Harmon conducts a brief redirect of DNA analyst Gary Sims to rehabilitate testimony about the rear gate blood stains. He clarifies that while Sims saw no bacterial degradation (which Scheck had emphasized), the stains did show natural degradation consistent with time and environmental exposure — undercutting the defense implication that the blood was planted recently.
# 1 THE COURT: Mr. Harmon.
# 2 MR. HARMON: Just a few questions.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. HARMON
# 3 MR. HARMON: Mr. Sims, just to take on that last question--
# 4 THE COURT: Mr. Harmon, you need to do your questioning on the other side of the monster there.
# 6 MR. HARMON: Were there signs of degradation on any of those rear gate stains?
# 7 MR. SIMS: The yield gel patterns did not show the type of bacterial degradation that I talked about, although you can see from the photograph that the DNA is starting to degrade a little bit. It is--it is not pristine DNA. In other words, it is showing some of this pattern whereby there is a high band and then it is starting to show a little smearing below that.
KEY QUOTE # 8 MR. HARMON: And time causes that to happen?
# 9 MR. SIMS: Yes, it does.
# 10 MR. HARMON: Environment?
# 12 MR. HARMON: Mr. Scheck kept asking you about the significant bacterial degradation with respect to the rear gate. You said you saw none of that?
# 13 MR. SIMS: That's correct.
# 14 MR. HARMON: But you did see signs of degradation that you know are caused by time?
# 15 MR. SIMS: Yes, and exposure is the way I would put that.
KEY QUOTE # 16 MR. HARMON: Okay. Thanks.