Under Cross Examination

We have heard from American spatter pattern expert Jon Norbdy, complete with a riveting power point presentation. He is testifying for the defense but admitted that out of the 2,500-plus pictures of Pickton’s trailer given to the defense, he only focused on 100 or so photos out of the ones he and the jury were given.

Some of the photos given to him and the jury were so bad that he said he couldn’t come to any concrete conclusions about them.

One hundred out of more than 2,500 photos seems odd. Initially, I was really buying what he was saying about the patterns and lack of DNA – how the blood soaked mattress had not left any marks on the platform below it or on the orange plastic bag beneath it.

And as he flicked his red laser pointer around on the screen, his power point presentation did seem to make a good few points. For instance, when blood dries it flakes – so why didn’t we see flakes on the plastic? There was no DNA profile from the bed platform or the bag.

In some cases, he said the camera flash had obliterated the pictures so he couldn’t tell the spatter pattern.

He also talked about surface tension of the blood: How it spreads when it drops and more technical aspects of spatter patterns. He was also clear in his opinion that no major bloodletting had happened – nor could he defiantly say that a death had in fact occurred in the trailer – as the Crown has claimed. While not the most engaging or riveting witness, he presented his information and conclusions in a very straight forward manner.

Then the fun begins. Whether it’s the Crown or the defense, I always enjoy cross-examination.