Direct examination of Susan Brockbank (afternoon, part 1)

📄 Direct examination of Susan Brockbank (afternoon, part 1) — Tuesday, June 27, 1995

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C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\JUN\27\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-SUSAN-BR.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 104 of 167

◀ Back on record Direct examination of Susan Brockbank (afternoon, part 2) ▶

Witness: Susan Brockbank
Examiner: Marcia Clark
Called by: Prosecution • Date: Tuesday, June 27, 1995 • Utterances: 149

Trace evidence examiner Susan Brockbank resumes her direct examination by Marcia Clark, walking through her meticulous step-by-step procedure for collecting hair and fiber evidence from both the Rockingham glove (item no. 9) and the Bundy glove (item no. 37). She details how she created separate labeled paper bindles for trace collected from different locations on each glove, changed butcher paper and gloves between items to prevent cross-contamination, and packaged everything into coin envelopes and analyzed evidence envelopes with specific notations.

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

# 2 THE COURT:

All right. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Please be seated. All right. Let the record reflect we've been rejoined by all the members of our jury panel. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

THE JURY: Good afternoon.

# 3 THE COURT:

Miss Brockbank, would you resume the witness stand, please.

Susan A. Brockbank, the witness on the stand at the time of the lunch recess, resumed the stand and testified further as follows:

# 4 THE COURT:

All right. Good afternoon, Miss Brockbank. You are reminded you are still under oath. Miss Clark, you may continue with your direct examination.

# 5 MS. CLARK:

Thank you, your Honor.

DIRECT EXAMINATION (RESUMED) BY MS. CLARK

# 6 MS. CLARK:

I think where we left off was the Rockingham glove, item no. 9.

# 7 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 8 MS. CLARK:

All right. You recovered that glove, I think you indicated it was in a bag that was taped shut?

# 9 MS. BROCKBANK:

That's correct.

# 10 MS. CLARK:

Can you tell us--you had clean paper down, you had clean gloves, your lab coat on. What did you do with the bag?

# 11 MS. BROCKBANK:

I opened the bag over the clean paper, removed the glove from the bag, and I noticed some hairs I think and debris inside the bag. So I removed those items, placed them in a paper bindle and marked "Removed from bag containing glove" I believe. And then I examined the glove, the exterior surface for hairs and fibers, and there were some around the opening to the glove. I removed those, placed those in a paper bindle, marked "Removed from"--I think I said "Opening of glove." I try and be fairly specific when items are removed.

# 12 MS. CLARK:

And when you say "From opening of glove," do you mean around the wrist area?

# 13 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes. On the exterior surface of the glove, the opening where you--near your wrist. These were found in that general area, right around there. Not toward the fingers, but towards this end (Indicating).

# 14 MS. CLARK:

Was it on the outside of the wrist area?

# 15 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 16 MS. CLARK:

Okay. So you picked that out first?

# 17 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 18 MS. CLARK:

With your gloved hands?

# 19 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 20 MS. CLARK:

And where did you put the items that you recovered from the wrist area?

# 21 MS. BROCKBANK:

In a paper bindle.

# 22 MS. CLARK:

Now, when you removed the--you indicated there was some debris inside the bag that contained the glove?

# 23 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 24 MS. CLARK:

Did you tap that in or did you take it out with your gloved hand?

# 25 MS. BROCKBANK:

I, you know, basically had the bag in my hand, in my left hand, and then reached in with my right hand and, you know, maybe gently tapped the bag out onto the white paper and then placed that into the bindle.

# 26 MS. CLARK:

Okay. With your hands?

# 27 MS. BROCKBANK:

With my hands, yes.

# 28 MS. CLARK:

Okay. Did you look on the butcher paper underneath that bindle to see if any of the trace may have fallen out?

# 29 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 30 MS. CLARK:

And did it?

# 31 MS. BROCKBANK:

No.

# 32 MS. CLARK:

And did you close up that bindle?

# 33 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, I did.

# 34 MS. CLARK:

And make some notations on it?

# 35 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 36 MS. CLARK:

What notations, if any, did you make on it if you recall?

# 37 MS. BROCKBANK:

I think I basically put something about "Removed from bag containing glove, no. 9," my initials, the date.

# 38 MS. CLARK:

Okay. And did you examine your gloves for any remaining hair and trace before you picked off the hair and trace from the wrist area?

# 39 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 40 MS. CLARK:

Was there any on it?

# 41 MS. BROCKBANK:

No.

# 42 MS. CLARK:

And after you picked off the hair and trace from the exterior of the wrist area of glove no. 9 and put it into a bindle, did you close that bindle?

# 43 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 44 MS. CLARK:

And did you examine your gloves to see if there was any remaining trace on your gloves or on the butcher paper underneath the bindle when you did that?

# 45 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 46 MS. CLARK:

And was there any?

# 47 MS. BROCKBANK:

No.

# 48 MS. CLARK:

And after you closed the bindle, did you make some notations on it?

# 49 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 50 MS. CLARK:

Do you recall what the notations were?

# 51 MS. BROCKBANK:

Again, "Removed from glove" and I believe I said something about "Area around opening of glove."

# 52 MS. CLARK:

And did you remove any more hair or trace or fiber from that glove?

# 53 MS. BROCKBANK:

Not at that time.

# 54 MS. CLARK:

After you created those two bindles, where did you put them?

# 55 MS. BROCKBANK:

They were placed into a coin envelope, which I folded over and then placed in an analyzed evidence envelope.

# 56 MS. CLARK:

Okay. The coin envelope, did you make any markings on that?

# 57 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 58 MS. CLARK:

And what, if any, markings did you make on that?

# 59 MS. BROCKBANK:

I don't remember specifically, but basically "Trace evidence removed from glove, item no. 9" and the date and my initials.

# 60 MS. CLARK:

Okay. I'm going to show you a photograph that is already contained on the chain board for item no. 110. Okay. Do you recognize what's being shown there?

# 61 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 62 MS. CLARK:

And what is that?

# 63 MS. BROCKBANK:

The left--on the left-hand side is that analyzed evidence envelope. Kind of in the middle area is the--I put the coin envelope marked "Trace evidence removed from glove, item no. 9 by S.A. Brockbank, E9110 on"--and if you could focus--"6-21 and 6-23-94." Then down at the bottom, there's some other things. Those--"110" and whatever is written after that I didn't write. I don't know what that says. Down at the bottom is the DR number again, "94-0817431," and "Item no. 110," also in my handwriting; and then on the right-hand side are three paper--three paper bindles and there's marking on them as well.

# 64 MS. CLARK:

All right. The three paper bindles, do you recognize any of them as being the--two of the bindles that you've just described?

# 65 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 66 MS. CLARK:

Tell us which ones.

# 67 MS. BROCKBANK:

Can you--

# 68 MS. CLARK:

Can you zoom in on that?

# 69 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yeah.

# 70 (Discussion held off the record between the Deputy District Attorneys.)

# 71 MS. CLARK:

Your Honor, I have another photograph that shows the back of these items that might be more helpful to the witness if I may.

# 72 THE COURT:

All right.

# 73 MS. CLARK:

People's 443?

# 74 THE COURT:

443.

# 75 (Peo's 443 for id = photograph)

# 76 MS. CLARK:

All right. Do you recognize first of all item no. 110 there?

# 77 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 78 MS. CLARK:

Is that the item number that you assigned to the hair and trace removed from glove no. 9?

# 79 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, it is. The top bindle is "Removed from edge of glove opening by S.A.B.," the date "6-21-94" and "Item no. 9."

# 80 MS. CLARK:

Okay. And that's the bindle you just described to us?

# 81 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 82 MS. CLARK:

And below that?

# 83 MS. BROCKBANK:

"Removed from inside paper bag, which contains item no. 9 glove by S.A.B., 6-21-94," which is the other paper bindle I described.

# 84 MS. CLARK:

All right. Now, after you--after you completed those two bindles, you put them into the coin envelope?

# 85 MS. CLARK:

Can we see that again, please, the coin envelope? Oh, let's go back to the one on the chain board that shows the--

# 86 MS. CLARK:

All right. Once again, I'm showing you the photograph that's contained on board People's 436?

# 87 THE COURT:

As item no. 110.

# 88 MS. CLARK:

As--yes. Thank you, your Honor. As item 110.

# 89 MS. CLARK:

And the coin envelope shown there, that's the one that you created on the 21st for the--to contain the bindles for the hair and trace removed from glove no. 9?

# 90 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes. That's correct.

# 91 MS. CLARK:

All right. There's writing--there's writing on that envelope, shows "110" and then "J"--I can't read the last initial. Can you read that?

# 92 MS. BROCKBANK:

I think it's "J.H., 6-14-95."

# 93 MS. CLARK:

Right.

# 94 MS. BROCKBANK:

"J.H." would be my supervisor, Joe Hourigan.

# 95 MS. CLARK:

And for what purpose would he be initialing this coin envelope?

# 96 MS. BROCKBANK:

Umm, I believe he was involved in just having this photograph done. So he opened up various items of evidence and had photographs done for court. So he initialed the items that he looked at.

# 97 MS. CLARK:

Okay. All right. But this is the coin envelope that you made on June 21st, correct?

# 98 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes. That's correct.

# 99 MS. CLARK:

Okay. After you completed the recovery of the trace from the wrist and from the interior of the bag for glove no. 9, what did you do?

# 100 MS. BROCKBANK:

Umm, I took that coin envelope and set it aside, and it was in the analyzed evidence envelope, set that aside and I set the glove--either set it aside or put it back in the bag. I can't really remember because I was going to do something else with it as well. And then I opened up the next glove, which was item no. 37, and began examining it on clean paper.

# 101 MS. CLARK:

Now, with respect to the analyzed evidence envelope, was that the white envelope we saw in this photograph?

# 102 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 103 MS. CLARK:

On the chain board as no. 110?

# 104 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 105 MS. CLARK:

Okay. And you placed the coin envelope containing the bindles into that?

# 106 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes. That's correct.

# 107 MS. CLARK:

All right. You moved on to glove no. 37 from Bundy?

# 108 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 109 MS. CLARK:

Now, when you did that, did you do it in the same area where glove no. 9 was?

# 110 MS. BROCKBANK:

Well, I had--I had, like I said, moved glove no. 9 either on its paper to a different area of the lab or I had put it back in the bag. I can't really remember which, but then I laid down new clean paper on that work surface and got the next glove out of the box. It was in a bag.

# 111 MS. CLARK:

Okay. Now, are you sure that you made--you took steps to make sure that the two gloves were not in the same working area?

# 112 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 113 MS. CLARK:

And why are you sure of that?

# 114 MS. BROCKBANK:

Whenever I'm handling any piece of evidence, I don't want those two pieces of evidence to come into contact just to prevent any possible contamination of fibers or hairs going from one to the other while I'm handling them.

KEY QUOTE

# 115 MS. CLARK:

What did you do with glove no. 37--first of all, let me ask you this. Before moving on to glove no. 37 to open the bag, did you change the butcher paper on the table?

# 116 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, I did.

# 117 MS. CLARK:

And that was after you had moved no. 9 away?

# 118 MS. BROCKBANK:

That's correct.

# 119 MS. CLARK:

Did you change gloves?

# 120 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, I did.

# 121 MS. CLARK:

And you were wearing a lab coat?

# 122 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 123 MS. CLARK:

Do you periodically ever look at the lab coat to see if there's any hair or trace on the lab coat?

# 124 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yeah. Periodically.

# 125 MS. CLARK:

Did you see any during any of these processes you're describing to us today?

# 126 MS. BROCKBANK:

No.

# 127 MS. CLARK:

So you examined no. 37 on clean paper?

# 128 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 129 MS. CLARK:

What did you do with it?

# 130 MS. BROCKBANK:

Basically, the same thing I did with the first glove. I removed it from the bag on the clean piece of paper. I examined the outside of the glove for hairs and fibers and I picked those up, placed them into a paper bindle. Before I did that, I looked in the bag, and there were some fibers loose in the bag. So I removed those fibers in a similar manner as I did the first glove, and then I actually picked the fibers off of the glove itself. So I created one paper bindle for the fibers and hairs taken out of the bag and a separate bindle for the hairs and fibers taken off of the glove itself.

# 131 MS. CLARK:

Okay. And do you recall from what area of the glove, no. 37, you removed hair and trace?

# 132 MS. BROCKBANK:

I removed just from all over. I didn't make a specific notation as far as "Opening of glove." There was hair, you know, and fiber just basically all over it.

KEY QUOTE

# 133 MS. CLARK:

On 37?

# 134 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 135 MS. CLARK:

More so than on no. 9?

# 136 MS. BROCKBANK:

As I recall, there was, yes.

KEY QUOTE

# 137 MS. CLARK:

And did you assign an item number to that item, to the hair and trace that you recovered from no. 37 glove?

# 138 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, I did.

# 139 MS. CLARK:

And what number was that?

# 140 MS. BROCKBANK:

I believe that was item no. 112.

# 141 MS. CLARK:

I'm going to show you a photograph that is on the chain board as item no. 112. When I say "Chain board," I'm referring to People's 436. And do you recognize what's shown here?

# 142 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 143 MS. CLARK:

What is it?

# 144 MS. BROCKBANK:

Again, on the left is an analyzed evidence envelope, in the middle is a coin envelope and on the right-hand side are three paper bindles. I'm not sure what that is between the paper bindles and the item 112.

# 145 MS. CLARK:

Could it be a pillbox?

# 146 MS. BROCKBANK:

Oh, yeah. That could be a pillbox.

# 147 MS. CLARK:

Tell the jury what a pillbox is.

# 148 MS. BROCKBANK:

A pillbox is basically just a--it's a circular plastic dish and it has a lid that fits on it. It kind of--kind of snaps on, and it's something used in the FBI lab. That's where they put their trace evidence in. So they place it in those pillboxes. And it's a transparent thing so that they can examine what's in there, you know, without having a piece of white paper to deal with. They like to deal with the pillboxes. And that's what that is. That was done at the FBI lab. That wasn't something I did.

# 149 MS. CLARK:

Okay. And is there some red tape on there?

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (4)

Susan Brockbank

Whenever I'm handling any piece of evidence, I don't want those two pieces of evidence to come into contact just to prevent any possible contamination of fibers or hairs going from one to the other while I'm handling them.

Establishes the anti-contamination rationale behind separating the two gloves during examination — directly addresses defense contamination theories.

Susan Brockbank

I removed just from all over. I didn't make a specific notation as far as 'Opening of glove.' There was hair, you know, and fiber just basically all over it.

Contrasts the distribution of trace on the Bundy glove (item 37) versus the more localized trace on the Rockingham glove (item 9), suggesting heavier use or contact on 37.

Susan Brockbank

As I recall, there was, yes.

Confirms the Bundy glove had more hair and fiber trace than the Rockingham glove — potentially significant for arguments about which glove had more contact with evidence.

Susan Brockbank

That was done at the FBI lab. That wasn't something I did.

Distinguishes her work from the FBI lab's handling, clarifying the chain of custody and different institutional procedures for the same evidence.

Evidence (6)

People's 443

Photograph showing the back of trace evidence items — bindles labeled with collection location notes from glove no. 9

introduced and discussed

People's 436 (chain board)

Chain board containing photographs of collected trace evidence items, including items 110 and 112

discussed

Informal

Rockingham glove, item no. 9 — examined for hair and fiber trace collected from wrist opening and interior bag

discussed

Informal

Bundy glove, item no. 37 — examined for hair and fiber trace collected from all over exterior and interior bag

discussed

Informal

Item no. 110 — coin envelope and bindles containing trace evidence recovered from glove no. 9, initialed by supervisor Joe Hourigan (J.H.) on 6-14-95

discussed

Informal

Item no. 112 — coin envelope, bindles, and FBI pillbox containing trace evidence recovered from glove no. 37

discussed

Notable Exchanges (2)

Marcia Clark•Susan Brockbank

Clark methodically walks Brockbank through every step of the glove examination process — changing paper, changing gloves, checking the lab coat, examining butcher paper for fallen trace — building a foundation that the collection was done with care and that cross-contamination was impossible.

strategic

Marcia Clark•Susan Brockbank

Brockbank identifies and explains a pillbox visible in the photograph of item 112, clarifying it came from the FBI lab and was not part of her own work.

clarifying

Light Moments (1)

Susan Brockbank

Clark asks if the mystery object between the bindles 'could it be a pillbox?' — Brockbank responds 'Oh, yeah. That could be a pillbox,' having apparently not recognized it at first.

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 7922 • 149 utterances • Prosecution witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103