Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Murder In Moscow: The Experts Behind The case Against Bryan Kohberger (Part 13) (9/10/26)

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Murder In Moscow: The Experts Behind The case Against Bryan Kohberger (Part 13) (9/10/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the program. In
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: this episode, we're gonna get back to those expert disclosures
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  Speaker 1: up in Moscow. And this time, we have Exhibit S10,
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  Speaker 1: Amended Supplemental Expert Disclosure, Tina Walthall. The state has previously
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  Speaker 1: disclosed Tina Walthall, Forensic Scientist 3, as an expert witness
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  Speaker 1: in the field of forensic science, which includes, but in
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  Speaker 1: no way is limited to, latent prints. The state hereby
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  Speaker 1: incorporates Its previous response and attachments filed on December 18th, 2024,
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  Speaker 1: and is hereby supplementing its response as follows. Walt Hall
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  Speaker 1: may explain what friction, rich skin is, what latent prints are,
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  Speaker 1: what exemplars are, consumption of evidence with regard to latent
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  Speaker 1: print processing, how items are processed for latent prints in
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  Speaker 1: the laboratory, how recovered prints are preserved in the laboratory,
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  Speaker 1: factors affecting the recovery of latent prints, how latent prints
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  Speaker 1: are utilized, for comparison to include verification and confliction resolution process,
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  Speaker 1: and the use of the multi-modal biometric identification system. Waltall
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  Speaker 1: is expected to testify about her involvement in the case,
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  Speaker 1: which she processed item 1, K-bar leather knife sheath with
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  Speaker 1: USM logo for latent prints. Waltall did not observe or
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  Speaker 1: develop and latent prints from item 1. Waltall's explanation of
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  Speaker 1: this can be found in Waltall's report to Bates Pages
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  Speaker 1: 267 and 68. Walt Hall processed other items 66, 68,
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  Speaker 1: and 69 for latent prints in the case as well.
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  Speaker 1: The report for these items can be found in Walt
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  Speaker 1: Hall's Lab Report 15, Bates Pages 988 and 989. Walt
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  Speaker 1: Hall will testify friction ridge skin is specialized type of
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  Speaker 1: skin on the hands and feet and is capable of
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  Speaker 1: being used to establish or conform identity. The skin consists
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  Speaker 1: of ridges and valleys located on the gripping surfaces of
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  Speaker 1: the hand and feet that form patterns. Fingerprints are classified
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  Speaker 1: into the following pattern types, arches, loops, and whorls. Individual
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  Speaker 1: ridges have features or characteristics that are highly discriminating between individuals.
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  Speaker 1: These features are formed prior to birth and remain relatively
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  Speaker 1: unchanged throughout one's life, barring trauma or disease. Friction ridge
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  Speaker 1: details refer to the features and characteristics present In friction
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  Speaker 1: ridge impressions, this detail may be described as level 1,
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  Speaker 1: direction of ridge flow, level 2, ridge path, level 3,
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  Speaker 1: ridge shape, and pore location. Friction ridge details permit comparison
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  Speaker 1: and subsequent identification of fingerprints. Latent prints are impressions of
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  Speaker 1: friction ridge skin patterns that can be left on a
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  Speaker 1: surface when contact is made. The term latent refers to
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  Speaker 1: prints that are not visible prior to utilizing a development method.
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  Speaker 1: Latent prints are often made up of various matrices, including
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  Speaker 1: sweat and oils, that are colorless and require development with
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  Speaker 1: chemicals or powders to be seen. Prints at a crime
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  Speaker 1: scene may also be made from other material that may
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  Speaker 1: coat the skin, like blood or dirt. Although latent means hidden,
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  Speaker 1: any prints recovered from a crime scene or from other
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  Speaker 1: items of evidence are often referred to as latent prints.
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  Speaker 1: Exemplars are intentional recordings of the friction-ridged skin of an individual.
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  Speaker 1: These may be collected with black ink, powder adhesive, electronic imaging,
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  Speaker 1: and or other capture methods. These known exemplars can be
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  Speaker 1: used for comparison against latent print evidence. Exemplars may include any,
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  Speaker 1: all areas of friction-edged skin from the hands or feet
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  Speaker 1: of an individual. Types of exemplars include fingerprints, palm prints,
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  Speaker 1: major case prints, tips, joints, edges of fingers, and footprints.
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  Speaker 1: Items are often submitted to the laboratory for multiple types
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  Speaker 1: of analysis. Surfaces that require other forensic examination, trace, biology, etc.,
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  Speaker 1: are evaluated to determine if latent print processing techniques will
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  Speaker 1: have an impact. Examiners routinely consult with scientists from other
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  Speaker 1: disciplines to ensure all potential evidence is considered for preservation.
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  Speaker 1: Once an item is processed for latent prints, reprocessing will
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  Speaker 1: generally not be successful. so it's imperative that processing techniques
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  Speaker 1: are completed in the proper sequence. An examiner in the
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  Speaker 1: laboratory uses chemical, physical, and light techniques to attempt to
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  Speaker 1: recover latent prints from a variety of surfaces. The techniques selected, visual,
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  Speaker 1: alternate light source, dye stain, powder, etc., are generally based
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  Speaker 1: on the types of surface, porous, semi-porous, or non-porous, but
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  Speaker 1: may also take into consideration what's believed that latent prints
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  Speaker 1: may be made of. sweat, oil, blood, etc. Techniques are
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  Speaker 1: generally performed in a sequential manner for the least destructive
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  Speaker 1: to most. Observed or developed latent prints can be preserved
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  Speaker 1: by digital photography, scanning, and lifting techniques. There are many
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  Speaker 1: variables that would affect whether a latent print is left
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  Speaker 1: and able to be recovered. These variables include conditions existing before, during,
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  Speaker 1: and after the time a person touched or handled the surface.
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  Speaker 1: Pre-transfer conditions include individual subject factors, latent print composition, and
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  Speaker 1: a person's ability to leave latent prints. These factors differ
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  Speaker 1: from individual to individual, and may even vary within the
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  Speaker 1: same individual. Factors also include deposition transfer factors, such as
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  Speaker 1: the surface, material, condition, texture, etc., and how the item
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  Speaker 1: was handled, length of contact, pressure, area of contact, contaminants,
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  Speaker 1: smearing during contact, etc., Post-transfer conditions, environmental factors include the
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  Speaker 1: conditions that the latent print was subjected to after it
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  Speaker 1: was deposited, additional handling, packaging, environmental exposure, etc. Latent print
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  Speaker 1: comparison refers to the process of analyzing latent prints and
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  Speaker 1: comparing them to known exemplars in an attempt to determine
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  Speaker 1: their source. Examiners utilize the ACE-V methodology, which is a
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  Speaker 1: specialized version of hypothesis testing. ACE-V stands for Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation,
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  Speaker 1: and Verification. Analysis is the assessment and documentation of friction
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  Speaker 1: ridge impression to determine suitability for a comparison. This assessment
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  Speaker 1: includes consideration of the quality and quantity of detail, orientation,
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  Speaker 1: anatomical source, finger, palm, etc., type of matrix, deposition factors, complexity,
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  Speaker 1: substrate considerations, environmental factors, development mediums, and preservation methods. Latent
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  Speaker 1: prints may be of value for comparison or may be
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  Speaker 1: deemed to contain insufficient detail for comparison purposes. Impressions deemed
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  Speaker 1: of value are impressions that are in opinion of the
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  Speaker 1: examiner contain sufficient quantity, quality, and specificity of rich detail
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  Speaker 1: to warrant a comparison. Examiners also take into consideration how
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  Speaker 1: discriminating the location and arrangement of features within an impression are.
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  Speaker 1: When quantity is low, quality must be relatively high. whereas
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  Speaker 1: when quality is low, quantity must be relatively high. It's
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  Speaker 1: not uncommon for latent print examiners to have conflicting opinions
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  Speaker 1: with regards to sufficiency. Latent prints are also evaluated for
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  Speaker 1: their suitability for database entry. Comparison is a side-by-side, back-and-forth
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  Speaker 1: examination of friction-rich detail between latent print and a known
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  Speaker 1: print to determine whether the detail is in agreement or
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  Speaker 1: disagreement based upon features, sequences, and spatial relationships. within the
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  Speaker 1: tolerance of clarity and distortion. Generally, latent prints are first
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  Speaker 1: compared against various known prints belonging to subjects associated with
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  Speaker 1: the evidence, victims, witnesses, and or suspects if known. In
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  Speaker 1: the event that the latent prints are not identified, or
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  Speaker 1: that there are no known prints available with which to compare,
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  Speaker 1: the prints may be entered into a computer database and
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  Speaker 1: compared to a large group of persons who have prints
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  Speaker 1: on file. Evaluation is the formulation of a conclusion based
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  Speaker 1: upon analysis and comparison of friction-rich impressions. Conclusions that may
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  Speaker 1: be reached are source identification, source exclusion, or inconclusive. Source
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  Speaker 1: identification is the examiner's opinion that two impressions originated from
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  Speaker 1: the same source. The observed features are in sufficient correspondence
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  Speaker 1: such that the examiner would not expect to see this
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  Speaker 1: level of agreement in impressions that came from a different source.
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  Speaker 1: Nor did the examiner find features in disagreement that would
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  Speaker 1: lead them to conclude that this impression are from different sources.
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  Speaker 1: There is no scientific basis for a predetermined number of
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  Speaker 1: corresponding friction-rich details to be presented in two impressions in
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  Speaker 1: order to affect a source identification. Source exclusion is an
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  Speaker 1: examiner's conclusion that two impressions did not originate from the
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  Speaker 1: same source. The observed features are in disagreement. such that
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  Speaker 1: the examiner would not expect them to have originated from
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  Speaker 1: the same source. Inconclusive is an examiner's inability to reach
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  Speaker 1: a conclusion of source identification or exclusion. Inconclusive may be
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  Speaker 1: due to lack of quantity or quality of detail in
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  Speaker 1: the latent or known impression. Verification is the independent examination
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  Speaker 1: by another qualified analyst using the eighth methodology to either
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  Speaker 1: support or refute the conclusions of the original examiner. ISPFS
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  Speaker 1: requires verification of all conclusions rendered in the case, value determinations, identifications, exclusions,
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  Speaker 1: and inconclusive. Routine verification is considered open. This means notes
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  Speaker 1: and images, blind verification in which the verifier has no
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  Speaker 1: knowledge of or access to the original analysis conclusion, may
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  Speaker 1: be performed in a case of single identifications generated from
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  Speaker 1: a database, as a means of conflict resolution or as
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  Speaker 1: an additional quality measure for complex impressions. The decision made
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  Speaker 1: at the evaluation step is an examiner's opinion based on
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  Speaker 1: their personal observations. These observations may be influenced by training, experience,
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  Speaker 1: risk tolerance, bias, and many other factors. Once the decision
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  Speaker 1: is made, the case is sent to another qualified analyst
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  Speaker 1: for verification. It's not uncommon for analysts to have different
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  Speaker 1: opinions and come to differing conclusions during the ACE-V process.
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  Speaker 1: ISPFS has a conflict resolution policy for navigating and documenting
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  Speaker 1: such instances. Analysts are encouraged to resolve differing opinions by
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  Speaker 1: re-examination and or discussion to arrive at a mutually agreed
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  Speaker 1: upon conclusion that is supported by the observed data. When
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  Speaker 1: this cannot be achieved, a blind verification by additional analysts
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  Speaker 1: may be conducted. If blind verification does not result in resolution,
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  Speaker 1: a consensus opinion or administrative opinion may be sought. The
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  Speaker 1: multimodal biometric identification system is a general term referring to
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  Speaker 1: any system that contains a database in of 10-print latent
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  Speaker 1: prints and palm prints. MBIS also includes software that's utilized
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  Speaker 1: to search available databases. Idaho is a member of the
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  Speaker 1: Western Identification Network and is able to search the database
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  Speaker 1: of WIN Central Site members and the FBI. MBIS allows
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  Speaker 1: for searching latent prints against known fingerprint and palm print
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  Speaker 1: database records. This system can also be used to search
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  Speaker 1: latent prints against other latent prints. All right, folks, we're
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  Speaker 1: going to wrap up right there. And in the next
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  Speaker 1: episode dealing with the topic, we're going to pick up
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  Speaker 1: with Exhibit S11, Amended Supplemental Expert Disclosure, Catherine White. All
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  Speaker 1: the information that goes with this episode can be found
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  Speaker 1: in the description box.