- The Trial - Page 172

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That evening, Hadley and Davids realized that they had erred in accepting a half-hour conference with MacDonell during the recess.  An appeals court might construe the conference as a fair remedy of the state's failure to disclose the tests and the results.

Half an hour had not been nearly enough, and it showed in their cross-examination of MacDonell: they knew nothing about testing footprints.  Were there any other differences between using ink and blood for the test prints?  Could a print be altered by varying the amount of blood and the pressure applied to the shoe? If so, did MacDonell try to simulate Zeigler's weight in making the test prints?  Did he try to duplicate the temperature and humidity inside the store?  Wasn't the paper MacDonell used for the print actually more porous than the terrazzo floor?

Thirty minutes was nothing.  They had needed days.  They had needed to find an expert, get answers to these questions and others before they would have a chance of seriously challenging MacDonell's results or at least his methods.

The day had been a disaster.  MacDonell's virtual impeachment of Tom Delaney's testimony was especially effective because of the sequence.  MacDonell, as a prosecution witness, would ordinarily have taken the stand before Delaney.  But his erudite testimony, coming minutes after the FBI expert, was crushing.  If Delaney had belonged to any other crime lab, he would have been available for recall, to defend his work.  But with Delaney beyond reach in Washington, MacDonell's damaging conclusions would go unchallenged.