Rockne Harmon concludes redirect examination of DNA expert Gary Sims by introducing photomicrograph exhibits (289-A through E and 290) of reddish staining on sock 13-B, the stain designated 42B2 that tested consistent with Nicole Brown's DNA via PCR DQ-Alpha. The session is repeatedly interrupted by equipment failures with the courtroom projector and monitor system, requiring improvisation to display images to jurors.
# 1 THE COURT: All right. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Please be seated. Let the record reflect that we've been rejoined by all the members of our jury panel. Mr. Sims, would you resume the witness stand, please. All right. Let the record reflect Gary Sims is again on the witness stand undergoing redirect examination by Mr. Harmon. And, Mr. Harmon, you may conclude your redirect examination.
# 2 MR. HARMON: Thank you, your Honor. Ladies and gentlemen.
# 3 MR. HARMON: Mr. Sims, were you present when photographs were taken of the first area that we showed on the--your sketch of the sock b?
# 4 MR. SIMS: Yes. Just a few minutes ago.
# 5 MR. HARMON: Okay. And have you had a chance to look at the photographs that were taken?
# 6 MR. SIMS: Yes, I have.
# 7 MR. HARMON: What kind of device was that that was used to take the photographs?
# 8 MR. SIMS: Well, it was a Polaroid camera that's mounted onto the microscope to take photomicrograph.
# 9 MR. HARMON: Your Honor, at this time, I would request to have marked a series of five photographs. 289?
# 11 MR. HARMON: A through f--e.
# 13 (Peo's 289-A through E for id = photographs) # 14 MR. HARMON: May I mark them on the back, your Honor?
# 16 MR. HARMON: Mr. Sims, I'd like to show you these photographs, 289-A through E. Are those photographs which were taken of the first area on sock 13-B in the area that you focused the stereomicroscope on?
# 18 MR. HARMON: And starting with a, can you just gene--or strike that. Why do the photographs look a little bit different each one of them from the other?
# 19 MR. SIMS: Well, the differences occur because there are differences in the exposure time. So in other words, you get a little less or a little more light. And so what you try to do is get the best exposure.
# 20 MR. HARMON: And does that change in exposure, does that change the color in any way?
# 21 MR. SIMS: It can have an effect on the color balance with Polaroid film.
# 22 MR. HARMON: And do you see--in each and every one of those photographs, 289-A through E, do you see the area that looked reddish that looked like blood when you examined the sock 13-B through the stereomicroscope?
# 24 MR. HARMON: Okay. Could you start with the clearest of those photographs?
# 26 MR. HARMON: Sure. Which one is the clearest one to you?
# 27 MR. SIMS: I think a is sharp. Some of them are very similar, but a is fine.
# 28 MR. HARMON: Okay. Could I put them up on the elmo? I'm just going to put one of them up.
# 29 THE COURT: Just one since this is a photograph of something the jurors have seen.
# 32 MR. HARMON: Putting 289-A on the elmo.
# 33 MR. HARMON: Mr. Sims, I'm going to ask you to step down here. And if you can, circle the area that is of interest to you on that photograph 289-A.
# 35 MR. HARMON: Okay. May we capture that, your Honor?
# 37 MR. HARMON: So that's 289-A(1)?
# 38 THE COURT: 289-A(1).
# 39 MR. HARMON: Thank you, your Honor.
# 40 (Peo's 289-A(1) for id = photograph) # 41 MR. HARMON: Okay. Go ahead and have a seat, Mr. Sims. Your Honor, I'd like to pass the photographs to the jury.
# 42 THE COURT: I'm just a little reluctant timewise because the jurors had the opportunity to look at this, Mr. Harmon, and they can see this on the screen.
# 43 MR. HARMON: Okay. Could we just do one, 289-A? No?
# 44 THE COURT: They've had--the jurors have each had the opportunity to come down, look through the microscope, which is the best view. This captures for them--refreshes their recollection when they're in the jury room as to what that location was. I think they've seen enough.
KEY QUOTE # 45 MR. HARMON: Mr. Sims, I want to put 288, your sketch from November 11th of sock B, the same sketch that we had up a little while ago, and I want you to focus on your area 41B2.
# 47 MR. HARMON: Okay. How were you able to identify that area on the sock that you ultimately performed PCR testing on?
# 48 MR. SIMS: In other words, identify it in terms of its location?
# 49 MR. HARMON: Yeah. How did you find it?
# 50 MR. SIMS: Well, I found it by looking under the stereomicroscope.
# 51 MR. HARMON: And initially, were you aware of its presence before you used the stereomicroscope?
# 52 MR. SIMS: On that particular stain, I believe again, I was looking through the stereomicroscope when I found 42B2.
# 53 MR. HARMON: Okay. And when you look through the stereomicroscope, do you have the capacity to take photographs of what you see through the stereomicroscope?
# 55 MR. HARMON: Did you take a picture of that before you sampled it?
# 57 MR. HARMON: Okay. Let me just back up a little bit. Did you do some sort of presumptive test on that 42B2 area before you sampled it?
# 59 MR. HARMON: What did you do?
# 60 MR. SIMS: I did an orthotolidine test, a presumptive test for blood.
KEY QUOTE # 61 MR. HARMON: And when you say "Presumptive," that means it could be blood?
# 63 MR. HARMON: Then you ultimately did PCR DQ-Alpha testing on it?
# 65 MR. HARMON: And the results were consistent with Nicole Brown?
# 66 MR. SIMS: On 42B2, yes.
# 67 MR. HARMON: Your Honor, at this time, I would request to have marked as People's 290 for identification Mr. Sims' microphotograph of that stain area. May I mark that on the back?
# 69 (Peo's 290 for id = microphotograph) # 70 MR. HARMON: Mr. Sims, showing you what's been marked as People's exhibit 290, is that a photograph that you took?
# 71 MR. SIMS: Yes. That's a close-up photograph of stain 42B2 before it was cut out.
# 72 MR. HARMON: Okay. Can I put that on the projector, your Honor?
# 74 MR. HARMON: Now, Mr. Sims, can you--if you can, why don't you come down here and use some arrows and show us the areas that caught your attention when you looked at it through the stereomicroscope.
# 75 THE COURT: Mrs. Robertson.
# 76 MR. HARMON: Would it be more helpful to circle it or--
# 77 MR. SIMS: Well, I could show maybe two arrows or something like that.
# 78 MR. HARMON: Sure. Why don't you put some arrows in the area that caught your attention.
# 80 THE COURT: Did we just lose our bit screen, Miss Fitzpatrick?
# 81 MS. FITZPATRICK: Yes, your Honor.
# 82 MR. HARMON: Your Honor, could we try to do it using our small monitor, capture it and then pass both around to the jury?
# 83 THE COURT: All right. Let's try that.
# 84 MR. HARMON: Try that?
# 85 THE COURT: All right. Miss Fitzpatrick, can we just bring up the attorneys' monitors?
# 86 MS. FITZPATRICK: Sure.
# 87 THE COURT: And then capture a photograph from the elmo from the attorneys' monitors?
# 88 MS. FITZPATRICK: I'm not sure we'll be able to catch the photograph without the projector.
# 89 THE COURT: Well, Mr. Harmon, Miss Fitzpatrick tells me she doesn't think we can--
# 90 MS. FITZPATRICK: I'll give it a shot.
# 91 THE COURT: We'll try? All right.
# 93 THE COURT: Miss Fitzpatrick, have we blown a fuse on the monitor?
# 94 MS. FITZPATRICK: I'm not sure, your Honor.
# 95 THE COURT: All right. Mr. Harris?
# 96 MR. HARRIS: Appears so.
# 98 MR. HARMON: Well, your Honor, could we--
# 99 THE COURT: Aha. How is the resolution on that, Mr. Harmon? I can't quite see from here.
# 100 MR. HARMON: The color is kind of strange.
# 101 MR. SIMS: The color is a little--
# 102 THE COURT: All right. I have a very sharp image on my monitor.
# 103 MR. FAIRTLOUGH: Judge, it's blurred. It's as if we're getting a double image.
# 104 THE COURT: All right. Let's do this. Let's have Mr. Sims mark the location from the Court's--from the counsel's monitor. Let's take the big screen down and we can have Mr. Sims mark it from the monitor.
# 105 (The witness complies.) # 106 MR. HARMON: You're got two arrows on there and one of them is higher than the other. Mr. Sims, what caught your attention in the higher arrow there?
# 107 MR. SIMS: There's some reddish staining that you can see in the photograph.
# 108 MR. HARMON: Could we capture that, your Honor, make that 298?
# 110 (Peo's 298 for id = photograph) # 111 MR. HARMON: And the lower arrow, what caught your attention in there?
# 112 MR. SIMS: Again, there's some reddish staining in the photograph.
# 113 MR. HARMON: Now, how big an area let's say compared to what we see on the screen there that you cut out of the sock to do your DNA testing from?
# 114 MR. SIMS: An area compared to that in the photograph?
# 116 MR. SIMS: I think somewhat larger than that as I recall.
# 117 MR. HARMON: So the area was actually larger than the area we see in the photograph?
# 118 MR. SIMS: Yes, I believe that's correct.
# 119 MR. HARMON: How large an area is that in the photograph? Give us a ballpark.
# 120 MR. SIMS: Well, again, I'd want to look at my notes on that point.
# 121 MR. HARMON: Okay. Why don't you do that.
# 122 MR. HARMON: Your Honor, could we pass 290 and 290-A around to the jury?
# 123 THE COURT: I guess we have to.
# 125 THE COURT: All right. Mr. Harmon, do you have any other questions for--
# 126 MR. HARMON: No, I don't. I'm just waiting for the image to come out and--well, Mr. Sims was actually looking to see how large an area that was.
# 127 MR. SIMS: The actual cut-out area on 42B2 was about 13 millimeters by five millimeters. So when I took those photomicrographs, there's an earlier one that actually shows a scale, but the purpose of that particular photo was to just show what the substance looked like. It wasn't a documentation of the exact area, the dimensions of the exact area that I cut out.
KEY QUOTE # 128 MR. HARMON: Okay. I have no further questions. I'd just like to pass those around, your Honor.
# 129 THE COURT: All right. One more pass.
# 130 MR. HARMON: Could I start with the--well, I'd like to have them together.
# 131 THE COURT: I agree.
# 132 MR. HARMON: It did not work, your Honor.
# 133 MR. HARMON: Mr. Sims, could you take a look at the screen and see if we've got things lined up again?
# 134 MR. SIMS: That appears to be where I put the arrows.
# 135 MR. FAIRTLOUGH: On its third pass, your Honor.
# 136 THE COURT: All right. It is actually quite fast for what it does. All right. Mr. Harmon, if you would hand those two items, please, to juror no. 1.
# 137 MR. HARMON: Sure. Can I put 290-A on the back?
# 138 THE COURT: You may.
# 139 (Peo's 290-A for id = photograph) # 140 (The exhibits were passed among the jurors.) # 141 MR. HARMON: Your Honor, should we pack this up or have Mr. Sims do it?
# 142 MR. SCHECK: No. Keep it right there. Your Honor, could we go past 4:00?
# 143 THE COURT: How much?
# 144 MR. SCHECK: Can I tell you at 4:00 depending on--