The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-06-29
Rebuttal Evidence
 Nearing End Here
(Continued from Page D

Mascolo about possible explosion of the Coscia gun from vibration against the Cyr kitchen door.
 The witness was aked by Mascolo to assume the gun was hit with the muzzle against the door two or three times so as to cause the panel to splinter.
 The attorney then asked, Could you tell whether or not from the vibration of the barrel the safety of the gun could have been thrown off?" T think it could,' the witness replied.
 Mascolo then asked whether or not the gun if held by an individual by the stock were banged against the door it could have fired shot without pulling of the trigger. Tt might" Lewis replied.
 The defense attorney then took the Coscia gun, entered as states exhibit, and placed it sideways through a smal hole near the mid- dle of the Cyr kitchen door, also entered as an exhibit. He asked the witness to assume that the muzzle of the gun went through that par ticular portion of the door in that manner and was seized on the other side and that there was tugglng and pulling.
 Then he asked, Could you tell whether under that state of facts the gun could have gone off?' The states attorney objected, stating sufficient facts were not given. He mentioned particularly that the de- fense attorney did not state whether the trigger guard did or did not go through the hole.
 Mascolo' stated he would ask the | witness to assume both cases. F'ltz- gerald then stated the witness did not know if finger was or was not on the trigger.
 Question Repeated
 The defense attorney then asked the witness to asume that finger was close to any part of the trigger, and asked the same question.
 Lewis replied, Naturally if he had his finger on the trigger it could go off," He added that it could go of from pulling, and explained he meant from pulling of the gun through the door.
 Starting cross-eXamination F1tz- gerald asked, Tt is plain to you, IS it not, that the hole is not suff1- ciently large enough to admit the gun anywhere near up to the trlg- ger guard?" The prosecutor picked the gun up and held it near the hole, which Mascolo had used in his demonstration.
 The witness replied that was So Lewis likewise admitted that the likelihood of the firing of the gun by a sudden blow depended some what on the thickness end consist ency of the material it hit. He also admitted there was nothing for him to believe that the gun was fired by striking against the door.
 Mascolo then gave another dem- onstration. He asked the witness if it wasn't possible for the gun and guard to be thrust through in the way he depicted. He placed the gun through the small hole, and as the guard portion went through, two other panels which were cracked and loose, were caused to move in- wards. The witness indicated it was possible.
 At that point Fitzgerald obtained a ruler and measured of the move ment of the two other panels. He stated it should be entered in the court record that one panel was moved in three inches and the other an inch and three-quarter. He also stated that the portion of the gun that penetrated the door, as held by Mascolo, measured 34 inches.
 In a final query Mascolo asked the witness about the difference in pressure that must be exerted if the trigger is pushed at the groove and at the end. The witness stated il was easier to fire if the trigger is pushed at the end, and said about pound and a half of pressure would be necessary.
 Following Lewis to the stand was Dr. Stanley H. Durlacher, assistant professor of anthology at Yale Uni verity and a practicing pathologist at the New Haven hospital. Follow ing his testimony on powder mark! caused by firing, the defene begar to ask him about blood spots anc deduction to be made from then relating to direction from which they came and distance covered.
 The witness testified he had ex. amined the blood stains on the Cyl kitchen door.
 At the request of the prosecutor the jury was excused and length! questioning was conducted befor' the jurist gave his ruling on the asi' instability of that testimony.
 Judge Cornell stated that incai culable factors were involved in th process of determining the direction