6.Hilary Griffiths — Direct/Cross
219 linesMS. BUCKINGHAM: The Commonwealth would call Hilary Griffiths as its next witness, please.
COURT CLERK: Good afternoon. [oath administered]
HILARY GRIFFITHS: I do.
COURT CLERK: Thank you. You may have a seat, please.
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Thank you.
THE COURT: Hi, good afternoon.
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Good afternoon.
THE COURT: All right. Counsel.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Thank you.
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Sorry.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: That's okay.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Good afternoon. Can you tell the jurors your first and last name?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Hilary Griffiths.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And can you spell your last name for the record?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: G-R-I-F-F-I-T-H-S.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And where do you work?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: I work at the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And what do you do there?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: I am a forensic scientist in the Toxicology Unit.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: How long have you been with the state police?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: For twenty-one years.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And have you spent your entire career in the Toxicology Unit, or have you worked in other units?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Initially, I worked in the DNA Unit, and then in the Office of Alcohol Testing, but I've been in the Toxicology Unit since two thousand eleven.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: What does the Toxicology Unit do at the crime lab?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: We test biological specimens, primarily blood and urine, and some other sample types, for the presence of drugs, alcohol, and some poisons to aid in criminal and legal investigations.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Where does the samples, the blood and urine, come from before it gets to your lab?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: They could come from, like, often hospital collections of blood and urine. Occasionally, urine samples can be collected from a defendant at a police station. Also, we receive samples from the medical examiner's office.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: So normally, it comes through some law enforcement channel, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And sometimes through the medical examiner's office.
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: You don't have any direct involvement in the collection of the blood or urine from an individual, correct?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: You're just looking at the blood itself.
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Or the urine.
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay. So what kinds of testing is done in the Toxicology Unit? You mentioned alcohol and drugs and poison, so how does the Toxicology Unit handle those things?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: We initially screen samples following a particular testing strategy depending on case type. And we will screen samples and then confirm whatever is found positive in the screening using a second methodology or repeating the initial methodology, using a variety of different techniques.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And when a sample comes to your unit, can you explain to us how the personnel in that unit divides up the work?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes. Our samples are tested in a batch system, so each analyst is assigned a particular task for the month, and then any case that requires that test during that month is performed by that individual. So often cases could need anywhere from three to ten different tests to be done, and so different individuals will conduct each different test.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And for any given case or any different lab number, is there a analyst that's kind of assigned at the end of it all to digest or analyze all of the data?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes. When all of the testing is completed for a case, an analyst takes responsibility for that case, and they will review all of the raw data that's generated by the different analysts involved. They'll review the case specific information, like the police report, the documentation on the evidence itself. They'll assess the case as a whole, and they'll generate a report containing their findings.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And do you receive some sort of specialized training to be part of the Toxicology Unit?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And what training do you receive?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: When I began working in the Toxicology Unit, I participated in approximately a year-long training program where I conducted literature reviews, attended lectures to learn the theory behind the testing and the testing process itself, as well as the interpretation of the results. And then I practiced each of the techniques on mock cases, and then took tests to ensure that I understood the logic and the background behind the testing, I understood the interpretation, and I was able to test these mock cases and get the correct results prior to performing those methods on casework samples.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And you described to us that the work is done in a batch flow process so that you could be doing different things at various points. Are you trained to do each part of the process?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And so ultimately, you could interpret, but you don't always interpret with every single case that you work on?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Now, in the toxicology unit, you mentioned that there are screening tests, and there are confirmatory tests, and those are usually assigned differently in this batch process, correct?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: They can be, yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: What are generally the screen tests that are done when a, like, a case comes into the toxicology unit?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: For the most part, all cases receive an ELISA screen, which is a very quick color screening test that looks for eight different types of drugs. It's very sensitive but not very specific, so it basically says, "This type of drug might be present. Now go do follow-up testing to find out specifically what's present." They also all receive a general unknown screen, which looks for several hundred different prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, and drugs of abuse. Then depending on the case type, they can be screened for alcohol, and they can be screened—a specific screening test for GHB can be performed if the case type warrants that.
MR. REDDINGTON: Hold on. GHB, alcohol? I mean, really.
THE COURT: Overruled. I'll allow... Go ahead.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: You can continue.
HILARY GRIFFITHS: And then depending on what is present from those screening tests, that will guide the follow-up testing.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay. And with the follow-up testing, that's the process of going through that secondary confirmatory testing, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And in some instances with the screens, are you looking to get any sort of specific information about a particular drug or substance that might be present, or is it just a determination of whether something is detected or not detected?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: It depends on the test itself and the sample. The general unknown screen only tells us... if a substance is detected or not detected. The general unknown screen can be run as both a screening test and a confirmatory test. With other tests, the screening test would just be qualitative, and we would determine if a substance is present or not, such as when we test urine, we can only determine or report out if a substance is present or not. With some tests, when testing blood, we can determine a concentration and know how much of the drug is present.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And are there limitations at your lab as far as determining concentration of certain types of drugs in blood?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And so what happens when your lab might have screened or detected a substance but doesn't have the ability to give a concentration? What do you do with that?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: We can, if the substance is confirmed, so if we've tested it twice and verified that it's definitely present, we can report it out as just detected, as opposed to giving the concentration.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Do you often work with other independent outside laboratories to do additional testing that you can't as far as determining concentrations or levels?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes. If it's important for the case to know a concentration of a substance that we can't quantify ourselves, we can send it to a different laboratory that can perform that testing.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: I'm gonna draw your attention to a laboratory number, 23-01723. Do you recall doing work on that particular lab number?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Do you recall what your role was in that batch process for the lab number?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes. I performed the confirmation method for benzodiazepines on the urine sample and the quantitation method for benzodiazepines on the blood sample.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And in order to do—well, can you tell us a little bit about the benzodiazepine? What did you do as far as it—that particular test?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: When testing both the blood and the urine, for the most part, the same method is used. We use a solid phase extraction method to separate the drugs from the rest of the biological material. Biological materials can have things like lipids and steroids and blood cells and bacteria and other things that can interfere with our testing, so we use this solid phase extraction method to separate the drugs and concentrate them to be able to run on our instrument, and then we run them on a LC-MS/MS, which is a liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer that can separate the different drugs and identify specifically which one is present and how much is there. When we're testing blood samples, we can report out that value for how much is present. When testing urine samples by this method, although the method itself can determine how much is present, we don't report that out because concentrations in urine aren't really meaningful. They don't reflect any concentration that had previously been in the blood. They mostly just reflect how much of the drug was present in the urine, so we don't report that. There is an additional step that's needed when testing urine at the beginning of the method, but otherwise, both the blood and the urine are tested in the same manner using the solid phase extraction and the LC-MS/MS.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And in this case, with this laboratory number, the toxicology unit was in fact provided with six vials of blood and one vial of urine, correct?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: There were four vials of blood, and then two vials of serum plasma, which had started out as blood but were serum by the time we received them, and then one tube of urine.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay. And as far as the urine goes, in your role in this batch process, you conducted that benzodiazepine screen, correct?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And it was positive?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And then, the further testing, were you able to detect any particular benzodiazepines in the urine?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: I didn't conduct the initial benzodiazepine screen through the Eliza method, which was positive. Based on that positive result, I ran the confirmation method on the urine, which identified the specific drugs that were present, and that identified in urine nordiazepam, oxazepam, temazepam, and lorazepam.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And based on your training experience when it comes to those substances, if it's detected in either blood or urine, does it mean that there are those four separate substances, or could they be derivatives of one particular drug?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes. Each of those substances is available as its own drug. You can get prescriptions for them. You can purchase them. However, diazepam, that's more commonly used than nordiazepam, oxazepam, and temazepam, breaks down into those other three substances. So often when we detect nordiazepam, oxazepam, and temazepam, they actually are present in the body because diazepam or another benzodiazepine was initially taken and it broke down to those three.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: But as far as your testing is, when it comes to urine, you can't determine or quantify what it was or if it was one drug or multiple?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Now, in this particular case, you indicated that there was also further testing done on the blood, correct?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And was it as well for the benzodiazepines?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And that was just because that was your role in the batch testing for this case?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: What were the results in the testing of the benzodiazepines in the blood?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: The blood contained eight point eight nanograms per milliliter of diazepam, and twenty nanograms per milliliter of nordiazepam, and four point eight nanograms per mil of oxazepam, and one point nine nanograms per mil of temazepam, and sixty-one nanograms per mil of lorazepam.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And in your role in this testing process, you're just running the equipment, running the test, and getting the data, correct?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: There is some analysis of the data. I have to ensure that the controls performed appropriately, that the instrument was running properly, and make a decision based on the instrument data, what I consider to be positive or not. But then it's handed off to another analyst who generates the final report.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And in this case, were all the controls appropriate, all the equipment running effectively, and everything done according to the policies and procedures of the lab?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Ultimately, all of the relevant controls that were associated with the samples performed appropriately.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And what did you do with the information or the data that you received as a result of these tests? What did you do with it?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: I put it together in a batch file that contained all the data for my analysis. It contained the case data for the samples that were run on that day, as well as all the control data that was run simultaneously, and other traceability type info, and gave it to another analyst who reviewed it to ensure that laboratory policies and procedures were followed, that the controls performed appropriately, in order to report the results, and that the results were scientifically accurate. And then after that analyst agreed with my findings, the data was put into the individual case files.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And in this case, the reporting analyst for the entire lab number of twenty-three dash zero one seven two three was in fact somebody by the name of Nicholas Roberts, correct?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And you're aware that there were other forensic scientists who did other testing for other types of drugs in the same test, but it wasn't part of your role or your batch?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Thank you.
THE COURT: Mr. Reddington.
MR. REDDINGTON: So the toxicology report you're familiar with was dated February twenty-fourth of two thousand twenty-three. Is that correct? Do you have it in front of you?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: I can refresh it. Yeah.
MR. REDDINGTON: Yeah. Great. Thank you.
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. And that's... You can keep it right there and look at it. And then you have, it makes reference to your lab number, and then it talks about the specimens that you've indicated, which would be the toxicology blood times four, serum plasma, you noted serum plasma, and then urine, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And when you say serum plasma, what is that? Is that just a breakdown of the blood, or is it that that was actual plasma that was submitted? How did that come about as opposed to the actual blood in items number one, two, and three?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: We received samples that were taken for medical reasons, and the sample that was initially drawn would have been blood, but the hospital would have separated the blood cells from the liquid portion of the sample prior to it being submitted to our lab. So when I received it, it was serum plasma, but it would have initially been blood.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. And likewise with the urine, correct?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And you received all of these items in, indicating light blue top tube, potassium oxalate, sodium fluoride. That was just so it will prevent coagulation, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And then looking down further, it says on the toxicology blood, you make reference to, as you indicated, the eight point eight diazepam, the nordiazepam, the oxazepam, temazepam, lorazepam, and then you're putting down, would that be nanograms per milliliters, NGML?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. And it's kinda hard to follow through with that, so I'm gonna approach you. This is a copy of the blood toxicology report that you're referring to, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Can I look at it?
MR. REDDINGTON: Sure. Of course.
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. And this is the tox report for Lindsay Clancy, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And it's making reference to incident date of January 24th of '23, correct?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: I'd offer this, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Any objection?
THE COURT: All right, that may be admitted.
COURT REPORTER: Exhibit 183.
MR. REDDINGTON: Now, we can continue with what he asked.
MR. REDDINGTON: You then make reference to organic bases and neutrals, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Can you tell me what is an organic base and a neutral? What does that mean?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: That refers to... So the line above that, the organic acids and neutrals and the organic bases and neutrals—
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay.
HILARY GRIFFITHS: ...refer to the results from the general unknown screen, which is another screen that was performed by a different analyst.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. Do you know who the analyst was?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Lisa Yelle.
MR. REDDINGTON: And would that be with the Department of the Massachusetts State Police?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. And as it relates to the tox report, it also notes that... But what is an organic base and a neutral? What does that mean, though? I just don't know.
HILARY GRIFFITHS: This testing procedure separates the drugs present in the sample into drugs that are more basic in nature and drugs that are more acidic in nature. This test looks for several hundred types of drugs. And so in order to customize the extraction method to target certain drugs, the sample is divided into two fractions.
MR. REDDINGTON: So in other words, it gives you a broader spectrum, if you will, of the drugs that would be in the person's sample of their blood, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And that detected mirtazapine, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Lamotrigine, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Probably mispronouncing this. Quetiapine?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Quetiapine.
MR. REDDINGTON: Quetiapine. And quetiapine metabolite, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: As well as trazodone, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: And just tell me, what is a metabolite? What does that mean, quetiapine metabolite?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: When we consume drugs, our body will break down the drug, often into another molecule, before it's being excreted. And sometimes our testing can detect these breakdown molecules as well. So this test detected both quetiapine as well as its breakdown product.
MR. REDDINGTON: So there was, that would indicate that there was quetiapine that was in the blood, as well as a quetiapine metabolite, or a breakdown over passage of time?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Also—
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Mm-hmm.
MR. REDDINGTON: ... just, you guys check for everything. There's no alcohol detected, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: No amphetamines detected, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: There was a benzo screen that was positive, which we've already talked about, correct?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Buprenorphine screen, none detected, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Cocaine and fentanyl, none, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Methamphetamines, none, correct?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes, yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Opiates, none?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Cannabinoids, that'd be weed, right? None.
HILARY GRIFFITHS: It's the active molecule in there.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. Diazepam, none?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Nordiazepam detected?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: Oxazepam detected?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Terimazepam detected?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Lorazepam detected, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And then finally it says organic acids and neutrals, none detected, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And then you talk about, and that would be the acids, then you talk about the actual organic bases, and it lists all of the other items that we just went through, trazodone, trazodone metabolite, for example. So you have the trazodone plus the breakdown—
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: ... of the metabolite. You have the mirtazapine, as well as mirtazapine metabolite, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: Lamotrigine, quetiapine, and the quetiapine metabolite, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: Now, you would also, in your direct examination, made reference to another lab that you all work with, apparently, or that you've had occasion to work with, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Occasionally we have sent samples to another lab.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. Would that be NMS Labs located in Horsham, H-O-R-S-H-A-M, Pennsylvania?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: NMS Labs, I don't recall the location of the lab.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. But you know NMS Labs?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: I mean, that's pretty well-known, right?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: For you guys, right? And was a sample of Lindsay's blood sent to that place as well?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And were there results for that as a result of the examination?
HILARY GRIFFITHS: I believe so.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. I'm gonna approach you with the report of toxicology. Okay.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Can I sidebar?
THE COURT: Sure. Counsel, can you stand by?
THE COURT: Yeah.
THE COURT: All right. Yeah, redirect?
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Nothing further. Thank you.
THE COURT: Okay. Thank you, ma'am. You may step down. Thank you.
HILARY GRIFFITHS: Thank you.