Defense Probes The Handling Of Blood Sample

O.J. Simpson’s jurors passed around a test tube similar to one that held his blood sample, as a defense attorney tried Thursday to prove the item was so light that a criminalist wouldn’t have known whether it was inside a trash bag holding other evidence.

The test tube, filled with water, was placed inside a gray evidence envelope similar to the one that criminalists have testified held Simpson’s blood vial.

The defense is seeking to cast doubt on criminalist Andrea Mazzola’s testimony that she unknowingly carried the blood vial out of Simpson’s home the day after his ex-wife and her friend were murdered.

She has testified that she could tell from the “heft” of the bag that, without her witnessing it, something else had been placed in the bag, which also held a baggage claim ticket, an airline receipt and evidence cards.

The defense contends the vial wasn’t in the bag. Instead, Simpson’s attorneys suggest, police kept the blood overnight and had the opportunity to scatter it at his estate and the murder scene to frame him.

Some jurors appeared to weigh the envelope and test tube by holding it on the palms of their hands. Others just briefly held it and passed it along.

Mazzola said that on the day after the June 12, 1994, murders, she never saw the vial of Simpson’s blood that her supervisor, Dennis Fung, testified was in the bag.

Neufeld has suggested Mazzola is lying about it as part of the wide-ranging conspiracy against Simpson.

Mazzola said she didn’t see the vial until she was in the crime lab with Fung on June 14 and saw him take it from the gray envelope.

“Did you tell anyone in the district attorney’s office that on June 14 you realized you had carried the blood sample out in the trash bag?” Neufeld asked.

“No, I don’t believe so,” Mazzola replied.

“When was the first time you told someone that you remembered carrying the vial of blood in the trash bag?” Neufeld asked.

“I don’t remember,” she said. “It was not a big deal.”

Under redirect examination, prosecutor Hank Goldberg sought to portray Mazzola as a meticulous evidence collector.