply takes the data from the Department of Justice that's already been presented, it's already in evidence, and he applies the computer program to it and he gets statistics out of it. And that's what he's prepared to testify about.

16 THE COURT:

Okay.

When do you want to depose him?

17 MR. BLASIER:

I can do it tomorrow.

18 THE COURT:

Okay.

Do it tomorrow.

19 MR. LAMBERT:

Very well, Your Honor.

20 MR. PETROCELLI:

We have a witness. I guess he will start right after lunch, Your Honor.

21 THE COURT:

Okay. 1:30.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Robert Blasier
One of them with respect to stains G1 and G2 on the Rockingham glove, the number that he testified at the criminal trial as the most frequent occurrence was 1 in 3,000. It's now 1 in 6 billion.
Illustrates the magnitude of the recalculation — a two-million-fold difference — and the core basis for the exclusion motion.
Hiroshi Fujisaki
You just finished telling me that the test wasn't made until later. How could they not be new numbers?
Fujisaki catches Lambert in a contradiction mid-argument, undercutting the plaintiffs' position and signaling he's skeptical.
Hiroshi Fujisaki
I'm inclined not to permit him to testify unless he's subject to a deposition.
The ruling: Weir is not excluded but cannot testify without giving defense a deposition first.
Robert Blasier
I'm not prepared to do a deposition this afternoon based on new numbers I'm given this morning with no new discovery, no work papers.
Defense pushes back on same-day deposition, successfully winning a full day to prepare.

Evidence (2)

Informal
Revised DNA mixture frequency calculations prepared by Dr. Bruce Weir, including stains G1 and G2 on the Rockingham glove and combined stains 303/304/305 from the Bronco
challenged — defense received paper morning of testimony with no prior discovery
Informal
RFLP test results for Bronco stains 303, 304, and 305 — conducted late in criminal case
discussed as basis for the one genuinely new mixture calculation

Notable Exchanges (2)

Tom LambertHiroshi Fujisaki
Lambert argued the 303/304/305 number wasn't really 'new,' then conceded mid-sentence that the underlying test hadn't existed at the time of criminal trial. Fujisaki immediately seized on the contradiction.
revealing
Robert BlasierTom Lambert
Blasier argued the stipulation precluded surprise testimony; Lambert countered that published journal articles put everyone on notice of the recalculations.
strategic

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Dr. Bruce Weir
discovery violation / lack of work papers
Blasier argued Weir's revised numbers appeared with no work papers, no prior disclosure, and no methodology documentation — raising implicit reliability concerns alongside the procedural objection.

Objections

1 objections (0 sustained, 0 overruled)
Proceeding 8460 • 21 utterances
Civil Trial
Department 103
⚖️ Start
📂 DEC 4, 1996 📄 Motion: exclude Dr. Bruce Weir
DEC 4, 1996 KRT DvH TD