Direct examination of Dr. Fredric Rieders (afternoon, part 2)

📄 Direct examination of Dr. Fredric Rieders (afternoon, part 2) — Monday, July 24, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\JUL\24\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-DR-FREDR.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 120 of 167

◀ Jury removal and discovery matters Transition to cross-examination ▶

Witness: Dr. Fredric Rieders
Examiner: Robert Blasier
Called by: Defense • Date: Monday, July 24, 1995 • Utterances: 29

Defense expert Dr. Fredric Rieders testified that the EDTA found on the sock and back gate was present in parts per million — roughly 1,000 times higher than what diet alone could produce. He concluded the EDTA could not have come from food and opined that the most likely source was a purple-top (EDTA-preserved) blood collection tube, strongly implying the blood was planted.

# 1 (The following proceedings were held in open court, in the presence of the jury:)

# 2 THE COURT:

Doctor, you may remain seated. All right. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Be seated. All right. Let the record reflect that we've been rejoined by all the members of our jury panel. Mr. Blasier.

# 3 MR. BLASIER:

Thank you, your Honor.

# 4 MR. BLASIER:

Dr. Rieders, have you reviewed materials from the Environmental Protection Agency with respect to how much EDTA you can expect to find in human blood from diet?

# 5 DR. RIEDERS:

Yes.

# 6 MR. BLASIER:

And what is the range that would be in the human blood from diet?

# 7 MS. CLARK:

Objection, your Honor.

# 8 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 9 MS. CLARK:

That is exactly what we--

# 10 THE COURT:

Overruled. EPA records from FDA records that are in the public--part of the public record, he can testify to.

# 11 MR. BLASIER:

What range are we talking about for net--EDTA in the blood from diet?

# 12 DR. RIEDERS:

Normally, from--in normal individuals, four part--no more than four parts for billion, per billion.

# 13 MR. BLASIER:

Now, the amounts of EDTA found on the sock and the back gate, what range are they?

# 14 DR. RIEDERS:

It's in the parts per million. So a thousand times more.

KEY QUOTE

# 15 MR. BLASIER:

Do you have an opinion on whether the EDTA found in the sock and the back gate could have come from food?

# 16 DR. RIEDERS:

From food eaten by the person whose blood it is; is that it?

# 17 MR. BLASIER:

Yes.

# 18 DR. RIEDERS:

No. In my opinion, that is so unlikely that I wouldn't even consider it.

KEY QUOTE

# 19 MR. BLASIER:

Now, what other sources of EDTA in blood could there be?

# 20 DR. RIEDERS:

Well--

# 21 MR. BLASIER:

Let me clar--qualify that a little bit--in the amounts shown in the back gate and the sock.

# 22 DR. RIEDERS:

Well, basically, in blood from an individual who had intermuscular or intravenous EDTA or EDTA preparations for one or another either diagnostic or therapeutic purpose--I mentioned it's used for that--within a short time, because within a day or two after such administration, all of the EDTA is out of the body. It's 90 percent in a couple of hours that it leaves the body.

# 23 MR. BLASIER:

Did you see any indication in the FBI paper work that either Nicole Brown Simpson or OJ Simpson had EDTA injected into their systems on June 12th?

# 24 DR. RIEDERS:

No.

# 25 MR. BLASIER:

What other sources of EDTA are there in blood?

# 26 DR. RIEDERS:

Accidental outside contaminations. For example, a syringe that is used to draw blood from someone could have been washed in detergent, and detergents have EDTA in them. EDTA could have been put right on that spot. I mean, it could be put on the whole sock, but then the control would also show it. So really, there's no likely introduction of EDTA into circulating human blood other than its diagnostic or therapeutic injection, not orally. It's not given orally. It's bad for you given by mouth.

# 27 MR. BLASIER:

Do you have an opinion on whether the EDTA found on the sock and the back gate in the quantities which they were found, if that could have come from a purple top tube?

# 28 DR. RIEDERS:

Yes. Of course it could.

KEY QUOTE

# 29 MR. BLASIER:

That's all I have.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (3)

Dr. Fredric Rieders

No. In my opinion, that is so unlikely that I wouldn't even consider it.

Flatly rules out diet as the source of EDTA on the sock and back gate, eliminating the prosecution's most benign explanation.

Dr. Fredric Rieders

It's in the parts per million. So a thousand times more.

Quantifies the dramatic discrepancy between normal dietary EDTA levels and what was found on the evidence, the core of the defense's blood-planting argument.

Dr. Fredric Rieders

Yes. Of course it could.

Unambiguous conclusion that the EDTA on the sock and back gate could have come from a purple-top collection tube — the final, damning point of the direct examination.

Evidence (5)

Informal

The sock — evidence item with EDTA detected in parts per million

discussed

Informal

The back gate blood sample — EDTA detected in parts per million

discussed

Informal

EPA/FDA records on dietary EDTA levels in human blood

referenced as basis for expert opinion

Informal

Purple-top blood collection tube (EDTA-preserved)

identified as likely source of EDTA contamination

Informal

FBI paperwork reviewed by Rieders

referenced to confirm no medical EDTA administration to Simpson or Brown Simpson on June 12

Notable Exchanges (2)

Robert Blasier•Dr. Fredric Rieders

Blasier systematically eliminates every innocent explanation for the EDTA — diet, medical injection, accidental contamination — leaving only the purple-top tube as a plausible source, completing the blood-planting narrative.

strategic

Marcia Clark•Lance A. Ito

Clark objected to Rieders testifying about EPA/FDA data on dietary EDTA levels; Ito overruled, ruling that public record regulatory data is fair game for an expert.

procedural

Objections

1 objections (0 sustained, 1 overruled)

Proceeding 7009 • 29 utterances • Defense witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103