Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveMaureen Hartnett - Direct
745 linesMR. BRENNAN: Next witness for the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth calls Maureen Hartnett.
COURT OFFICER: Follow me, ma'am.
COURT CLERK: [oath — garbled] ...the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth...
MS. HARTNETT: I do.
JUDGE CANNONE: Good afternoon.
MS. HARTNETT: Good afternoon.
JUDGE CANNONE: You can sit or stand wherever you're comfortable. Just please keep your voice up. Okay. Whenever you're ready, Mr. Brennan.
MR. BRENNAN: Thank you, Your Honor. Good afternoon.
MS. HARTNETT: Good afternoon.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you please introduce yourself to the jury and offer the spelling of your last name?
MS. HARTNETT: My name is Maureen Hartnett. H-A-R-T-N-E-T-T.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you tell us where you presently work?
MS. HARTNETT: I work at the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory.
MR. BRENNAN: Before you began working at the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory, did you receive any education, any further schooling after high school?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you share that with us?
MS. HARTNETT: I have a bachelor's degree in biology from Bridgewater State University and a master's degree in forensic science from the University of New Haven.
MR. BRENNAN: After you graduated with your master's, did you begin working at the crime laboratory or did you work somewhere else before?
MS. HARTNETT: I began working at the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory.
MR. BRENNAN: How long have you worked at the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory?
MS. HARTNETT: I've worked there in total approximately nine years.
MR. BRENNAN: Can you give us a basic understanding of how the crime laboratory you work at is broken down, the different departments and what you do?
MS. HARTNETT: There are various units within the laboratory. There is the criminalistics unit, which is the unit I work for, the DNA unit, the office of alcohol testing, the arson and trace unit. And each of those units is comprised of civilian workers. And there's also portions of the laboratory that are made up of sworn troopers that work for crime scene services section, as well as the firearms identification section.
MR. BRENNAN: Would you consider your role a civilian worker or are you a Massachusetts State Police trooper?
MS. HARTNETT: I'm a civilian worker.
MR. BRENNAN: You mentioned that one of the departments that you work in is the criminalistics unit. Could you give us a little more detail about what the unit does?
MS. HARTNETT: In the criminalistics unit, we examine items of evidence for the possible presence of biological fluids. We conduct trace identification, damage analysis, as well as gunshot residue collections on evidence.
MR. BRENNAN: Do different employees do different things in that unit, or are all the employees trained to conduct all of those different types of testing?
MS. HARTNETT: There are specific types of analysis that only certain members of the unit will conduct based on the fact that those types of analysis are not requested very often.
MR. BRENNAN: Is the unit broken down by level of experience? Are there different roles within the unit based on experience?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, there are.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you explain how it's broken down, the structure of it, for us?
MS. HARTNETT: Generally, a training analyst will be a forensic scientist one, which means they're in training and they're not performing any type of independent case work. Once an analyst is authorized to perform independent case work, they are then a forensic scientist two. And above them would be their supervisors, which are forensic scientists three. And that is specific to the unit. And then as the chain of command goes up, there are additional levels as well.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you have a particular level that you've achieved?
MS. HARTNETT: Currently, I'm a forensic scientist two in the criminalistics unit and crime scene response unit.
MR. BRENNAN: In addition to your education and your master's degree, do you receive any specific training when you enter the unit?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, every analyst will receive generally the same training when they enter the unit. It is written in our protocol. So, it is standardized and that is completed once they enter the unit. It takes approximately 9 to 12 months to complete that training.
MR. BRENNAN: Is there any ongoing training involved when you work in the criminalistics unit?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, as a part of our accreditation, we also receive ongoing education yearly.
MR. BRENNAN: You mentioned accreditation. Can you briefly tell the jury what that means as it relates to the unit and the lab?
MS. HARTNETT: Accreditation is a voluntary quality assurance program that the laboratory is a part of. And basically their role is to ensure that our protocols, our procedures, our equipment and our personnel are held to a certain level based in the scientific community.
MR. BRENNAN: In your role, do you do all of your testing at the office or in the lab?
MS. HARTNETT: As part of the crime scene response unit, I will respond to crime scenes and I will perform some testing and collection at crime scenes as well.
MR. BRENNAN: How long have you been involved in the crime scene response unit?
MS. HARTNETT: I've been involved with the crime scene response unit the same amount of time I've been in the criminalistics unit, which is approximately a total of 9 years.
MR. BRENNAN: As part of crime scene response, do you actively go to an ongoing developing scene or do you arrive somewhere after the event?
MS. HARTNETT: It depends on the circumstances. Oftentimes we are called out to a scene directly after the incident takes place. There are times when we also will examine additional items or additional scenes after the fact.
MR. BRENNAN: How many scenes have you responded to as far as crime scene response where you were the person who was in charge?
MS. HARTNETT: I would say approximately 300.
MR. BRENNAN: When you are asked to or assigned to go to a scene, a crime scene, whether it's active or whether it's later in time, do you make an assessment when you get there or is there a plan developed before you leave your office and get to the scene?
MS. HARTNETT: I'm sorry. Can you be more specific?
MR. BRENNAN: Sure. How do you decide what you're going to do before you get there?
MS. HARTNETT: Generally, when I arrive on scene, I get a brief description of what they think may have occurred. Of course, I will take an overall sketch and diagram of the scene and I'll also take some notes of the scene before I perform any type of testing or collection.
MR. BRENNAN: When you arrive at a scene and you start engaging in an analysis and determine whether you want to do testing, are you allowed to use your own independent judgment?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I use my training and experience to determine what items I would like to test and what items I would like to collect.
MR. BRENNAN: Is there ever any input by whatever law enforcement team or officer is at the response scene?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, there is.
MR. BRENNAN: You mentioned that you've been to a number of crime scene responses. I want to ask you specifically about a response on February 2nd, 2022. Do you remember that?
MS. HARTNETT: May I check the date on that with the court's permission, please?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes, you can. Thank you.
MS. HARTNETT: So, I responded to a crime scene on February 1st of 2022. My apologies.
MR. BRENNAN: Where did you go on February 1st, 2022?
MS. HARTNETT: I was dispatched to the Canton Police Station in their garage area.
MR. BRENNAN: When you went to the Canton Police Department, did anybody else from your lab go with you?
MS. HARTNETT: There was a crime scene services trooper that also responded at the same time, but there was no additional crime scene responder from my unit that responded.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you arrive at the Canton Police Department?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Is there a garage that you were directed to?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I was.
MR. BRENNAN: When you arrived at the garage, which sometimes may be referred to as a Sallyport area, were there any other people there when you arrived?
MS. HARTNETT: There were Massachusetts State Police Troopers as well as some Canton police officers.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you know who they were?
MS. HARTNETT: I did know who the Massachusetts State Police trooper was. Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Okay. Was Michael Proctor there?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, he was.
MR. BRENNAN: Was Trooper Dunne there?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, he was.
MR. BRENNAN: Was Trooper Clark there?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: You mentioned Canton Police Department officers. Do you know Lieutenant Gallagher?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did have an interaction with Lieutenant Gallagher as well.
MR. BRENNAN: When you got there, did you have a chance to look at an item?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Tell us what your focus was on. What type of item?
MS. HARTNETT: I was asked to examine a black Lexus SUV.
MR. BRENNAN: And was there a black Lexus SUV?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: As you were observing and analyzing the item, did you see whether anybody was taking photographs?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: When there's a person taking photographs, do you ever have any input or direct them, or do they do that totally independent of you?
MS. HARTNETT: After they are done doing what they're required to do, I will ask them to take specific photographs because I do not perform that function at a crime scene.
MR. BRENNAN: When you first arrived, did you have a chance to walk around the vehicle?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you observe the vehicle from standing behind it, looking at the back of it?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: May I approach, your honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: You need to see this. Thank you, Mr. [unintelligible]. I'm handing you a document. Do you recognize that?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: And what is it?
MS. HARTNETT: This is the rear of the black Lexus SUV.
MR. BRENNAN: Does that photograph appear to be substantially accurate to what you saw that day?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, it is.
MR. BRENNAN: Is it a fair and accurate depiction of what you saw?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Approach again.
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: I would move this into evidence, please.
MR. BRENNAN: No objection, your honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: Exhibit 338.
MR. BRENNAN: With the court's permission, I'd like to show P45.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay.
MR. BRENNAN: Miss Hartnett, is that what you saw when you arrived?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, it is.
MR. BRENNAN: Did anything stand out to you when you first looked at the back of that Lexus?
MS. HARTNETT: I noticed there was some damage to the rear passenger area of the vehicle.
MR. BRENNAN: You can take that down, please. Did you have a chance to walk around and look at the vehicle from the driver's side of the vehicle, the left side?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: May I approach?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: I'm showing you a photograph. Do you recognize what's in that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: What is it?
MS. HARTNETT: This is the driver's side of the Lexus.
MR. BRENNAN: Did the Lexus appear to you the same as it does in that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Is that a fair and accurate depiction?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: I move this into evidence, please.
MR. BRENNAN: No objection, your honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay. Thank you. Exhibit 139.
MR. BRENNAN: With the court's permission, I'd ask to show the jury P144.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you describe what you saw, ma'am?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. So, this is the driver's side of the black Lexus.
MR. BRENNAN: Thank you. You can take that down. Did you get a closer look from the right side of the Lexus to pay detail or attention to what you described from the back view that stood out to you?
MS. HARTNETT: Are you referring to the damaged area?
MR. BRENNAN: I am. Yes.
MS. HARTNETT: So, I did take notes of that area and as well as had additional photographs taken of that area.
MR. BRENNAN: May I approach, your honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: I'm showing you a photograph. Do you recognize it?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: What is it?
MS. HARTNETT: This is a close-up photograph of the rear passenger side tail light area.
MR. BRENNAN: Does that photo depict what you saw that day?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, it does.
MR. BRENNAN: Is it a fair accurate depiction?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: With the court's permission, I'd like to [unintelligible].
MR. BRENNAN: No objection, your honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay. Thank you. Exhibit 140.
MR. BRENNAN: May I show it to the jury, your honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: P161, please. Could you describe what you saw?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. That is the rear passenger tail light of the vehicle.
MR. BRENNAN: Is that how it appeared when you first walked in that day?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, it is.
MR. BRENNAN: You can take that down. Thank you. When you examine an item like a car, do you take any type of efforts to protect from contamination?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: What do you do before processing or touching any item of evidence?
MS. HARTNETT: I'll put on gloves. I use disposable instruments whenever possible, or if I need to use reusable instruments, I will spray them with a 10% bleach solution prior to use. I also change gloves often while I'm examining a vehicle and keep my notes and my pens that I'm writing my notes with — I don't put on gloves when I touch those, and then when I go back to examining the vehicle, I will then re-put on gloves to protect the evidence.
MR. BRENNAN: If you see something of note, something that stands out to you, do you have any way of marking the item?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I take diagrams at the scene and note on my diagrams anything of note. And as I had said, if there's anything that I also want close-up photographs of, then I will request the crime scene services trooper who's assigned to crime scene to take those photographs.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you ever put any type of markers on the item itself?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, generally I will mark the items with either a letter or a number so that I'm able to refer back to them both in my notes and I'm able to refer to them when I look at the photos.
MR. BRENNAN: When you mark different items or observations that you make, do you give a specific number to each item to memorialize it?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I use either a lettering system or a numbering system.
MR. BRENNAN: And how do you memorialize it? Do you put it in writing?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: What do you do?
MS. HARTNETT: On my diagram, I will refer to something, for example, as letter A. And then I'll also mark that item using a marker on the item of evidence with the same letter so that I can connect and associate the photograph with my notes and anything that I collect as well.
MR. BRENNAN: In addition to the broken tail light that we just looked at, did you make observation of any other things? And I'm just asking generally, not asking you to specify. Yes. Were there other things that stood out to you?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you take any swabs to see if there was any biological evidence?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Where did you take swabs from?
MS. HARTNETT: As far as trace for blood, I screened for blood on various areas of the undercarriage of the vehicle.
MR. BRENNAN: And what were the results?
MS. HARTNETT: Those were negative.
MR. BRENNAN: What does negative mean?
MS. HARTNETT: It means that there was no blood present in that area, or if there was, it was below the level of detection of our test.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you make any observations where you saw items or marks of interest?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: I want to ask you about any observations you made of the back bumper. Was there anything significant that you saw relative to the back bumper of that vehicle?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: And share with us what you saw.
MS. HARTNETT: There were scratches on the bumper as well as apparent pieces of glass on the bumper.
MR. BRENNAN: When you saw what you believe to be pieces of glass on the back bumper, what is the process you follow?
MS. HARTNETT: I gave those an identifying letter. I noted those items in my diagram and then I eventually collected those items.
MR. BRENNAN: How do you collect them?
MS. HARTNETT: I would have used either disposable tweezers or tweezers that were cleaned with a 10% bleach solution.
MR. BRENNAN: After you collect the items, for example, glass on the back bumper, what do you do with that in that moment or later on? Take us through from the moment you have it till the end.
MS. HARTNETT: So, I would put those pieces of glass into a glassine envelope, which are then packaged in a larger manila envelope. They are sealed and dated and initialed with my dates and initials. Eventually, when I return to the lab, those pieces are given an item number and then secured in our [unintelligible].
MR. BRENNAN: Is each piece of evidence given a separate item number?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: As far as the entire case, your entire response — not the separate pieces of evidence you may find — is it assigned a particular number or a case number?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. Each case will get a larger case number and then each item within that case gets an individual item number, so that item can be tracked throughout the lab.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you remember from your memory what the case number of this investigation, as far as your response, was?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you share that with us?
MS. HARTNETT: The case number assigned to this in the laboratory information system was 22-2184.
MR. BRENNAN: I want to go back to the glass and the bumper. May I approach, your honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: I'm showing you a photograph. Do you recognize what's in that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: Is that a fair and accurate depiction of what you saw that day?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: And could you generally describe what you see?
MS. HARTNETT: This is a close-up photograph of the apparent glass on the bumper of the vehicle.
MR. BRENNAN: Move into evidence, please.
MR. BRENNAN: No objection, your honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: 141.
MR. BRENNAN: With the court's permission, I'd like to show P167 to the jury.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay.
MR. BRENNAN: There are two pointers in front of you. Would you mind pointing out for the jury what stood out to you? And Miss Gilman, could we get a little bit of a closeup on that bumper, please?
MS. HARTNETT: So, I can see one of the — it's a little difficult to see, but I do see one of the larger pieces of apparent glass right here.
MR. BRENNAN: Would it be better if I use this one?
MS. HARTNETT: Could you — so, this piece here is a larger apparent piece of glass. I think that was the largest one that I saw.
MR. BRENNAN: And those two white stickers — could you tell us what those are?
MS. HARTNETT: This sticker — sorry. This sticker here is marking where the apparent pieces of glass are.
MR. BRENNAN: Is there another sticker above, or is that —
MS. HARTNETT: I'm not sure. If you could close up — I'm not sure what that is. That — yes. So that is another sticker and next to that sticker are additional pieces of glass.
MR. BRENNAN: Those items to the right of that picture — are those pieces of glass?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I would say that's an apparent piece of glass here and this one.
MR. BRENNAN: And could we just go down to the bottom part again, please? Thank you, Miss Gilman. You can take that down. Did you collect what appeared to be items of glass?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Were they assigned a particular number?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you know that number off hand?
MS. HARTNETT: I would have to refer to my notes.
MR. BRENNAN: With the court's permission.
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes. Thank you. Please.
MS. HARTNETT: Those items were given the item number 3-3.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you focus on the right rear side of the vehicle beyond the broken tail light?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you notice any damage, any scratches to the right quarter panel or the right side of that Lexus?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did. I noticed some scratches as well as a dent in the rear door in that same area.
MR. BRENNAN: Let's start with the scratches first. When you notice scratches, is there a way you mark them?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I would have given them a letter.
MR. BRENNAN: And did you do that?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: May I approach, your honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Showing you a photograph. Do you recognize that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you recognize what's in that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: What does it depict?
MS. HARTNETT: It is a close-up photograph of one of the scratches on the right rear area of the vehicle.
MR. BRENNAN: Is that a fair and accurate representation of what you saw that day?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: All right. Move this into evidence, please.
MR. BRENNAN: No objection, your honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: All right. Exhibit 142.
MR. BRENNAN: With the court's permission, I'd like to show the jury P172.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay.
MR. BRENNAN: Could we close up just a little more, Miss Gilman? Thank you. Starting at the bottom. What is that, ma'am?
MS. HARTNETT: That is a close-up of the scratches that I noted in that area.
MR. BRENNAN: And could you zoom out again, please, Miss Gilman? Is that on the back bumper or the right quarter panel?
MS. HARTNETT: I believe it's on the right bumper. It's a little difficult to make out in that photo.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you zoom in again and move up just a little higher, Miss Gilman? Thank you. You have another sticker on the top.
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you know what that is?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: What is that?
MS. HARTNETT: That is an apparent hair that I noted in that area.
MR. BRENNAN: So that doesn't designate a scratch — that's something entirely separate and different.
MS. HARTNETT: That's something different. Correct.
MR. BRENNAN: We'll get to that later. I just wanted to point out that it's not a scratch. Now, you mentioned that you saw a scratch. Was it a singular scratch or a number of scratches? Could you zoom in, please, Miss Gilman?
MS. HARTNETT: It was a couple of scratches.
MR. BRENNAN: Is there a number you designate if it's not a physical item — if it's something like a scratch — or are the designations just for actual physical items?
MS. HARTNETT: I use a designation for both observations as well as physical items.
MR. BRENNAN: Would there be a number for the scratches?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. Well, there's a letter.
MR. BRENNAN: Yes. Do you know what that letter is?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I believe it's D.
MR. BRENNAN: D. Okay. Thank you. Take that down, please, Miss Gilman. May I approach, your honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: I'm showing you another photograph. Do you recognize what's in that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: What is it?
MS. HARTNETT: That is damage that I noted on the rear trunk door of the vehicle.
MR. BRENNAN: Is that a fair and accurate depiction of what you saw?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: When you say damage, what type of damage did you notice?
MS. HARTNETT: There were some scratches as well as a dent.
MR. BRENNAN: I'd like to move this into evidence, please.
MR. BRENNAN: No objection, your honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: Exhibit 143.
MR. BRENNAN: With the court's permission, I'd like to show the jury P176.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay.
MR. BRENNAN: Can we zoom in just a little bit more, please? You told us that you saw both a dent and scratches. Starting with the scratches — with the pointer on the TV to your right — could you show us where you saw further scratches?
MS. HARTNETT: So, the scratches are up above and then down here there's chipped paint and just a dent.
MR. BRENNAN: And where is the dent in relation to this? You mentioned the hair. I'm going to ask you some questions. How many pieces of hair did you find attached to that Lexus?
MS. HARTNETT: I found one apparent piece of hair on the Lexus.
MR. BRENNAN: Was there a designation number for the hair that you found?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: And do you remember what that number is?
MS. HARTNETT: I used the letter A for that particular item.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you say letter A, ma'am?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. Correct.
MR. BRENNAN: May I approach, your honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: I'm going to show you two photographs. Can you take a look at the first photograph, please? Do you recognize that picture?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: And what's in that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: This is a photograph of the apparent piece of hair I noted on the rear area.
MR. BRENNAN: Is that a fair and accurate depiction of what you saw that day?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you turn to the second photograph, please? Do you recognize what's in that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: What is it?
MS. HARTNETT: This is an additional photo of the apparent hair on the vehicle.
MR. BRENNAN: Both photographs of the same piece of hair?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: And the second photograph — is that a fair and accurate depiction of what you saw?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: I'd like to move these two photographs into evidence, please.
MR. BRENNAN: No objection, your honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes. A and B, please. 144 A and 144 B.
MR. BRENNAN: With the court's permission, I'd like to show P173 to the jury.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay.
MR. BRENNAN: If you could get in as close as possible, Miss Gilman. Do you recognize what's in that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: And can you share with us what you saw?
MS. HARTNETT: This is a close-up photo of the apparent piece of hair on the rear of the vehicle.
MR. BRENNAN: What did you do when you saw what you thought to be a piece of hair?
MS. HARTNETT: I marked it with the tape. I designated it as letter A and then I asked the crime scene services trooper to take a photograph of it.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you try to preserve it?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Tell us how you preserve that apparent piece of hair.
MS. HARTNETT: I collected that hair with either disposable tweezers or tweezers that have been bleached with a 10% bleach solution. I put them in a glassine envelope and then put them in a larger manila envelope. Put it, excuse me, in a larger manila envelope.
MR. BRENNAN: What happens to that larger manila envelope?
MS. HARTNETT: It is returned back to the lab. It is submitted under the same case number and given its own individual item number.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you bring it personally back to the lab?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: When you brought it back to the lab, do you remember where you brought it when you got back to the lab?
MS. HARTNETT: After it was entered into the computer system, if it was, I then sealed it. I initialed and dated it and then I would transfer it to the crime scene response holding area in our cold storage room.
MR. BRENNAN: When you pass it along, is it to protect it in evidence or is it for a purpose of further testing?
MS. HARTNETT: At that point, it's just to store in evidence and then it will make its way into whatever unit needs the piece of evidence first.
MR. BRENNAN: And you did all that with that piece of evidence?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: I'd like to show the second photograph that you identified. Believe it's P65. Okay. Do you recognize that photo?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: What do you recognize that to be?
MS. HARTNETT: That's an additional photo of the apparent piece of hair on the rear of the vehicle.
MR. BRENNAN: In the two different photos, are they taken from the exact same angle?
MS. HARTNETT: I believe they're taken from slightly different angles.
MR. BRENNAN: And the hair — could you point that out with the pointer, the hair that you found?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. This is the apparent hair.
MR. BRENNAN: Thank you. You can take that down, please. Regarding the damage to the broken tail light, did you have any interest in maintaining that piece of evidence?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: What did you want to do?
MS. HARTNETT: I wanted to collect the entire tail light housing.
MR. BRENNAN: Why did you want to do that?
MS. HARTNETT: If there were pieces from the tail light that could be later matched to the tail light, I needed the entire housing to be processed at the lab.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you make efforts to try to maintain or remove or preserve that entire tail light housing?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: What's a tail light housing? Excuse me. What is a tail light housing?
MS. HARTNETT: I'm referring to the entire piece, including the back, the glass covering, the light bulb inside. So, it's the entire unit.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you attempt to remove that entire unit yourself?
MS. HARTNETT: I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Were you successful?
MS. HARTNETT: No, I was not.
MR. BRENNAN: So, what did you do?
MS. HARTNETT: A Canton police officer that was in the Sally Port at the time offered to help disconnect it with some tools that he had.
MR. BRENNAN: Have you ever seen whether there's video that memorialized that entire event?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, there is.
MR. BRENNAN: And have you ever watched that video?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Does that video show you attempting to remove the housing and then receiving assistance from somebody?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: When that housing was removed, what happened to it?
MS. HARTNETT: I then placed it in a — um — box — in a — excuse me, I believe I placed it in a paper bag in a box, and then once I brought it back to the lab I added additional cushioning with additional paper to protect it from any further damage.
MR. BRENNAN: Were you going to keep that housing or were you going to put that in evidence?
MS. HARTNETT: For other reasons — that was — that was put into evidence storage for the time being.
MR. BRENNAN: Can I approach, your honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Showing you a photograph. Do you recognize what's in that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: What is it?
MS. HARTNETT: This is a photograph I took of the tail light housing back at the laboratory upon examination.
MR. BRENNAN: Is that in the same or substantially the same condition as when you saw it?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Any differences whatsoever from when you saw it?
MS. HARTNETT: Not that I noticed. No.
MR. BRENNAN: Is that photograph a fair and accurate depiction of what you saw that day?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: All right. Move this photograph into evidence.
MR. BRENNAN: Without objection, your honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay. 145. With the court's permission, I'd show photograph P187 to the jury, please.
MR. BRENNAN: Okay. Could you tell us what that is?
MS. HARTNETT: That is a photo that I took of the tail light housing at the laboratory.
MR. BRENNAN: And that's after it's obviously removed from the vehicle.
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, that's correct.
MR. BRENNAN: And that was packaged and preserved.
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: You could take that down, please. Do you have the actual item, the actual housing with you?
MS. HARTNETT: I believe it is here. Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: With the court's permission, I'd ask the witness to be able to open the item, show it to the jury, and then I would move it into evidence.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay. Thank you.
MR. BRENNAN: If you would, would you please remove the item from that box?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: May I approach?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you have gloves available?
MS. HARTNETT: I brought gloves. Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: You could hold that so the jury can see it. If you could hold it up high, please. Thank you. Thank you very much. If you could return that to the box, I would move this item into evidence, please.
MR. BRENNAN: No objection, your honor.
MR. BRENNAN: That's the only item in that box.
JUDGE CANNONE: There are additional items in that box as well.
MR. BRENNAN: I only want to introduce that one item.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay. So, bag. You need to take that bag out. There are also other items in that bag.
MR. BRENNAN: May I approach, your honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: I didn't know.
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes. Why don't you — actually, follow the officers here? All right. Jurors, the lunch isn't here, so this seems like a good time to take a break. We'll see you in about 50 minutes. Of course. Okay, jurors. Right this way, please.
COURT OFFICER: Please rise for the jury. [unintelligible sidebar/bench exchange]
MR. BRENNAN: — questions and attempting to introduce the tail light housing. Do you remember that?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: And you mentioned there were a number of items in that bag.
MS. HARTNETT: That's correct.
MR. BRENNAN: And during that break, did we have a chance to look inside the bag?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Accompanied by counsel for the defense?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: When items are stored in a bag, is it common for them to be transferred to other locations other than your evidence locker? I'm sorry. Let me rephrase that — when you store a piece of evidence in an evidence bag and you put it in the evidence locker for safekeeping, does the evidence sometimes travel to other places?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: If it's tested for other types of information, maybe DNA or biological fluids, can that item be transferred to another department?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Is that item sometimes brought back and forth to court for other proceedings?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: And do you know if this item has been on different travels over time?
MS. HARTNETT: I do know that it went into several different units within the laboratory. Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: When you opened up the bag and you said the housing was in that bag — the other items that were in the bag, do you know when they were put in there?
MS. HARTNETT: No, I do not.
MR. BRENNAN: Do they appear to be pieces that are consistent with the tail light housing?
MS. HARTNETT: Um, I can't testify to whether or not they're consistent.
MR. BRENNAN: Okay. When you saw the pieces, do you know whether or not any of the pieces broke off that tail light housing?
MS. HARTNETT: I do not know.
MR. BRENNAN: The tail light housing — did it have any loose pieces when you first retrieved it from the Canton Police Department?
MS. HARTNETT: No, it did not. It had missing pieces, but nothing was loose on the tail light housing itself at the time that I collected it.
MR. BRENNAN: And the loose pieces on the bottom of that bag — they were in the bag when you opened it this morning.
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, that's correct.
MR. BRENNAN: The loose pieces — last time you had an opportunity to open that bag was how long ago?
MS. HARTNETT: The only time I opened that — but the packaging for the tail light housing was in the laboratory when I first examined
MS. HARTNETT: examination. If there are loose items within the item that's packaged with it, I would separate it and potentially put it in a smaller package inside the larger container so that it doesn't get lost.
MR. BRENNAN: In addition to the loose pieces in the bottom of that bag, do you see separate small containers or packaging of smaller pieces?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, there were two smaller containers within that larger bag.
MR. BRENNAN: And those smaller packages that are separate from the actual larger item, did you put smaller pieces in those small bags?
MS. HARTNETT: I did not do that.
MR. BRENNAN: Was that done by somebody other than you at some point?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Okay. I now move to introduce that into evidence.
MR. BRENNAN: No objection, subject to the explanation and cross-examination, your honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay. Could you present that?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. Yes.
JUDGE CANNONE: The whole — yes. And you can keep the gloves on. I just want to be able to show the small pieces after it's marked.
MS. HARTNETT: Sure.
COURT CLERK: Exhibit 146.
MR. BRENNAN: You've already showed us the housing. Can you show us some of the small pieces in the bottom of the bag and also the small separate packaging that you did not package?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. Thank you.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you explain what those are?
MS. HARTNETT: These are two small glassine envelopes that were in the container.
MR. BRENNAN: Any markings on those envelopes?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. Would you like me to read them, please?
MR. BRENNAN: Okay.
MS. HARTNETT: Um, some of it is illegible to me. I didn't write it. Um, oh, I'm sorry. It appears to be at least the second half of the case number. It's possible that's the 220184 3-1 pieces E G. I'm not sure if it's an M or an H. I SK. This also has a case number 22-02184 3-1 assorted small pieces.
MR. BRENNAN: Thank you. And were there any pieces that weren't packaged other than the housing in that bag?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: And could you show us, please?
MS. HARTNETT: This item was also located in the bag. And these two items were also located in the bag.
MR. BRENNAN: May I approach?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes, I'll take that.
MR. BRENNAN: Thanks. When you brought the tail light housing back to the lab, did you take it out of the bag and do anything with it?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. During my examination, I did remove it from the bag to look at it.
MR. BRENNAN: When you — after you looked at it or during your observations, did you take any samples from it?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Explain to us what you did.
MS. HARTNETT: I took a polyester swab. I moistened it with sterile water and then I applied that swab to the external front areas of the tail light.
MR. BRENNAN: Why did you do that?
MS. HARTNETT: My goal was to collect any potential biological material that was present on the exterior of the tail light.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you engage in that procedure pursuant to your training and experience?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: If we could have photo P187 back on the screen, which is now an exhibit. Could you use the pointer and the television to your right? Could you show us — show the jury where you took a swab? What areas?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. Thank you. So, I took my collection from this upper right-hand corner, the red apparent plastic, as well from this area down here, another piece of red plastic. And then these clear apparent plastic here on the front of the tail light housing. Basically any areas that would have been exposed when the tail light was intact.
MR. BRENNAN: Why do you take the swab and go to multiple different parts of an item?
MS. HARTNETT: The goal of this collection was just to determine if there's any biological material in that area. And there's no forensic relevance really to if it came from the upper right or the lower left. I took that collection as a whole, and in addition there was a very small surface area to begin with.
MR. BRENNAN: When you took the swab, did you run it along the breaks in the red part? Like the edges here?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, the edges. It's possible. Yes. That I collected from those edges.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you have a memory of what part you actually swabbed?
MS. HARTNETT: I just remember swabbing the external areas of the tail light, those that would have been on the outside prior to any damage being done.
MR. BRENNAN: Okay, thank you. You can take that down, please. After you engage in the procedure of taking a swab, what do you do to preserve that swab?
MS. HARTNETT: That swab is air dried. It's then repackaged in a small glassine envelope. A portion of the swab is also put in a clear plastic tube which is sent forward to the DNA unit.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you do that?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Why do you go through that type of procedure? Why do you take that many steps?
MS. HARTNETT: I'm sorry. May I correct my answer from the last question? My apologies. So, in this particular instance, the entire swab was cut up and put into plastic tubes for further testing.
MR. BRENNAN: Why did you do it that way?
MS. HARTNETT: This item was quantity limited. The swab itself was quantity limited, meaning that they'd have to use up the whole swab in order to run DNA analysis.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you do DNA analysis on the swab?
MS. HARTNETT: No, I did not.
MR. BRENNAN: Why not?
MS. HARTNETT: I don't work in the DNA unit. That is the job of a different analyst.
MR. BRENNAN: And at some point, did you take that item that had been preserved and put it into evidence?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Were you shown a bag full of red plastic cups with an item in it when you were at the Canton Police Department?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I was.
MR. BRENNAN: Could we have exhibit 56, please? Thank you. This is a photograph that's been marked as an exhibit. Do you recognize what's in that exhibit?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: And what is it?
MS. HARTNETT: Those are six red plastic cups that contain frozen red-brown stains.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you do anything relative to the content of those cups?
MS. HARTNETT: I took a collection from one of the cups using two sterile cotton swabs.
MR. BRENNAN: And can you just briefly explain what that process entails?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. I allowed the frozen red-brown stains to thaw. I applied sterile water to two cotton swabs and then I applied it to one of the red-brown stained cups to collect the material from inside.
MR. BRENNAN: How do you preserve and maintain the integrity of whatever sample you collect?
MS. HARTNETT: That sample is then entered into a glassine envelope, a larger manila envelope. It is then sealed with my initials and date. It is given an independent item number and stored within the proper unit within the lab.
MR. BRENNAN: You can take that down. Thank you. At some point, did you look at clothing?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Where did you look at clothing?
MS. HARTNETT: I examined the clothing from this case at the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory.
MR. BRENNAN: Was the items brought to the crime laboratory?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, they were.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you have a chance to unpackage them?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: When you received them, how were they stored?
MS. HARTNETT: They were stored in brown paper bags and potentially boxes. I don't remember off the top of my head.
MR. BRENNAN: And did you look at a number of different items of clothing?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: May I approach, your honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: I'm going to show you a series of four photographs. I'm going to ask you about each one of them individually. Do you recognize the first photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: What is it?
MS. HARTNETT: This is a photograph I took of a gray sweatshirt.
MR. BRENNAN: Does that photograph accurately depict the sweatshirt as it appeared to you when you looked at it?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, it does.
MR. BRENNAN: Can you look at the second photograph, please? Do you recognize what's in that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: What is it?
MS. HARTNETT: This is an additional photograph of the front of the gray sweatshirt where I had put some markings on the sweatshirt.
MR. BRENNAN: Why did you put markings on the sweatshirt?
MS. HARTNETT: These markings specifically are noting areas of damage.
MR. BRENNAN: Third photograph, please. Do you recognize what's in that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: And what's in that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: This is a close-up photo of the area of damage that I denoted as one.
MR. BRENNAN: And a fourth photograph, please. Do you recognize that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: What is it?
MS. HARTNETT: This is a closeup of area of damage one.
MR. BRENNAN: Is that a fair and accurate depiction of what you saw that day when you examined this particular item?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: I move these four photographs into evidence.
MR. BRENNAN: I could just see them quickly. No objection, your honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: So let's mark them as one exhibit, A, B, C, and D, please.
COURT CLERK: 147 A, B, C, and D.
MR. BRENNAN: Thank you. With the court's permission, could we please show P190 to the jury?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Is that one of the photographs you just recognized?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, it is.
MR. BRENNAN: And could you explain to us what you see?
MS. HARTNETT: This is the exterior front of the gray sweatshirt. There is linear damage between the top and bottom of the sweatshirt, as well as linear damage across each sleeve of the sweatshirt.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you see the cut down the front of that sweatshirt?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you distinguish that cut as any different than the damage on the arm?
MS. HARTNETT: I did not do any damage analysis on that particular area of damage.
MR. BRENNAN: Why not?
MS. HARTNETT: Typically in these types of events, you'll see those types of damage associated with clothing being removed by emergency medical technicians. So they're not forensically relevant.
MR. BRENNAN: Thank you. If we could turn now to P194. Is this the same sweatshirt?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, it is.
MR. BRENNAN: And there's a little bit of a difference. There's markings or tabs on it.
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, that's correct.
MR. BRENNAN: What are you doing there?
MS. HARTNETT: I put tabs on each of the areas of damage on the sleeve and two on the chest that I was going to examine further.
MR. BRENNAN: When you put the tabs on, do you write a report or mark it in any way to memorialize it in case the tabs fall off?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. In this case, they were marked tabs one through nine. Those are not permanent on the sweatshirt. They're actually just pieces of filter paper that I used to mark it.
MR. BRENNAN: Could we zoom in on that right arm, please, Miss Gilman? Thank you. Thank you very much. What is written on those tabs?
MS. HARTNETT: Each tab has a number on it that corresponds with an area of damage that I examined.
MR. BRENNAN: And when you write a report, when you memorialize it, is that how you keep an accounting of each?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, that's correct.
MR. BRENNAN: If we could turn now to P196, which is 147C. What does that depict, ma'am?
MS. HARTNETT: That is a closeup of the area of damage one that I did further examination on.
MR. BRENNAN: Could we zoom in a little bit on the — yes, the circle part. Is that a fair and accurate depiction of what it looked like when you examined it?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, it is.
MR. BRENNAN: And finally, if we could have P197, which is exhibit 147D. What are you doing there?
MS. HARTNETT: That's a close-up photo of that same area of damage one with a scale included.
MR. BRENNAN: We just saw a closeup of one of the holes that was marked number one. Did you do the same analysis for each and every one of those areas that you marked?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: And did you look close up at each and every one of them and measure each and every one of them?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Are there photographs showing all of those different angles for each and every area that you went through?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I took numerous photographs of each area of damage.
MR. BRENNAN: You can take that down, please. In addition to that sweatshirt, did you look at any other clothing items?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: May I approach, your honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Thank you. I'm showing you two photographs. Would you look at the first one? Do you recognize what's in that photograph?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: What is it?
MS. HARTNETT: This is item 7-17. It's an orange t-shirt. [unintelligible]
MR. BRENNAN: Is that a fair and accurate depiction of the t-shirt when you examined it?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, it is.
MR. BRENNAN: In the second photograph, please take a look. Do you recognize what's in that?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: What is it?
MS. HARTNETT: This is the other side of the orange t-shirt.
MR. BRENNAN: Is that a fair and accurate depiction of the t-shirt when you examined it?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, it is.
MR. BRENNAN: All right. I move these two photographs into evidence, please.
MR. BRENNAN: No objection, your honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: Thank you.
COURT CLERK: 148 A and B.
MR. BRENNAN: With the court's permission, I'd like to show P232 to the jury.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you tell us what you see?
MS. HARTNETT: That is a photograph of item 7-17. It's the back of the orange t-shirt.
MR. BRENNAN: Could we zoom in a little on the numbers on the bottom, Miss Gilman? What's that on the bottom?
MS. HARTNETT: That is the case number, the individual item number for that t-shirt, my initials, and the date that I examined it — or the date that I took the photo.
MR. BRENNAN: So did you obtain this item on that date, or is this when you examined it after you already had it?
MS. HARTNETT: That is the date that I opened it up, examined it, and took the photo.
MR. BRENNAN: And on the left, what's that ruler used for?
MS. HARTNETT: That's a scale just to show the size of the item.
MR. BRENNAN: Could we zoom back out and get a full look at that? Thank you. If you could turn next to P233, Miss Gilman. What is that a photograph of?
MS. HARTNETT: That is a photograph of the front of the orange t-shirt. Item 7-17.
MR. BRENNAN: Miss Gilman, can we first see the bottom left-hand corner? Zoomed in a little bit. Thank you. Why did you place a marker there?
MS. HARTNETT: I used markers on this item to note areas of staining that I was going to do further analysis on.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you do further analysis of that stain area?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: And how did you do that? Any different than the swab you talked about before?
MS. HARTNETT: I screened this for blood. I'd have to check my notes for any further testing I did on it.
MR. BRENNAN: When you screened it for blood, was it a positive or negative result?
MS. HARTNETT: That was positive.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you know if you did anything further with it?
MS. HARTNETT: May I check my notes?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MS. HARTNETT: Thank you.
COURT OFFICER: Can you turn the lights off, please? Thank you.
MS. HARTNETT: Yes. I also performed a confirmatory test for blood on that stain.
MR. BRENNAN: So what's the difference between a preliminary and a confirmatory test?
MS. HARTNETT: For a screening test, other types of materials may cause a positive reaction. For the confirmatory test, it is confirmatory for blood, and it also indicates human blood, although you might get a positive reaction from primate blood or ferret blood.
MR. BRENNAN: Can we now turn to the top right and zoom in? We see three tabs there. What are you looking for in those areas?
MS. HARTNETT: Those are three additional red-brown stains that I performed further testing on.
MR. BRENNAN: And do you have the results of that testing?
MS. HARTNETT: I performed a screening test on each of those stains and each of those screening tests was positive. I performed a confirmatory test on stains A and C, which were also positive. I did not perform that test on stain B due to its small size.
MR. BRENNAN: If you could zoom out just a little bit, please. Similar to the sweatshirt, there are long cuts through the front of that t-shirt. Is your analysis and opinion any different than for the similar cuts that you saw on the sweatshirt?
MS. HARTNETT: I did not perform any additional analysis on those areas of damage due to the fact that they're most likely attributed to the emergency medical technicians or medical personnel removing that item of clothing.
MR. BRENNAN: Thank you. You can take that down, please, Miss Gilman. And for the final piece of clothing, did you have a chance to look at pants?
MS. HARTNETT: I did look at a pair of jeans. Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: May I approach, your honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: I've handed you two photographs. The first one, do you recognize it?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: And what is it?
MS. HARTNETT: This is a photograph of the front of the pair of jeans. Item 7-1.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you look at the second photograph, please? Do you recognize what's in that?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do.
MR. BRENNAN: What is it?
MS. HARTNETT: This is a photograph of the back of the pair of jeans, item 7-1.
MR. BRENNAN: Do both of those photographs fairly depict what you saw
MS. HARTNETT: When you examine the clothing?
MR. BRENNAN: Yes, they do.
MR. BRENNAN: I move these two into evidence, please. Wait — re-reading: the witness answers "Yes, they do" (confirming the photos fairly depict the jeans), then Brennan moves to admit. Let me correct:
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, they do.
MR. BRENNAN: I move these two into evidence, please.
MR. BRENNAN: No objection, your honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay. Thank you. Exhibits 149A and B.
MR. BRENNAN: With the court's permission, I'd show P242, which is 149A, to the jury.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay.
MR. BRENNAN: Was there anything of note when you examined these pants?
MS. HARTNETT: These pants also had linear damage between the top and the bottom, which would be consistent with cuts made by emergency medical personnel when removing the item.
MR. BRENNAN: If we could zoom in to show those cuts, Miss Gilman, and could we scroll down, please? Thank you. If we could next show P243, which is 149B. Could you zoom in on the top part of those pants, please? Do you make any observations or notes about the pants?
MS. HARTNETT: May I look at my notes, please?
JUDGE CANNONE: With the court's permission, please.
MS. HARTNETT: Thank you. I noted numerous red-brown stains on the clothing as well as dirt and debris on the clothing.
MR. BRENNAN: What part of the pants did you note the dirt and debris?
MS. HARTNETT: It was just a general observation. I didn't specifically denote where it was.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you scroll from the top to the bottom of the pants, please? Thank you. You can take that down, please. Did you perform any additional testing relative to the clothing that you examined, that being the sweatshirt, the t-shirt, and the pants?
MS. HARTNETT: I performed numerous tests on each of the red-brown stains on the items that I marked.
MR. BRENNAN: After you completed examining the red-brown stains, did you do any other type of testing or evidence collection relative to the clothing?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you share with the jury what you did as far as further evidence collection relative to the clothing?
MS. HARTNETT: Can we take it item by item?
MR. BRENNAN: Let's start with the sweatshirt.
MS. HARTNETT: Okay. So in addition to testing the red-brown stains, I collected any stain that was positive or confirmatory for blood. After performing that collection, I also performed a collection around the tears on the right sleeve of the item. That's using two cotton swabs moistened with sterile water, which I vigorously rubbed around the torn areas on the sleeve. I also performed an additional scraping and swabbing of the unstained area of the sweatshirt for any potential skin cell recovery. In addition, I performed a debris collection from the sweatshirt.
MR. BRENNAN: I want to stop you there. I want you to explain to us in some detail what is a debris collection and how do you undergo a debris collection?
MS. HARTNETT: After I've completed all the testing that I'm going to do on the item, I remove any large items that may be present on the item, such as apparent hairs or fibers. Anything I can pick off that I can visibly see with a pair of tweezers. Once that is done, I did a general debris collection where I took a large metal spatula-shaped object and scraped the clothing, or in this particular case, the sweatshirt. And any debris that came off the sweatshirt was put into a glassine fold and preserved.
MR. BRENNAN: Before you tried to scrape off any debris that was on the sweatshirt, could you, to your own eye, see any debris in the sweatshirt?
MS. HARTNETT: May I check my notes?
MR. BRENNAN: Yes.
MS. HARTNETT: In this particular case, I did pick off a couple of pieces of what I termed black debris. I made no additional analysis of that item. I packaged that separately. And then the scrapings themselves, I did not make any observations of anything contained in those scrapings. So there was nothing of note that I could have put in my notes to further classify them.
MR. BRENNAN: When you do the scraping, is there a table or a desk where you would see small pieces or difficult pieces? How do you contain what you're scraping from an item?
MS. HARTNETT: I lay out a piece of glassine paper, which is approximately 6 inches by 6 inches, and I scrape the debris into that glassine, and then I fold it up and put it in an additional envelope to prevent anything from falling out.
MR. BRENNAN: So, if there's any debris, you would fold it in the glassine and then put that in a separate envelope.
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, that's correct.
MR. BRENNAN: And did you continue to study and scrape the other pieces of clothing?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I performed that same type of scraping on the orange t-shirt. That scraping was combined with the scrapings from the sweatshirt. I performed the same scraping on the jeans as well as the boxer shorts.
MR. BRENNAN: In that scraping process, did you acquire debris?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, there was some visible debris.
MR. BRENNAN: How small were the pieces?
MS. HARTNETT: I did not make any measurements of it.
MR. BRENNAN: Why not?
MS. HARTNETT: That's done by a different analysis unit. So, I didn't do any type of analysis on that debris.
MR. BRENNAN: How small or large were the pieces of debris that you scraped from the clothing?
MS. HARTNETT: I did not take any measurements of them.
MR. BRENNAN: How did you store the debris that you scraped from the clothing?
MS. HARTNETT: It was put into a glassine fold, given a separate item number, and then put into a larger glassine fold so that it could be tracked throughout the laboratory.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you have that item number?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I do. So, the debris from the sweatshirt and t-shirt was item 7-18.
MR. BRENNAN: I'm going to ask you one more time for that number.
MS. HARTNETT: 7-18.
MR. BRENNAN: And that's the debris that you scraped from the shirt and the sweatshirt. Correct.
MS. HARTNETT: Correct.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you do any debris scrapings from the pants?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: Was any debris produced from the pants?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Was it similarly packaged?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, that's correct.
MR. BRENNAN: Was there a different item number given for the pants?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: And what was that item number?
MS. HARTNETT: May I check my notes?
MR. BRENNAN: Yes.
MS. HARTNETT: Thank you. That item number, the debris from the jeans was 7-1.8.
MR. BRENNAN: Those two items, the debris that you acquired from those clothing items, did you send them anywhere?
MS. HARTNETT: I put those in our secured storage unit and they were later forwarded to the trace unit for analysis.
MR. BRENNAN: So they later went to the trace unit?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, that's correct.
MR. BRENNAN: When you arrived at Canton on February 1st, 2022, do you recall what the weather was like outside?
MS. HARTNETT: I don't recall. I just know that it was winter.
MR. BRENNAN: You said when you first get to a scene, you have a conversation about the investigator's information to help your assessment. I don't want you to discuss what that conversation may have been, but did you have a similar conversation?
MS. HARTNETT: Yes, I did.
MR. BRENNAN: When you're looking at an item that's been stored, like in this case a car, do weather conditions — ice, cold, snow — ever preserve or maintain evidence on an item longer than it otherwise would stay?
MS. HARTNETT: I'm sorry. Can you ask that one more time, please?
MR. BRENNAN: Does ice or snow or the weather ever maintain evidence on an item longer than it otherwise would stay?
MS. HARTNETT: I don't have any data or information on that.
MR. BRENNAN: Have you ever had an opportunity to view videos of the Lexus when it was first stored, and the condition of snow and ice on it, and the thawing process of that?
MS. HARTNETT: I don't believe that's the part of the video I saw.
MR. BRENNAN: No, you saw our video after the snow had already melted.
MS. HARTNETT: I don't know if the snow had melted. When I saw the vehicle, it did not have snow on it.
MR. BRENNAN: Okay. Thank you. I have no further questions.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay.