Opinion ID: 1390030
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Summary of the EDTA Test Results

Text: On September 13, 2004, Cellmark performed extraction procedures on the T-shirt in accordance with the Court's September 7, 2004 order. The extracts were prepared in PBS buffer from a stained area of the T-shirt and from five control areas of the T-shirt that did not appear to be stained. (04-CV-656, Doc. No. 244, Report at 1.) A Control T-shirt was prepared in compliance with the Court's order. ( Id. ) From that Control T-shirt, extracts were prepared using a human blood stain containing EDTA, a human blood stain without EDTA, and an area that was not stained with human blood. ( Id. ) A PBS buffer reagent blank control that contained no EDTA was also prepared. In total, there were ten extracts. The extracts were divided, the specimens coded to conceal their contents and sent to the experts. Dr. Ballard's results were as follows: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Specimen No. | Specimen Contents | Approximate Amount of | | Prepared from: | EDTA ( in nanograms ) on | | | the Original Cloth | | | Cutting [22] | ----------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------| F041568 01.2 | Stained area of T-shirt | 110 | ----------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------| F041568 02.2 | Control 1 of T-shirt | 220 | ----------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------| F041568 03.2 | Control 2 of T-shirt | 360 | ----------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------| F041568 04.2 | Control 3 of T-shirt | 160 | ----------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------| F041568 05.2 | Control 4 of T-shirt | 110 | ----------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------| F041568 06.2 | Control 5 of T-shirt | 16 | ----------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------| F041568 07.2 | Stain made from | 7 | | unpreserved blood on the | | | Control T-shirt | | ----------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------| F041568 08.2 | Stain made from blood | 1100 | | preserved in a purple-topped | | | tube on the Control T-shirt [23] | | ----------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------| F041568 09.2 | Unstained area from the | 6 | | Control T-shirt | | ----------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------| F041568 10.2 | PBS Buffer Reagent Blank | None detected | | Control | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| (04-CV-656, Doc. No. 22, Dr. Ballard's Test Results at 2.) Dr. Suizdak also conducted EDTA testing on the ten specimens. Dr. Suizdak was without the benefit of Dr. Ballard's method for EDTA testing, as Dr. Ballard requested that his EDTA testing methodology be sealed. [24] On October 27, 2004, after he had completed his EDTA testing and submitted his measurements to the Court, Dr. Suizdak retracted his report based on EDTA contamination. (04-CV-656, Doc. No. 322, Ltr. from Dr. Gary Suizdak to Court filed under seal on October 27, 2004). Dr. Suizdak had found significant levels, 313 nanograms, of EDTA in the PBS buffer reagent blank control sample where zero EDTA was the known control. PBS buffer reagent contains no EDTA. If the test had been properly carried out, the PBS buffer reagent blank control sample should have been found to contain zero nanograms of EDTA. According to both Dr. Suizdak and Respondent's expert Terry D. Lee, Ph.D., the presence of EDTA in the control sample indicates that Dr. Suizdak's samples were most likely contaminated by EDTA present in his lab prior to his testing. (Resp't Analysis of EDTA Test Results filed Oct. 29, 2004, Lee Decl. ¶ 6.) As Dr. Lee explained, once a sample is contaminated, there is no way to go back and obtain an accurate result. ( Id. ) Because, in the absence of valid control specimens, the Court cannot rely on Dr. Suizdak's results, it will focus its analysis on the results of Petitioner's chosen expert, Dr. Ballard.