Hank Goldberg concludes his direct examination of junior criminalist Andrea Mazzola, walking through the Bronco evidence collection at the LAPD print shed on June 14, 1994. Mazzola describes her role assisting Fung — holding the flashlight, making sketches, passing supplies — and testifies that she personally performed phenolphthalein tests on the brake and gas pedals, all of which came back positive for blood. The examination ends with chain-of-custody confirmation: all collected items were sealed in boxes by June 16 before transfer to the evidence control unit.
# 1 (The following proceedings were held in open court:) # 2 THE COURT: Thank you, counsel. Proceed.
# 3 MR. GOLDBERG: Thank you.
# 4 MR. GOLDBERG: Miss Mazzola, did Mr. Fung ever tell you simply to start over again with a new form?
# 6 MR. GOLDBERG: Now, later in the morning did you and Mr. Fung go to another location to collect additional evidence?
# 8 MR. GOLDBERG: Where was that?
# 9 MS. MAZZOLA: It was at the LAPD print shed.
# 10 MR. GOLDBERG: And can you tell us the time that you got there, approximately?
# 11 MS. MAZZOLA: May I look at my notes?
# 14 MR. NEUFELD: The record should reflect that the witness is refreshing her recollection by looking at her notes right now.
# 16 MR. NEUFELD: Thank you.
# 17 THE COURT: Miss Mazzola, which form are you looking at?
# 18 MS. MAZZOLA: I am looking at the vehicle search checklist.
# 19 THE COURT: All right.
# 20 MS. MAZZOLA: It was approximately 10:30.
# 21 MR. GOLDBERG: And when you arrived at the print shed did you see the Bronco that had been earlier parked in front of the Rockingham location?
# 23 MR. GOLDBERG: Did you see how the Bronco was opened?
# 24 MS. MAZZOLA: Yes, I did.
# 25 MR. GOLDBERG: How was that?
# 26 MS. MAZZOLA: The Bronco had to be opened by two detectives.
# 27 MR. GOLDBERG: Where did they come from?
# 28 MS. MAZZOLA: From the burglary auto detail.
# 29 MR. GOLDBERG: And how did they do it?
# 30 MS. MAZZOLA: They had to use I believe they are called a slimjim to pop the lock.
KEY QUOTE # 31 MR. GOLDBERG: Okay. And after that was done, did you and Mr. Fung then begin collecting evidence from the Bronco?
# 33 MR. GOLDBERG: What role did you play in the evidence collection procedure in terms of the Bronco?
# 34 MS. MAZZOLA: I was holding the flashlight, making the sketch, passing him the supplies that he needed.
# 35 MR. GOLDBERG: When you say "Supplies," what are you talking about?
# 36 MS. MAZZOLA: Coin envelopes, plastic bags, labels, dealing with the item numbers.
# 37 MR. GOLDBERG: Okay. Perhaps at this point I could bring up People's 172 for identification.
# 39 MR. GOLDBERG: Miss Mazzola, I don't know whether you can see this. I would like to draw your attention to one of the call-out lines that does not have a number on it, it is just a red dot, but it hooks up to a photograph that has an item no. 33 and depicts the brake pedals in the Bronco. Do you recognize that?
# 41 MR. GOLDBERG: And when you were at the location did you do any testing on the brake pedals and the gas pedal as depicted in that photograph?
# 42 MS. MAZZOLA: Yes, I did a phenolphthalein test.
# 43 MR. GOLDBERG: Did you do that personally or did Mr. Fung do that?
# 44 MS. MAZZOLA: I did that personally.
# 45 MR. GOLDBERG: Can you tell us what is involved in a phenolphthalein test?
# 46 MS. MAZZOLA: It is simply taking a cotton swab, cotton-tipped swab, dampening it with a little distilled water, shaking out the excess, applying the swab to the area, adding a drop of the reagent. If there is no color change, we add a drop of hydrogen peroxide. If it is negative, nothing happens. If it is positive, it turns like a magenta hot pink.
# 47 MR. GOLDBERG: And did you do that phenolphthalein test for each one of the three pedals that are depicted in the photograph that has the call-out line with no number on it?
# 49 MR. GOLDBERG: What was the result?
# 50 MS. MAZZOLA: May I check my notes?
# 52 THE COURT: All right. Miss Mazzola, could you try to keep your voice up.
# 54 THE COURT: All right. Thank you.
# 56 MS. MAZZOLA: The phenolphthalein tests were positive.
KEY QUOTE # 57 MR. GOLDBERG: Did you collect any stains from that location?
# 59 MR. GOLDBERG: Those three pedals?
# 61 MR. GOLDBERG: And did Mr. Fung collect any stains?
# 63 MR. GOLDBERG: All right. Now, with respect to the stains that are on this Bronco board, were there additional stains on the Bronco that are not depicted here? If you want to, you can look back on your notes.
# 64 MS. MAZZOLA: (Witness complies.) Yes, there were other stains.
# 65 MR. GOLDBERG: Okay. For example, was there a stain no. 21 or 20, rather?
# 66 MS. MAZZOLA: Yes, there was.
# 67 MR. GOLDBERG: Where was that located?
# 68 MS. MAZZOLA: That was located in the passenger door, near the top edge of the passenger door.
# 69 MR. GOLDBERG: Now, with respect to the stains that we see here that are depicted on this exhibit, let's start with the stain no. 30 and 31, do you recall specifically seeing those or just generally that you know that there were a lot of stains on the Bronco?
# 71 MR. NEUFELD: Objection, your Honor, as to the term "A lot."
# 72 THE COURT: Sustained. Rephrase the question.
# 73 MR. GOLDBERG: Do you recall specifically seeing--let me ask it this way: Do you recall specifically seeing all of the stains that are depicted here, with the exceptions of 304 and 305, rather, or do you--or do you just have a general recollection that you saw stains in there?
# 74 MS. MAZZOLA: I have a general recollection I saw stains, yes.
# 75 MR. GOLDBERG: All right. Thank you. You can retake the witness stand.
# 77 MR. GOLDBERG: Now, I would like to show you the vehicle search checklist that has previously been marked as People's 189 for identification. Do you recognize that?
# 79 MR. GOLDBERG: And is that the documentation that you were filling out while you and Mr. Fung were collecting the stains from the Bronco?
# 81 MR. GOLDBERG: And does that list all of the various stains that were obtained from the Bronco on that date?
# 82 (no audible response.) # 83 MR. GOLDBERG: Collected, I should say?
# 85 MR. GOLDBERG: Now, when you are collecting stains from a vehicle such as this, do you collect every single drop of every single stain in the vehicle?
# 87 MR. GOLDBERG: What do you do?
# 88 MS. MAZZOLA: You--as a normal crime scene, you take your representative sample.
# 89 MR. GOLDBERG: And by that do you mean--what do you mean when you say "Representative sample"?
# 90 MS. MAZZOLA: You collect samples from the various items in the different locations. You would not collect every single spot. If there were five spots near each other, you would not collect all five spots.
KEY QUOTE # 91 MR. GOLDBERG: Okay. But let's say that you have--you have a situation where there are ten spots and you decide that you are going to collect six of them. Do you collect as much of those six spots that you decide to collect, as you can?
# 93 MR. GOLDBERG: All right. But in terms of the--the number of spots, you don't necessarily collect every single spot?
# 95 MR. GOLDBERG: Now, when you were watching Mr. Fung doing the collection, did you form any opinion as to whether he was collecting enough of the stains?
# 96 MS. MAZZOLA: I did not form any opinion, no.
# 97 MR. GOLDBERG: All right. How well could you see specifically what was going on in terms of the collection that was happening on the console?
# 98 MS. MAZZOLA: I could not see very well because it was dark and he was looking for the stains with the flashlight.
KEY QUOTE # 99 MR. GOLDBERG: Now, when you collected these stains in the Bronco with Mr. Fung and they were packaged, did you follow the same procedure that you have described before in terms of the inventory before you are finished?
# 101 MR. GOLDBERG: And what did you do with these after you had done the inventory?
# 102 MS. MAZZOLA: They were put in paper bags to take with us.
# 103 MR. GOLDBERG: Where did you take them?
# 104 MS. MAZZOLA: We took them to the lab.
# 105 MR. GOLDBERG: And when you got back to the lab, did you go through the drying process with these stains?
# 106 MS. MAZZOLA: Yes, yes.
# 107 MR. GOLDBERG: Now, at this drying process was your role different than in the drying process that occurred on the evening of the 13th?
# 109 MR. GOLDBERG: How did it differ?
# 110 MS. MAZZOLA: I was more involved with putting the swatches into the individual test-tubes.
# 111 MR. GOLDBERG: And what technique were you using to do that?
# 112 MS. MAZZOLA: I was using the glass pipettes.
# 113 MR. GOLDBERG: And what technique was Mr. Fung using?
# 114 MS. MAZZOLA: He was manipulating the swatches from the outside.
# 115 MR. GOLDBERG: In the way that you have previously described?
# 116 MS. MAZZOLA: Correct.
# 117 MR. GOLDBERG: And were the two of you working on one item simultaneously or how did that work?
# 118 MS. MAZZOLA: We were working on different items, but we were working at separate tables.
# 119 MR. GOLDBERG: And again, when you were working on your items, did you do it in an assembly line fashion or one at a time?
# 120 MS. MAZZOLA: One at a time.
# 121 MR. GOLDBERG: Now, after these items were put out to dry, did you participate in the packaging process?
# 123 MR. GOLDBERG: And what was the--what did the packaging process involve?
# 124 MS. MAZZOLA: You take the dry swatches, you put them in a small paper bindle, which is just a piece of paper, clean paper folded up, put the swatches in, seal it, write the DR number on it, the item number. These go back in the original coin envelopes.
# 125 MR. GOLDBERG: And did you do that in assembly line fashion or one at a time?
# 126 MS. MAZZOLA: One at a time.
# 127 MR. GOLDBERG: And after the drying process was done on the various items that had been collected on the 13th and 14th, did you participate with Mr. Fung in writing the property reports?
# 128 MS. MAZZOLA: He wrote the property reports.
# 129 MR. GOLDBERG: He did that?
# 130 MS. MAZZOLA: He did that.
# 131 MR. GOLDBERG: And on June 16th of 1994 did you see the evidence?
# 132 MS. MAZZOLA: That morning, yes.
# 133 MR. GOLDBERG: And what condition was it in when you saw it?
# 134 MS. MAZZOLA: Sealed boxes.
# 135 MR. GOLDBERG: So at that time everything that had been collected was sealed up?
# 137 MR. GOLDBERG: Did you see it actually being brought to the evidence control unit?
# 139 MR. GOLDBERG: Was that the last time that you had seen it?
# 141 MR. GOLDBERG: May I just have one moment to look at my notes, your Honor?
# 144 (Discussion held off the record between the Deputy District Attorneys.) # 145 MR. GOLDBERG: Thank you. I have no further questions, your Honor.