Schwimmer.
"The incisions at the joints were made by a very sharp instrument."
"Like a scalpel?"
"Possibly."
"Thank you, Doctor. No further questions."
Coats looks down at me.
"Your witness, Mr. Madriani."
The tactic here is always the same, playing the game of the possible. Securing little wedges of concession from the expert, issues on which he cannot be absolutely certain, and to maneuver for openings that can be exploited.
"Dr. Schwimmer. Am I pronouncing your name correctly?"
He nods and smiles.
"In your autopsy report you stated that the victim suffered several severe lacerations and contusions to the head."
"That's true."
"Were you able to determine what caused these?"
"No."
"Do you know whether these contusions and lacerations were suffered before death or after the victim was killed?"
"No. It was not possible. The body was in the water too long."
This was a point covered in his report. Ordinarily, bleeding into the tissues surrounding a contusion or laceration might indicate that it was an injury sustained before death, before the heart stopped beating. In this case, immersion in salt water for two or three days destroyed many of the forensic signs that the state might have followed.
"So it's possible that these bruises, the contusions and lacerations on Kalista Jordan's head, were inflicted before death."
"It's possible."
"As I recall from your report, there were three distinct contusions, one on the left side in the parietal area, and two to the back of the head near the right temporal region. Is that correct?"
"I believe so."
"Would you care to consult your report?"
"No. That's correct."
"Were any of these contusions, particularly the two to the back of the head, consistent with blunt-force trauma?"
He thinks for a moment, evaluates the issue, a theologian splitting hairs.
"You understand what I mean by blunt-force trauma, Doctor? The application by force of a blunt instrument used to strike the head of the victim."
"I understand." He looks at me sternly as if I'm questioning his credentials.
"It's possible," he says.
"She could also have fallen, striking her head. Or the injuries could have occurred after she was in the water. Wave action being thrown into rocks. It's not possible to tell," he says.
"But it's possible that these contusions were the result of blunt-force trauma, before the victim died, is it not?"
"Yes."
"It's possible, is it not, that they could be the result of the assailant or assailants striking the victim, Kalista Jordan, with a blunt instrument in order to render her unconscious?"
"It's possible."
The opening I'm looking for.
"So if one or more of these contusions to the head were the result of blunt-force trauma, isn't it possible that the victim was not only unconscious at the time of death, but that she may have been unconscious at the time the cable tie was applied over her head, or around her neck, and tightened?"
He thinks about this for a moment, and then finally says: "I don't know."
"Isn't it possible that blows to the head, blows sufficient to cause these contusions, could have rendered the victim unconscious, Doctor?"
The problem for Schwimmer is that he cannot know. A concussion, one sufficient to knock a person unconscious, is virtually impossible to detect, even from tissue slides of the brain following an autopsy. It is difficult to argue with what he cannot know.
He begins to nod in concession.
"It's possible," he says.
"And if these blows did render the victim unconscious, then there would have been no struggle. No need to slip up behind the victim. No need to prepare the cable tie in advance and no need to attach the tensioning tool before the killer actually used it. Isn't that true, Doctor?"
"I suppose. If the blows, as you say, rendered her unconscious. We do not know that."
"But we know that she suffered these contusions."
"Yes."
"And we know that they could have been caused, that it's possible they were caused by blunt-force
"The incisions at the joints were made by a very sharp instrument."
"Like a scalpel?"
"Possibly."
"Thank you, Doctor. No further questions."
Coats looks down at me.
"Your witness, Mr. Madriani."
The tactic here is always the same, playing the game of the possible. Securing little wedges of concession from the expert, issues on which he cannot be absolutely certain, and to maneuver for openings that can be exploited.
"Dr. Schwimmer. Am I pronouncing your name correctly?"
He nods and smiles.
"In your autopsy report you stated that the victim suffered several severe lacerations and contusions to the head."
"That's true."
"Were you able to determine what caused these?"
"No."
"Do you know whether these contusions and lacerations were suffered before death or after the victim was killed?"
"No. It was not possible. The body was in the water too long."
This was a point covered in his report. Ordinarily, bleeding into the tissues surrounding a contusion or laceration might indicate that it was an injury sustained before death, before the heart stopped beating. In this case, immersion in salt water for two or three days destroyed many of the forensic signs that the state might have followed.
"So it's possible that these bruises, the contusions and lacerations on Kalista Jordan's head, were inflicted before death."
"It's possible."
"As I recall from your report, there were three distinct contusions, one on the left side in the parietal area, and two to the back of the head near the right temporal region. Is that correct?"
"I believe so."
"Would you care to consult your report?"
"No. That's correct."
"Were any of these contusions, particularly the two to the back of the head, consistent with blunt-force trauma?"
He thinks for a moment, evaluates the issue, a theologian splitting hairs.
"You understand what I mean by blunt-force trauma, Doctor? The application by force of a blunt instrument used to strike the head of the victim."
"I understand." He looks at me sternly as if I'm questioning his credentials.
"It's possible," he says.
"She could also have fallen, striking her head. Or the injuries could have occurred after she was in the water. Wave action being thrown into rocks. It's not possible to tell," he says.
"But it's possible that these contusions were the result of blunt-force trauma, before the victim died, is it not?"
"Yes."
"It's possible, is it not, that they could be the result of the assailant or assailants striking the victim, Kalista Jordan, with a blunt instrument in order to render her unconscious?"
"It's possible."
The opening I'm looking for.
"So if one or more of these contusions to the head were the result of blunt-force trauma, isn't it possible that the victim was not only unconscious at the time of death, but that she may have been unconscious at the time the cable tie was applied over her head, or around her neck, and tightened?"
He thinks about this for a moment, and then finally says: "I don't know."
"Isn't it possible that blows to the head, blows sufficient to cause these contusions, could have rendered the victim unconscious, Doctor?"
The problem for Schwimmer is that he cannot know. A concussion, one sufficient to knock a person unconscious, is virtually impossible to detect, even from tissue slides of the brain following an autopsy. It is difficult to argue with what he cannot know.
He begins to nod in concession.
"It's possible," he says.
"And if these blows did render the victim unconscious, then there would have been no struggle. No need to slip up behind the victim. No need to prepare the cable tie in advance and no need to attach the tensioning tool before the killer actually used it. Isn't that true, Doctor?"
"I suppose. If the blows, as you say, rendered her unconscious. We do not know that."
"But we know that she suffered these contusions."
"Yes."
"And we know that they could have been caused, that it's possible they were caused by blunt-force
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