📄 Direct examination of William Bodziak (part 3) — Friday, September 15, 1995
Address:
C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\SEP\15\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-WILLIAM-.DOC
TRIAL
▲ Day 155 of 167

Direct examination of William Bodziak (part 3)

Witness: William Bodziak
Examiner: Marcia Clark
Called by: Prosecution • Date: Friday, September 15, 1995 • Utterances: 51
FBI shoe print expert William Bodziak returned to the stand to directly rebut Dr. Henry Lee's testimony about additional imprints on the Bundy walkway. Using a comparison of June 13th crime scene photographs against the June 25th photographs Lee had relied upon, Bodziak testified that the imprints Lee identified simply did not exist at the time of the murders, calling it 'absolute proof' they were deposited afterward. He closed by reaffirming without wavering that only one set of bloody shoeprints existed at the scene — all size 12 Bruno Magli — and that nothing in Lee's testimony changed his opinion that OJ Simpson was a candidate for wearing them.
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. Let the record reflect that we've been rejoined by all the members of our jury panel. And, Mr. Bodziak, would you resume the witness stand, please. Miss Clark.

3 MS. CLARK:

Thank you, your Honor.

4 MS. CLARK:

All right. Sir, directing your attention to People's 598, have we repositioned the photographs?

5 MR. BODZIAK:

Yes.

6 MS. CLARK:

All right. Do they accurately reflect the manner in which they were detected on the walkway and the location specifically referred to in the June 25th photograph of Dr. Lee labeled on this chart as f?

7 MR. BODZIAK:

Yes, they did.

8 MS. CLARK:

And for the record now, your Honor, the photographs that are on the board are labeled A, B, C, F, H, I, J, K. So there were duplicate photographs in D and E and they've been withdrawn.

9 THE COURT:

Okay.

10 MS. CLARK:

And G.

11 MS. CLARK:

All right, sir. Let me just ask you this. The area in which Dr. Lee testified to the discovery of imprints on the June 25th photograph shown in F, can you point out the area on the June 13th photograph labeled as h?

12 MR. BODZIAK:

Yes. That would be this area next to the numeral 8 and between the two rulers in the corner of the tile (Indicating).

13 MS. CLARK:

Is the imprint shown on June 25th photograph of Dr. Lee shown on the June 13th photograph labeled h?

14 MR. BODZIAK:

No, it is not.

15 MS. CLARK:

Now, let me ask you, sir, do shoeprints left in blood get darker over time?

16 MR. BODZIAK:

Shoeprints that are the normal shoeprints we encounter which are of the lighter variety; in other words, as you track blood on your shoes--let me go back. If you step in a quantity of blood, the first track will be fairly dark and the next one will be lighter and so forth until they disappear. The--so shoeprints are generally very thin layers of blood because of the pressure of the shoe with the person wearing it, and even if it's heavy, it's usually--the excess blood is squeezed out to the sides, and so most of the tracks are very, very light. The only exception would be if you stepped in a pool of blood. With regard to those shoeprints, which I encounter daily and have for my entire time in the FBI laboratory, they become lighter with time. With regard to whole blood or big glops of blood that are very thick, they tend to appear darker with time.

17 MS. CLARK:

Now, the shoeprints that--excuse me. Strike that. The imprints identified by Dr. Lee in photograph F and some of the previous ones that we've referred to--and when I said F, I meant People's 598--were any of those imprints made in those glops of blood that you referred to?

18 MR. BODZIAK:

No.

19 MS. CLARK:

Then in the case of those imprints, sir--

20 MR. SCHECK:

Objection. Move to strike, no foundation.

21 THE COURT:

Overruled. Gloss is such an amorphus term, but let's move on, counsel.

22 MS. CLARK:

Can you tell us what you mean by glops, sir?

23 MR. BODZIAK:

In a natural pool of blood where you're--there's so much blood, when you step in it, it would cover up that particular impression.

24 MS. CLARK:

And do any of those imprints identified by Dr. Lee such as the one in photograph F have that appearance?

25 MR. BODZIAK:

No, they do not.

26 MS. CLARK:

In that case, sir, based on your experience, would such imprints as those identified by Dr. Lee become darker over time or lighter?

27 MR. SCHECK:

Object.

28 THE COURT:

Foundation.

29 MR. SCHECK:

Vague as to which and no foundation.

30 THE COURT:

Sustained.

31 MS. CLARK:

Those imprints identified by Dr. Lee in 1337 on the board behind you, the three lower photographs, okay, with the exception of the one that you have identified, the photograph to the far left in which the imprints that Dr. Lee testified to you have determined were trowel marks, other than that, the other two imprints that Dr. Lee testified to in the photographs dated 6-25-94, do either of those have the appearance of having been made as a result of stepping in a pool of blood?

32 MR. BODZIAK:

Well, I'd like to answer those separately. First, the center photograph, which is the parallel marks in the corner that we've just been talking about as well as the other discolorations which, looking to that area on photograph H on the magnetized board, those areas just simply didn't exist. There was no impression there on June 13th, 1970--or 1994, and, therefore, whatever these marks are here now on June 25th are not related to the crime. With regard to these parallel impressions, the very thin parallel lines, they may be a shoe impression, but there is no evidence of them in photographs J and K on the magnetized board which depict that second--in the tenth row of tiles, the second tile adjacent to K and H and also in-between H and I, they do not appear there in any of the general crime scene photographs. And I would believe that based on the fact they don't appear there and they were not photographed at that time, I see no reason why they would have been there on June 13th.

33 MR. SCHECK:

Move to strike. No foundation.

34 THE COURT:

Overruled.

35 MS. CLARK:

Then with respect to People's 598, sir, in photographs H, I and F, do these constitute clear photographic proof that the imprints shown in the June 25th photograph of Dr. Lee labeled F was not there on June the 13th, 1994?

36 MR. BODZIAK:

This is absolute proof that it did not exist on June 13th, 1994.

KEY QUOTE
37 MS. CLARK:

And would that tend to indicate then, sir, that it was deposited at some time after the murders occurred and after the murderer left the scene?

38 MR. BODZIAK:

Whatever--whatever occurrence or occurrences caused these discolorations in this area and these lines would have had to have occurred after June 13th, 1994. And these are not trowel marks. These are other discolorations (Indicating).

KEY QUOTE
39 MS. CLARK:

And, sir, based on your analysis of all of the evidence including Dr. Lee's photographs, is there any evidence that more than one set of bloody shoeprints were left at the scene at the time of the murders?

40 MR. BODZIAK:

No, there is not.

41 MS. CLARK:

And all those shoeprints you identified at Bundy, were they made by size 12 Bruno Magli shoes?

42 MR. BODZIAK:

All of the bloody shoe impressions which I previously testified to were made by size 12 Bruno Magli designs and there is no other shoe impressions that I examined or saw in any of the evidence that I've seen in this case that were there on June 13th, 1994.

KEY QUOTE
43 MS. CLARK:

And since your testimony, you've heard Dr. Lee's testimony in large part, correct?

44 MR. BODZIAK:

Yes, I have.

45 MS. CLARK:

And you have seen his exhibits?

46 MR. BODZIAK:

Yes, I have.

47 MS. CLARK:

Has anything you've seen or heard since your testimony in this case when you previously appeared that causes you to waver at all in your opinion that there was one set of shoeprints on June the 13th, 1994 at Bundy, all of which were size 12 Bruno Magli prints?

48 MR. BODZIAK:

Nothing has changed my opinion, no.

KEY QUOTE
49 MS. CLARK:

And has anything you've seen or heard caused you to change your opinion that the Defendant is included as a candidate for wearing those size 12 Bruno Magli shoes?

50 MR. BODZIAK:

No.

51 MS. CLARK:

Thank you, sir. I have nothing further.

Temperature

devastating

Key Quotes (4)

William Bodziak
This is absolute proof that it did not exist on June 13th, 1994.
The most forceful statement in the proceeding — Bodziak uses the word 'absolute' to characterize photographic evidence that the imprint Lee identified was not present at the crime scene, directly undercutting the defense's second-set-of-footprints theory.
William Bodziak
All of the bloody shoe impressions which I previously testified to were made by size 12 Bruno Magli designs and there is no other shoe impressions that I examined or saw in any of the evidence that I've seen in this case that were there on June 13th, 1994.
Sweeping conclusion tying all physical shoeprint evidence to a single pair of Bruno Magli shoes, with no ambiguity left for the defense's alternative-perpetrator argument.
William Bodziak
Nothing has changed my opinion, no.
Direct response to whether Lee's testimony or exhibits caused any wavering — a clean, unequivocal answer that undercuts the defense's hope that the dueling experts created reasonable doubt.
William Bodziak
Whatever occurrence or occurrences caused these discolorations in this area and these lines would have had to have occurred after June 13th, 1994. And these are not trowel marks.
Bodziak rejects Lee's 'trowel marks' interpretation entirely while also establishing that whatever the marks are, they post-date the murders — neutralizing them as crime evidence.

Evidence (3)

People's 598
Set of photographs showing the Bundy walkway, labeled A, B, C, F, H, I, J, K — repositioned on a board for comparison; duplicates D, E, and G withdrawn
Discussed and compared to establish absence of Lee's identified imprints from June 13th photos
People's 1337
Magnetized board displaying crime scene and later photographs used to compare June 13th vs. June 25th imagery
Used as primary visual aid for Bodziak's rebuttal of Lee's imprint testimony
Informal
June 13th crime scene photographs (H, I, J, K) and June 25th photographs by Dr. Lee (labeled F on chart)
Compared side-by-side to show imprints Lee identified were not present at crime scene

Notable Exchanges (2)

Marcia ClarkWilliam Bodziak
Clark walks Bodziak through a systematic photograph-by-photograph comparison, allowing him to state that the Lee imprints simply did not exist on June 13th and that nothing in Lee's testimony has changed his conclusions. The examination ends with Bodziak confirming Simpson remains a candidate for the Bruno Magli shoes.
strategic
Barry ScheckLance A. Ito
Scheck objects three times — twice on foundation grounds and once for vagueness — managing only one sustained objection. Ito's overruling of the 'glops' objection included a mild editorial ('Gloss is such an amorphous term, but let's move on'), suggesting some impatience with the challenge.
procedural

Light Moments (1)

Lance A. Ito
Judge Ito overruled Scheck's objection to the term 'glops' while mildly noting 'Gloss is such an amorphous term, but let's move on, counsel' — a small editorial departure from pure procedure.

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Henry Lee
Contradiction by competing expert
Bodziak systematically dismantled Lee's imprint testimony by showing through crime scene photographs that the marks Lee identified on June 25th did not exist on June 13th, rejecting Lee's 'trowel marks' interpretation and concluding there is no photographic evidence of a second set of bloody shoeprints at the scene.

Objections

3 objections (1 sustained, 2 overruled)
Proceeding 7697 • 51 utterances • Prosecution witness
Criminal Trial
Department 103
⚖️ Start
📂 SEP 15, 1995 📄 Direct examination of William
SEP 15, 1995 KRT DvH TD