10.Sherri Crook — Direct/Cross/Redirect/Recross
474 linesMS. SPRAGUE: Thank you, Your Honor. Commonwealth calls Sherri Crook.
COURT CLERK: Good afternoon. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony and the evidence you shall give to the court and the jury in the matter now pending between the Commonwealth and the defendant at the bar shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
SHERRI CROOK: I do.
COURT CLERK: Thank you. You may have a seat, ma'am.
BAILIFF: Watch your step, please.
THE COURT: Good afternoon.
SHERRI CROOK: Good afternoon.
THE COURT: Attorney Sprague, please.
MS. SPRAGUE: Thank you, Your Honor. Good afternoon. Can you please state and spell your name for the record?
SHERRI CROOK: Good afternoon. My name is Sherri Crook, S-H-E-R-R-I, last name C-R-O-O-K.
MS. SPRAGUE: What do you do for work?
SHERRI CROOK: I'm a supervisor in the Crime Scene Response Unit at the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory in Lakeville.
MS. SPRAGUE: And how long have you held that position at the lab?
SHERRI CROOK: I've been a supervisor in that unit approximately eighteen years, and I've worked at the lab for twenty-six years.
MS. SPRAGUE: Can you describe for us your educational background, please?
SHERRI CROOK: I have a Bachelor's of Science in Biology from UMass Dartmouth, and a Master's of Science in Criminal Justice from Westfield State College.
MS. SPRAGUE: And if you could just describe for us the nature of your work and your duties at the lab.
SHERRI CROOK: So my main job is a supervisor in the Crime Scene Response Unit. As a supervisor, I am a liaison for the state when crime scenes occur and a forensic scientist is needed. So I answer calls, figure out what type of services are needed. I then get forensic scientists to respond to areas. I oversee generally the southern region, which would be Plymouth County, Cape and Islands, Norfolk, Bristol County, but I do take calls for the entire state. I oversee the forensic scientists that respond to my area. I technically review reports. I also am involved in the criminalistics unit, where I test and examine physical evidence for the presence of biological fluids. This would be blood, semen, and saliva, and trace materials, hairs, fibers, gunshot residues. These cases include fatal and non-fatal beatings, stabbings, shootings, sexual assaults, and motor vehicle accidents. We do the testing in the lab similar to the testing at crime scenes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what type of training have you had to be qualified to be a forensic scientist in all these different areas at the lab?
SHERRI CROOK: So when I first began, I've always worked in the criminalistics unit. I went through a training process where I first observed trained chemists in the analysis of evidence. I then performed this analysis under the strict supervision of my supervisor. At the completion of each area that I was testing in, I took written and oral competency exams. So there are several areas in blood, semen, saliva that we take tests on to prove our proficiency.
MS. SPRAGUE: And have you passed all of these competency tests?
SHERRI CROOK: I have.
MS. SPRAGUE: And have you passed all of your proficiency tests?
SHERRI CROOK: I have.
MS. SPRAGUE: Does your casework go through any type of review process?
SHERRI CROOK: It does. It goes through a technical review as well as an administrative review.
MS. SPRAGUE: And have you had any specialized training in the field of forensics?
SHERRI CROOK: I have.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what type of training?
SHERRI CROOK: So I first had training in the lab, and then I have had external training that has included bloodstain pattern analysis training, crime scene reconstruction training, and a microscope class.
MS. SPRAGUE: And are you affiliated with any professional organizations?
SHERRI CROOK: I am. I'm a member of the IABPA, which is the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts.
MS. SPRAGUE: And you've testified in court many times in the Commonwealth, correct?
SHERRI CROOK: I have.
MS. SPRAGUE: Going back to what you talked about, about blood, bloodstain pattern analysis, can you describe the training you've had in that field in particular?
SHERRI CROOK: So it first began with taking a forty-hour course in the basics of bloodstain pattern analysis. That was used in my original training at the laboratory. It consisted of a forty-hour course where we do experimentations, look at bloodstains, and prepare reports, as well as taking an exam at the end. So that was my original course that I took. I've since taken seven other additional courses that include another basic bloodstain class. I've taken advanced bloodstain pattern classes. I've taken fluid dynamics of bloodstains, and I've also taken bloodstain classes on fabrics.
MS. SPRAGUE: Now, do you undergo any continuing education after all of that training on bloodstain pattern analysis?
SHERRI CROOK: I do.
MS. SPRAGUE: Can you describe that?
SHERRI CROOK: So we continually get training every year. We have to do at least eight hours, which could be training from readings, attending a course, attending workshops that we have through the IABPA, some sort of educational trainings.
MS. SPRAGUE: And is bloodstain pattern analysis, that discipline, is it accredited?
SHERRI CROOK: It is.
MS. SPRAGUE: How so?
SHERRI CROOK: It was accredited through our lab during our accreditation in 2008. It became accredited for the Mass State Police lab.
MS. SPRAGUE: And is it still currently accredited?
SHERRI CROOK: It is.
MS. SPRAGUE: And do you have to take proficiency tests specifically in bloodstain pattern analysis?
SHERRI CROOK: I do.
MS. SPRAGUE: How often?
SHERRI CROOK: Take a yearly test from an outside vendor agency.
MS. SPRAGUE: And have you passed all of those tests?
SHERRI CROOK: I have.
MS. SPRAGUE: And have you testified in courts in the Commonwealth about bloodstain pattern analysis?
SHERRI CROOK: I have.
MS. SPRAGUE: And how many times have you done that?
SHERRI CROOK: I've testified as an expert more than 10 times in Plymouth County, Bristol County, Norfolk County, and Cape and Islands.
MS. SPRAGUE: What is a bloodstain?
SHERRI CROOK: A bloodstain is a deposit of blood on a surface.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what would be a bloodstain pattern?
SHERRI CROOK: A bloodstain pattern is stains on the surface by which we look at it and identify how it was created.
MS. SPRAGUE: So could you describe for us what bloodstain pattern analysis is?
SHERRI CROOK: So bloodstain pattern analysis is the examination of bloodstains and bloodstain patterns by which that they are deposited on a surface. We can give information about how the blood was deposited as well as how the incident occurred to deposit those bloodstains.
MS. SPRAGUE: And are there different bloodstains and bloodstain patterns, and are there terms ascribed to those that tell you what kind of patterns they are or what kind of bloodstains they are?
SHERRI CROOK: There are.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what are some of the features and characteristics that you look at when you're performing your analysis to determine the type of stain or pattern?
SHERRI CROOK: So we look at specifically the size, shape, and the distribution of those stains. With looking at that information, we can tell you the how, what, when, where, and how things were created by looking at those stains. That information, the size, shape, and distribution, will answer some of those questions.
MS. SPRAGUE: Can you tell the direction of a bloodstain pattern?
SHERRI CROOK: You sometimes can, yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And how do you go about doing that, and why is that important?
SHERRI CROOK: So in some stains, there is an identifying feature that we look for. It's called a tail. So when blood flies through the air and lands on a surface, it usually will land in an oval shape, an elliptical shape, that may cause it to have a tail. The tail is an extension of that elliptical shape. We use that to identify the direction that the blood is traveling, so the tail will point in the direction that the blood was flying when it landed on a surface. So we can tell by that tail where that stain may have originated from.
MS. SPRAGUE: And are there different categories of stains?
SHERRI CROOK: There are.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what would those be?
SHERRI CROOK: We describe them as passive stains, transfer stains, and dynamic stains.
MS. SPRAGUE: And could you define what those are?
SHERRI CROOK: Sure. So passive stains are stains where only the force of gravity is acting upon that stain. Some of the examples would be a drip stain, a flow, or a blood pool. We have transfer stains, which are stains that are created when a bloody object or body comes into contact with another surface, transferring that stain there. We have, for that, we have smears or wipes. And then for dynamic stains, dynamic stains are where a outside force has been acted upon the blood, a forceful force, that has projected the blood onto a surface, either by projecting it out or compression that projects the blood out. In that case, we have projected blood patterns, arterial spurts, that use, that are, use that term as dynamic stains.
MS. SPRAGUE: And in your analysis, you use the word target.
SHERRI CROOK: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what does that mean in bloodstain pattern analysis?
SHERRI CROOK: So the target is the surface that the bloodstain lands on. Could be a floor, a wall, anything that the bloodstain lands on.
MS. SPRAGUE: So for example, if I have a cut on my arm and blood drops to the floor as I'm just standing here, that, would that be a passive act, and the target is the floor?
SHERRI CROOK: So yes, it'd be a passive act because just gravity is reacting with that blood, pulling it to the ground, and the floor would be the target surface that it landed on.
MS. SPRAGUE: What is a drip stain?
SHERRI CROOK: So with that example, if you have a blood source, say I have a cut on my finger, I hold my finger out, gravity acts on that blood, pulling it to the floor. That would be a drip stain, a single stain hitting the floor due to gravity.
MS. SPRAGUE: What would be a spatter stain?
SHERRI CROOK: So a spatter stain is a stain where some sort of force has acted on it. So if you think about my finger again, and the blood is coming out, if I apply force to my finger, if I flick it, the blood is now flying in the air and landing on a surface, say a wall. It will land in an elliptical shape, and it will be considered a spatter stain.
MS. SPRAGUE: And are you familiar with the phrase cast-off pattern?
SHERRI CROOK: I am.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what is that?
SHERRI CROOK: So a cast-off pattern is a collection of stains, usually elliptical or circular in shape. It's created when blood flies off of an object. So if you think of my finger again, and the blood is coming out, if I take my finger and I swing it up over my head, the blood is going to release as it goes along, creating elliptical stains, circular stains, and more elliptical stains. The cast-off pattern is created in a linear form, so in a line of those stains.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what is a transfer stain?
SHERRI CROOK: So a transfer stain is when a bloody object comes into contact with a surface. So you think of my hand, and I put it on the top here, and blood is left behind. I lift it up. That's a transfer stain of blood.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what is a wipe?
SHERRI CROOK: So if you think of my hand, it's a transfer stain, a wipe is. You think of my hand, and there's a blood pool on the surface, and I run my hand through that blood pool. I'm wiping that blood, causing a wipe stain. The original stain, which is a blood pool, would now be called an altered stain because there is movement through that stain when I drag my hand through it.
MS. SPRAGUE: Is a swipe different than a wipe?
SHERRI CROOK: It is.
MS. SPRAGUE: What is a swipe?
SHERRI CROOK: So if you... A swipe is a transfer of blood, but say I've made that wipe stain and I lift my hand up, and I have blood on the surface. I then go to a clean surface and wipe it on that. That would be considered a wipe stain, so the... A swipe stain, excuse me. So wipe is going through the blood. I lift it. Swipe is taking that blood and applying it to a secondary surface.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what would be a smear?
SHERRI CROOK: A smear is usually a combination of swipes and wipes. If there is a blood pool on the floor, and you make lateral movements for it, say you had a socked foot or a cloth that you were wiping it with, using those lateral movements, going back and forth, would be considered a smear.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what is a pool?
SHERRI CROOK: A pool is a liquid portion of blood accumulated in one area.
MS. SPRAGUE: So if I'm, for example, standing here, and again, have a cut on my arm, and blood is just dropping in that same area, is all the blood that gathers there considered a pool?
SHERRI CROOK: The stain itself is not considered a pool. We use it to identify blood from a source. So if there is a body laying down, and there is an injury, and it's seeping out of the injury onto a surface, that would be considered a blood pool. What you have described is a different type of staining.
MS. SPRAGUE: What would that be?
SHERRI CROOK: That would be considered a drip pattern, where you're dripping just due to gravity. The blood falls. It falls into another liquid source. In blood stains, it's usually blood into blood. When that drip is hitting, and they're hitting each other, it's causing an accumulation on the floor, and the stains that are formed, the accumulation of blood as well as smaller stains would form the drip pattern.
MS. SPRAGUE: And, sticking with that for a moment, if the blood is falling, and the person is moving, does that create some type of trail or something along those lines?
SHERRI CROOK: It does. So we would identify that as single drip stains, and then if it's in a line with some movement, that would be considered a drip trail of the drip stains.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what is a saturation stain?
SHERRI CROOK: So a saturation stain is similar to a blood pool, but the surface that is on is an absorbent surface. So it's a portion of liquid blood on, say, a mattress or a carpet that seeps into that absorbent material.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what about a satellite stain?
SHERRI CROOK: So a satellite stain is a secondary stain. So if you think about my drip stain, as it's dripping from my finger, as it hits the ground or the surface, it can break apart. Though when it breaks apart, those little stains are called satellite stains. They come from the original parent stain.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what about the term flow?
SHERRI CROOK: Flow is a term that we use when there's an accumulation of blood on a surface, and there's enough that gravity can take hold of it and pull it down. So if you think of water dripping down a surface, or if there's a large accumulation of blood, it'll create, like, a stream going down to where gravity is.
MS. SPRAGUE: And are there some blood stains where no determination can be made?
SHERRI CROOK: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And how so?
SHERRI CROOK: So we have some blood stains that just don't give us enough information by their size, shape, or distribution. So sometimes we can just generally call them red-brown stains. When we do our examination, depending on what we're examining and how we're examining it, say it's a blurry photo, we may just call it a red-brown stain because we cannot identify anything from the features because the photo is bad.
MS. SPRAGUE: And how are blood stains typically documented at a crime scene?
SHERRI CROOK: So there's a trained forensic scientist that is at every scene that we document as far as blood stain pattern analysis. They are trained in documenting the stains as far as a sketch. We also document them with ruler tape. We wanna know how high up stains are from the floor, and we also use very small ruler tape with individual stains. That tape is used to show the size. It is then photoed by crime scene services. They'll do a far away shot, so we can get the whole information in one shot. They will do a medium and then a close-up of stains, so we can get the sizes of the stains. Those photos are used for documentation and reviewing when we do our exam.
MS. SPRAGUE: And do you do your interpretation and analysis at the scene, or through photographs?
SHERRI CROOK: So with those photographs, we do the examination back at the laboratory.
MS. SPRAGUE: I wanna show you some things on the screen here. Are you familiar with this slide here?
SHERRI CROOK: I am.
MS. SPRAGUE: And how are you familiar with it?
SHERRI CROOK: So that is a slide that pictures of drip stains that I've used during my trainings to show how those stains were formed when it hits at a different angle. So depending on how it hits on an angle is how it will form. So the bottom stains, which are more circular, will fall at a 90-degree angle, and as you get to more of elliptical shape, they fall at different higher angles when they hit the target surface.
MS. SPRAGUE: But these that are shown here labeled drip stains, these are all drip stains, it's just how they fall at different angles?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: Mark this as the next exhibit.
THE COURT: Any objection? All right, that may be admitted.
COURT REPORTER: Exhibit 187.
MS. SPRAGUE: I'm showing you this next slide. Are you familiar with this slide?
SHERRI CROOK: I am.
MS. SPRAGUE: And how are you familiar with that?
SHERRI CROOK: So this is pictures of spatter stains. So this is blood that is in flight. Some force acted on the blood to cause it to fly, and you can see the elliptical shapes that it has created.
MS. SPRAGUE: And when you say elliptical, you're talking about kind of the oval shape?
SHERRI CROOK: I'm talking about the oval shape, and as also how I described the tail. Some of them are evident on the bottom side of those elliptical shapes, showing the direction when they hit the target they were moving.
MS. SPRAGUE: So with a tail—so looking at this slide here, this small middle photo at the top, where the tail seems to be at the bottom. What does that tell you about the direction of that stain?
SHERRI CROOK: So it... If I may refer to the one on the right, it's a little bit more—
MS. SPRAGUE: Please.
SHERRI CROOK: ...descriptive. So the one on the right... May I stand?
THE COURT: Yes, please.
SHERRI CROOK: If you look at these stains, they are elliptical in shape, and they all have an extension which we call the tail. So they're hitting the wall, and the tail is pointing in the direction that it is moving. So we have the elliptical shape, and then the extension. So they are going from a left to right in a downward direction.
MS. SPRAGUE: If I could have this marked as the next exhibit.
THE COURT: All right.
MR. REDDINGTON: No objection.
THE COURT: All right, that may be admitted.
COURT REPORTER: Exhibit 188.
THE COURT: Thank you.
MS. SPRAGUE: Then showing you this next slide. Are you familiar with this?
SHERRI CROOK: I am.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what are we seeing here?
SHERRI CROOK: So this is an example of a projected pattern, which is one of those dynamic stains. On the left is an arterial spurt. So there was an artery cut, say it was in the arm. With the compression of that blood, it is projected out and has landed on the wall in a curvy linear fashion.
MS. SPRAGUE: And you said—did you say that's on the left?
SHERRI CROOK: On the left, yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what about on the right?
SHERRI CROOK: That is the blood when it hits the ground on the right.
MS. SPRAGUE: So on the left it's hitting the wall, and then on the right it's dripping down to the ground?
SHERRI CROOK: Well, it's projecting out and hitting the ground. It's not dripping onto the ground. It's coming out of the blood source and hitting the ground.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay, so would it be accurate to state that for a spraying type of flow of blood, say from an artery, that's on the left is what it would look like as it hits a wall, and on the right is what it looks like hitting the floor?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: If we could have this marked as the next exhibit.
THE COURT: Any objection?
THE COURT: All right, that may be admitted.
COURT REPORTER: 189.
MS. SPRAGUE: Now, were you asked to do bloodstain pattern analysis on this case?
SHERRI CROOK: I was.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And what did you use in terms of materials to conduct that analysis?
SHERRI CROOK: I used photographs that were supplied from Crime Scene Services. I utilized reports that were written by Maureen Hartnett, the chemist.
MS. SPRAGUE: And were there stains that were labeled by letter?
SHERRI CROOK: They were.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. Did you label them by those letters or did you use the letters that were in the prior reports?
SHERRI CROOK: I used the letters that they were labeled in the prior reports.
MS. SPRAGUE: And so to start with, did you look at what was labeled stain A on the floor of the basement at 47 Summer Street?
SHERRI CROOK: I did.
MS. SPRAGUE: And showing you this page here, what are we looking at here?
SHERRI CROOK: So this is a page of my notes when I was doing my exam. So it has a picture of the stains themselves, and then all of the identifying factors written in my handwriting when I was doing my examination.
MS. SPRAGUE: And when you did your examination on this item, what did you determine about the bloodstain?
SHERRI CROOK: So that is a red-brown stain on the carpet in the basement. It was deemed a saturation stain with transfer stains surrounding it. So you have the center stain that's darker red. That is the saturation stain, and then surrounding it there is lighter red-brown staining that was a transfer from that saturation stain across the carpet.
MS. SPRAGUE: And you're not able to say how that transfer happened, correct?
SHERRI CROOK: I am not.
MS. SPRAGUE: But basically looking here, this larger area in the middle of the bottom photo, that's the original saturation stain where it's soaked into the carpet?
SHERRI CROOK: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And then at some point, something touched this saturation stain and then touched to the side of it?
SHERRI CROOK: If I may.
THE COURT: You may. Sure.
SHERRI CROOK: This is a saturation stain in the center, and then surrounding it is the lighter red-brown. That is the transfer as something moved across the actual saturation stain.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what about the mark to the left there?
SHERRI CROOK: I think that's just another portion of the saturation stain.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay.
MS. SPRAGUE: Move to admit this as the next exhibit.
THE COURT: All right. That may be admitted.
COURT REPORTER: Exhibit 190.
MS. SPRAGUE: Did you also look at some blood stains on the floor of the master bedroom?
SHERRI CROOK: I did.
MS. SPRAGUE: And specifically, referring to stain B, showing you—
MS. SPRAGUE: What's been marked SJC. SJC, are those your initials?
SHERRI CROOK: They are.
MS. SPRAGUE: E12. These are also from your notes, is that correct?
SHERRI CROOK: They are.
MS. SPRAGUE: And is this from the bedroom, master bedroom floor between the mirror and the bed?
SHERRI CROOK: It is.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And what did you learn from your analysis of this item?
SHERRI CROOK: So from my analysis in looking at the stains, there's a couple of different things going on here. So there are the round circular stains, which are on the outside, are drip stains, so that is blood coming from a bloodletting event and going to the ground just due to gravity. The stains that are overlapping are considered a drip pattern, so standing there for a period of time, the blood is dripping due to gravity into itself, causing the overlapping stains as well as the small stains that are all surrounding it. Over here on the right side, there is some movement through some of the red round stains causing them to have lateral determination, and so those would be smear stains. So they're originally drip stains that were smeared through.
MS. SPRAGUE: And showing you E13 from your notes, is this a close-up of that same area?
SHERRI CROOK: It is.
MS. SPRAGUE: And if you could just point out again for us in this lower photo what we're looking at here.
SHERRI CROOK: So this is just a close-up of it, showing some of the drip stains that are singular by themselves and then the drip pattern itself. So that is blood dripping into blood, and then the top one that's not in view will have a close-up of the smear stains. So movement through those bloodstains.
MS. SPRAGUE: If we could have E12 as the next exhibit and E13 as the following.
THE COURT: All right. That may be admitted.
MS. SPRAGUE: 191 and 192.
MS. SPRAGUE: And just for clarification, showing you what's been previously marked as Exhibit 159, that's that same area for E12 and E13?
SHERRI CROOK: It is. The staining on the ground is right in front of the mirror, and the bottom portion is the bed, so between the mirror and the bed.
MS. SPRAGUE: Now showing you what's been marked previously as Exhibit 161. Is that the mirror we were just describing, just discussing?
SHERRI CROOK: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And did you do an analysis on the bloodstains on the mirror?
SHERRI CROOK: I did.
MS. SPRAGUE: Showing you what's been marked as E14 in your report. I'm just gonna zoom in here to the top photo.
MS. SPRAGUE: Now these, the stains have been marked there with a ruler, correct, as you described previously?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct, yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And then in the lower left, can you tell us what we're looking at here?
SHERRI CROOK: So this is a close-up of the stains from the top picture with the ruler attached.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what, if anything, were you able to determine about these bloodstains on the mirror?
SHERRI CROOK: So the bloodstains themselves were elliptical in shape, so it did give me some information. There was a larger amount of blood, so you can see on the stains that it starts to go down the mirror. That's due to gravity, so we call that flow. Because they were elliptical in shape, there are two different categories that they could go into, which would be a drip stain that just landed at an angle or an—actually a spatter stain, which is a blood in flight. Because I couldn't tell the difference, but I did limit it down to either a drip stain that fell at an angle or a spatter stain that was forced onto that mirror. So I couldn't come to a definite conclusion, so I brought it down to either a drip stain or a spatter stain.
MS. SPRAGUE: So would it be accurate to say it could either be from someone being near the mirror bleeding and blood dropping on it, or someone with blood or an instrument or something with blood on it moving and spattering the blood on it?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct. Either of those motions.
MS. SPRAGUE: If we could have E14 as the next exhibit.
THE COURT: All right. That may be admitted.
MS. SPRAGUE: 193.
MS. SPRAGUE: Showing you what's been previously marked as Exhibit 162.
MS. SPRAGUE: Is the bedroom windowsill?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: And showing you a close-up at one-sixty-three. Did you examine this bloodstain?
SHERRI CROOK: I did. Identified as stain D.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what did you determine, based on your training, experience, about this bloodstain?
SHERRI CROOK: This bloodstain didn't give us too much information. It was irregular in shape, so I couldn't tell exactly what it came from, but I did classify it as a transfer stain. So something bloody, having a red-brown stain, coming into contact with a non-bloody surface, leaving that stain there. So a transfer stain on the windowsill.
MS. SPRAGUE: Did you also examine the nightstand in that same bedroom?
SHERRI CROOK: I did.
MS. SPRAGUE: Showing you what's been marked Exhibit one-sixty-four. Is this the area that you examined?
SHERRI CROOK: I examined the whole area, so a picture that shows the whole knife and then the area surrounding it.
MS. SPRAGUE: Showing you another photo. Is this the entire area that you examined?
SHERRI CROOK: It is.
MS. SPRAGUE: And can you tell us what, if anything, you determined from examining the bloodstains on the nightstand?
SHERRI CROOK: So I identified two different types of bloodstains in that area. There's a point on the bottom portion here as well as the top. They are circular stains. Those would be drip stains, so blood coming from a bloody area due to gravity falling onto the nightstand causing the circular stains. So those would be drip stains. I also identified the linear bloodstain up at the top, which is to the right of the knife. So that is a transfer stain from the knife itself. The bloody edge of the knife came in contact with the nightstand and left that stain there. Once that stain was left there, it has since been moved. Whether someone knocked into the table or actually pushed the knife over, I can't tell you, but it was originally in the position where it left that linear stain. So drip stains and then a linear red-brown stain.
MS. SPRAGUE: And are you able to determine that that was the original position of the knife, based on the fact that the line tracks the shape and size of the knife's edge?
SHERRI CROOK: I wouldn't say that it's an original location, but it is a location that that knife was at for a period of time for that blood to transfer onto the table.
MS. SPRAGUE: Because you can't tell the order of when these bloodstains happened, correct?
SHERRI CROOK: At our lab, we don't necessarily do an order in our examination. There are some things we can tell you in order to, so I know at some point that it was on the table where that linear stain is and has since moved from there. But I can't tell you if there was... if that was the original location that it landed.
MS. SPRAGUE: If we could have this photo marked as the next exhibit, please.
THE COURT: It may be admitted.
COURT REPORTER: Exhibit 184.
MS. SPRAGUE: Showing you what's been marked SGC E seventeen from your notes. Can you tell us what we're looking at here?
SHERRI CROOK: So that was stain F, which is a red-brown stain in the snow below the windows of the bedroom.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what, if anything, were you able to... What are you able to tell us about this stain based on your training and experience?
SHERRI CROOK: There's not much information that I can tell you from that stain. It's a diluted red-brown stain. It's irregular in shape, so I just classified it as a red-brown stain.
MS. SPRAGUE: So that's an example of what you had told us previously in your testimony, that sometimes you just don't know?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct. The pictures were sufficient to see areas of the stain. There's just not a lot of information in the stain itself to determine what it is.
MS. SPRAGUE: If we could have E seventeen marked as the next exhibit.
THE COURT: Sure. That may be admitted.
COURT REPORTER: Exhibit 195.
MS. SPRAGUE: Did you also look at some stains on the floor of the master bedroom entrance?
SHERRI CROOK: I did.
MS. SPRAGUE: Showing you a photograph here, do you recognize what you see here?
SHERRI CROOK: I do.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what is that?
SHERRI CROOK: So those are red-brown stains at the doorway to the entrance of the bedroom.
MS. SPRAGUE: And at some point in time—I'll strike that. What, if anything, can you tell us about these blood stains?
SHERRI CROOK: So the pictures that were taken were never taken with a ruler tape, but the pictures are good enough that it gave me information on how those stains were formed. So I was able to determine that those are drip stains on the floor.
MS. SPRAGUE: And just zooming in on those a little bit, again, what we have here, similar to the other—some of the other stains you called drip stains, that's that circular spot of blood?
SHERRI CROOK: Yes. Circular stain where gravity took a hold of some sort of blood and brought it to the floor, causing those circular stains.
MS. SPRAGUE: And as you described earlier, is that consistent with the blood falling at a 90-degree angle?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: So straight down?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: If we could have this photo marked as the next exhibit.
THE COURT: It may be admitted.
COURT REPORTER: Exhibit 196.
MS. SPRAGUE: Excuse me. Did you also look at what's depicted here in exhibit 46?
SHERRI CROOK: I did.
MS. SPRAGUE: And looking at…
MS. SPRAGUE: What you've marked in your notes as E21, are these three photos of that same area?
SHERRI CROOK: They are.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. What can you tell us about what you observed when you looked at these blood stains?
SHERRI CROOK: So these stains were further up on the side of the bed from the area that was between the bed and the mirror. Similar to the stains that were between the bed and the mirror are stains up here, which are circular in nature. So they are drip stains. And then an area where the drip stains fell into each other, causing another drip pattern. So this is a drip pattern with singular drip stains in an area between the bed.
MS. SPRAGUE: And showing you another photograph, does this depict that same area but also going over towards to the right of the nightstand?
SHERRI CROOK: It does. So this is the area on the left side of the bed. Down below it is the area that was between the bed and the mirror, and the window is up over here. So you can see the singular drip stains. You can see the drip pattern where blood is dripping into blood, and then all of the smaller stains are the satellite stains that occur when the blood is hitting and causing it to fly.
MS. SPRAGUE: Are you able to look at the stains here in the drip pattern and tell whether there was any movement or in what direction the movement was?
SHERRI CROOK: We can't tell what type of movement there was because they are circular stains. The only thing we can say about this is for a drip pattern to be formed, there has to be a stationary blood source. So you have to, say it was your finger, you would have to stand there for a while and allow the blood to drip out into each other, causing that drip pattern. So we know, or I've deemed that there was a period of time that the blood source was in a stationary position causing that drip pattern.
MS. SPRAGUE: And the amount of time that it would take for that amount of blood to pool, would that be dependent on the wound and how it was bleeding at the time?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: And you can't tell that from the photograph, correct?
SHERRI CROOK: Cannot.
MS. SPRAGUE: If we could have this photograph marked as the next exhibit.
THE COURT: That may be admitted.
COURT REPORTER: 197.
MS. SPRAGUE: To show you some photos of the exterior of the house, what's been marked as exhibit 106. What's been marked as exhibit 105, and 108. Are these areas, or photographs that you examined as part of your analysis?
SHERRI CROOK: They are.
MS. SPRAGUE: Showing you what you've marked E19 from your notes.
MS. SPRAGUE: What can you tell us about the patterns we're seeing here on the shingles on the exterior of the home?
SHERRI CROOK: So these are photos of the red-brown stains on the shingles between the second and first floor window. A far away view up in the top left, and then closer pictures blown up to show the red-brown stains. There were two areas. And then there was some excess of blood. You can actually see it dripping down to the-
MR. REDDINGTON: I'm gonna object to the concept of blood, because we all know that that was never tested.
MS. SPRAGUE: It actually was tested.
THE COURT: All right. Can I see you over here?
THE COURT: All right, Attorney Sprague.
MS. SPRAGUE: Thank you. And so, in the upper left-hand corner here, we have the upper window and the lower window, correct?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: All right. And I'm gonna zoom in here on this upper right-hand photo. What are we seeing here?
SHERRI CROOK: So those are areas of red-brown staining on the shingles between the second-floor window and the first-floor window.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what, if anything, can you tell us about this red-brown staining on the shingles underneath that open window, based on your training and experience?
SHERRI CROOK: So those two areas which were to the left and the right, below the window, were identified as transfer stains. So a bloody object coming in contact with a surface, leaving the blood stain there.
MS. SPRAGUE: So that would have to be an actual something with blood on it touching that shingle, those shingles?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: And showing you, below that, the small photo to the right, what is depicted there?
SHERRI CROOK: So this is an area of the transfer stain where there was an accumulation of blood that was coming off as a droplet off the bottom of the shingle.
MS. SPRAGUE: And showing you E-twenty from your notes, perhaps a little bit clearer here. The top right photo, is that that same area of red-brown staining that you saw under, in the photos underneath the open window?
SHERRI CROOK: It is. So the one on the—
MS. SPRAGUE: Can I have the—
SHERRI CROOK: Yeah.
MS. SPRAGUE: …pointed out with the court's permission?
THE COURT: Sure.
SHERRI CROOK: So the window is up above. So to the right, looking at the window, is an area of the red-brown staining. To the left is the other area of red-brown staining. That left one had the accumulation of blood that was a droplet coming off of the shingle.
MS. SPRAGUE: And the two photos at the bottom there?
SHERRI CROOK: Those were a blow-up of the right-hand side red-brown stain. As you can see my arrows there pointing to the picture above showing a close-up of the stains.
MS. SPRAGUE: We could mark E-nineteen as the next exhibit, and then E-twenty.
THE COURT: All right. Any objection?
THE COURT: All right. That may be admitted, or they may be admitted.
MS. SPRAGUE: And then showing you what's been marked as exhibit one-oh-five.
MS. SPRAGUE: And zooming in here on the open window, and the orange ball there at the bottom, the red-brown staining right above that, did you examine photos of that?
SHERRI CROOK: I did.
MS. SPRAGUE: And showing you your notes E-eighteen.
MS. SPRAGUE: Is that a close-up of that red-brown staining on the open windowsill?
SHERRI CROOK: It is.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what, if anything, can you tell us based on your training and experience about this area?
SHERRI CROOK: So similar to the stain that was on the inside of the window on the windowsill, this stain on the outside didn't give me enough information to say the size or shape, so the only thing I could come to the conclusion was that it was a transfer stain. So some sort of bloody object coming in contact with a surface causing the transfer of that blood.
MS. SPRAGUE: And are you able to tell the direction of that blood or how it was applied or anything like that?
SHERRI CROOK: There's not enough information in that stain to give that conclusion.
MS. SPRAGUE: So basically all you can tell us is that something with blood on it touched that windowsill and left something, with a red brown stain on it touched that windowsill and left a red brown stain?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: If we could have E18 marked as the next exhibit.
THE COURT: All right, that may be admitted.
MS. SPRAGUE: And then showing you what's previously been marked as Exhibit 108…
MS. SPRAGUE: The top of the first floor windowsill, did you examine those red brown stains?
SHERRI CROOK: I did not.
MS. SPRAGUE: I have no further questions.
THE COURT: All right. Mr. Reddington.
MR. REDDINGTON: Good afternoon.
SHERRI CROOK: Good afternoon, sir.
MR. REDDINGTON: Just a couple of questions. Is it correct you're a trained scientist? Is that what you're referred to, or...?
SHERRI CROOK: I'm classified as a forensic scientist at the supervisory level.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. And Maureen Hartnett would be classified as what?
SHERRI CROOK: She's a forensic scientist as well, the step below me, a forensic scientist II.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. And is she the one that does testing on objects or items or substances to see if they're a particular, for example, blood?
SHERRI CROOK: She does do that. She is also trained in documentation of blood stains. So generally, that's why we do a lot of our examination through photos. So a forensic scientist II could be at the scene, do all of the documentation, make sure the photos are taken, and then those are examined back at the laboratory by a, in our case, in Massachusetts, it's all supervisors in the crime scene response unit that do blood stain pattern analysis. We are also all trained in the identification of those biological fluids, doing a screening test as well as confirmatory test for blood.
MR. REDDINGTON: I don't wanna be referred to as grumpy, but I'm just gonna ask if you can just kinda keep your answers down a little bit to, like, maybe a yes and the sentence after that.
SHERRI CROOK: Okay.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. So when you go to a crime scene, you're usually with a team. In other words, like Maureen Hartnett might be there, right?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: And other state troopers might be there searching the area, right?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: And one of the things that you are doing is relying, if you will, on your associates or other people that are working that particular crime scene to do appropriate and adequate testing of substances, right?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: So for example, and again, when you're investigating on a murder case and you're dealing with substances that are deposited, for example, in that bedroom, the master bedroom, it's not appropriate, if you will, to speculate that something is blood, and that's why it's referred to as a red brown stain, right?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct. We use-
MR. REDDINGTON: But, but, but your experience is such that you have a wealth of knowledge as to the ability to draw an inference as to what it might be, right?
SHERRI CROOK: We're not able to look at a red brown stain and call it blood. We call it by adjectives. So it would be deemed as a red brown stain. We have to wait until we do a confirmatory test to say whether we call it human blood or not.
MR. REDDINGTON: All right. So when you say a confirmatory test, you're referring to the fact that you have a screening test that you can do that initially would determine if it's possibly blood, right?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: Then it goes to the next phase, which would be a confirmatory test, which Ms. Hartnett would do, right?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: And then you go to the determination as to whether it's animal or human. It might be a primate blood, but it could be a human blood, and then you determine that it's human blood, right?
SHERRI CROOK: The next step after Maureen is actual DNA. So it will tell you whether it's human or not human and whose blood it actually is.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. So we know that there was a transfer of stain from the inside of the house, if you will, onto that ledge with—on the right-hand side of the window, right?
SHERRI CROOK: I believe it was on the left-hand side.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. So as you're looking out the window, it's your understanding that the smudge, if you will, that was on that window was on the left-hand side?
SHERRI CROOK: I believe so.
MR. REDDINGTON: Looking at Exhibit 106, that shows the, let's see, first floor window, right?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: And then farther up it shows the second floor window, right?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: So if one was standing on the inside of the master bedroom, and leaned on it with blood on their hand, or red substance, it would be on the right-hand side of that ledge on the window, right?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct. The one on the outside was on the right-hand side. The one on the inside, I believe, was on the left-hand side.
MR. REDDINGTON: Now, you know that that was not tested, right?
SHERRI CROOK: I don't know if it was tested.
MR. REDDINGTON: Right. You don't know what it is, right?
SHERRI CROOK: I called it a red-brown stain.
MR. REDDINGTON: But the bottom line is, in your experience, looking at that bedroom with all of what you determined in the investigation to be blood, the inference that you would draw is that that's blood—
SHERRI CROOK: Yeah.
MR. REDDINGTON: ... from somebody's hand, right?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct, and that is what is stated in my report. We infer that it is blood that we are examining.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. So it shows in Exhibit 105 the same window with the little Hornet ball or that substance that was injected, like insulation is what I think you described it. That also has red brown substance on it, correct?
SHERRI CROOK: I don't know from that picture.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay.
SHERRI CROOK: I only looked at the stain that was on the windowsill.
MR. REDDINGTON: Right. Did you look at the, at all, that object? 'Cause—
SHERRI CROOK: I did not. Just, at—
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. Would you agree that underneath that window would be the two equidistant, if you will, red-brown stains on the shingles, right?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: And that would be an object or something that has blood, or we don't know if it's blood, but red-brown stain on hands or something that was a transfer onto that side of the house, right?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay.
MR. REDDINGTON: Other areas of the bedroom, for example, counsel showed you the door coming into the bedroom, and there were two drop marks of the red-brown stains. You know those were never even tested. I'm just saying, this is a murder case. It was never tested, right? But you're assuming, fairly, that that would be blood, right?
SHERRI CROOK: I don't know whether they were tested, but I deemed those that they were blood in my examination.
MR. REDDINGTON: And blood on the doorknob itself too, to that, from the inside of the bedroom going out, right?
SHERRI CROOK: The windowsill?
MR. REDDINGTON: No, no, the doorknob.
SHERRI CROOK: I don't know of any red-brown stains on the doorknob.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. Now the knife, photograph of the knife, and I know people can recall that, that has that linear stain that you referred to, that you were able to observe, correct?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: And looking at Exhibit 162, that would show...
MR. REDDINGTON: ...the left side that you were referring to as to the red marks or the blood, if you will, on the window, right?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct. That was the left side interior of the window that I examined.
MR. REDDINGTON: So I stand corrected when I say, you know, I was talking about the other side, but it's in both. It's on the right-hand and the other side.
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: So that would be, again, drawing an inference, would be somewhat conceivable with a person with blood on their hands leaning on the window, this portion of the hand out here, this portion of the hand on the inside leaving the transfer, right?
SHERRI CROOK: A hand or some sort of bloody object, yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: All right. And the knife also has the transfer that you can see.
MR. REDDINGTON: Now is that coagulated blood, do you know?
SHERRI CROOK: In which area?
MR. REDDINGTON: By, with the knife. I mean, you see that linear line? It almost looks like the knife was put down with blood on it, and then it coagulated or it got sticky, I guess, and then it was moved again. Is that sound—
SHERRI CROOK: I wouldn't call it coagulation. So if you're referring to these areas right here...
MR. REDDINGTON: Yes. The linear line, yep.
SHERRI CROOK: Those were red-brown circular stains that were actually on top of the linear. I could not determine what they came from, so I did not give them any sort of—
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay.
SHERRI CROOK: ...bloodstain pattern terminology. But they were on top of the linear line.
MR. REDDINGTON: All right. And you would agree with me that one of the inferences that would possibly be drawn is that something banged into it or moved it, one or the other?
SHERRI CROOK: Yes. Correct. To get that original linear line, and then for the knife to be in a different position.
MR. REDDINGTON: Now, the photograph in Exhibit 45...
MR. REDDINGTON: ...is the mirror.
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: And then you were referring to the drip marks on the mirror, right? And then we come here again, but...
MR. REDDINGTON: There we go.
SHERRI CROOK: So I referred to them either as drip stains or spatter stains—
MR. REDDINGTON: Right. And that, that—
SHERRI CROOK: ... because I was not able—
MR. REDDINGTON: That would be consistent with some type of a violent movement, would it not? I mean, if the person's cutting their throat, for example, and then cast off onto the mirror, or leaning, I guess you'd say they're at an angle.
SHERRI CROOK: So it would be either due to gravity or due to blood in flight. So a force applied sending that blood to land on there, or drip due to gravity.
MR. REDDINGTON: And blood in flight, the inference would be that it's cast off, if you will, from the knife going in a particular direction towards the mirror, right?
SHERRI CROOK: It would be—a spatter stain coming off of any sort of blood source, whether it be the tip of a knife, a cut on the hand, something in flight.
MR. REDDINGTON: That's all I have, Your Honor. Thank you.
THE COURT: Redirect.
MS. SPRAGUE: Thank you. So, you were asked about the documentation and collection of samples of red-brown stains at a scene, and that there is an initial test done at the scene typically to determine if it might be blood, correct?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what kind of test is that?
SHERRI CROOK: We do a screening test called the Kastle-Meyer test. So it identifies possible blood. It does not identify whether it's human or animal, though.
MS. SPRAGUE: And when that test is positive, but you have a limited sample, you sometimes skip the confirmatory step and send it right to DNA for testing?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct. If it's a limited sample, so a smaller stain, like something like a spatter stain, we may not do the in-between step, which is our confirmatory test, because we don't wanna use up any portion that we've collected. So we would go right to DNA for that testing if it's a smaller sample.
MS. SPRAGUE: And then the DNA testing can tell you if that red-brown stain is from a human, and potentially which human it's from?
SHERRI CROOK: Yeah, we identify who it is from. We don't identify as human because we only do a human DNA test.
MS. SPRAGUE: And defense counsel asked you about the red-brown stains on the window sill, the one on the exterior and the interior, and asked if it could be from someone leaning out the window, correct?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: Could it also be from someone hanging out the window, holding on to—in those spots?
SHERRI CROOK: Correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: Nothing further.
MR. REDDINGTON: Wouldn't there be drops? And, you know, if somebody was bleeding significantly from cuts on their wrist to the extent that one of the marks on the shingle you said had a drip on it, right? That's a-
SHERRI CROOK: So depending on the amount of blood, where that contact is coming into place is what is deposited.
MR. REDDINGTON: So if somebody was gonna climb out the window and hang on the ledge, and then what, like, do a Spider-Man and go down the side of the shingles? They would leave a smear going all the way down on the shingles, wouldn't they?
SHERRI CROOK: If they came in contact the entire way down, yes, there would be a transfer all the way down.
THE COURT: Anything further?
MS. SPRAGUE: No.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you, ma'am. You may step down.
SHERRI CROOK: Thank you.
THE COURT: And counsel, could I just talk to you a second, sidebar?
THE COURT: Jury, rather than start another witness and break it up, I'm gonna excuse you till tomorrow, all right? I don't think we'd finish with this next witness anyway. So I'm gonna excuse you. Now tomorrow's schedule, we are not gonna be sitting in the afternoon, all right? I can tell you that. So I'm gonna ask you to be here at nine o'clock. You know, remember, I'm gonna ask you those same questions, same instructions. Don't talk about this. Don't do any research. Don't watch anything. Don't listen to anything about this. I appreciate all the work you've done so far. I appreciate all your time. And so I'm gonna ask you to follow those, and continue to follow those instructions. And I'll see you tomorrow morning, and we'll get right back to the case, okay?
BAILIFF: Court, all rise. Good. Please close your notebooks, place them on the chairs.
BAILIFF: Jurors have exited the courtroom.
THE COURT: All right. Is there anything we need to address at this point?
MS. SPRAGUE: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. So like I said, the schedule tomorrow will start at nine o'clock. We'll go till one o'clock, and then we will not sit tomorrow afternoon. So with that, everybody has a nice evening. We'll see everybody tomorrow.
MS. SPRAGUE: Thank you.
MR. REDDINGTON: Thank you.
BAILIFF: Court stands in recess.