Criminalist Testifies About Possible Traces of Blood in Simpson Home

Filling in gaps in the “trail of blood” at O.J. Simpson’s estate, a police criminalist testified Tuesday that he found possible traces of blood in Simpson’s shower, in his bathroom sink and on a wire dangling in the side alley where a detective reported finding a bloody glove.

Criminalist Dennis Fung was not allowed to tell jurors in Simpson’s criminal trial about those findings because he was never able to confirm that the stains were human blood. The stains were so small that Fung could only perform one test--a chemical probe that can produce false positives. Nonetheless, Superior Court Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki admitted the testimony for the civil case.

Jurors scribbled notes as Fung pointed to photos showing how his test swabs turned red--showing possible blood--in the shower, sink and on the wire. Under defense questioning, Fung acknowledged that the test sometimes mistakes vegetables, detergents and even copper piping for blood. But he insisted that he had taken precautions that would all but eliminate the chance of false positives. Fung said he had performed 10,000 such tests over his career and knew how to guard against incorrect readings.

Plaintiff attorney Thomas Lambert, who was questioning Fung, did not explain the importance of the bloodstains to the jury. But his team has touted the evidence as crucial in various court papers.

In particular, they believe that the stain on the wire could back up their theory that Simpson, bleeding from his left hand, dropped the glove while rushing through the alley to his house after committing the murders. The defense contends that the glove was planted; as proof, Simpson’s attorneys cite the lack of confirmed blood in the alley.

As for the shower and sink stains, Lambert wrote in a brief that they are “critical” to refute the defense argument that Simpson could not possibly have been the killer because detectives found just a few drops of blood in his house. With Fung’s testimony now admitted, the plaintiffs can argue that Simpson washed off all incriminating blood evidence before meeting his limo driver.

In addition to the new evidence, Fung repeated much of his testimony from the criminal trial, defending his techniques of collecting evidence against a fierce attack by Simpson attorney Robert Blasier. Fung acknowledged that some of his actions were less than perfect, but insisted that overall he followed procedures.