Melinda Worley — Direct/Voir Dire
1,208 linesThe witness, MELINDA WORLEY, was first duly sworn and testified as follows:
COURT CLERK: Take a seat in the witness stand. State your name again for the record. Spell your last name.
MELINDA WORLEY: Melinda Worley. W-o-r-l-e-y.
VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION
BY MS. GOUDE:
MS. GOUDE: Good afternoon, Agent Worley.
MELINDA WORLEY: Good afternoon.
MS. GOUDE: Could you tell the jurors where you work?
MELINDA WORLEY: I work for SLED.
MS. GOUDE: How long have you worked for SLED?
MELINDA WORLEY: Since August of 2011.
MS. GOUDE: And what is your current position at SLED?
MELINDA WORLEY: I'm currently a senior criminalist in the Latent Print Unit of the Forensic Services Lab.
MS. GOUDE: Can you tell the jury a little bit about your education and training and other experiences at SLED that have led you to this point?
MELINDA WORLEY: Sure. I have a Bachelor's of Science degree in anthropology from the University at Tennessee at Chattanooga, a Bachelor's of Science Degree on forensic science from Mercyhurst College, a Bachelor of Science in forensic science from the University of Florida, along with a Master's Degree. I also received a graduate certificate in forensic death investigation. I started at SLED in 2011 in the Crime Scene Unit as a special agent. I followed through the training program that SLED provides in-house. I finished that -- I believe it was July of 2012, and at that point I was able to take cases as a crime scene agent. But shortly thereafter I was -- also started training in the discipline of footwear and tire tread examination. I finished that training in March of 2014. And so then I was doing crime scene and footwear and tire casings until August of 2022. I transferred out of the Crime Scene Unit to the Latent Print Unit. I also switched from being a class one law enforcement officer -- I was a senior special agent -- to a class three law enforcement, so now I'm a senior criminalist and a footwear and tire examiner.
MS. GOUDE: And so as far as crime scene goes, can you tell us about any special training that you had pertaining to crime scene specifically?
MELINDA WORLEY: I have taken several courses in blood stain pattern analysis, shooting reconstruction, archeology, forensic archeology and clandestine graves, photography.
MS. GOUDE: And back in 2021, you were crime scene investigator. Is that correct?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's correct.
MS. GOUDE: And now you are in the footwear and tire examination. Is that correct?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's correct.
MS. GOUDE: What would be the appropriate title for that?
MELINDA WORLEY: Footwear and tire examiner.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. What other additional qualifications do you have to examine footwear and tire impression?
MELINDA WORLEY: I have taken two forty-hour courses related to footwear, and I have completed approximately fifty footwear cases since I was -- completed my training in 2014. I have testified as an expert witness, nine times qualified.
MS. GOUDE: Is that in state court?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, ma'am.
MS. GOUDE: And you said about how many, I guess, cases have you had where you have examined footwear and tire impressions, if you can give us an estimate?
MELINDA WORLEY: As far as actual scene that I worked, examined footwear, or just in general footwear?
MS. GOUDE: In general.
MELINDA WORLEY: I think it's around fifty cases.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time I would move to qualify Investigator Worley as an expert in footwear and tire examination.
JUDGE NEWMAN: What says the defense?
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection, Your Honor. She's obviously qualified.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right, ladies and gentlemen, where a witness by virtue of their education and experience becomes what the Court considers an expert in some field, that witness can give opinions where lay witnesses typically cannot. And this witness has been qualified now and accepted as an expert witness in the field of -- Is it footwear examination and what else?
MS. GOUDE: Tire impressions, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: And tire impressions. And you may proceed.
MS. GOUDE: Thank you, Your Honor.
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. GOUDE:
MS. GOUDE: So, Agent Worley, back in June of 2021, what was your role at SLED again?
MELINDA WORLEY: I was in the Crime Scene Unit.
MS. GOUDE: As a crime scene investigator?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: And can you tell us just some of the general procedures of a crime scene investigator who responds to a crime scene?
MELINDA WORLEY: Sure. We are requested to respond to crime scenes anywhere in the state when the sheriff's office or a police department requests our assistance with a crime scene. We document the scene with photographs and draw sketches, take measurements, we collect evidence, document it, collect it, package it, appropriately maintain chain of custody.
MS. GOUDE: Is there any special kind of protocol that y'all follow?
MELINDA WORLEY: We do have a protocol manual, yes.
MS. GOUDE: Do you ever wear any type of gowns or coverings or anything like that out to a crime scene?
MELINDA WORLEY: We always wear gloves no matter what. Depends on the scene, I guess, as far as if we're going to wear any booties or anything else.
MS. GOUDE: Would it be normal protocol to wear booties to an outdoor crime scene?
MELINDA WORLEY: Not the way we've operated, no.
MS. GOUDE: Why not?
MELINDA WORLEY: It's not usually -- I mean, it's not usually necessary, I guess, as far as watching where you're stepping, not stepping in blood or any tire or footwear impressions or anything. We just don't normally wear booties.
MS. GOUDE: When you're at a crime scene, are you looking for microscopic evidence?
MELINDA WORLEY: Well, we don't carry microscopes. Other than swabbing items at a scene, we collect potential evidence that way, by swabbing it.
MS. GOUDE: All right. Let's move on to your involvement in this case. Did you have the occasion to respond to Moselle Road on June 7th?
MELINDA WORLEY: I did.
MS. GOUDE: And what time did you respond out there?
MELINDA WORLEY: I believe we arrived around 12:07 a.m.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and are you aware of what time this -- the crime occurred?
MELINDA WORLEY: I'm not sure about the time it occurred; I know what time I was notified.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and what time was that?
MELINDA WORLEY: We were notified at around 10:33 p.m.
MS. GOUDE: So, it took you roughly 2 hours to get out to the crime scene. Why was that?
MELINDA WORLEY: We respond from Columbia.
MS. GOUDE: So, what did you see when you got out there?
MELINDA WORLEY: The scene entailed the area where the kennels were located. There was a large workshop with an overhang between the workshop and where the dog kennels were. There was a sort of gravel path driveway between the kennels and that overhang. The sheriff's office had brought out a canopy to cover Maggie's body to protect her from the rain.
MS. GOUDE: And what were the weather conditions?
MELINDA WORLEY: It was raining lightly.
MS. GOUDE: What is one of the first things you did when you got out there?
MELINDA WORLEY: We met with David Owen, Special Agent David Owen, and regional agents to try and get more information about what the scene entailed. We did a little initial walk-through to see -- the sheriff's office had marked some potential evidence so we can walk around to see what was what, and to see if we could find any additional evidence before we started taking photographs.
MS. GOUDE: Do you recall collecting a shotgun from Agent Daniel Green -- or, excuse me, Officer or Sergeant Daniel Green?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: And how did that occur?
MELINDA WORLEY: He had maintained custody of the shotgun and transferred it to me, so he brought it over to my truck and we put it in the gun box. We took photographs of it and rendered it safe.
MS. GOUDE: Was that gun loaded or unloaded when you took custody of it?
MELINDA WORLEY: It was loaded.
MS. GOUDE: And did you unload that weapon?
MELINDA WORLEY: I did.
MS. GOUDE: And why would you do that?
MELINDA WORLEY: We always render a firearm safe before we transport it.
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, I'm going to show you what's already been entered as State's Exhibit 4, along with the rifle -- or, excuse me, the shotgun that was collected. Could you tell us what you have there?
MELINDA WORLEY: It's one of the two shot shells that were in the shotgun.
MS. GOUDE: And that is a shot shell that you unloaded from this gun?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. What gauge is that?
MELINDA WORLEY: This one is a 16 gauge.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and the correct caliber for that gun is a 12 gauge?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: Since Daniel Greene collected that gun, did you take a buccal swab from him?
MELINDA WORLEY: We did, yes.
MS. GOUDE: And why would you do that?
MELINDA WORLEY: In case his DNA was on the firearm and we would need to eliminate him, or know that was his.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, this is State's Exhibit 249. Does that appear to be the buccal swab you collected from Daniel Green?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, it is.
MS. GOUDE: How can you tell?
MELINDA WORLEY: It has my writing, my initials. The seal tape has my initials and my handwriting for the date.
MS. GOUDE: At this time, the State would offer State's Exhibit 249 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted without objection.
(BUCCAL SWAB MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 249 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, if you could take a look at State's Exhibit 17. Do you recognize what's in that picture?
MELINDA WORLEY: I do.
MS. GOUDE: And is that a true and accurate representation?
MELINDA WORLEY: It is.
MS. GOUDE: Okay.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time I would move State's Exhibit 17 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Will she identify what it is before we do that?
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection. No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: What is it?
MELINDA WORLEY: It's the shotgun that I took custody of and a 12 gauge, and then 16 gauge shot shells that I removed from the shotgun.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted without objection.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 17 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: And if you could for the jury, could you tell us which shells we're looking at here?
MELINDA WORLEY: The one on the left is the 12 gauge, and the one on the right is a 16 gauge.
MS. GOUDE: And those are the shells you unloaded from that gun?
MELINDA WORLEY: They are.
MS. GOUDE: And you described the crime scene. If you could -- State's Exhibit 22 has previously been entered. Could you describe that to the jury?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's the large overhang on the side of the workshop, the dog house that's just outside that overhang, and Maggie's body is lying there underneath that canopy. The kennels are in the background.
MS. GOUDE: How did you discover Paul's body or observe Paul's body?
MELINDA WORLEY: He was -- when we arrived he was still covered with a pink sheet, but we could tell he was lying face down just outside of the feed room.
MS. GOUDE: And when you -- how did you process the area around him?
MELINDA WORLEY: We start with documenting the area with photographs, photographing the evidence that the sheriff's office had already marked overall, mid-ranging and close-up of each item of evidence, photograph the victims as they were when we arrived before the sheets were removed for examining.
MS. GOUDE: At this time, Your Honor, I'm going to publish State's Exhibit 24, which is a sealed exhibit.
MS. GOUDE: Does this picture show how you found Paul's body?
MELINDA WORLEY: After we documented him with the sheet over him, the coroner removed the sheet. Yes, that is what it looked like.
MS. GOUDE: And he appears to be laying outside of a feed room.
MELINDA WORLEY: That's correct.
MS. GOUDE: Did you process that feed room?
MELINDA WORLEY: After he was removed from the area we were -- we went in the room to process the room.
MS. GOUDE: And if you look at that picture there, it appears that there's something laying on his -- on his -- on the back of his shorts there.
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, that's right.
MS. GOUDE: And what was that?
MELINDA WORLEY: I was told it was his cell phone.
MS. GOUDE: State's Exhibit 25. Do you recognize that picture?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: And what is that?
MELINDA WORLEY: That is the cell phone on the back of his shorts.
MS. GOUDE: At this time, the State would move State's Exhibit 25 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 25 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: And this is the cell phone that was laying on top of Paul's body?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: Now, did y'all process the inside of the feed room?
MELINDA WORLEY: We did.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, I'm going to ask you to take a look at State's Exhibits 26, 27, 28, 30 -- if you can -- 31, 32, 35, 198, 199, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, and 45, please.
(Break in proceedings.)
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, in general, what are those pictures of?
MELINDA WORLEY: They were all taken inside the feed room. A lot of them are footwear impressions.
MS. GOUDE: And are those true and accurate representations of the feed room as it was the night of the murders on June the 7th?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, they are.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time I would offer those exhibits into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Can I look at those briefly? I'm sorry. I'm just making sure they are what I thought they were.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Exhibit numbers again?
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, that's State's Exhibits 27, 26, 30, 28, 31, 35, 32, 198, 199, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, and 45.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted without objection.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 26 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBERS 27 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 28 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBERS 30 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 31 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 32 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 35 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 38 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 39 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 40 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 42 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 43 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 44 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 45 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 198 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 199 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, this is State's Exhibit 27. If you could tell the jurors what they're looking at in this picture.
MELINDA WORLEY: That's a view looking from the door into the feed room.
MS. GOUDE: And what can we see on the floor there?
MELINDA WORLEY: Marker 1 is the shot shell wadding; there's also suspected blood and tissue, possible pieces of skull on the floor.
MS. GOUDE: And then looking back at that window.
MELINDA WORLEY: There was several bullet defects in the window and in the glass.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 26?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's showing the feed room also, but it's showing more of the door, the outside of the door.
MS. GOUDE: And if you notice the top of the door, what can you see up there?
MELINDA WORLEY: It looks like blood, and there's also hair on top of the door.
MS. GOUDE: State's Exhibit 30?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's behind the door to the feed room.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and what is -- what's back there?
MELINDA WORLEY: There were two 12 gauge shot shells -- fired shot shells on the floor behind the door, and also there was hair behind the door.
MS. GOUDE: State's Exhibit 31?
MELINDA WORLEY: That was after we marked the two fired shells as Markers 9 and 10, and also showing the shot shell wad, Marker 1, in the same photo.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 26?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's close-up of the shot shell wad in Marker 1, and there's also a probable footwear impression in 1.
MS. GOUDE: And do we see some little round pellets there?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, there are pellets on the floor.
MS. GOUDE: 32?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's a close-up of the shot shells at 9 and 10.
MS. GOUDE: Were those shot shells collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, they were.
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, when those shot shells were collected, what did you do with them?
MELINDA WORLEY: We photograph them first before we pick them up, we package them, write the information on the packaging as to what it is, where it came from at Marker 9 and 10, date and initial, and time it was collected.
MS. GOUDE: And were they submitted to the lab and placed in these big plastic bags?
MELINDA WORLEY: I transferred them to the Crime Scene lieutenant.
MS. GOUDE: I'll ask you to take a look at these for me.
MELINDA WORLEY: Okay.
MS. GOUDE: Do these appear to contain Item 1 and Items 9 and 10?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: And also some other items that were collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time I will have Agent Worley open the bags and remove Items 1 and Items 9 and 10.
MS. GOUDE: All right. So, Item 1 is what?
MELINDA WORLEY: That is the shot shell wad that was at Marker 1.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and how do you know that is the shot shell wad that you collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: It's my handwriting on the box and my initials and my initials on the seal and the tape.
MS. GOUDE: And then Item 9 and Item 10?
MELINDA WORLEY: These are the two shot shells -- fired shot shells at Markers 9 and 10. This one is the one at Marker 9. It's a 12 gauge Federal, and the one at Marker 10 was a Winchester 12 gauge.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time the state would move items 29, the shot -- I guess the shot shell wad; and Item 34, the 12 gage federal; and Item 33, the 12 gage Winchester, into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted without objection.
(SHOTGUN SHELL WADDING MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 29 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(FIRED SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 33 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(FIRED SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 34 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: All right. Also in that feed room we're looking at what appeared to be some bloody footprints. Is that right, Agent Worley?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: You can see those footprints here in State's Exhibit 27?
MELINDA WORLEY: You can see them.
MS. GOUDE: How about State's Exhibit 35 here?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes. There are two right there at Marker 1.
MS. GOUDE: So, right down in here?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: All right. So, in your training and experience as a footwear examiner, did you have occasion to examine those footprints?
MELINDA WORLEY: I did.
MS. GOUDE: And did you have some shoes to compare those footprints to?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes. I took custody of the shoes that Paul was wearing when I attended his autopsy; I was able to compare those to the footwear impressions in the feed room.
MS. GOUDE: And now how do you do that?
MELINDA WORLEY: We make test impressions of the shoes after they've been photographed with ink on the bottom of the shoes. I have someone similar who wears the same size usually wears the shoe and steps on a piece of hard stock paper. We make as many test impressions as we need to make sure I've gotten all of the area at the bottom of the shoe. Then I reprint those test impressions on transparencies. It makes it easier to overlay those on top of the photographs of the unknown impressions at the crime scene, and I compare the unknown impressions from the crime scene to the overlays that I place on Paul's shoes.
MS. GOUDE: So, you make a transparent overlay and you place it on pictures to determine if they correspond.
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: State's Exhibit 148, what is that?
MELINDA WORLEY: That is a printed version of the test impressions that we created of Paul's shoes.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 199?
MELINDA WORLEY: That one is the right shoe. The first one was the left shoe.
MS. GOUDE: And there are, I guess, two impressions of each shoe there?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: So using the impressions you made in the photographs, did you make any determinations?
MELINDA WORLEY: I determined they were corresponding consistent with the outsole design of Paul's shoes.
MS. GOUDE: We'll look a little closer here at State's Exhibit 38. I'm sorry, there appears some kind of shadow here on the ELMO. State's 138, is that a picture that you used from the crime scene to compare to Paul's shoes?
MELINDA WORLEY: It is.
MS. GOUDE: And what did you determine regarding that?
MELINDA WORLEY: That one was also consistent with the outsole design of Paul's shoes.
MS. GOUDE: State's Exhibit 39?
MELINDA WORLEY: Both of those were the same outsole designs of Paul's shoes.
MS. GOUDE: And I'm going to go back to State's Exhibit 40. And if you're standing in the feed room, what position are those shoes facing?
MELINDA WORLEY: Those are facing the window.
MS. GOUDE: Facing the window.
MELINDA WORLEY: Right.
MS. GOUDE: Did you also notice the door of that feed room?
MELINDA WORLEY: I did.
MS. GOUDE: And what about the door?
MELINDA WORLEY: There was a lot of, I guess, blood and brain matter on the outside of the door and not so much on the inside of the -- interior side of door. There was a little bit at the top and hair on top of the door but not on the rest of the back of the door.
MS. GOUDE: So State's Exhibit 42 here, what can we see?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's a picture of the exterior side of the door; you can see blood toward the top of the door.
MS. GOUDE: So, that would be like the front of the door.
MELINDA WORLEY: Right.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 43?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's also the front of the door.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and we can see some blood spatter up here in the corner. Would that be right?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, that's right.
MS. GOUDE: And there appears to be hair as well?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, that's right.
MS. GOUDE: And we mentioned the defects in the window. State's Exhibit 44 here?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Can you see there? Can you see a hole in that window?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 45.
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes. You can see one of the defects.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. Do you recall how many defects were in the window?
MELINDA WORLEY: Six, I believe.
MS. GOUDE: Later did you have an occasion to go back out to the scene and reexamine that window?
MELINDA WORLEY: I did.
MS. GOUDE: At that time, can you tell us what you did when you examined the window?
MELINDA WORLEY: We went to further document, take more measurements of the area. We scaled the defects and took several more measurements of where those defects were in the window.
MS. GOUDE: I'm going to show you State's Exhibits 114 and 115. Do you recognize those images?
MELINDA WORLEY: I do.
MS. GOUDE: And what is that?
MELINDA WORLEY: These are diagrams of the window that I created. One shows the interior side of the window and one shows the exterior side. It shows where the defects are located in the window and all of the measurements that we took for each defect.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time I would move State's 14 -- 114 and 115 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted without objection.
MS. GOUDE: Permission to publish?
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes.
(DIAGRAM MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 114 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(DIAGRAM MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 115 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: We're looking here at State's 114. Do I have that in the correct orientation, Agent Worley?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. All right, and can you kind of explain to the jurors the defects we're looking at here?
MELINDA WORLEY: Sure. There is defects A through, I believe, G, starting from top to bottom.
MS. GOUDE: So, like, where it says defect A, defect B, what is that?
MELINDA WORLEY: Those were the locations of where the bullet defects were in the glass.
MS. GOUDE: So, those are holes in the glass.
MELINDA WORLEY: Right, yes.
MS. GOUDE: And that is from the inside of the feed room.
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 115 here, what is that?
MELINDA WORLEY: That is the exterior side of the window.
MS. GOUDE: So, those are the same defects but from looking from the exterior, like from the outside of the room?
MELINDA WORLEY: Right.
MS. GOUDE: And what was kind of the purpose of that?
MELINDA WORLEY: In the event that a reconstruction, whatever, be done of the scene, it's necessary to have specific measurements to be able to place those bullet defects, those holes back in the window where they were based on measurements.
MS. GOUDE: What else did you recall doing concerning the feed room?
MELINDA WORLEY: We collected several of the shot shell pellets. We also swabbed the exterior doorknob of the room just for digital touch DNA.
MS. GOUDE: Did you collect those pellets from the feed room floor?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, we did.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to break for lunch at this time and resume at 2:20.
(The jury left the courtroom.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: We'll be in recess until 2:20.
(A lunch break was taken.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: You may bring the jury.
(The jury returned to the courtroom.)
COURT BAILIFF: The jury is present, sir.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right, thank you. You may proceed.
MS. GOUDE: Thank you, Your Honor.
BY MS. GOUDE:
MS. GOUDE: All right, Agent Worley, I think we left off talking about some items in the feed room.
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: That being Items 17 and 14. I think in this baggy that you had cut open earlier, Item 7 -- or, excuse me, Item 14 is in that bag?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: And Item 14 is the pellets from the feed -- excuse me, feed room floor that you collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, that's right.
MS. GOUDE: And how do you know that that item contains those pellets?
MELINDA WORLEY: It's my handwriting on the envelope and the description of what I collected with the date time and my initials, and my initials on the date on the sealed envelope.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and does that item appear to have been opened or tampered with since you collected it?
MELINDA WORLEY: It was opened by, I believe, the firearms examiner.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and then Item 17?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Okay.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time I would offer State's Exhibit 20, the pellets from the feed room floor, and State's Exhibit 18, the swabs from the door of the feed room into evidence.
JUDGE NEWMAN: What says the defense?
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: I'm sorry, no objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted.
(PELLETS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 20 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(SWABS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 18 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: All right. Agent Worley, let's move on to Maggie.
MELINDA WORLEY: Uh-huh.
MS. GOUDE: Did you have a chance to observe her body?
MELINDA WORLEY: I did.
MS. GOUDE: And where was it located?
MELINDA WORLEY: She was just past the workshop overhang near the dog house.
MS. GOUDE: And when you first got out there, could you see her body was or was it covered?
MELINDA WORLEY: It was covered with a pink sheet.
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, I'm going to show you State's 52, State's Exhibit 50, State's 48, and State's 47. If you could take a look at those and tell us what in general they depict.
MELINDA WORLEY: These were photos of Maggie, the way she appeared when we arrived on scene still covered with a pink sheet.
MS. GOUDE: And are those true and accurate depictions of the crime scene where Maggie Murdaugh was found when you were out there?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, they are.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time I would offer State's Exhibits 52, 50, 48, and 47 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Your Honor, we don't have any objections to these, but I think we need to go through the process -- we've done two of them -- to have them submitted under seal and place holders. Am I wrong about that?
(Break in proceedings.)
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time we would move State's 52, 48, and 47 into evidence.
JUDGE NEWMAN: What says the defense?
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: I don't have an objection to number whatever that is.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, we will seal State's Exhibit 50 due to its graphic nature and prepare that place holder.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection under those circumstances.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Admitted.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 47 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 48 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 50 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 52 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, this is State's Exhibit 47. If you could kind of describe that to the jury.
MELINDA WORLEY: It's a photo showing Maggie's body lying on the ground with the sheriff's office canopy over her looking toward the overhang from the workshop, and you can see the kennels off to the right.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and these pictures are kind of hard to see on the screen. Is Paul's body also in that shot?
MELINDA WORLEY: You can sort of see the pink sheet that's over him, yes.
MS. GOUDE: Like over in front of the feed room door?
MELINDA WORLEY: Right.
MS. GOUDE: And then Maggie's is in front of this ATV.
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, that's correct.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 48?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's looking from a different angle Maggie, the dog house in the background, workshop overhang, and the ATV is to the right.
MS. GOUDE: And then State's Exhibit 52?
MELINDA WORLEY: That was after Maggie's body was removed from the area.
MS. GOUDE: This is State's 50 submitted under seal.
MELINDA WORLEY: A different angle of Maggie's body, I believe still covered by the pink sheet.
MS. GOUDE: When you observed Maggie's body, where was she actually -- what wounds did you observe?
MELINDA WORLEY: She was lying face down, both arms bent at the elbow. Her right arm was bent toward her face; her left arm was bent underneath her body. Her legs were straight out behind her.
MS. GOUDE: And at this time I will publish Defendant's Exhibit 2, which is under seal.
MS. GOUDE: Is that how her body appeared to be on the scene?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, it is.
MS. GOUDE: Now when the body was moved, did you notice anything?
MELINDA WORLEY: We located another cartridge case on the ground approximately where her right knee had been.
MS. GOUDE: So, she was laying on top of a shell case?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: All right, and did you collect that item?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes. We marked it as Marker 7, photographed it, and collected it.
MS. GOUDE: And what -- do you recall what kind of round that was?
MELINDA WORLEY: It was a 300 Blackout.
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, I'm going to ask you to take a look at this baggy, and if you can, remove Item 7.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection, Your Honor.
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, State's Exhibit 68 is Item 7, a 300 Blackout recovered under the knee of Maggie Murdaugh. How do you know that is that?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's my handwriting on the envelope, date and time and initials when I collected it, my initials and the date on the seal tape.
MS. GOUDE: And I'm going --
MS. GOUDE: At this time I would move State's Exhibit 68 into evidence.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted without objection.
(SHELL CASING MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 68 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: I'm going to show you State's Exhibit 61. Do you recognize that picture.
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: And is that a -- what is that a picture of?
MELINDA WORLEY: This is Item 7, cartridge case located at Marker 7 before we collected it.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. Is that a true and accurate depiction of the casing at the crime scene?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, it is.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time the State would move State's Exhibit 61 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Can I see it? Is that what you just showed me? Oh, okay, I'm sorry. No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 61 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: And this is the shell casing here, shell case?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, it is.
MS. GOUDE: And this is a picture of it as located at the crime scene, correct?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's correct.
MS. GOUDE: Now, did you collect some other shell casings while you were out there?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, we did.
MS. GOUDE: And if we're looking in some of these pictures, you see the little yellow placards there. I don't know if we can see them that well on the screen here. What do each of those placards indicate?
MELINDA WORLEY: Those are the evidence markers that the sheriff's office placed on cartridge cases that were on scene. Markers 3, 4, and 5 are all the same, 300 Blackout cartridge cases.
MS. GOUDE: So, how many Blackout cases did you recover from the scene?
MELINDA WORLEY: I believe it was five.
MS. GOUDE: And did you collect the cases that were at the scene?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, I did.
MS. GOUDE: And that would be Items 2 through 6?
MELINDA WORLEY: 2 through 7. Yes.
MS. GOUDE: 2 through 7. And we already have Item 7 up there, so do you have Items 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 there?
MELINDA WORLEY: 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
MS. GOUDE: And what were Items 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6?
MELINDA WORLEY: They're all cartridge cases head stamped S&B 300 AAC BLK collected from Markers 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
MS. GOUDE: And in this case, does the item number correspond with the case where the marker was?
MELINDA WORLEY: It does, yes.
MS. GOUDE: And can you take a look at these pictures? That's going to be State's Exhibits 60, 62, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, and 54, and also 53. And can you tell us in general what we see in those pictures?
MELINDA WORLEY: These photos show each of those Markers 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 before we collected the evidence. And also Marker 13.
MS. GOUDE: And are those true and accurate depictions of where 300 Blackout shell case -- or cases were on the scene?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, ma'am.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time I would offer State's Exhibits 62, 60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, and 53 into evidence.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Have you showed them to the defense?
MS. GOUDE: Yes, Your Honor.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Are those the ones I just saw?
MS. GOUDE: Yes.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted without objection.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 53 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 54 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 55 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 56 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 57 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 58 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 59 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 60 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 62 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, these shell cases that were collected, did you collect them and put them in these little envelopes?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, I did.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted.
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, I'm going to get to you take a look at these cases one more time. This being now marked as State's Exhibit 63, if you could tell the jury what that is?
MELINDA WORLEY: This is a cartridge case 300 Blackout from Marker 2.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and how do you know this is the 300 Blackout cartridge case that you collected from Marker 2?
MELINDA WORLEY: It's my handwriting on the envelope, date, time, and initials when I collected it, and my initials on the seal.
MS. GOUDE: What about for State's 64?
MELINDA WORLEY: The 300 Blackout cartridge cases that I collected from Marker 3 with my handwriting on the envelope, date, time, and initials when I collected it, and my initials on the seal.
MS. GOUDE: State's Exhibit 65?
MELINDA WORLEY: Cartridge case collected from Marker 4, 300 Blackout. It's my handwriting, the date, time, and initials when I collected it, and my initials on the seal.
MS. GOUDE: 66?
MELINDA WORLEY: It's the 300 Blackout cartridge case from Marker 5. It's my handwriting, my date, time, and initials, and my initials on the seal.
MS. GOUDE: And then State's 67?
MELINDA WORLEY: The 300 Blackout cartridge case from Marker 6. It's my handwriting on the envelope with the date, time, and initials when I collected it, my initials on the seal.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time I would move State's 63 through 67 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted.
(SHELL CASING MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 63 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(SHELL CASING MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 64 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(SHELL CASING MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 65 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(SHELL CASING MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 66 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(SHELL CASING MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 67 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: And, Agent Worley, what did you do with these cases once they were collected on the scene?
MELINDA WORLEY: I sealed them in those coin envelopes that are in there with them; I transported them to the lab at SLED.
MS. GOUDE: And when you got them to the lab at SLED, what did you do?
MELINDA WORLEY: I transferred most of the evidence from the scene to one of the crime scene lieutenants, Lieutenant Todd Schenk.
MS. GOUDE: And does he take these items and put them in some sort of secure location, or what happens to them?
MELINDA WORLEY: Would have logged them into our database and transferred them wherever they were going in the lab for analysis.
MS. GOUDE: All right. I'm going to turn your attention now to what's previously been admitted as State's Exhibit 49, which I believe is admitted under seal. Now if we take a look at this picture, you can see those yellow placards. Placard 2, I believe, would show -- correspond with Item 2, which has been marked as State's 63 (sic)?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yeah, that's right.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 53 here, what are we looking at here?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's that cartridge case at Marker 2 before we collected it.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 54?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's a close-up of the same cartridge case at Marker 2.
MS. GOUDE: All right, and then we'll move to State's Exhibit 55.
MELINDA WORLEY: Those are Markers 3 and 4 and the cartridge cases at those markers before I collected them.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and I don't know if the jury can see those cases there, Agent Worley.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, may I have permission for Agent Worley to step down and point those two cases out to the jurors on this TV here?
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes.
MELINDA WORLEY: Right here is the one at Marker 3, and then the one at Marker 4 is right there.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and while you're here, Agent Worley, we'll put up State's Exhibit 58. And in that picture, if you could point out any items of interest for us?
MELINDA WORLEY: These are the cartridge cases at Markers 5 and 6. I'm not sure if I can see the one at 5. The one at Marker 6 is right here.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 59 is a close-up there of --
MELINDA WORLEY: This is the cartridge case at Marker 5.
MS. GOUDE: All right, Agent Worley, if you could take your seat please. Thank you. State's Exhibit 66?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: And then let's go back here to State's Exhibit 58. Also in that picture, does it look like we might have some brain matter and some hair in that picture?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: State's Exhibit 56.
MELINDA WORLEY: It's the cartridge case at Marker 3 before I collected it.
MS. GOUDE: And then State's Exhibit 64 is the actual shell case that was collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: State's Exhibit 57?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's the cartridge case at Marker 4 before I collected it.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 65?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: That's the actual case that was collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: It is.
MS. GOUDE: And then finally here we have State's Exhibit 60.
MELINDA WORLEY: That's the cartridge case at Marker 6 before I collected it.
MS. GOUDE: And what is also in that picture?
MELINDA WORLEY: It's possible brain matter.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 67?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes. That's the same cartridge case.
MS. GOUDE: That's the cartridge case that was collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: Right.
MS. GOUDE: Now, also was there some kind of defect or something in the gravel that y'all inspected?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes. The -- at Marker 13 the sheriff's office had placed -- there was a disturbance in the gravel area. We dug into that area. We presumed it was a bullet strike where a bullet had hit, so we dug into that area.
MS. GOUDE: And did you find anything when you were looking?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes. We found several metal fragments.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. Agent Worley, what did you just remove from this baggy from the crime lab?
MELINDA WORLEY: These are the metal fragments that I collected from in the ground at Marker 13.
MS. GOUDE: And how do you know those are the metal fragments that you collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: They look familiar. It's my handwriting on the envelope, date and time and initials when I collected it, and my initials on the seal.
MS. GOUDE: Thank you.
(Break in proceedings.)
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, I'm just going to show you State's Exhibit 62. Do you recognize that picture?
MELINDA WORLEY: I do.
MS. GOUDE: Is that a fair and accurate depiction of the bullet fragments at the crime scene?
MELINDA WORLEY: It is, yes.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time I would move State's Exhibit 62 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 62 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE. DIFFERENT PHOTO TO ONE PREVIOUSLY MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 62.)
MS. GOUDE: And also for ID purposes only, State's Exhibit 102, the bullet fragments.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted for ID only.
(BULLET FRAGMENTS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 102 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
MS. GOUDE: And Agent Worley, State's Exhibit 62, if you could tell the jury, what is on the that placard there?
MELINDA WORLEY: Those are the metal fragments that we collected from the ground at Marker 13.
MS. GOUDE: All right. So, what all did you see around Maggie's body while you were investigating the scene?
MELINDA WORLEY: There was -- in the dog house at the side that was facing her, there appeared to be a bullet defect in the side of the dog house.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. Was there an ATV parked under the -- under that shed?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yeah, there were two.
MS. GOUDE: Did you notice anything about the ATV?
MELINDA WORLEY: There appeared to be suspected biological material on the front of the ATV sort of low down on the front of it.
MS. GOUDE: And where was that ATV in relation to Maggie's body?
MELINDA WORLEY: I believe it was near her left side.
MS. GOUDE: I show you State's Exhibit 49. Would that be the ATV?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, that's it.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and on the front of that -- on the ATV, there appeared to be tissue you said?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: All right. Now, you mentioned the dog house. I'm going to show you what's been marked as State's Exhibits 75, 74, 73. How do you recognize those pictures?
MELINDA WORLEY: These show the front of the dog house, and then the projectile that we collected from the dog bed that was inside the dog house.
MS. GOUDE: Are those true and accurate depictions?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, they are.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time I would move State's Exhibit 75, 74, and 73 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: And 72. No objection.
MS. GOUDE: Along with Exhibit 72.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're all admitted.
MS. GOUDE: Thank you, Your Honor.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 72 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 73 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 74 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 75 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Okay. Agent Worley, State's Exhibit 72, if you could tell the jury where that dog house you were talking about is? Is that in that picture?
MELINDA WORLEY: It is. It's more in the background of that picture.
MS. GOUDE: And again, these pictures are kind of hard to see here. It would be in this area right here that I'm pointing to?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, that's it.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and State's Exhibit 73, what is that?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's the front of the dog house.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and then State's Exhibit 74?
MELINDA WORLEY: That was the projectile that was in the bedding of that dog bed that we recovered.
MS. GOUDE: And then State's Exhibit 75?
MELINDA WORLEY: And that is the projectile that we collected from the dog bed.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and I believe that projectile may be in this bag you have here. Is that Item 12?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, it is.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and how do you know Item 12 is that projectile?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's my handwriting on the envelope and date and time and my initials when I collected it and my initials on the seal.
MS. GOUDE: Do you know anything else about that projectile besides that it's the one that you collected from the dog house?
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, the State would move the Item Number 12, State's Exhibit 76, into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted.
(ROUND MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 76 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: And, Agent Worley, this would be State's Exhibit 76 --
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: -- the round collected from the dog house.
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: All right. Now, after you had went out to the crime scene, did you make a diagram to kind of, you know, piece together the evidence where you could see everything and how it relates to each other?
MELINDA WORLEY: I did. On scene I do a rough sketch showing where evidence was located, where the victims were located, and I take measurements to show where things are in relation to each other.
MS. GOUDE: And when you made that diagram, is it to any kind of scale?
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time the State would move State's Exhibit Number 77 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Admitted.
MS. GOUDE: Permission to publish?
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes.
(DIAGRAM MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 77 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, is this the diagram that you created after being out there on the crime scene?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's the final diagram I created with the computer, yes.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, may Agent Worley step down to kind of go through the diagram with the jurors?
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Thank you.
MS. GOUDE: All right. Agent Worley, if you could just kind of walk the jurors through the crime scene using this diagram here?
MELINDA WORLEY: We have Maggie's body here, Paul just outside of the feed room, markers --
MS. GOUDE: You'll have to speak up a little bit.
MELINDA WORLEY: Marker 1 and Markers 9 and 10 inside the feed room. Then we had Markers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 underneath the right knee. 8, tire impressions in the dirt underneath this overhang. Marker 12 was suspected biological material. And then Marker 13 where we dug the metal fragments out of the gravel.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. Thank you, Agent Worley. Now, you just mentioned some tire impressions being here at Item 8. What do you know about those?
MELINDA WORLEY: They went straight through where the overhang was, went from one end to the other.
MS. GOUDE: Did you do any kind of analysis on those tire impressions?
MELINDA WORLEY: We photographed them with examination quality photographs on scene. I never had any, I guess, test impressions of any tires to compare them to to do an actual comparison in a report.
MS. GOUDE: And why was that? Why didn't you do any analysis on the tire impressions?
MELINDA WORLEY: We concluded basically that the gentleman who takes care of the dogs -- I forget his name -- he parked there regularly, and his tires were consistent with the design of the impressions that were there in the dirt.
MS. GOUDE: So y'all -- so you essentially -- they figured out who the tire impressions were?
MELINDA WORLEY: Right.
MS. GOUDE: And it wasn't necessary for you to do any analysis there?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Are you aware of any other tire impressions on the scene that you analyzed?
MS. GOUDE: As far as tire impressions in wet grass go, how would you analyze those?
MELINDA WORLEY: All I would be able to do with that would be photograph it. That's not going to leave any kind of design characteristics from the tread of the tire in the grass, so I can't really do an analysis, a tire analysis of tire impressions like that.
MS. GOUDE: While you were on the scene, did you receive any item of evidence from the Colleton County Sheriff's Office Varnadoe?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, I did.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and what was that item?
MELINDA WORLEY: I took custody a GSR kit and gunshot residue kit that was collected from Alex Murdaugh.
MS. GOUDE: Okay.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time we would move to admit State's Exhibit 13, the GSR kit that Agent Worley collected from Colleton County Sheriff's Office Varnadoe.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Admitted.
(GSR KIT MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 13 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Okay. Also in the course of your investigation, did you gather some items of evidence from SLED Agent Katie McCallister?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, I did.
MS. GOUDE: And when did you collect those items from her?
MELINDA WORLEY: On June 9th.
MS. GOUDE: And what were those items?
MELINDA WORLEY: May I refer to my notes?
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes.
(Break in proceedings.)
MELINDA WORLEY: I took custody of the three shotguns, a rifle, fired and unfired ammunition, and boxes of -- empty boxes of ammunition.
MS. GOUDE: And what did you do with those items when you took custody of them?
MELINDA WORLEY: I transported them to the lab at SLED and submitted them to the lab.
MS. GOUDE: And all of this would, of course, be recorded on a chain of custody. Is that right?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right, yes.
MS. GOUDE: All right. Moving on --
(Break in proceedings.)
MS. GOUDE: All right. Agent Worley, before we move on, the shotguns you collected, would those have been Items 30, 31, 32, 33?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and then you collected Item 34, which was a 30 round magazine containing 300 Blackout cartridges?
MELINDA WORLEY: Actually 33 was the night vision scope on the rifle.
MS. GOUDE: Okay.
MELINDA WORLEY: And 34 was the rifle.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. All right, and then what other items did you collect with the numbers, please?
MELINDA WORLEY: Items 35, 36, 37, 38, and 39, five cartridge cases head stamped S&B 300 AAC ELK that were collected from the round at side entrance door.
MS. GOUDE: And then did you collect Item 40 from K. McCallister?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and what was Item 40?
MELINDA WORLEY: That was an unfired cartridge head stamped S&B 300 AAC ELK collected from a Remington 20 gauge shotgun in a shell box from shell near gun storage rack.
MS. GOUDE: And then Item 45?
MELINDA WORLEY: 45 is an empty 20 round box of S&B 300 AAC ELK full metal jacket ammunition collected from gun storage room.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and then Items 46, 47, and 48?
MELINDA WORLEY: Those were three empty ammunition boxes collected from the trash.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and then, I'm sorry, what did you say you did once you received those items from Agent McCallister?
MELINDA WORLEY: I transported to the lab at SLED and submitted them to the lab.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. Did you test fire or do anything with any of that evidence that you collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: No, I didn't do any of that.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. Thank you. Okay. Let's move on to the Chevy Suburban that was on scene the night of the murders. Did you observe that vehicle when you got to the scene?
MELINDA WORLEY: I did.
MS. GOUDE: Okay.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Let's all stand for a moment.
(Break in proceedings.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: And from the jury, what is the problem with the projector?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Blur. It was blurry.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Blurry?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Your Honor, with the overhead light on the ELMO now, I think we'll be able to see better. Without that light on, it was difficult to see.
(Break in proceedings.)
MS. GOUDE: May it please the Court, Your Honor?
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes.
BY MS. GOUDE:
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, if you don't mind taking a look at State's Exhibits Number 104, 96, 97, 99 and 93. Okay. Are Exhibits 93, 99, 97, and 96 true and accurate depictions of the Chevy Suburban?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, they are.
MS. GOUDE: And State's 104, is that a true and accurate depiction of some of the ammunition that you located?
MELINDA WORLEY: In the other vehicle, yes.
MS. GOUDE: That was located in a white F250?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time I would move State's Exhibits 104, 96, 97, 99, and 93 into evidence.
JUDGE NEWMAN: What says --
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 93 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 96 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 97 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 99 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(AMMUNITION MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 104 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: We would also -- State's Exhibit 95 for ID purposes. Agent Worley, if you could open that up and tell us what kind of shell casing, or shotgun -- or shot shell is that Item 50? Okay. So, what's State's -- marked for ID as State's Exhibit 95?
MELINDA WORLEY: It's a 16 gauge shot shell unfired.
MS. GOUDE: A 16 gauge shot shell?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: Now, I think when it was collected it was marked as a 12 gauge shot shell.
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: So, what happened there?
MELINDA WORLEY: I just made a mistake and wrote 12 gauge instead of 16 gauge. It's clearly a 16 gauge.
MS. GOUDE: And that is the shot shell that was collected from the floorboard of the -- the back floorboard of Chevy Suburban?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: And like you said, it is a 16 gauge instead of a 12 gauge.
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: It was just marked incorrectly.
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: At this time, the State would move State's Exhibit 95 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
MS. GOUDE: As well --
JUDGE NEWMAN: In without objection.
(SHOTGUN SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 95 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Thank you, Your Honor. The State would also move State's Exhibit 83 into evidence. And if Agent --
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(SWABS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 83 WERE RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, if you could take a look at State's Exhibit 83. And now I'm going to show you State's Exhibit 93. If you could tell the jurors what's in State's Exhibit 93?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's looking at the scene, the back of the Chevy Suburban there towards the right side.
MS. GOUDE: And what side of the screen did you say the Suburban is on?
MELINDA WORLEY: The right side.
MS. GOUDE: And the Suburban was on the scene when you arrived. Is that right?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. Now, when did you actually process that vehicle?
MELINDA WORLEY: We had -- it was -- the vehicle was towed from the scene the morning of the 8th, and then we returned on the 9th to process the vehicle.
MS. GOUDE: So on the scene that night, was that vehicle even searched, to your knowledge?
MELINDA WORLEY: Not that I know of, no.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and so when you went to search it, what did you do?
MELINDA WORLEY: We documented it with photographs outside and inside, searched for any evidentiary value items. If we located them, we photograph them and we collect them.
MS. GOUDE: And what did you locate in the rear floorboard of that?
MELINDA WORLEY: The 16 gauge shot shell that was on the rear driver's side floorboard of the Suburban.
MS. GOUDE: And that would be State's Exhibit 97?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, that's right.
MS. GOUDE: And 96?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Did you also process the vehicle to see if there was any blood in there?
MELINDA WORLEY: We did.
MS. GOUDE: And how did you do that?
MELINDA WORLEY: We first looked at the vehicle with an alternate light source to see if we could see any indications of any blood in the vehicle, and we followed that with a couple of different chemical procedures.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. So, did you swab some areas in that vehicle?
MELINDA WORLEY: We did.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and what areas was that?
MELINDA WORLEY: If I may refer to my notes again? There were ten areas total. It was the lock/unlock buttons on the driver's door, the driver's door armrest, the driver's side running board below the driver's door, the driver's floorboard, the front edge of the driver's seat, steering wheel, center of the driver's seat back, the front passenger door above the arm rest, the front passenger seat bottom, and front passenger seat back.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 83 is the actual swabs that you took from that vehicle?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, those are.
MS. GOUDE: And were those swabs presumptive for blood?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, they were.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: I'm sorry. I didn't hear the question.
MS. GOUDE: Were those swabs presumptive for blood.
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, they were.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 99 is --
MELINDA WORLEY: That's the steering wheel of the Suburban.
MS. GOUDE: Later on did -- first did -- what did you do with those swabs that you collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: I packaged them in separate envelopes, sealed the envelopes, labeled it with a description of what was inside of the envelope, date, time, and initials, and when I collected it, and I sealed it, and then we transferred them to the lab at SLED.
MS. GOUDE: And would you have submitted those to the lab for further analysis for blood?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, that's right.
MS. GOUDE: Later on did you have another occasion to go back and process the Suburban?
MELINDA WORLEY: I did, yes.
MS. GOUDE: Could you tell us a little bit about that?
MELINDA WORLEY: I returned at a later date to retrieve the seatbelt from the driver's side of the vehicle.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and why did you want to retrieve the seatbelt?
MELINDA WORLEY: For additional trace DNA testing.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. When you retrieved that seatbelt, what did you do with it?
MELINDA WORLEY: I -- it was removed from the vehicle, included the strap, the buckle, receiver, and then there was some hardware components that we couldn't separate from the seatbelt itself. I package it, I believe, in a paper bag to transport it back to the lab at SLED. It would have been packaged additionally inside a box at the lab and submitted for testing.
MS. GOUDE: So, y'all removed the, like, the whole entire seatbelt?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. All right. Agent Worley, State's Exhibit 100, which is a little heavier than you would think for a seatbelt here, can you tell us if that is the seatbelt you collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: Do you want me to open it?
MS. GOUDE: Yes.
(Break in proceedings.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: Ladies and gentlemen, I will have you go to the jury room for a break. Please do not discuss the case.
(The jury left the courtroom.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: We'll be in recess for 10 minutes.
(A break was taken.)
(The jury returned to the courtroom.)
COURT BAILIFF: The jury is present.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Thank you. You may proceed.
MS. GOUDE: Thank you, Your Honor.
BY MS. GOUDE:
MS. GOUDE: Okay, Agent Worley, we left off with the seatbelt. Were you able to open it up so we can show the jury? Okay. So, if you could tell us what we have there?
MELINDA WORLEY: It's the entire seatbelt: the strap, the receiver, the buckle.
MS. GOUDE: Can you kind of stretch it out?
MELINDA WORLEY: Where it was mounted on the side of the --
MS. GOUDE: Okay. So, that was all removed and submitted to the lab for testing. Is that right?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, that's right.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, the State would move State's Exhibit 100 into evidence.
JUDGE NEWMAN: What says the defense?
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Your Honor, I thought we agreed to mark these for ID until the person that did the analysis on them testified.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's marked for identification at this time.
(SEATBELT MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 100 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
MS. GOUDE: Thank you, Agent Worley. All right, if you'll turn your attention to the screen there while I put that seatbelt down. Y'all also in addition to doing a search on the Chevy Suburban, you did a search on the white 250 truck. Is that right?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right, yes.
MS. GOUDE: And Item -- excuse me, State's Exhibit 104, were those 300 Blackouts found in the truck?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and do you remember where you collected those from?
MELINDA WORLEY: I believe the center console.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 103, if you could tell us, is that the 300 Blackouts that we were seeing on the screen there that were collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: And how do you know those are the Blackouts that were collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: It's my handwriting on the box with the date and time and initials when I collected it and my initials on the seal tape on the box.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, the State would move State's Exhibit 103 into evidence.
JUDGE NEWMAN: What says the defense?
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: What is it?
MS. GOUDE: It's the 300 Blackouts that were found in the white F250 that are projected on the screen.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: That's the white 250, Paul truck left on the side of the road?
MS. GOUDE: Yes.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted.
(AMMUNITION MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 103 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Did y'all also process another vehicle, Maggie Murdaugh's Mercedes?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, we did.
MS. GOUDE: Were any items of evidentiary value collected from that vehicle?
MELINDA WORLEY: The only items we collected were two sets of swabs from the interior and two sets of swabs from the exterior door. This is of the driver's door.
MS. GOUDE: Did you attend the autopsies of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh?
MELINDA WORLEY: I did.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and did you collect any items during the autopsy?
MELINDA WORLEY: I did.
MS. GOUDE: And what were those?
MELINDA WORLEY: May I refer to my notes?
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes.
MELINDA WORLEY: There were items that were collected during the autopsy that were transferred to me via chain of custody forms.
MS. GOUDE: Okay.
MELINDA WORLEY: From Maggie I got clothes, fingernail clippings, projectile fragments.
MS. GOUDE: Okay.
MELINDA WORLEY: From Paul I also got his clothes, fingernail clippings, shotgun pellets, and wadding fragments from left shoulder and head, plastic wadding from left axilla of the arm pit.
MS. GOUDE: And when you collected those items, what did you do with them?
MELINDA WORLEY: I transported them to the lab at SLED and sent them to the lab for analysis.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. Agent Worley, I'm going to show you Items 66 through 69, marked State's Exhibits 112, 111, 110, and 107. Are those items you collected from the autopsy?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, items that I took custody of at autopsy.
MS. GOUDE: And what items are those?
MELINDA WORLEY: The shotgun pellets, and wadding fragment from left shoulder, and then the plastic wadding from left axilla.
MS. GOUDE: Would it help you to open that bag up?
MELINDA WORLEY: And the projectile fragments from Maggie.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. So, if you'll take those items out one by one. Okay. So, what is that item there?
MELINDA WORLEY: This is Item 66. Yeah, 66.
MS. GOUDE: And what is that actually?
MELINDA WORLEY: That is the projectile fragments that were collected from Maggie at autopsy.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. How do you know that?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's how it's labeled.
MS. GOUDE: Okay.
MS. GOUDE: We'll mark items 66 as State's Exhibit 112. Okay.
MS. GOUDE: What else do we have?
MELINDA WORLEY: The Item 69, plastic wadding from left axilla collected from Paul's autopsy.
MS. GOUDE: Okay.
MS. GOUDE: We'll mark that item as State's Exhibit 111.
MS. GOUDE: Okay.
MELINDA WORLEY: And then I also have the Item 67, 68, shotgun pellets and wadding fragment from left shoulder and head collected from Paul's autopsy.
MS. GOUDE: State's Exhibit 110, are those shotgun pellets from Paul's autopsy? Okay. Is there anything else in that bag?
MELINDA WORLEY: There are two.
MS. GOUDE: Pardon me?
MELINDA WORLEY: 67 and 68, the pellets and the wadding fragment.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. So, the pellets and the wadding fragment are both State's Exhibit 110 from Paul Murdaugh, correct?
MELINDA WORLEY: Sure.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and what else did you collect here? You have got Items 70 and 71.
MELINDA WORLEY: 70 is the left-hand fingernail clippings from Maggie; 71 is the right-hand fingernail clippings from Maggie.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and those are marked as State's Exhibit 251. And what is that item?
MELINDA WORLEY: This is a metal fragment that was collected. It was caught on the dress that I collected from Maggie's autopsy. I collected this metal fragment at the lab at SLED.
MS. GOUDE: So, you removed that metal fragment from the dress after the autopsy yourself?
MELINDA WORLEY: Right.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. We'll mark that as State's Exhibit 109.
JUDGE NEWMAN: And you continue to block the view of two jurors.
MS. GOUDE: I apologize, Your Honor. I'm sorry.
MELINDA WORLEY: Item 72 is the left-hand fingernail clippings from Paul's autopsy, and 73 is the right-hand fingernail clippings from Paul's autopsy.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, marked as State's Exhibit 252. Then State's Exhibit 113, what does that appear to be?
MELINDA WORLEY: This was a shotgun pellet that I found among Paul's clothing once I got the evidence back to the lab.
MS. GOUDE: Thank you, and finally we have State's Exhibit 36.
MELINDA WORLEY: This is Paul's shoes. Do you want me to open it?
MS. GOUDE: You can open it, and those were the shoes that you did the impression of the footwear to compare to those imprints in the feed room?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, they are.
MS. GOUDE: Thank you.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time the State would admit State's Exhibits 36, 113, 252, 109, 251, 107, 110, 112, and 111 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Your Honor, may I speak to her for a moment?
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Your Honor, we have no objection to them being marked for identification, but without the chain being completed we would object to them being admitted into evidence.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Which of those exhibits has -- did not have any type of analysis done?
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Your Honor, I suspect they all did, so --
MS. GOUDE: Yes, Your Honor. I believe they were all analyzed in some way.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Marked for identification.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Thank you, Your Honor.
(SHOES MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 36 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
(METAL FRAGMENTS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 109 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
(PELLETS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 110 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
(WADDING MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 111 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
(PELLETS/WADDING MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 112 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
(PELLETS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 113 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
(FINGERNAIL CLIPPINGS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 251 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
(FINGERNAIL CLIPPINGS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 252 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
MS. GOUDE: Okay. Agent Worley, also in this case -- we just talked about Paul and Maggie's clothing. Did you analyze the defendant's clothes?
MELINDA WORLEY: I did.
MS. GOUDE: And I think we said earlier that his clothing was collected from Agent David Owen?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: And you received that clothing in your custody and submitted it into the SLED lab?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right. I took custody of the clothing before we left the scene.
MS. GOUDE: So, what kind of testing were you involved in in regards to the defendant's clothing?
MELINDA WORLEY: We processed the T-shirt and shorts with LCD for presumptive test for blood.
MS. GOUDE: Now, what is LCD?
MELINDA WORLEY: Leucocrystal violet is a presumptive test that looks for a hemoglobin component of blood.
MS. GOUDE: So, what happens when you put it on something?
MELINDA WORLEY: If it's reacting to the presence of blood, it's a presumptive positive test and it will turn purple.
MS. GOUDE: Can LCD react to other things beside blood?
MELINDA WORLEY: It can.
MS. GOUDE: Like what?
MELINDA WORLEY: Bleach, rust, I think, are the main ones.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. All right. So, when you processed the defendant's clothing with the LCD, what did you find?
MELINDA WORLEY: There were several areas of staining that we had a presumptive positive result, several on the front and a few on the back of the T-shirt.
MS. GOUDE: And what about the shorts?
MELINDA WORLEY: The shorts, there were a few on the front and the back.
MS. GOUDE: So when you got that presumptive test with the LCD, what did you do with the shirt then?
MELINDA WORLEY: We documented the entire process with photographs, starting from taking it out of the package to -- before we did anything at all with it, took photographs of the front and the back, inside and outside. We -- once we sprayed it with the LCD and saw the stains that we saw on it, we rephotographed it again with a scale -- without a scale first, then with a scale for each stain. Then we laid the shirt flat and labeled each of the stains with a letter, and photographed it again with that letter and a scale in the photograph for each of the stains.
MS. GOUDE: And you did that for the shirt and for the pants?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and as far as your analysis goes, after the shirt was processed with the shorts and processed with the LCD, did you do any further analysis?
MELINDA WORLEY: No, I did not.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and now after something has been sprayed with LCD, what happens to that object?
MELINDA WORLEY: Over time, any area of the object that came in contact with the LCD, the LCD will oxidize and the entire thing would be purple.
MS. GOUDE: So, like right now if you sprayed this paper with LCD and it didn't turn, like, purplish/blue, would it eventually turn purplish/blue even though there's no blood on this paper?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: All right. Let's move ahead to the search of Moselle. Was that property eventually searched by yourself and other agents?
MELINDA WORLEY: It was.
MS. GOUDE: And when did that occur?
MELINDA WORLEY: September 13, 2021.
MS. GOUDE: And that was several months after the murders took place in June?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: And what parts of the area or the residence were searched?
MELINDA WORLEY: We searched the entire residence. The main focus was the gun room on the first floor.
MS. GOUDE: So could you kind of, I guess, describe the property and the areas that were searched?
MELINDA WORLEY: It was the main residence, and then also there was a cabin closer to the kennels that faced Moselle Road, and then also the workshop that was located near the kennels.
MS. GOUDE: And is the residence a fairly large residence?
MELINDA WORLEY: It is.
MS. GOUDE: And you searched the entire residence?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: And you mentioned the focus was on a gun room?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Where was that located in the residence?
MELINDA WORLEY: It's on the first floor.
MS. GOUDE: Did you find any items of interest in the gun room when you searched it?
MELINDA WORLEY: We did collect several items from the gun room.
MS. GOUDE: Was the workshop area of the residence searched out near the kennels?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes. Near the kennels, yes.
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, I'm going to show you State's Exhibits 124, 123, 122, 121, 120, 119, 118, 117, and 116. Could you tell me if those are pictures taken during y'all's search that day?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Are those a true and accurate depiction of the search of the residence of Moselle and the workshop area?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, they are.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time I would offer State's Exhibits 124, 123, 122, 121, 120, 119, 118, 117, and 116 into evidence.
JUDGE NEWMAN: What says the defense?
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 116 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 117 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 118 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 119 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 120 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 121 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 122 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 123 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 124 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, is State's Exhibit 116 a picture of the gun room there?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, it is.
MS. GOUDE: And State's Exhibit 117?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: It appears to have a pool table and a little workout bike in there?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: And do you recall whether this door in the picture exits to the outside of the house?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, it does.
MS. GOUDE: State's 118, is that the gun rack in that room?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, it is.
MS. GOUDE: Now, when y'all did this search on -- in September, were any of those guns collected that day?
MS. GOUDE: So, these are additional guns to the guns that had already been collected by SLED agents?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: Was there a lot of ammunition in that room?
MELINDA WORLEY: There was.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. How about State's 119? Is that a box of ammunition?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, it is.
MS. GOUDE: Mixed ammunition?
MELINDA WORLEY: Right.
MS. GOUDE: In fact, was there -- this whole bookcase we're looking at over here, was that just full of ammunition?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: An ammunition bookcase?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: State's Exhibit 120?
MELINDA WORLEY: That was also on that bookshelf.
MS. GOUDE: State's Exhibit 121?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: That is 300 Blackout ammunition from this box?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right.
MS. GOUDE: In the bookcase?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: And you -- was some of this ammunition collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: It was.
MS. GOUDE: And you said y'all also searched the work shed or hangar out near the kennels?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: State's Exhibit 122, is that ammunition that was found in the workshop?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes. It was in the red bin on the work bench.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and we see ammunition in a little -- like a wire tub and then in this tray?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Specifically in Exhibit 123, what types of ammunition was some of the ammunition that was located?
MELINDA WORLEY: It was one unfired cartridge head stamped Barnes 300 BLK -- it's the one on the left -- and then the four unfired shot shells head stamped 12 gauge Federal.
MS. GOUDE: And Item 124?
MELINDA WORLEY: Those were the boxes of 300 Blackout ammunition, photograph.
MS. GOUDE: And you said y'all collected some of those for evidence purposes?
MELINDA WORLEY: Not in this one.
MS. GOUDE: But some of the ammunition that y'all found was collected for evidence purposes. Is that correct?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Beg the Court's indulgence, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Let's stand again while we're in indulgence.
(Break in proceedings.)
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, if you could take a look at these items and tell us whether these were collected by you that day? This was some of that ammunition we were just speaking about.
MELINDA WORLEY: You want me to answer that?
MS. GOUDE: Yeah.
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes. These were all collected the day we did that search.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and where were they collected from?
MELINDA WORLEY: From the desk in the living room was the cabin that faced Moselle Road. One cartridge from the Winchester box on the shelf in the gun room head stamped Barnes 300 BLK. One cartridge collected from desk in the living room of the cabin. One cartridge head stamped S&B AAC 300 BLK from the desk in the living room of the cabin. One cartridge collected from the desk in the living room head stamped Barnes 300 BLK. One cartridge from desk in the living room head stamped Hornady 300 BLK in the cabin. One cartridge collected from Winchester box on bookshelf in gun room head stamped S&B 300 AAC BLK. One cartridge from Winchester box on bookshelf in gun room head stamped S&B AAC 300 BLK. One cartridge head stamped S&B AAC 300 BLK from bookcase in the gun room. One cartridge from Winchester box from bookshelf in gun room head stamped S&B AAC 300 BLK. One cartridge from the Winchester box on the bookshelf in gun room head stamped S&B AAC 300 BLK. One cartridge from Winchester box on bookshelf in gun room head stamped S&B AAC 300 BLK. One cartridge from Winchester box on bookshelf in the gun room head stamped S&B AAC 300 BLK. And one cartridge case head stamped S&B AAC 300 BLK from the bookcase in the gun room.
MS. GOUDE: And all of those items, Items 147 through 161, which would be State's 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 139, 138, 137, 136, 135, 134, 140, 141, and 142, the State would move into evidence at this time.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Admitted without objection.
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 128 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 129 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 130 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 131 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 132 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 133 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 134 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 135 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 136 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 137 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 138 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 139 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 140 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 141 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 142 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: And we have some additional cases that were found.
MELINDA WORLEY: One unfired shot shell from estate box on bookshelf in gun room head stamped Winchester 12 gauge.
MS. GOUDE: That will be State's 149.
MELINDA WORLEY: And one unfired shot shell head stamped 12 gauge Federal from red bin on workshop bench.
MS. GOUDE: State's 150.
MELINDA WORLEY: One unfired shot shell head stamped 12 gauge Federal from the red bin on workshop bench.
MS. GOUDE: That will be State's 148.
MELINDA WORLEY: One unfired shot shell from nightstand in Paul's bedroom head stamped Winchester 12 gauge.
MS. GOUDE: State's 147.
MELINDA WORLEY: One unfired shot shell from tin box on bookshelf in gun room head stamped Winchester 12 gauge.
MS. GOUDE: That will be 146.
MELINDA WORLEY: One unfired shot shell from estate box on the bookshelf in gun room head stamped Winchester 12 gauge.
MS. GOUDE: That's 145.
MELINDA WORLEY: One unfired shot shell head stamped 12 gauge Federal from the red bin on the workshop bench.
MS. GOUDE: That will be State's 144.
MELINDA WORLEY: And another unfired shot shell head stamped 12 gauge Federal from the red bin on the workshop bench.
MS. GOUDE: That would be State's 143.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, the State would move these items -- exhibits into evidence at this time.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Any objection?
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted without objection.
(SHOT SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 143 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(SHOT SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 144 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(SHOT SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 145 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(SHOT SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 146 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(SHOT SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 147 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(SHOT SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 148 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(SHOT SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 149 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(SHOT SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 150 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Okay. What else do we have there, Agent Worley?
MELINDA WORLEY: One cartridge case head stamped S&B 300 BLK from the Sanguineum bag in the gun room.
MS. GOUDE: So, this State's 126 is from the gun room? Okay.
MELINDA WORLEY: One cartridge case head stamped Hornady 300 BLK collected from black Ford F150 under the driver's seat.
MS. GOUDE: That's going to be State's 127.
MS. GOUDE: The State would move State's 126 and 127 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Which one is this did you say?
MS. GOUDE: State's Exhibit 126, one 300 -- S&B 300 Blackout, and 127 is a Hornady 300 Blackout.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Those came from the inside of the house, correct?
MS. GOUDE: State's 127 is from the black Ford F150 under the driver's seat from the search -- we'll let Agent Worley testify here.
MELINDA WORLEY: That same search that day.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: But that would be not Paul's car, not Alex's car. I don't quite -- Your Honor, I object on the basis of relevance. I don't know why it's a bullet from somebody's car that's not involved in this.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right. Well, admitted over objection.
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 126 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 127 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Okay. What other exhibits do we have there?
MELINDA WORLEY: These are magazines containing ammunition. One of them contains 300 Blackout ammunition collected from the shelf in the gun room, and then the other one is a magazine containing cartridges, 300 Blackout cartridges collected from the black Ford F150.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. So, this -- those items collected from the black F150, that truck was searched that day, too.
MELINDA WORLEY: It was, yes.
MS. GOUDE: And where was that truck at?
MELINDA WORLEY: If I remember correctly, it was in front of the residence.
MS. GOUDE: It was a truck that was on the property?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, it was on the property.
MS. GOUDE: Was it on the property the night of the murders?
MELINDA WORLEY: It might have been the one that was parked off away from the workshop.
MS. GOUDE: Do you know why that truck was searched that day?
MELINDA WORLEY: It was on the property and the search warrant included vehicles.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and those items were found inside that vehicle?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, one of these was.
MS. GOUDE: Okay, and what is the other one?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's from the shelf in the gun room.
MS. GOUDE: Okay.
MELINDA WORLEY: That's the one from the gun room.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. State's Exhibit 152, what did you say that was?
MELINDA WORLEY: A magazine containing 300 Blackout ammunition collected from the shelf in the gun room.
MS. GOUDE: Okay.
MS. GOUDE: The State would move State's 152 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(AMMO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 152 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(CARTRIDGE CASE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 258 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
MS. GOUDE: And then we had State's 258. What was that?
MELINDA WORLEY: Cartridges collected from the workshop bench head stamped Barnes 300 BLK.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. Did you collect any other items that day when the property was searched?
MELINDA WORLEY: I don't believe so.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. All right. Let's go back a little bit in your testimony when you were referring to the 300 Blackout that you collected from Agent McCallister. If you wouldn't mind looking back at your notes, I believe you testified that that was Item 34, but that was actually Item 33 is the Palmetto State Armory PSAPA 15 multi rifle with a night scope.
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: That is item 33, the gun.
MELINDA WORLEY: I have that the night vision scope was 33.
MS. GOUDE: I believe if you'll look closely, you'll see where the gun with the night vision scope --
MELINDA WORLEY: Oh, yeah. It's the gun with the scope on it, yes.
MS. GOUDE: Is that correct?
MELINDA WORLEY: That's correct.
MS. GOUDE: The gun with the night vision scope being Item 33.
MELINDA WORLEY: Right.
MS. GOUDE: And then to clarify, Item 34 would be the one 30 round magazine containing the multiple S&B 300 Blackout cartridges. Is that right?
MELINDA WORLEY: Right. It was separated from the gun when I took custody of it, so I log them in as separate items.
MS. GOUDE: All right, but you did collect those from the house.
MELINDA WORLEY: Right.
MS. GOUDE: All right, and then also going back to the scene, you mentioned a projectile that was found near a tire impression?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes. When we were setting up to take examination quality photographs of the tire impressions at Marker 8, we located another fired projectile just lying on the ground.
MS. GOUDE: I'm going to show you State's Exhibit 250. If you'll take a look at that? Could you tell us what that is?
MELINDA WORLEY: This is that projectile near the tire impressions.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, the State would move State's Exhibit 250 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
MS. GOUDE: Admitted without objection.
(PROJECTILE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 250 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, I believe that is finally all we have for -- excuse me, Your Honor.
(Break in proceedings.)
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, I'll have you take a look --
MS. GOUDE: And mark this as a State's exhibit.
MS. GOUDE: Do you recall collecting the shotgun from Officer Green?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: Or Sergeant Greene. When you collected that gun, did you swab it?
MELINDA WORLEY: I did.
MS. GOUDE: I'm going to hand you State's Exhibit 259. If you could tell us what that exhibit is?
MELINDA WORLEY: There was -- I took two swabs of suspected blood from the side of the shotgun, and two swabs from the muzzle end of the barrel of the shotgun, and that was as a precaution. When I was unloading the weapon, the 16 gauge shot shell got logged in the barrel, and before I placed one of my own dowel rods down the barrel to push it back out, I swabbed the muzzle of the barrel just in case.
MS. GOUDE: You swabbed it just in case why?
MELINDA WORLEY: I didn't want to contaminate any -- if there was potential evidence at the bottom of the barrel or in the muzzle end of the barrel before I placed my dowel rod in that end of the barrel.
MS. GOUDE: And the other swab, did it appear that there was visible blood on that gun?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes. Suspected blood, yes.
MS. GOUDE: And what did you do with those swabs once they were collected?
MELINDA WORLEY: I packaged them in the envelopes, sealed them, and transported them to the lab.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, at this time the State would move State's Exhibit 259 into evidence.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(SWABS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 259 WERE RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MS. GOUDE: Court's indulgence, Your Honor.
(Break in proceedings.)
MS. GOUDE: Agent Worley, did you collect some additional items from Agent Croft? I'm going to have you take a look at State's Exhibit 260.
MELINDA WORLEY: I believe those are the ones I took custody of from Katie McCallister.
MS. GOUDE: From Katie McCallister.
MELINDA WORLEY: Uh-huh.
MS. GOUDE: We'll mark State's Exhibit 260 for identification purposes only. It's cartridge cases that Agent Worley took custody of from Katie McCallister. And then also these items 40 through 44, which would be State's Exhibit 212, 254, 255, 256, and 257 for identification purposes only.
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes.
MS. GOUDE: And what are those?
MELINDA WORLEY: These are the other items I took custody of from Katie McCallister.
MS. GOUDE: So, items collected from Katie McCallister you took custody of?
MELINDA WORLEY: Right.
MS. GOUDE: Okay.
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, the State would offer Exhibits 260, 212, 254, 255, 256 and 257 for identification purposes only.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: I'm not quite sure what they are.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection for identification, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted for identification purposes.
(UNFIRED AMMO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 212 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
(UNFIRED AMMO MARKED AS STATE's EXHIBIT NUMBER 254 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
(SHOTGUN SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 255 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
(SHOTGUN SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 256 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
(SHOTGUN SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 257 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
(SHOTGUN SHELL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 260 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
MS. GOUDE: Okay, Agent Worley, one more thing. State's Exhibit 261 for identification purposes only. Can you tell us if these are items that you received into your custody?
MELINDA WORLEY: Yes, they are.
MS. GOUDE: Okay. How do you know that?
MELINDA WORLEY: It's my handwriting on this outer packaging.
MS. GOUDE: So, there are quite a lot of items in there that you received from -- is it Agent Croft or Agent McCallister?
MELINDA WORLEY: These, I believe, are the ones I took custody from Lieutenant Todd Schenk.
MS. GOUDE: But those are items that you took custody of.
MELINDA WORLEY: That's right. I logged them into the lab. I didn't collect them myself. I got them via chain of custody and then I logged them into the lab.
MS. GOUDE: And that's State's Exhibit 261 for identification purposes only. Any objection?
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Identification only?
MS. GOUDE: Yes.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Yeah, no objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They'll be marked for identification.
(COLLECTION OF SHELL CASINGS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 261 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
MS. GOUDE: Your Honor, Court's indulgence just one moment, Your Honor. I think we're about through.
(Break in proceedings.)
MS. GOUDE: Thank you, Agent Worley. Please answer any questions from the defense.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Cross-examination.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Your Honor, may we approach?
JUDGE NEWMAN: To tell me what?
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Well, I can say it right here. My cross-examination of this witness will take several hours and if we begin this afternoon, I'm afraid Monday morning I'm going to go through everything that I went through today and ensure there's some continuity there, no offense to the jury. I'm not sure that I'll remember what I did today on Monday. So, I would ask you if we could go ahead and take our weekend break today.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right, ladies and gentlemen, we will recess for the weekend and resume at 9:30 Monday morning. Please do not discuss the case.
(The jury left the courtroom.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: We are in recess.
MR. WATERS: Thank you, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: 9:30 Monday morning.
(Whereupon, the case was at ease.)