FL v. Tomasz Koswoski Day 4

I enjoy being a member of the IAI because they publish a journal, and that provides me the opportunity to remind myself to keep up with some of the scientific trends. I also had the opportunity to attend some of the educational conferences when... And that's really nice too, because you get to meet individuals from different disciplines, but also from various areas throughout the country. Because as I travel more with my business, I recognize that things vary very vastly, even from North Florida to South Florida. So it's a nice opportunity to hear maybe new trends and techniques that are being implemented in other areas, whether they be available here. So it's a good networking opportunity to keep up with some of the new trends.

Ms. Pidari (05:16:36):

Okay. Now, combining the experience that you received both at the sheriff's office and the work that you do now in your own consulting firm, how many times have you testified as a blood spatter analyst, or blood pattern analyst, excuse me.

Anna Cox (05:16:51):

Expert testimony rending opinions in bloodstain analysis has been 81 times in hearings and trial, and I've testified, I want to say over 70 times in depositions.

Ms. Pidari (05:17:04):

Okay. And has that all been in Florida, or other jurisdictions as well?

Anna Cox (05:17:07):

No, I've testified in Louisiana and Maryland, and federal court as well.

Ms. Pidari (05:17:13):

And where? Federal?

Anna Cox (05:17:13):

Mm-hmm.

Ms. Pidari (05:17:15):

Okay.

Anna Cox (05:17:15):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (05:17:16):

Is your consulting firm an independent business?

Anna Cox (05:17:19):

It is.

Ms. Pidari (05:17:20):

So not affiliated with the sheriff's office, right?

Anna Cox (05:17:23):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (05:17:23):

Or Largo PD?

Anna Cox (05:17:24):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (05:17:25):

Or my office?

Anna Cox (05:17:26):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (05:17:26):

Okay. And who typically hires you?

Anna Cox (05:17:31):

I receive inquiries from state attorneys, law enforcement agencies, public defenders, and private defense attorneys. Every now and then, I get a sprinkle of civil attorneys, but it's primarily for criminal proceedings.

Ms. Pidari (05:17:45):

So for the criminal proceedings, it's fair to say you have testified for both the state attorney as well as defense attorneys?

Anna Cox (05:17:52):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (05:17:53):

Okay. And how much do you charge per hour?

Anna Cox (05:17:56):

It varies. It depends on the case.

Ms. Pidari (05:17:57):

Okay.

Anna Cox (05:17:58):

And it depends on if I'm hired through a public defender. In the State of Florida, there's a commission that sets the rates, so I obviously abide by those. Sometimes, law enforcement agencies, if it's a rush case or if I have to purchase chemicals for chemical processing, that could cause a variation in the fee that I charge as well.

Ms. Pidari (05:18:22):

Okay. So in this case, how much are you being paid per hour?

Anna Cox (05:18:26):

$75 an hour.

Ms. Pidari (05:18:28):

And were you hired by the State of Florida to conduct blood analysis in this case?

Anna Cox (05:18:32):

I was.

Ms. Pidari (05:18:33):

Okay. As part of your job, do you often go to the actual crime scenes?

Anna Cox (05:18:39):

If they're still available and the agency requests or a attorney requests that I respond, if I'm available, I will. I do have call-outs. I recently just responded to a scene a couple weeks ago. If I'm not afforded that opportunity, if I deem it necessary, I may try to visit the location at a later date, just to get a spatial feel, just to kind of look around, and see how things look in real life, in person. So I've done both.

Ms. Pidari (05:19:07):

Okay. So what's the purpose of going to the actual scene?

Anna Cox (05:19:11):

If I'm called out while the scene is still active, the benefit for the agency is that I do all of my own documentation. I'm responsible for identifying and maintaining the integrity of the blood while it's on the scene. I also can work with the agency and say, "Hey, can you please collect this swab for me?" I may request that it be tested depending on how the investigation proceeds. So that would be the benefit of responding if available. If not, I can work off the work of the agency members themselves. The benefit of going to a location, even after it's been released, even if it's several years later, would once again, just to get a spatial feel, just to have an understanding of the structure, to see if that's going to have any benefit to my analysis as well.

Ms. Pidari (05:20:03):

Okay. So in situations where you are unable to go to the crime scene initially, so it no longer is available and then you get involved, what sort of things do you look at when you get involved at a later date to help you with your analysis?

Anna Cox (05:20:18):

Well, I have a checklist of items that I like to receive, because there are certain things regarding investigations that I am not privy to, nor should I be, especially if I'm requested to focus solely on doing a blood analysis. So I actually have a checklist of items that I give out to whomever inquires about my services. And the list includes things such as body-worn cameras video, if those are available, documentation completed by law enforcement, whether that be through traditional photographs or if they've done any sketching. I request reports. I request first responder reports. Because sometimes, a first responder will put things in the reports that you may not necessarily see in a video, like in their body-worn camera.

(05:21:09)
So for example, you can't see the smell of bleach. So sometimes, law enforcement will put important facts of their response, and that does impact my analysis. I also request the technician reports to make sure that I am understanding and following their documentation appropriately. I request any scientific technical reports that are available, any medical reports if they're available, whether it be an autopsy report or a medical report. And there have been times where through that analysis, I may see something else I think, "Oh, maybe I ought to request to see this. It's coming up, and that might be essential in my analysis as well." So sometimes, once I do my initial analysis, I may request additional information on a later date.

Ms. Pidari (05:22:02):

Okay. What's, I guess, the split between, in all the cases you've worked, how often you actually go to the crime scene initially versus you getting involved at a later date and relying on reports, or maybe even going to the crime scene at a later date?

Anna Cox (05:22:16):

Well, when I worked at the sheriff's office, I would respond. And then when I opened my own private business, I would say I usually average anywhere between 17 to 25 cases a year. I would say I typically respond, and this is an approximate. This is an average. It's not set in stone for every year. I would say roughly about five times a year, I still respond out to locations while the scene is still active.

Ms. Pidari (05:22:44):

So how many crime scenes in total have you analyzed as a blood analyst?

Anna Cox (05:22:50):

Well, in perspective of cases where bloodstain analysis was my only responsibility, may I refer to my CV?

Ms. Pidari (05:23:01):

If that would help refresh your recollection, that's fine.

Anna Cox (05:23:09):

It's 278.

Ms. Pidari (05:23:10):

Okay. Now, you mentioned that when you get involved at a later date, you look at, or request at least, an array of different items, to include reports. While conducting your analysis, do you limit yourself in any way as in what you're reviewing prior to conducting your analysis?

Anna Cox (05:23:31):

Not only do I limit the information that I receive as part of the actual case file itself, I am very, very, some say obnoxious about not soliciting information regarding theories, case histories, things like that. So typically, if I request information, it's strictly based on the tangible, physical evidence. And there are even times where I'll get a call from somebody and they'll say, "Hey, I've got this case," and I'm like, "Super. I'm on my way." And I don't have any information. Or they'll call me and they'll say, "Hey, I've got this case. It's a gunshot." And I'm like, "Great, here's my checklist." So I would prefer to work strictly off the tangible evidence.

Ms. Pidari (05:24:17):

And why is that?

Anna Cox (05:24:19):

Because that's what I'm trying to do. That's my job, is to analyze the blood. My job is to analyze the physical evidence, the tangible evidence on scene. I choose to be respectful of the fact that the scene should tell me what I need to know. I don't need to solicit that theory, or assumption, or presumption from another individual. That's not my responsibility. My responsibility is to analyze the evidence itself.

Ms. Pidari (05:24:47):

Fair to say that you focus more on a scientific approach versus allowing anything that could create any bias when it relates to your analysis?

Anna Cox (05:24:55):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (05:24:56):

Okay. So before we discuss the work that you did in this case, I want to talk about bloodstain analysis in general. When analyzing blood, are there different patterns of bloodstains that can help determine the mechanism of distribution?

Anna Cox (05:25:09):

Yes. That's the physics foundation, so that's the classification part of the analysis, where the actual size, shape, distribution, and number of stains is analyzed and we are able to define what the bloodstain is based on those characteristics. And then the fundamental knowledge of how actions or the natural laws of physics, what role they play in distribution, that is how we do classify them. So yes, we do that foundation.

Ms. Pidari (05:25:44):

Okay. And have you prepared a PowerPoint that would help describe those different bloodstain patterns?

Anna Cox (05:25:49):

I have.

Ms. Pidari (05:25:50):

Okay. Would it be helpful to use that PowerPoint while explaining the bloodstain pattern analysis, like what it is and the different mechanisms of distribution to the court?

Anna Cox (05:25:58):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (05:25:59):

Permission to publish a demonstrative that was previously discovered to Dr. Kosowski and for the witness to step down?

Judge Bulone (05:26:04):

You may. Any objections?

Dr. Tomasz Roman Kosowski (05:26:07):

I'm sorry?

Judge Bulone (05:26:09):

Any objection to them playing the PowerPoint?

Dr. Tomasz Roman Kosowski (05:26:15):

Sure. I'm sorry, I don't quite know what's on this PowerPoint, so...

Judge Bulone (05:26:19):

Oh. You got a copy of it. Didn't you get a copy of it?

Ms. Pidari (05:26:21):

Yes. [inaudible 05:26:23]

Judge Bulone (05:26:24):

All right, so I think it's different patterns of bloodstains, basically.

Ms. Pidari (05:26:29):

Yes.

Judge Bulone (05:26:29):

So it's kind of an educational thing. Any objection?

Dr. Tomasz Roman Kosowski (05:26:33):

Is there any personal, like any details of the case on this PowerPoint?

Ms. Pidari (05:26:40):

Not on this one, but there will be a PowerPoint that I'm going to offer into evidence, that also was discovered to you, that does have details of this case, photographs.

Dr. Tomasz Roman Kosowski (05:26:47):

Again, I'm sorry. I haven't seen any PowerPoints at all. We just don't have PowerPoint at the jail, so-

Ms. Pidari (05:26:52):

It was sent as a PDF, I believe.

Dr. Tomasz Roman Kosowski (05:26:55):

Either way, I'll object.

Judge Bulone (05:26:56):

Okay.

Ms. Pidari (05:27:01):

And I actually have a copy of it printed out, so I can provide that to Dr. Kosowski.

Judge Bulone (05:27:04):

Okay. All right. So you might as well give him that one and the one that's particular to this case.

Ms. Pidari (05:27:08):

Sure. [inaudible 05:27:14] And this is the one for [inaudible 05:27:28] I'm not there yet, though, just so you know. Permission for the witness to step down?

Judge Bulone (05:27:33):

She may.

Ms. Pidari (05:27:33):

All right.

Judge Bulone (05:27:33):

[inaudible 05:27:38]

Ms. Pidari (05:27:51):

Ms. Cox, I'm going to have you step right over here so that the court can see you. I'll hand you this in case you need it.

Anna Cox (05:27:52):

Okay. Thank you.

Ms. Pidari (05:27:55):

All right. So, bloodstain pattern analysis. What is bloodstain pattern analysis?

Anna Cox (05:28:00):

If you can go to the next-

Ms. Pidari (05:28:03):

Sure. Oh, next one? Go ahead.

Anna Cox (05:28:05):

So the definition of bloodstain pattern analysis is the scientific study of bloodstains and patterns that are a result of a blood-shedding event. So we identify, document, define, and analyze the bloodstains and patterns in order to provide an appropriate interpretation of the events that caused them. So there's a variety of things that we consider, primarily the classification part, which is where we define the stains, focuses on the size, shape, and distribution of the bloodstains. That's the foundation of physics. The number of bloodstains is also relevant, as is the location and the surface. So when I talk about the location of the bloodstains, I'm including their perspective in relationship to other items of evidence at the scene and other relevant scene-specific variables that are unique to this particular case, that particular case, and that case only.

(05:29:01)
The surface, that really has a very, very important role in the actual visual as well as the subsequent distribution of the blood as well, whether it's a hard surface, a porous surface, whether it's carpeted, whether it's a textile. So that also must be considered. Scene-specific variables in relationship to other evidence, I already spoke of. And then the history of the scene and the evidence. So for example, has items been removed prior to law enforcement due to evidentiary concerns or chain of custody, et cetera? So all of that has to be analyzed together in order to provide the appropriate interpretation.

Ms. Pidari (05:29:46):

Okay. So I want to move on to the next slide, which will be discussing the scientific basis for blood pattern analysis. Can you talk to us about that?

Anna Cox (05:29:53):

So when we're having an understanding of the fundamentals of biology, what we're primarily interested in is the body's reaction to the infliction of the injury. Because when I analyze blood, it's outside-

Ms. Cox (05:30:00):

... the infliction of the injury. Because when I analyze blood, it's outside of the body. So I'm primarily interested in that particular aspect of how the body functions upon receipt of an injury. I also have to be very cognizant that blood, once it's outside the body, can undergo significant changes depending on the environment that it's in, whether or not there's been any post incident alterations. So having an understanding that blood may not appear to be vibrant red once it's outside the body is also crucial because that forces me to make sure that I'm analyzing all of the blood and not missing any components. The physics, when we analyze the blood, there are two primary mechanisms of which blood is deposited once it's outside the body. One would be the natural loss of physics, which would be gravity or the body's natural tendency to bleed, both of which don't have the introduction of an outside force.

(05:31:04)
So those types of bloodstains, we call them passive for that exact reason. There's no infliction of an injury. There's no impact to the liquid blood that causes it to be dispersed any other way than what would naturally occur. Then if you do have an action or an introduction of an outside force, that absolutely changes the overall appearance of the blood distribution because the mechanism is completely different. The mechanism is now overriding the natural tendency of gravity or the body's natural tendency to bleed. And in this particular case, chemistry was important because there was a significant amount of presumptive testing done, which is very appropriate and very common, as well as there was chemical processing that was employed in various areas regarding this particular case. So having a basic understanding of how those chemical processes work and what the indications and basically what they mean is crucial for me when I do my analysis as well to make sure that I'm appropriately identifying how that chemistry has affected my analysis.

Ms. Pidari (05:32:10):

Okay. So then I want to talk a little bit about identifying blood stains and patterns. If we can go to the next slide and we'll start with spatter. So what is spatter?

Ms. Cox (05:32:23):

Well, the best way to describe a lot of the terminologies, there's like a tree trunk. So the first tree trunk would be spatter, and that is a bloodstain that results from the introduction of an outside external force that causes an airborne droplet to be dispersed. And it is associated with the external force being applied to liquid blood. And from that tree trunk, there's a branch and one of the branches would be something called impact, which would be just as it sounds. It's a blood stain that's the result from an object striking the liquid blood.

Ms. Pidari (05:32:59):

Okay. Now these two photographs that you have on this slide, that's not from this case, right?

Ms. Cox (05:33:03):

No, these are demonstrative and I intentionally chose these two because the amount of external force that is applied, the amount of blood available for distribution, location of injuries, et cetera, et cetera, will dictate the overall appearance of the bloodstains themselves. So one of the things that once we get the foundation and the understanding of what an impact does, we then have to understand that they're not going to look cookie cutter. There are going to be scene-specific variables that can determine how the spatter appears. Regardless, both of these patterns exhibit characteristics consistent with impact.

Ms. Pidari (05:33:47):

Okay. So let's go on to the next one, which is cast off. So what is cast off blood?

Ms. Cox (05:33:52):

Cast-off is a blood stain that results from drops that are released from the object due to its motion. That could be a forward motion, that could be a backward motion, that could be a swinging motion. But what happens is liquid blood is accumulated on a surface and the subsequent movement of that item that it is attached to is basically forcing the blood off, either flinging it off, swinging it off, and it will cause a visually different deposition pattern.

Ms. Pidari (05:34:23):

So these cast-off patterns that we have here, what's important about this? What does this tell us?

Ms. Cox (05:34:29):

Well, this is what's interesting about this is you can have cast-off patterns and/or a series of cast-off stains. So the item that the blood is being released from will determine the distribution of the blood as well as what item it is and how it's being swung. So for example, these particular blood stains, they're varying in size and shape and directionality. So this to me is not one consistent parallel swinging motion. This is more of a non-deliberate motion causing the distribution of these particular stains.

Ms. Pidari (05:35:12):

Okay. We can go on to the next one. So can you define directionality for us?

Ms. Cox (05:35:18):

So directionality is the characteristics of a blood stain that indicate the path or the way that that blood was traveling when it was deposited. A lot of times we associate that with some of our impact spatter patterns if the elongated stains present themselves. Sometimes it doesn't present themselves based on the variables of the scene. So the blood was traveling in this particular photograph from left to right. And the reason that is determined is because you have the leading edge of the blood stain, which is...

Ms. Pidari (05:35:51):

It's okay. It pops back on.

Ms. Cox (05:35:53):

Oh, good. Is right here. So that's the initial area of the surface where the blood stain made contact and then the elongation shows the direction of travel.

Ms. Pidari (05:36:02):

So the direction of travel, is it fair to say it starts to get a little thinner as it goes by?

Ms. Cox (05:36:06):

We call them exclamation points. Some people call them tadpoles.

Ms. Pidari (05:36:09):

Okay.

Ms. Cox (05:36:09):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (05:36:09):

Gotcha. All right. We can go on to the next one. So that's going to be a drip stain. Oh, I'm sorry.

Ms. Cox (05:36:18):

That's okay. I just-

Ms. Pidari (05:36:18):

I apologize.

Ms. Cox (05:36:19):

... talked over that.

Ms. Pidari (05:36:20):

Drip stain, what is a drip stain?

Ms. Cox (05:36:22):

Now we're moving into something that's more passive. So now we're moving into a drip stain, which is a blood stain that results from a falling drop of blood due to gravity. And the reason for showing these two various photographs is because this surface really plays an important role in the distribution of the drip stains. So you can see a coarse substrate. The stain will present itself differently. It looks broken. There may be what we call satellite staining. This is more of a smooth surface where the blood stain stays more intact. So this is just a perfect example of being aware and having an understanding of your surface.

Ms. Pidari (05:37:01):

Okay. And when you say coarse surface, can you give us an example of what would be a coarse surface versus a smooth surface?

Ms. Cox (05:37:06):

A coarse surface would be concrete, raw wood. If you have rough tiles, sometimes in Florida, if your floor has a lot of sugar sand on it, that can be considered to be coarse because of sugar sand. So those would be more consistent if you have, for example, if you have a surface that has decorative patterns to it, grout lines can be considered to be coarse. And then a smooth surface would be more like the desks, would be more like a vinyl plank, more of a smooth glass, more of a sooth mirror, more of a smooth surface like that.

Ms. Pidari (05:37:45):

All right. You can go next. So flow pattern, what is a flow pattern?

Ms. Cox (05:37:55):

A flow pattern is a blood stain that is distributed based on the movement of a volume of blood on a surface, either due to gravity or movement of the blood source. And typically that's associated with the. There has to be a rather good amount of blood available for gravity to start pulling it down the surface. And one of the things that we look for, as you can see in these photographs, are some delineated edges. And then of course just the downward movements. This would be strictly based on gravity and this one shows that there's a little bit of movement of the actual blood source itself.

Ms. Pidari (05:38:31):

Okay. All right. Go to the next one. Saturation, what is that?

Ms. Cox (05:38:36):

That is a blood stain resulting from the accumulation of liquid blood in an absorbent material. So for example, this is a textile, so this would also be considered passive by nature. This would be the injury being allowed to bleed and for the textile to be allowed to consume it and then to try to diffuse it outward.

Ms. Pidari (05:38:57):

Okay. So is that a fabric material?

Ms. Cox (05:38:59):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (05:38:59):

Is it often in that type of material you might see saturation?

Ms. Cox (05:39:02):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (05:39:03):

Okay. Different than a smooth or coarse material or...

Ms. Cox (05:39:06):

Correct. So if you had an individual who was bleeding on the edge of the table, because that's a non-coarse surface, that's going to be something considered to be pooled blood. Now the actual mechanism's the same. The blood source is allowed to bleed freely and uninterrupted. It's just the substrate is different. This is a textile as opposed to, for example, a hardwood.

Ms. Pidari (05:39:28):

Okay. We can go on to the next one. What is transfer?

Ms. Cox (05:39:31):

Transfer is a blood stain resulting from contact between a blood-bearing surface, typically a wet liquid blood bearing surface and another surface. The two branches from transfer is you can actually have comparable transfer. Sometimes you can have boot impressions, sometimes you can have fingerprints, weapon impressions, fabric impressions. So sometimes it may exhibit characteristics that if a known or a standard is collected, it may become what we call comparable. But then you can also have the same phenomenon but have a transfer stain that doesn't have characteristics that are comparable. However, once again, the deposition mechanism is the same. It's a surface that has wet blood on it that comes in contact with another surface subsequently transferring some of the liquid blood.

Ms. Pidari (05:40:18):

So would one example of a non-comparable transfer be if somebody got somebody else's blood on their arm and then their arm touches that surface, for example? Would that be a transfer?

Ms. Cox (05:40:28):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (05:40:29):

Okay. And it's just not comparable because you don't know exactly what caused it to do that?

Ms. Cox (05:40:33):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (05:40:33):

Okay. We can go to the next one. Swipe. What is a swipe?

Ms. Cox (05:40:38):

So a swipe is the same thing, except it shows movement. So rather than, for example, just having your arm just touch the wall and then have immediate retraction, you have subsequent movement of arm along the wall. So once again, the mechanism is somewhat the same. However, there's an indication of movement as opposed to a stationary deposition and a retraction.

Ms. Pidari (05:41:03):

Okay. All right. And what is an altered stain?

Ms. Cox (05:41:07):

An altered stain is a blood stain that has characteristics that indicate a physical change has occurred. There are multiple branches on the altered tree trunk, one of which that can be quite common is something called dilution, which is decreasing the concentration of a liquid through the introduction of another liquid.

Ms. Pidari (05:41:28):

Okay. Such as?

Ms. Cox (05:41:30):

Water to blood.

Ms. Pidari (05:41:31):

Okay. Cleaning products?

Ms. Cox (05:41:33):

Cleaning products. I've had cases where lighter fluid was introduced to blood, paint has been introduced to blood. So it's just some other type of liquid that becomes intermingled with the blood itself.

Ms. Pidari (05:41:49):

Okay. All right. If you want to have a seat. I may ask you to step down a little bit, but I'll have you sit for the next couple of questions if that's okay. I want to talk to you about the analysis you did in this case. When did you first get involved in this case?

Ms. Cox (05:42:16):

I received case file materials in June of 2023.

Ms. Pidari (05:42:20):

Okay. So because you got it in June of 2023, you then were not able to go to the active crime scene while it was being processed before being cleaned up. Is that fair?

Ms. Cox (05:42:31):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (05:42:32):

Did you eventually go to 1501 South Belcher Road in building B to help confirm your analysis?

Ms. Cox (05:42:41):

I did.

Ms. Pidari (05:42:41):

Okay. And do you know when that was?

Ms. Cox (05:42:43):

September 8th of this year.

Ms. Pidari (05:42:45):

Now, the judge has seen many photographs of that location already. So just tell us, did you walk through the atrium?

Ms. Cox (05:42:52):

I did.

Ms. Pidari (05:42:52):

Okay. And after you walked through the atrium, did you see the men's restroom?

Ms. Cox (05:42:56):

I did.

Ms. Pidari (05:42:57):

And did you actually go into the men's restroom?

Ms. Cox (05:42:59):

I did.

Ms. Pidari (05:43:00):

Big? Small? What kind of space was it?

Ms. Cox (05:43:02):

It's small.

Ms. Pidari (05:43:03):

Okay. And initially when you were contacted by our office, what information did you receive?

Ms. Cox (05:43:10):

May I refer to my report to make sure? Okay.

Ms. Pidari (05:43:12):

If it would help refresh your recollection, yes.

Ms. Cox (05:43:13):

I received body-worn camera video. I received video from an outdoor surveillance camera. I received a 911 call. I received photographs of multiple items of evidence, individuals, law enforcement, and multiple scenes. So I received that as well. I also received the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office forensic science specialist reports. I received Pinellas County Forensic Laboratory reports. I received the Largo Police Department case supplemental reports that was actually authored by multiple officers, and I received property and evidence reports, and I received a PowerPoint that identified some logistics. I also did receive a Pinellas County Sheriff's Office latent examination report, which I didn't utilize in my analysis.

Ms. Pidari (05:44:11):

Okay. And why is that?

Ms. Cox (05:44:12):

Because it had nothing to do with the blood.

Ms. Pidari (05:44:14):

So did you try and focus with all the materials that you received strictly on what the scientific evidence would show?

Ms. Cox (05:44:19):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (05:44:20):

Okay. Did you review all of the materials that were relevant and that were provided to you?

Ms. Cox (05:44:26):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (05:44:26):

So tell us how you conduct this analysis. After you receive these materials, then what do you do?

Ms. Cox (05:44:33):

So when I have the opportunity to review body-worn camera, I like to do that first because that is obviously when the first responding officer responds. So it is one of the primary indications of the scene, how it presented itself upon the arrival of law enforcement. So I like to look at the body-worn camera videos in order to just get a feel for where people are, who's going where. Now, I do listen to them with the sound off. I do not listen to them with the sound on because I'm not interested in what people are saying. I'm interested in what people are doing. So I look to see where people go. I also look to see if there's any behavior, whether it's through clearing the location, whether it's securing the location, whether any of the activities that are necessary to do that in a satisfactory manner have any consequence to my analysis. So I'm very cognizant of those activities. Then I will look at the crime scene photographs and start looking to see the evidence in a more generalized, detailed, more deliberate documentation manner because body-worn camera is not the same as taking crime scene photos. I'm able to marry the two together to make sure that I address scene specific variables, but I'm also addressing and classifying the stains appropriately. So I like to focus on that. And then as I transition through the photographs and the body cam, then I will start to look at technical reports from the crime scene technicians, the forensic specialists, to see if there was any activity that they may have detailed in their report that I may not have seen as descript in the photographs, and so that's my progression. Then as I'm moving forward with my analysis, I'll start to look at the technical reports from the laboratories, in this case would be DNA serology.

(05:46:41)
And then I also follow up with the first responder reports and the law enforcement reports. I do tend to look at those last because I have to extrapolate out of those only the information relevant to the tangible physical evidence. So once those reports start getting into verbal or written statements, I don't review that portion of those reports. And then as my analysis continues, I have multiple things up at once, body-worn camera, I have photos, I'm looking at reports. So once I've looked at it in a piecemeal, then I start to bring it all together to put it together for my interpretation.

Ms. Pidari (05:47:26):

Okay. So is that the sequence that you followed when you were analyzing this case?

Ms. Cox (05:47:30):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (05:47:31):

And I want to focus on some photographs or even, I guess, body-worn camera, but did you review any photographs or body-worn cameras specifically from the men's bathroom at 1501 South Belcher?

Ms. Cox (05:47:44):

Yeah, both body-worn camera and photographs.

Ms. Pidari (05:47:47):

And did you see blood stains in any of those materials?

Ms. Cox (05:47:51):

Both in the body-worn camera as well as in the photographs, yes.

Ms. Pidari (05:47:54):

Okay. Did you also receive photographs and/or body-worn camera of the residence in Tarpon Springs, 511 Seaview Drive?

Ms. Cox (05:48:03):

The body-worn camera, I don't recall reviewing that for the Seaview Drive location. I focused primarily on the documentation that was done by photographs as that was a directive that was after the initial incident or the location where the bloodletting event had occurred. So I focused primarily on the photographs and reports from that part of the investigation.

Ms. Pidari (05:48:29):

Okay. And when you-

Speaker 11 (05:48:34):

I object to the testimony of this witness. Observations and photographs were included, questions to suppress.

Judge Bulone (05:48:39):

At 1501 Belcher?

Speaker 11 (05:48:41):

At my home.

Judge Bulone (05:48:44):

Okay. All right. It's preserved. You may continue.

Ms. Pidari (05:48:47):

Thank you. So forensic photos specifically, did you review those from 511 Seaview?

Ms. Cox (05:48:52):

I did.

Ms. Pidari (05:48:53):

And when you reviewed those photographs, did you note any blood stains there as well?

Ms. Cox (05:48:58):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (05:48:59):

Okay. Specifically, did you note any blood stains located in the Toyota Tundra that was in the garage at that residence?

Ms. Cox (05:49:06):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (05:49:07):

Okay. And what about in the garage, like on the floor?

Ms. Cox (05:49:11):

Yes, there was a chemical luminescence from the application of a chemical, so I did observe that.

Ms. Pidari (05:49:17):

Okay. And then lastly, did you review photographs of a red Toyota Tundra that was taken by Pinellas County forensic specialists?

Ms. Cox (05:49:30):

The Tundra was gray.

Ms. Pidari (05:49:31):

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I misspoke. Red Toyota Corolla.

Ms. Cox (05:49:34):

Yes, the Corolla. Yes.

Ms. Pidari (05:49:35):

I mixed up my Toyotas, sorry.

Ms. Cox (05:49:37):

Yes, the Corolla.

Ms. Pidari (05:49:38):

So you did?

Ms. Cox (05:49:38):

I did.

Ms. Pidari (05:49:38):

Okay. And did you notice any blood stains in any of those photographs?

Ms. Cox (05:49:43):

The blood stains that I identified were after chemical processing, so through luminescence.

Ms. Pidari (05:49:50):

Okay. Did you also review serological reports and DNA analyses performed on the blood from those locations in this case?

Ms. Cox (05:49:57):

I did.

Ms. Pidari (05:49:57):

Okay. And did you document your blood findings for all of these locations in a report?

Ms. Cox (05:50:03):

I did.

Ms. Pidari (05:50:04):

And have you prepared a PowerPoint to help express and testify to your findings?

Ms. Cox (05:50:09):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (05:50:18):

Okay. May I approach the clerk?

Judge Bulone (05:50:18):

You may.

Ms. Pidari (05:50:19):

Showing Dr. Kosowski 115 for identification. May I approach?

Judge Bulone (05:50:19):

You may.

Ms. Pidari (05:50:29):

[inaudible 05:50:27] I'm having pre-marked as 115 for identification. Do you recognize this?

Ms. Cox (05:50:33):

Yes. That is a smart thumb drive in the bag, has my initials and date.

Ms. Pidari (05:50:39):

Okay. And on this flash drive, is it the PowerPoint that you created to help explain your testimony in this case?

Ms. Cox (05:50:45):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (05:50:46):

Okay. And everything that you've included in your PowerPoint, did that come from different materials that you've relied upon in order to come to your conclusions?

Ms. Cox (05:50:53):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (05:50:53):

Okay. And all of the things that you put in your PowerPoint, such as photographs or any wording, was that altered in any way from the reports of the photographs that you received?

Ms. Cox (05:51:03):

No. I actually identify the photo stamp number for reference if necessary, as well as the date of whatever serological report I referenced.

Ms. Pidari (05:51:13):

Now, at this time, the state would offer into evidence what's been pre-marked as 115 for identification as 115.

Judge Bulone (05:51:19):

All right. Any objection?

Speaker 11 (05:51:20):

Yes, sir.

Judge Bulone (05:51:22):

All right. So you object to the residence and the Corolla?

Speaker 11 (05:51:26):

I'm sorry?

Judge Bulone (05:51:27):

You object to the residence, your residence, and the Corolla because of the search warrant or some other reason?

Speaker 11 (05:51:32):

Out of abundance of caution, I object to the whole entire PowerPoint.

Judge Bulone (05:51:35):

Okay. All right. Your whole objection is overruled. All right. It's admitted.

Ms. Pidari (05:51:40):

Thank you, Your Honor. Permission to publish?

Judge Bulone (05:51:42):

You may.

Ms. Pidari (05:51:42):

And may she step down again? Thank you.

Judge Bulone (05:51:50):

Okay. Charge for the...

Ms. Pidari (05:52:37):

Thank you.

(05:52:37)
All right. All right.

Judge Bulone (05:52:37):

By the way, do we know what these noise is up here? I mean, are you hearing a lot of static? Because I know I am?

Speaker 12 (05:52:43):

Yes.

Judge Bulone (05:52:44):

Do we have any idea where that's coming from?

Speaker 12 (05:52:45):

No, Your Honor.

Judge Bulone (05:52:45):

Okay. You may continue.

Ms. Pidari (05:52:51):

Thank you. All right. So you've labeled it as Largo Police Department with the case number and Steven Cozzi. So to your knowledge, after reviewing all of the evidence, is Steven Cozzi noted as the victim in this case?

Ms. Cox (05:53:03):

I identified him as a subject.

Ms. Pidari (05:53:04):

Got it.

Ms. Cox (05:53:05):

So he is the missing subject.

Ms. Pidari (05:53:09):

Okay. So we can go on to the next one. So walk us through this. And what photos are we looking at? At what location?

Ms. Cox (05:53:16):

So when I placed the photographs on the screen, the numerical numbers that are either presented above, below, or beside the photographs reference the stamp from the photograph as it came to me as part of the case file. So for any future reference, I can reference right back to the original stamp that I received. I received a lot of photographs and I looked at all of the photographs. So I have selected the ones that are most relevant for my analysis specific to my particular participation in this investigation. So this is just an overall photograph of the scene as it presented when the forensic specialist arrived. And then this is the front entrance that I also myself entered through when I visited the crime scene. So that's just the general reference for that.

Ms. Pidari (05:54:09):

Okay. And what are we looking at on the second slide or third slide technically?

Ms. Cox (05:54:14):

So this is the entryway upon immediately entering the front entrance door. This would be considered to be the atrium area where there were business access, well, one to the law firm and one to another location on either side of this particular atrium area. And then what was also of particular interest is you can already see in this photograph the sign for the men's room. So the location of the men's room in relationship to the front door, that's just a general idea of the relationship of those two areas.

Ms. Pidari (05:54:49):

Now, earlier this month when you went to this location, is this similar to what it looked like or almost identical to what it looked like when you went back and looked at it?

Ms. Cox (05:54:58):

This particular area is almost identical.

Ms. Pidari (05:55:00):

All right. You can go to the next one. All right. So what are we looking at here?

Ms. Cox (05:55:03):

So this is what would be considered to be a mid-range perspective of the location of the men's room in relationship to the front atrium area. You can still see the mural art on the wall as a reference to proceeding through the atrium area. It also presents how the door opens and closes for the men's room, which may sound insignificant, but it is important in an analysis. And then there's documentation that I later subsequently read in one of the police reports that this box had been placed there by first responders as one of the initial steps to maintain the integrity of the scene. So that would be a perfect example as to why I read those reports so that I know when the actual integrity of the scene was started to be focused on. So that was placed there by law enforcement.

Ms. Pidari (05:55:59):

Now, before we go to the next slide, you mentioned that it captures the way that the door opens and closes, and you said that that's very relevant. Why? Why is it relevant?

Ms. Cox (05:56:07):

Well, the door opens inward, and the reason that that's relevant is because there's an actual pattern on the exterior of this door that shows subsequent movement. It's a swipe pattern. And what's also interesting is on the interior of the door where the door handle is to actually pull the door open, there's also transfer of blood.

Ms. Pidari (05:56:26):

Okay. Bring the next one. Now, are these pictures of the inside of the bathroom that were provided to you in discovery?

Ms. Cox (05:56:34):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (05:56:35):

Okay. And talk to us about this. What's relevant about these photos?

Ms. Cox (05:56:38):

So this would be considered to be a mid-range-ish overall photograph of how the bathroom presents itself when you first open the door and prepare to enter it. And it gives you the overall dynamics of the structure. So for example, there is a single stall. The interesting thing about the stall door is that it opens and it almost makes contact with the entry door to the actual physical bathroom. It gives you perspective of where the urinal is located, the privacy barriers, et cetera. It provides me an understanding of the sink, where the receptacle is. So it's giving me just a general overall feel for the layout of this location the day that the incident was reported. And then also it now is starting to provide me an understanding of scene-specific variables, like this floor was a very relevant scene -specific variable. You have an overflowing trash receptacle, you have an open cabinet.

(05:57:45)
So now not only am I getting a general perspective, but now I'm starting to pick up on some of the variables that were unique to this particular incident.

Ms. Pidari (05:57:54):

All right. And you said that the floor was a very important factor, so why is that?

Ms. Cox (05:57:59):

Not only is it dark, it's a dark floor, it's also got these really small little tiles, raised tiles. So there's a lot of them, which means there's a lot of little grout lines. And the reason that that's relevant for me as my analysis progressed was that when I was identifying and looking at areas of blood stains, what was interesting was there were some areas of blood stains that were just in the grout lines, but not at the top. So as a blood stain analyst, one of the things that leads me to start to think is, well, how do you get blood only in grout lines? Do I have a pool of blood that is flowed or is there a possible post-incident alteration? So these are the types of things that I must be immediately aware of when I start doing my analysis because they must be considered.

Ms. Pidari (05:58:59):

Okay. And when you went and visited the men's restroom at 1501 Belcher, was this a very similar layout to what you observed?

Ms. Cox (05:59:09):

The layout was the same. I believe the floor drain has been removed, but the overall structure itself was the same. They hadn't added another stall or anything.

Ms. Pidari (05:59:22):

Okay. A little cleaner too?

Ms. Cox (05:59:25):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (05:59:26):

Okay.

Ms. Cox (05:59:26):

It was cleaner.

Ms. Pidari (05:59:27):

So do you eventually make your way into the restroom and it was part of your analysis?

Ms. Cox (05:59:31):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (05:59:31):

Let's go to the next slide. All right, so what are we looking at here?

Ms. Cox (05:59:36):

Okay. So this is really, really interesting to me because on the exterior of the stall door, there were these two elongated stains and then these two very small circular stains. And I was immediately drawn to them because I thought, "How did you get here?" Because it's so far removed from some of the other blood I saw in the bathroom. So what I'm talking about are these two little elongated stains here, and then these two circular stains. And the sheriff's office utilized a measuring device to give me an approximate size of the blood stains, which these are not passive. They're not passive in nature. There was an action that caused their distribution. And the reason that I can say that is because they didn't exhibit any of the qualities of dilution. So the actual original parent stain, once it was deposited, it was not altered.

(06:00:33)
So I'm able to base it on its size, shape, and distribution as being some type of action, and it did not exhibit any alteration. Now, the directionality of the elongated stains, it's traveling downwards and towards the north, which would be downwards and towards that north wall, which indicates that the blood that's from these elongated stains was coming downward. But what was fascinating to me was they are still relatively low to the floor. So the blood source that distributes this is above this particular area. But what was interesting to me was I didn't have any additional stains that radiated further upward on this part of the partition or part of the framing. So I was able to say that they were distributed by an action as opposed to a passive distribution.

Ms. Pidari (06:01:29):

All right. Go to the next one. All right. What photos of these and why are they relevant?

Ms. Cox (06:01:31):

And the reason that that is relevant is because if you look at the area that is above the door handle right here in this particular area, that is actually a passive deposition. That is actually a transfer stain. So that action that caused the transfer stain is completely different. It's passive in nature. This is an item or an individual contaminated with wet blood, basically coming into contact with the door as opposed to an action causing the distribution of those smaller stains. So you can see visually in and of itself, their appearance is different because the mechanism of deposition is different.

(06:02:09)
The other thing that I thought was interesting was this blood stain originally had sufficient blood volume such that it had started to form a downward flow pattern. So that would indicate that while this is not a large deposition stain, there was still enough blood in it that gravity was able to pull some of the blood downwards. Then what was also interesting was adjacent to this stain on what would be considered the non-hinged edge of the door, you have a very small little swipe pattern, which is indicative of movement. So this particular area would indicate to me that this deposition of this blood stains here was after at least one bloodletting event had occurred and something is contaminated with blood coming into contact with that area of the door.

Ms. Pidari (06:03:02):

Okay. And just to be clear, you-

Ms. Cox (06:03:00):

-on top of that area of the door.

Ms. Pidari (06:03:02):

And just to be clear, you may have said it, but I just want to make sure the record is clear. What you're talking about is on the door into the stall where the toilet is in the bathroom?

Ms. Cox (06:03:10):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (06:03:11):

Okay. Are you going to the next one? All right. So we have some more photos of that same door. Why are these photos relevant?

Ms. Cox (06:03:19):

Because also right above that transfer and swipe pattern are small stains again. So what I was interested in was I have these small stains on the lower portion of the partition or the framing for the door of the stall. I have transfer and swiping on an area above the door handle of the door. And I also have these small stains that were also caused by an action on the non-hinged side. So what this is telling me is this is dynamic. This isn't static. Because of the location of the blood stains on the surfaces and the relationship to each other, I'm already getting an idea that there's movement going on. This is not just a static event occurring.

Ms. Pidari (06:04:15):

So let's talk about your analysis on the north wall of the stall since we just did the door. So what are we looking at on this slide?

Ms. Cox (06:04:27):

So this would be from the perspective, you can actually see that this is the hinge for the door. So the door would be opened to the right and this would be as if you were standing basically in the stall looking down into the corner. The toilet is back up in this particular area. So now what I see over here is now I'm starting to see not just one or two small stains caused by an action. What I'm seeing is now I'm starting to see clusters of very small stains. Some sparsely distributed, but in one area it was rather densely distributed. And what was interesting is they are also relatively low to the floor. You can see that this is a two-tier tile basic baseboard and you can see these smaller stains and then there's one stain up here by itself on the north wall. They're relatively circular in appearance and they were pretty sparsely distributed.

(06:05:31)
So those were also distributed by what I consider to be an action which I consider to be impact. And I am basing that on the fact that as you move further down this wall, there is a rather dense distribution of very small stains that are all relatively the same size. Then over here in this corner, you also have another distribution of smaller stains. These are a little bit larger and what was interesting about those is they appeared to be mixed with what I consider to be a gelatinous material. So it was blood that was mixed in with something that appeared to be blood mixed with another biological material, something gelatinous, tissue, something of the such. And that was over in this area. So what was important to me was the proximity of those blood stains to each other, the relative continuity of their size, shape and distribution and the fact that they were low to the floor was indicative to me that an actual bloodletting event caused by an action occurred in this particular area of the bathroom.

Ms. Pidari (06:06:40):

And you've said bloodletting event a few times. What do you mean by a bloodletting event?

Ms. Cox (06:06:44):

Where the blood is actually distributed by force.

Ms. Pidari (06:06:47):

Okay. So then that was Slide 11. I'm going to start putting it on the record so we can keep track. So let's go to Slide 12. What are we looking at here?

Ms. Cox (06:06:56):

So the first photograph obviously has the identifier on it. I placed that yellow circle to identify where the stain is in the overall photograph because it is a little difficult to see if you're not looking for it. I did receive all of the photographs on digital medium. So I was able to, in a controlled environment, zoom in and out on the particular photographs to make sure that I was looking at everything that was available to see within that photograph. So this would be considered to be a mid-range photo and then they did move that into a closeup photograph where the measuring device has been applied next to the same stain. You can see it's very small and it's circular in nature.

Ms. Pidari (06:07:42):

And what does that tell us?

Ms. Cox (06:07:45):

That is indicative of the source of blood being in close proximity to the wall, such that the blood didn't have the opportunity to elongate and radiate out and upward because the target surface, which would be the wall, was in very close proximity to the original source.

Ms. Pidari (06:08:02):

Before I move on, all of these pictures that you're describing with these blood patterns, these blood stains, can you tell whether it's dry blood or if it's wet blood? Are you able to tell?

Ms. Cox (06:08:17):

It did not exhibit characteristics of degradation that you see sometimes in Florida, which will be cracking and flaking. I didn't see any indication of that, but I also didn't see any indication that the blood itself, the overall appearance was uneven as if the center portion hadn't dried yet because blood stains dry from the outside in. So I didn't see any indication that there was still visible wetness to the center of the stain. Now the stains that were mixed with the gelatinous material, that's a little bit tougher because of the substrate mixed in with the blood. So I can't really give an opinion on that itself

Ms. Pidari (06:08:56):

Okay. Again, before we move on, you said gelatinous material. I think you gave one example of tissue. What other-

Ms. Cox (06:09:03):

Fatty substrate, some other type of biological material.

Ms. Pidari (06:09:07):

Okay. All right. So now we're on Slide 13. What are we looking at here?

Ms. Cox (06:09:13):

So now we're progressing. So the first stain I documented was a little bit further up on the wall. So now we're transitioning down the actual wall, down the tile base and actually down towards the floor. And so you're starting to see, you're starting to get more stains that have been captured in the documentation. And then as we continue to move down onto this particular tile area, those particular stains start to become smaller. They follow in a couple slides here. But this photograph right here is a perfect demonstration or demonstrative of what I mean by blood mixed with a gelatinous material. You can actually see that it's not the red color. It's more of a milky pinkish color. So that's why it was more consistent with being mixed with some type of other biological material.

Ms. Pidari (06:10:04):

All right. We can go to Slide 14.

Ms. Cox (06:10:07):

So once again, this is just the progression. We're moving down the wall and this is the actual floor here. And I have encased what I consider to be a spatter pattern. These are small stains. Their size, shape and distribution is relatively the same and it is a dense distribution and its proximity to the floor, it's literally just right above the floor.

Ms. Pidari (06:10:30):

So the location, size and the fact that it's spatter, the mechanism of distribution, what does that tell you?

Ms. Cox (06:10:36):

So one of the things, especially when you're dealing with impact spatter, is the smaller the stain, the stronger the force that causes its distribution. So when you have a stronger force or a stronger energy that distributes the blood into these very small droplets, the stronger the force is going to make the stains much smaller in appearance. So that's the connectivity between the action and the physical characteristics of the bloodstain.

Ms. Pidari (06:11:06):

Okay. Thank you. So, Philip, let's move on to Slide 15. What are we looking at here?

Ms. Cox (06:11:11):

Closeup photographs. So this is an initial closeup photograph without scale, which is very customary to do. That way you can get a general view of the stains in relationship to each other. The other fantastic thing about getting photographs like this is I can see the actual surface. So I can see whether or not the surface may have played any role in the overall appearance and distribution of the bloodstains. Well, this is a smooth tile, and so I was able to even zoom in even closer than this closeup photograph is and determine that the tile itself did not cause any alteration or disruption to the action that caused the blood to be placed onto this particular area.

Ms. Pidari (06:11:54):

All right. And the next slide, Slide 16, is that with the ruler you were talking about?

Ms. Cox (06:11:57):

Correct. So once again, when we're talking about size, shape and distribution, measuring devices is important to have as validation when I say they're very small.

Ms. Pidari (06:12:09):

Okay. So again, these would be very small-

Ms. Cox (06:12:12):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (06:12:12):

With the ruler, right?

Ms. Cox (06:12:12):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (06:12:13):

And what is that telling us?

Ms. Cox (06:12:15):

Well, they're millimeters in size. So once again, because of their small overall appearance and their distribution, it's indicative of a stronger action that broke it into much smaller droplets than some of the other blood stains that we see on the other side of this bathroom stall.

Ms. Pidari (06:12:35):

So then we can go on to 17. Is that just a more zoomed-in photo of what we were just looking at?

Ms. Cox (06:12:40):

Yes, correct.

Ms. Pidari (06:12:41):

Okay. Any other relevant information from this slide that you haven't already discussed?

Ms. Cox (06:12:45):

No.

Ms. Pidari (06:12:46):

All right. We can go on to 18.

Ms. Cox (06:12:48):

Just really nice documentation from a different perspective using the measuring device. So I never complain when I get repetitive photographs. It's just, it really helps with my analysis, the more photographs that I have.

Ms. Pidari (06:13:02):

All right. So did you review the next slide we can talk about, which is Slide 19, a DNA report from July 16th of 2024, which identified a swab from the north wall identified as Steven Cozzi being a contributor?

Ms. Cox (06:13:18):

Yes, I did receive that DNA report.

Ms. Pidari (06:13:20):

Okay. So let's move on. All right. Before we move on, why is that relevant? Why did you put that in your PowerPoint?

Ms. Cox (06:13:29):

That was relevant because I had identified the blood on the north wall and the blood on the east wall near the northeast corner as being impact spatter, which would be consistent with a bloodletting event to liquid blood and having a representative stain coming back to being Mr. Cozzi would be an association of the injury being inflicted possibly to him.

Ms. Pidari (06:13:48):

So before we talk about the east wall in the stall, you mentioned the representative stain. So is it common that every single blood droplet is tested for somebody's DNA?

Ms. Cox (06:14:02):

No. And actually that's one of the benefits of being an instructor and teaching a basic blood stain class. One of the things that I really focus on as do my other colleagues that do instruct as well is it is crucial for you to understand why you're documenting what you're documenting. So when you see an area of a pattern and you put a scale in it, you don't need to swab that entire area. You can take a representative sample because that's from a singular action. So working in the field of forensics, we're trained to do that in order to expeditiously collect evidence that can be eventually tested. And having seven stains from one pattern doesn't yield any more probative value than having one stain from the area that we had tested if we are able to associate it with it being a single-action event.

Ms. Pidari (06:14:58):

Okay. Thank you. All right. So east wall in the stall. Go on to the next one. So this is Slide 21 for the record. What are we looking at here?

Ms. Cox (06:15:07):

So once again, one of the key components of this is its proximity to the smaller blood stains on the north wall. So the smaller blood stains on the north wall are over in this general area. Well, now you're starting to see a series of blood stains over here on this wall, which I've... that's my yellow circle that I put in there, just to be able to draw the viewer's eye to show the proximity of the area we just discussed. This over here are closeup photographs of those particular blood stains. Now the distribution is not nearly as dense as we saw the smaller stains, and these are a little bit larger, which I'm actually not surprised about because what I can really tell from the closeup photographs is you can see that these also have the pinkish, milkish, whitish color to them as well. So they're mixed with a gelatinous material as well. And that is important for me to consider when, what if I'm posed with the questions where, well, if this is a spatter event involving an individual, why is there such a discrepancy in size? Well, the scene-specific variable was the fact that this is mixed with a gelatinous material where the ones over here were not. So that would be a way for me to be able to say, okay, this is not alarming. I understand why these stains may be a couple millimeters larger.

Ms. Pidari (06:16:28):

Okay. And before we move on to the next one, I see you picking your foot up, trying not to trip over that cord. I was doing it earlier. Can we scoot it up just a little bit because she keeps moving around? I don't want you to trip.

Ms. Cox (06:16:36):

I agree.

Ms. Pidari (06:16:41):

Just a little bit. Is that better?

Ms. Cox (06:16:42):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (06:16:42):

Can you see that okay still, Judge? No? Do you want me to angle... Oh.

The Judge (06:16:45):

All right, that's good.

Ms. Pidari (06:16:46):

That's good? Okay.

(06:16:48)
And Dr. Kosowski, can you see that okay?

Dr. Kosowski (06:16:49):

I was going to take a minute. Yeah.

Ms. Pidari (06:16:50):

Okay.

Ms. Cox (06:16:53):

We can move it back. I'll just extend the pointer. [inaudible 06:16:59]

Ms. Pidari (06:17:00):

Is that okay?

Dr. Kosowski (06:17:02):

Yeah.

Ms. Pidari (06:17:03):

Yeah? Okay. All right. So then let's move on to Slide 22. Okay. So what are we looking at in these photographs and why was it relevant to your analysis?

Ms. Cox (06:17:15):

Okay. So one of the dynamics that drew my attention to the smaller blood stains that were on the exterior frame for the door, on the non-hinged side of the door, and the blood stains that presented themselves as spatter on the tile and on the wall in the corner, none of those exhibited what I considered to be post-incident alteration. Well, now as we start to move further down into the bathroom stall, as we're moving further towards basically where the toilet is, now I'm starting to see dynamics and characteristics that are telling me that some of this blood after deposition has been altered. And what was also relevant is the fact that... A scene-specific variable that is relevant in this case is you can also see that there is discoloration to this wall. So the proximity of the discoloration to the wall in proximity to the alterations by dilution that I see to these blood stains has allowed me to render the opinion that after deposition, there was an introduction of another liquid to some of this blood in this bathroom stall.

Ms. Pidari (06:18:27):

So when you're saying that there's evidence of dilution and alterations and there was some type of liquid, could that have been some type of cleaning product?

Ms. Cox (06:18:36):

I absolutely cannot exclude it because one of the tangible pieces of evidence that I read in multiple law enforcement reports was they smelled the strong smell of a cleaning solution. So even though that was a written word in a report, that is still considered to be tangible evidence because it is directly related to physical evidence.

Ms. Pidari (06:19:00):

Okay. All right. So we can go to Slide 23. Oh no, I'm wrong. Slide 24. No, 23? Where was I?

Ms. Cox (06:19:06):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (06:19:06):

Am I right?

Ms. Cox (06:19:06):

Yes.

Ms. Pidari (06:19:06):

Okay. Slide 24. Tell us what we're looking at here.

Ms. Cox (06:19:11):

So these are just closeup photographs of the blood that is on basically the two-tiered tile here, as well as you can see some of the blood on the wall above where the tile has been adhered. And you can also see the relationship of the change in color to the paint on the wall. So you can see here that these stains are exhibiting what's called dilution. So their color consistency is altered. Some areas of the blood stains appear to be broken. Some of the blood stains appear to be lighter in appearance than other areas. So it was consistent based on all of that tangible evidence I just discussed that there was the introduction of some type of liquid to this area, which altered the original apparent blood stain.

Ms. Pidari (06:20:03):

Okay. Let's go on to Slide 24. What is this a photograph of?

Ms. Cox (06:20:07):

So this is an overall mid-range photograph of the back corner of the bathroom. And what was of interest to me was, A, there's a grab bar that's attached to the east wall, but there's also the tile continues all the way to the back of the bathroom stall and all the way around behind the toilet. And there is a singular swipe pattern that is on the tile, excuse me, on the wall above the tile. And that was interesting because that stain's kind of off by itself. And the fact that it was a swipe pattern is consistent with an item already being contaminated with wet blood coming into contact with that area of the wall and showing movement. So this is not a static deposition either. This is a deposition of an item contaminated with blood and it's moving when it makes contact with the wall. Then as you come over here to the toilet, the secondary confirmation that there is movement as opposed to this being completely static is you have various blood stains and patterns on the toilet. What's interesting about it is it's all low. So it's all on the bottom of the lid, the front of the basin and on the actual base of the toilet basin itself. And you're seeing what's of interest is you have swipes and transfers. So you have different types of deposition, some showing movement, some showing deposition and then removal. So this is just, as the analysis continues, my interpretation is leading me once again that this is a dynamic situation. This is not immediately just static.

Ms. Pidari (06:21:54):

And you said that these swipe and transfer patterns were located low to the ground or not very high up. Why is that relevant?

Ms. Cox (06:22:04):

Because whatever item is contaminated with blood is either very close to or on the floor.

Ms. Pidari (06:22:11):

Go to Slide 25. What are we looking at here?

Ms. Cox (06:22:15):

So these are just closeup photographs with scale documenting that you can see what's interesting. So when I spoke earlier about the floor itself being a challenge because, A, it was dark in color, and B, it had the raised pattern, this wall is also a mildly textured wall in the bathroom. And what's interesting is when you look at these closeup photographs, you can actually see that this diluted blood is actually down inside the crevices of the slight texture. But if you look at the areas of the wall that protrude out from the valleys or the indentations, there's no blood on them. That was relevant. Also what's relevant is you can physically see in this photograph where some of the spray paint has been basically removed showing the blue underneath. So that's an example of not only understanding how the blood is reacting with the surface, but also taking into consideration other scene-specific variables that appear to be directly related to this incident as well. So that's why we do the marriage of the two.

Ms. Pidari (06:23:23):

Okay. Next, we can move on to Slide 26. What are we looking at?

Ms. Cox (06:23:28):

So these were areas of blood stains that are sporadically distributed. Some are diluted, some are not, but they are also once again in proximity to the area of the wall that show discoloration. So this is just, again, giving a demonstrative of the blood stains and patterns as they present themselves in relationship to each other.

Ms. Pidari (06:23:54):

Okay. Move on to 27. What are you looking at?

Ms. Cox (06:23:57):

So this is the towel bar, or excuse me, the grab bar that's on the east wall next to where the right side of the toilet is. Once again, you can see this is diluted blood right here, right next to the edge of the towel bar. And then behind the towel bar, you have these blood stains here. You can actually physically see where the actual bar itself protrudes out. So this is the actual frame that's attached to the wall. So that would be this part of the grab bar. So you do have some blood stains back here behind the bar, which just once again shows that the distribution is... There's multiple contacts going on in various areas inside this stall.

Ms. Pidari (06:24:43):

Okay. All right. We can move on to 28. All right. So why is this relevant to your analysis?

Ms. Cox (06:24:49):

So this would be the swipe pattern that's back in the corner behind the toilet and you can see it shows movement and it also shows irregular blood deposition. So you have movement and then you have a little bit of a heavier blood deposition here in the center of this swipe pattern. And that's just once again showing that that deposition occurred from a item that's contaminated with wet blood and it moves across the wall in that area.

Ms. Pidari (06:25:15):

So another swipe?

Ms. Cox (06:25:17):

Correct.

Ms. Pidari (06:25:17):

And it's low to the ground as well?

Ms. Cox (06:25:19):

Yes. It's right above the tile.

Ms. Pidari (06:25:21):

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