FiFty Fifty

Chapter Fourty Three

KATE
Abandoning her notes, Kate stood and moved around the defense table so she could be closer to Baumann. His eyebrows knitted together, but he retained a genteel smile. It was a condescending look.
'Mr. Baumann, you said that you are a member of the American Society for Forensic Dentistry and Bite Comparison Odontology?'
'I did indeed, ma'am.'
'There are at least three other organizations in the United States whose members practice forensic odontology. The Bureau of Legal Dentistry, The American Board of Forensic Odontology, and the International Organization for Forensic Odonto-Stomatology. You are not a member of these organizations?'
'No, ma'am.'
'Why not?'
Baumann exhaled, loudly, as if this was all a waste of his goddamn time. 'Well, the organization I belong to has its head office in Houston. It's only a
few hours away. It's convenience, more than anything else.'
'The other three organizations I mentioned have, over the past few years,
attempted to set down forensic guidelines for the standardized examination and comparison of bite marks. Your organization has not, correct?'
'Those organizations are based in New York and California, and we don't hold much regard for their practices. We do things our way.'
Kate paused, raised an eyebrow at the jury. New Yorkers don't much like any perceived slight at their town, or their people. Kate paused long enough to let the jury feel aggrieved at Baumann, then continued.
'So you don't, for example, carry out three-dimensional computer imaging of the suspect's teeth?'
'We do not.'
'You don't have a standardized scoring system so that the levels of similarity can be graded?'
'No, ma'am.'
'You only compared the suspects' dentition to the bite marks. You didn't, for example, set up a number of master cast bite simulations, with, say, ten or eleven casts, like a police line-up, as recommended by the Bureau of Legal Dentistry?'
 
'I did not.'
'You were called in to carry out your analysis of the bite mark when?'
'I got the call on a Saturday. I flew out Sunday and examined the body that
evening.'
'Where did you examine the body?'
'In the morgue.'
'So you made no account for the distortion of the wounds?'
'I assumed a level of distortion, but it did not effect my findings or
measurements.'
'Let's be clear what I mean when I talk about distortion. Human skin has a
high degree of elasticity. It can expand, contract, swell, and shrink?' 'It can.'
'And when a body is moved, there has to be some element of force applied to the skin. The body is lifted from the crime scene into a body bag, taken on a trolley to the city morgue, and once in the morgue the body must be lifted again from the bag to the examining table.'
'I guess.'
'And when the body is lifted, it is common for hands to be placed beneath the body's arms, in the armpits? Persons at each side of the body and one person who will lift the legs?'
'I assume you are correct.'
'When skin is pulled, if any part of it is already torn, this can cause further tearing of the skin, isn't that correct?'
Baumann chewed on this for a moment, then said, 'It's possible.'
'It's likely, isn't it?'
'Could be.'
'Given that your measurements were taken to fractions of a millimeter, it's
entirely possible that the cuts you measured were widened during the process of the body being moved.'
'It's possible. Anything is possible.'
'When you examined the victim, rigor mortis would be present, which tightens the skin and would widen any puncture wounds, correct?'
'I suppose.'
'One of those odontology organizations I mentioned states that no accurate bite-mark comparison can be made when a body has undergone rigor mortis, or it has been moved, isn't that correct?'
'I feel like I'm repeating myself, ma'am. I already told you I don't ascribe to those methods.'
'Isn't that half the problem with bite-mark comparison, Mr. Baumann? There

is no accepted standard of comparison?'
'I don't believe so. The accuracy of the comparison is down to my expertise.' Kate took a moment to stop and think. She was at the point where things could
all go very wrong from here on in. She could stop, use what answers she had already gained, or throw everything at Baumann. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Bloch. Her hands cradled below her chin. Bloch closed her eyes, and nodded.
Go for it.
'Mr. Baumann, there is no bite-mark database in the United States, is there?' 'Not to my knowledge.'
'So you cannot compare the bite marks on the victim to any other set of teeth
other than the two master casts in this case?'
'Why would I want to compare the bite marks to every person in New York? I
can see and measure the similarities. I don't need to compare it to the general population.'
'We all have the same type of anterior teeth, bar losing or damaging a tooth, correct?'
'That's true. There are central and lateral incisors, and canines. A set of two of each, on the maxillary and mandibular arches. That's twelve individual teeth. I examined each one and compared them to the bite mark. The odds of someone having the same distance measurements between each individual tooth ... well I couldn't even calculate those odds, they're so high.'
'The purpose of general dentistry is to keep teeth and gums healthy, and ensure uniformity, correct?'
Baumann's face began to redden. This quickly spread to his scalp, making him look like an angry tomato. Still no answer came.
'Uniformity is not always the goal.'
'It is when someone has had braces applied to their teeth, isn't it?'
He growled, 'That's right.'
'Your statement that the odds of a member of the general population making
the same bite mark as Alexandra Avellino is based on the probability that the position of each individual tooth is unique in relation to the other teeth?'
'It has to be.'
'Not if, like Alexandra Avellino, you wore a brace for twelve months to alter the position of your teeth. To make them more uniform in appearance.'
'I was not aware she had worn a brace.'
'Does that alter your findings?'
Baumann shook his head, 'I wouldn't think so. Not by much.'
'I see. And the fact that no other forensic odontologist would even have tried

to compare the bite mark in this case, because of rigor mortis, because of the movement of the body, that doesn't give you cause for doubt in relation to your findings?'
'No, ma'am.'
'In relation to your bite-mark simulation of the master casts, what did you use to simulate the bite?' asked Kate, already knowing the answer. She just wanted the jury to hear it.
'Pig skin. It's the closest material we can ethically use.'
'And you think pig skin is equivalent to a human body, in rigor mortis?'
'It's the best we got.'
'In summary, your analysis failed to account for various changes in the bite-
mark appearance since the wound was inflicted, and you cannot conclude that my client's bite mark is unique?'
'I guess so, ma'am.'
Kate turned away from the witness, and watched the jury as she walked back to her seat. Some were shaking their heads at Baumann, others were either not convinced by Kate, or not convinced by Baumann – they seemed almost indifferent. Hard to tell how well this cross-examination had gone, but at least she had a few converts on the jury. Her cross was damage limitation – and no more. On that basis, she counted it successful.
Reluctant to let two expert witnesses be annihilated, Dreyer spent ten minutes trying to patch up Baumann's testimony, but enough damage had been done. That same handful of jurors seemed to look at him with suspicion.
That was enough.
As Baumann left the witness stand, he mouthed the word, 'Bitch,' in Kate's direction. At first she was shocked, then she focused on Baumann's face. He'd mouthed something else as he passed her table.
He wasn't looking at Kate when he said this. Nor Bloch.
No, this was directed at Alexandra. She couldn't look at Baumann and avoided his gaze. Alexandra missed him mouthing, 'Murdering bitch.'
Kate thought about complaining, highlighting this to the judge and asking him to discipline Baumann. But then, she didn't want the jury to hear what Baumann had called Alexandra.
Maybe Baumann had bought his own bullshit science, thought Kate. Then she had another thought.
What if Baumann was right?