Direct examination of Susan Brockbank

📄 Direct examination of Susan Brockbank — Wednesday, June 28, 1995

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C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\JUN\28\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-SUSAN-BR.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 105 of 167

◀ Administrative matters Cross-examination of Susan Brockbank (part 1) ▶

Witness: Susan Brockbank
Examiner: Marcia Clark
Called by: Prosecution • Date: Wednesday, June 28, 1995 • Utterances: 118

Marcia Clark resumes and concludes her direct examination of LAPD SID criminalist Susan Brockbank. The testimony covers the August 23, 1994 examination of Ron Goldman's shirt (item 81) conducted jointly with FBI trace analyst Douglas Deedrick at the LAPD lab, including collection of debris into a petrie dish, chain of custody handling, and transfer to the FBI two days later. Clark also uses the session to correct several date errors on the hair and trace chain of custody board (People's 436).

# 1 THE COURT:

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

THE JURY: Good morning.

# 2 THE COURT:

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

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

# 3 THE COURT:

All right. Good morning, Miss Brockbank?

# 4 MS. BROCKBANK:

Good morning.

# 5 THE COURT:

You are reminded, ma'am, that you are still under oath. And Miss Clark, you may conclude your direct examination.

# 6 MS. CLARK:

Thank you, your Honor.

DIRECT EXAMINATION (RESUMED) BY MS. CLARK

# 7 MS. CLARK:

Miss Brockbank, there was one last item that I think we did not cover, item 285. On the date of August the 23rd, 1994, were you visited at the SID lab at LAPD by Mr. Deedrick?

# 8 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, I was.

# 9 MS. CLARK:

And when you were paid that visit did you recover a piece of--item of evidence and examine it with him?

# 10 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, I did.

# 11 MS. CLARK:

And what was that item?

# 12 MS. BROCKBANK:

Umm, that was the shirt of Ronald Goldman, item no. 81.

# 13 MS. CLARK:

And where did you recover it from?

# 14 MS. BROCKBANK:

From the serology freezer from the box that it was packaged in.

# 15 MS. CLARK:

And in what manner was it packaged when you recovered it from the serology freezer?

# 16 MS. BROCKBANK:

It was still in its paper bag.

# 17 MS. CLARK:

And was it taped shut?

# 18 MS. BROCKBANK:

I believe so, yes.

# 19 MS. CLARK:

Was there some kind of a seal across it?

# 20 MS. BROCKBANK:

Umm, tape.

# 21 MS. CLARK:

And the tape was undisturbed?

# 22 MS. BROCKBANK:

As I recall, yes.

# 23 MS. CLARK:

Where is it that you took the shirt to?

# 24 MS. BROCKBANK:

Umm, we examined on it a laboratory bench in the serology unit following my normal procedures.

# 25 MS. CLARK:

Clean paper, gloves, lab coat?

# 26 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 27 MS. CLARK:

And was Mr. Deedrick also--I don't know, how was he dressed?

# 28 MS. BROCKBANK:

He had on gloves. I don't believe he had on a lab coat.

# 29 MS. CLARK:

What exactly did you do with the--with Ron Goldman's shirt?

# 30 MS. BROCKBANK:

We basically processed it a second time, scraping it down using the large spatula, like I described before, over the white paper to see if we could collect additional trace evidence, hairs and fibers, that sort of thing, from the shirt.

KEY QUOTE

# 31 MS. CLARK:

Did you examine the spatula first or cleanse it in any way to make sure that it was clean?

# 32 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 33 MS. CLARK:

And what is it you did with the spatula?

# 34 MS. BROCKBANK:

Umm, rinsed it, you know, with ethanol and wiped it down, made sure there were no hairs or fibers on it.

# 35 MS. CLARK:

Then you collected the debris that you scraped off of the shirt on August 23rd into a bindle?

# 36 MS. BROCKBANK:

Actually this time we placed the debris in a petrie dish which is basically like the pill boxes I was describing yesterday, only it is what we have in our lab is a square rather than a circular dish and it is plastic. That is a photo of it right there, (Indicating).

# 37 MS. CLARK:

We are showing right now on the screen a photograph that is taken from the board that is People's 436 for the record, item 285.

# 38 THE COURT:

Thank you.

# 39 MS. CLARK:

And you gathered the debris into that plastic container?

# 40 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 41 MS. CLARK:

Do you see anything in it now?

# 42 MS. BROCKBANK:

Umm--

# 43 MS. CLARK:

In the photograph?

# 44 MS. BROCKBANK:

No.

# 45 MS. CLARK:

What was done with the debris collected in that petrie dish?

# 46 MS. BROCKBANK:

Umm, I believe Mr. Deedrick transferred it to one of his little pillboxes when he return to the FBI lab.

# 47 MS. CLARK:

And you see a little pillbox--actually you can look down at your monitor if it is more helpful. Do you see a pillbox with debris in it to the right of that in the photograph?

# 48 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, I do.

# 49 MS. CLARK:

And is that the pillbox you were referring to that Mr. Deedrick uses?

# 50 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 51 MS. CLARK:

Now, after you collected the debris into that petrie dish, what did you do with it on August 23rd?

# 52 MS. BROCKBANK:

Umm, well, we repackaged the shirt and returned it to the serology freezer first off and then we took the petrie dish with its contents over to the trace analysis lab and Mr. Deedrick did some examinations of the contents of that petrie dish while I basically stood by.

# 53 MS. CLARK:

So you actually observed him making the examination at LAPD on that date?

# 54 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 55 MS. CLARK:

Did he do any mounting at that time?

# 56 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, he did.

# 57 MS. CLARK:

Was that done in permount?

# 58 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, it was.

# 59 MS. CLARK:

Do you see slide mailers in this photograph?

# 60 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, I do.

# 61 MS. CLARK:

Did he use slide mailers like those?

# 62 MS. BROCKBANK:

Umm, yes. The--the blue one there is one that he used and the others may have been mounted later. I believe he only mounted one slide on that day.

# 63 MS. CLARK:

Did you do any mounting?

# 64 MS. BROCKBANK:

No, I did not.

# 65 MS. CLARK:

He did it all?

# 66 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 67 MS. CLARK:

And after he completed his examination of the slide and the debris that was collected on August 23rd, what was done with the slide that he created and whatever remained in the petrie dish?

# 68 MS. BROCKBANK:

Umm, those items were--the--the petrie dish itself was sealed up with a piece of tape by me and the petrie dish and the slide were placed in my evidence locker. And then I began--well, Mr. Deedrick left. He had other business in town that week. And two days later, on the 25th, he returned and I gave him those items after booking them. I wrote out a property report, booked them into our property unit and then released them to him.

# 69 MS. CLARK:

So they were in your possession from the time of collection virtually until you gave them to Mr. Deedrick to take back to the FBI?

KEY QUOTE

# 70 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 71 MS. CLARK:

And when you say you booked them, you just got the bar code on them like before and took them right back?

# 72 MS. BROCKBANK:

I got the bar code on them and--let me see. I believe we actually had them sign them out or sign them out in some way to release them to him.

# 73 MS. CLARK:

Okay. But you did not leave them in property?

# 74 MS. BROCKBANK:

No.

# 75 MS. CLARK:

Okay. The white envelope that is to the left of the petrie dish and the slide mailers, what is that?

# 76 MS. BROCKBANK:

That is an analyzed evidence envelope. That is what I placed the petrie dish and the slide mailer containing the slide into when I booked them into property.

# 77 MS. CLARK:

When you released them to Mr. Deedrick were they packaged into that envelope?

# 78 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, they were, and the envelope was in a sealed condition. I had placed evidence seals on it, the red and white seals you see running the length of the package and across the top and the bottom.

# 79 MS. CLARK:

Now, you examined for us--for me last night the hair and trace chain of custody board that has been marked People's 436?

# 80 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, I did.

# 81 MS. CLARK:

You testified yesterday to the dates of collection of all of the items, did you not?

# 82 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 83 MS. CLARK:

Did you make any mistakes in your testimony?

# 84 MS. BROCKBANK:

No.

# 85 MS. CLARK:

However, were there some mistakes in the dates that were written on the board?

# 86 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, there were.

# 87 MS. CLARK:

You brought those to our attention?

# 88 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 89 MS. CLARK:

So with respect to item no. 110, you testified that you collected debris from the glove at Rockingham on both June 21st and June 23rd, correct?

# 90 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes.

# 91 MS. CLARK:

And that date has not been added to the board?

# 92 MS. BROCKBANK:

That's correct.

# 93 MS. CLARK:

And we will do so, your Honor.

# 94 THE COURT:

All right.

# 95 MS. CLARK:

And with respect to 163 to 165, the date of 7/20 is incorrect, and as you testified yesterday, it was July 27th?

# 96 MS. BROCKBANK:

That's correct.

# 97 MS. CLARK:

And with respect to 166 to 167, the date of July 20th should be July 28th, correct?

# 98 MS. BROCKBANK:

That's correct.

# 99 MS. CLARK:

And for 169 you only collected that evidence on August 2nd, correct?

# 100 MS. BROCKBANK:

That's correct.

# 101 MS. CLARK:

Okay. The board will reflect the accurate testimony that you gave.

# 102 MS. BROCKBANK:

Thank you.

# 103 MS. CLARK:

Did you also then examine the elimination board that has been marked as People's 451 at my request?

# 104 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, I did.

# 105 MS. CLARK:

And for the record, your Honor, that is the--

# 106 THE COURT:

Mr. Escobar, do you want to give us a hand here.

# 107 MS. CLARK:

That is the eliminated hair samples board.

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

# 109 MS. CLARK:

If we can just hold it for a minute.

# 110 THE COURT:

I'm sorry, counsel, Mr. Escobar is standing right in front of juror no. 7 so why don't we put it up.

# 111 MS. CLARK:

Okay.

# 112 (Brief pause.)

# 113 MS. CLARK:

Did you examine all the information on that board, Miss Brockbank?

# 114 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, I did.

# 115 MS. CLARK:

And is it correct?

# 116 MS. BROCKBANK:

Yes, it is.

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

# 118 MS. CLARK:

I have nothing further.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (4)

Susan Brockbank

We basically processed it a second time, scraping it down using the large spatula, like I described before, over the white paper to see if we could collect additional trace evidence, hairs and fibers, that sort of thing, from the shirt.

Describes the second processing of Goldman's shirt, establishing the methodology and purpose of Deedrick's August visit.

Susan Brockbank

The petrie dish itself was sealed up with a piece of tape by me and the petrie dish and the slide were placed in my evidence locker.

Establishes chain of custody — Brockbank maintained direct personal control of the trace evidence between Deedrick's visits.

Marcia Clark

So they were in your possession from the time of collection virtually until you gave them to Mr. Deedrick to take back to the FBI?

Summarizes the clean chain of custody for the trace evidence, preempting defense challenges.

Susan Brockbank

Yes, there were.

Acknowledges date errors on People's 436, but notably Clark elicited this proactively — a redirect strategy to own the corrections before cross-examination could exploit them.

Evidence (5)

People's 436

Hair and trace chain of custody board listing dates of evidence collection

Discussed; date corrections noted and acknowledged

People's 451

Eliminated hair samples board

Introduced and confirmed as accurate

Item 81

Ron Goldman's shirt, examined on August 23, 1994 with FBI analyst Deedrick

Discussed; second processing for trace evidence described

Item 285

Petrie dish containing debris scraped from Goldman's shirt on August 23, 1994

Discussed; photograph from People's 436 board displayed on screen

Item 110

Glove from Rockingham; debris collected June 21 and June 23

Date correction noted — June 23 collection date missing from board

Notable Exchanges (2)

Marcia Clark•Susan Brockbank

Clark walks Brockbank through a series of date corrections on People's 436, having Brockbank confirm errors proactively. Items 163-165 corrected from 7/20 to 7/27; 166-167 from 7/20 to 7/28; 169 confirmed as August 2 only.

strategic

Lance A. Ito•Marcia Clark

Brief logistical interruption when court aide Mr. Escobar stood in front of juror no. 7 while positioning People's 451.

routine

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 6579 • 118 utterances • Prosecution witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103