Latest / Beyond The Horizon / Murder In Moscow: The Experts Behind The case Against Bryan Kohberger (Part 13) (9/9/26)

Transcript

Murder In Moscow: The Experts Behind The case Against Bryan Kohberger (Part 13) (9/9/26) · Beyond The Horizon

• 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
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: up in Moscow. And this time, we have Exhibit S10,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Amended Supplemental Expert Disclosure, Tina Walthall. The state has previously
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: disclosed Tina Walthall, Forensic Scientist 3, as an expert witness
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: in the field of forensic science, which includes, but in
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: no way is limited to, latent prints. The state hereby
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: incorporates Its previous response and attachments filed on December 18th, 2024,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: and is hereby supplementing its response as follows. Walt Hall
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: may explain what friction, rich skin is, what latent prints are,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: what exemplars are, consumption of evidence with regard to latent
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: print processing, how items are processed for latent prints in
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: the laboratory, how recovered prints are preserved in the laboratory,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: factors affecting the recovery of latent prints, how latent prints
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: are utilized, for comparison to include verification and confliction resolution process,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: and the use of the multi-modal biometric identification system. Waltall
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: is expected to testify about her involvement in the case,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: which she processed item 1, K-bar leather knife sheath with
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: USM logo for latent prints. Waltall did not observe or
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: develop and latent prints from item 1. Waltall's explanation of
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: this can be found in Waltall's report to Bates Pages
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: 267 and 68. Walt Hall processed other items 66, 68,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: and 69 for latent prints in the case as well.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: The report for these items can be found in Walt
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Hall's Lab Report 15, Bates Pages 988 and 989. Walt
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Hall will testify friction ridge skin is specialized type of
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: skin on the hands and feet and is capable of
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: being used to establish or conform identity. The skin consists
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: of ridges and valleys located on the gripping surfaces of
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: the hand and feet that form patterns. Fingerprints are classified
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: into the following pattern types, arches, loops, and whorls. Individual
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: ridges have features or characteristics that are highly discriminating between individuals.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: These features are formed prior to birth and remain relatively
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: unchanged throughout one's life, barring trauma or disease. Friction ridge
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: details refer to the features and characteristics present In friction
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: ridge impressions, this detail may be described as level 1,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: direction of ridge flow, level 2, ridge path, level 3,
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: ridge shape, and pore location. Friction ridge details permit comparison
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: and subsequent identification of fingerprints. Latent prints are impressions of
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: friction ridge skin patterns that can be left on a
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: surface when contact is made. The term latent refers to
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: prints that are not visible prior to utilizing a development method.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Latent prints are often made up of various matrices, including
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: sweat and oils, that are colorless and require development with
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: chemicals or powders to be seen. Prints at a crime
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: scene may also be made from other material that may
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: coat the skin, like blood or dirt. Although latent means hidden,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: any prints recovered from a crime scene or from other
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: items of evidence are often referred to as latent prints.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Exemplars are intentional recordings of the friction-ridged skin of an individual.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: These may be collected with black ink, powder adhesive, electronic imaging,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: and or other capture methods. These known exemplars can be
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: used for comparison against latent print evidence. Exemplars may include any,
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: all areas of friction-edged skin from the hands or feet
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: of an individual. Types of exemplars include fingerprints, palm prints,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: major case prints, tips, joints, edges of fingers, and footprints.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Items are often submitted to the laboratory for multiple types
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: of analysis. Surfaces that require other forensic examination, trace, biology, etc.,
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: are evaluated to determine if latent print processing techniques will
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: have an impact. Examiners routinely consult with scientists from other
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: disciplines to ensure all potential evidence is considered for preservation.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Once an item is processed for latent prints, reprocessing will
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: generally not be successful. so it's imperative that processing techniques
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: are completed in the proper sequence. An examiner in the
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: laboratory uses chemical, physical, and light techniques to attempt to
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: recover latent prints from a variety of surfaces. The techniques selected, visual,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: alternate light source, dye stain, powder, etc., are generally based
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: on the types of surface, porous, semi-porous, or non-porous, but
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: may also take into consideration what's believed that latent prints
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: may be made of. sweat, oil, blood, etc. Techniques are
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: generally performed in a sequential manner for the least destructive
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: to most. Observed or developed latent prints can be preserved
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: by digital photography, scanning, and lifting techniques. There are many
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: variables that would affect whether a latent print is left
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: and able to be recovered. These variables include conditions existing before, during,
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: and after the time a person touched or handled the surface.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Pre-transfer conditions include individual subject factors, latent print composition, and
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: a person's ability to leave latent prints. These factors differ
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: from individual to individual, and may even vary within the
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: same individual. Factors also include deposition transfer factors, such as
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: the surface, material, condition, texture, etc., and how the item
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: was handled, length of contact, pressure, area of contact, contaminants,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: smearing during contact, etc., Post-transfer conditions, environmental factors include the
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: conditions that the latent print was subjected to after it
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: was deposited, additional handling, packaging, environmental exposure, etc. Latent print
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: comparison refers to the process of analyzing latent prints and
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: comparing them to known exemplars in an attempt to determine
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: their source. Examiners utilize the ACE-V methodology, which is a
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: specialized version of hypothesis testing. ACE-V stands for Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: and Verification. Analysis is the assessment and documentation of friction
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: ridge impression to determine suitability for a comparison. This assessment
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: includes consideration of the quality and quantity of detail, orientation,
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: anatomical source, finger, palm, etc., type of matrix, deposition factors, complexity,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: substrate considerations, environmental factors, development mediums, and preservation methods. Latent
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: prints may be of value for comparison or may be
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: deemed to contain insufficient detail for comparison purposes. Impressions deemed
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: of value are impressions that are in opinion of the
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: examiner contain sufficient quantity, quality, and specificity of rich detail
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: to warrant a comparison. Examiners also take into consideration how
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: discriminating the location and arrangement of features within an impression are.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: When quantity is low, quality must be relatively high. whereas
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: when quality is low, quantity must be relatively high. It's
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: not uncommon for latent print examiners to have conflicting opinions
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: with regards to sufficiency. Latent prints are also evaluated for
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: their suitability for database entry. Comparison is a side-by-side, back-and-forth
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: examination of friction-rich detail between latent print and a known
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: print to determine whether the detail is in agreement or
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: disagreement based upon features, sequences, and spatial relationships. within the
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: tolerance of clarity and distortion. Generally, latent prints are first
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: compared against various known prints belonging to subjects associated with
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: the evidence, victims, witnesses, and or suspects if known. In
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: the event that the latent prints are not identified, or
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: that there are no known prints available with which to compare,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: the prints may be entered into a computer database and
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: compared to a large group of persons who have prints
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: on file. Evaluation is the formulation of a conclusion based
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: upon analysis and comparison of friction-rich impressions. Conclusions that may
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: be reached are source identification, source exclusion, or inconclusive. Source
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: identification is the examiner's opinion that two impressions originated from
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: the same source. The observed features are in sufficient correspondence
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: such that the examiner would not expect to see this
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: level of agreement in impressions that came from a different source.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: Nor did the examiner find features in disagreement that would
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: lead them to conclude that this impression are from different sources.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: There is no scientific basis for a predetermined number of
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: corresponding friction-rich details to be presented in two impressions in
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: order to affect a source identification. Source exclusion is an
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: examiner's conclusion that two impressions did not originate from the
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: same source. The observed features are in disagreement. such that
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: the examiner would not expect them to have originated from
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: the same source. Inconclusive is an examiner's inability to reach
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: a conclusion of source identification or exclusion. Inconclusive may be
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: due to lack of quantity or quality of detail in
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: the latent or known impression. Verification is the independent examination
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: by another qualified analyst using the eighth methodology to either
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: support or refute the conclusions of the original examiner. ISPFS
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: requires verification of all conclusions rendered in the case, value determinations, identifications, exclusions,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: and inconclusive. Routine verification is considered open. This means notes
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: and images, blind verification in which the verifier has no
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: knowledge of or access to the original analysis conclusion, may
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: be performed in a case of single identifications generated from
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: a database, as a means of conflict resolution or as
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: an additional quality measure for complex impressions. The decision made
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: at the evaluation step is an examiner's opinion based on
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: their personal observations. These observations may be influenced by training, experience,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: risk tolerance, bias, and many other factors. Once the decision
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: is made, the case is sent to another qualified analyst
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: for verification. It's not uncommon for analysts to have different
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: opinions and come to differing conclusions during the ACE-V process.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: ISPFS has a conflict resolution policy for navigating and documenting
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: such instances. Analysts are encouraged to resolve differing opinions by
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: re-examination and or discussion to arrive at a mutually agreed
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: upon conclusion that is supported by the observed data. When
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: this cannot be achieved, a blind verification by additional analysts
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: may be conducted. If blind verification does not result in resolution,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: a consensus opinion or administrative opinion may be sought. The
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: multimodal biometric identification system is a general term referring to
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: any system that contains a database in of 10-print latent
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: prints and palm prints. MBIS also includes software that's utilized
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: to search available databases. Idaho is a member of the
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: Western Identification Network and is able to search the database
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: of WIN Central Site members and the FBI. MBIS allows
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: for searching latent prints against known fingerprint and palm print
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: database records. This system can also be used to search
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: latent prints against other latent prints. All right, folks, we're
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: going to wrap up right there. And in the next
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: episode dealing with the topic, we're going to pick up
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: with Exhibit S11, Amended Supplemental Expert Disclosure, Catherine White. All
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: the information that goes with this episode can be found
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: in the description box.