Jury Hears Of DNA Samples From Exercise Bands & Clancy Home Stains

Maureen Hartnett is a forensic scientist with the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory. She testified in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial today (Tuesday, August 4, day 6) about DNA samples collected from stains in Clancy's home after she killed her children on Jan. 24, 2023, as well as DNA collected from items including the exercise bands around the children's necks. A lawyer for Clancy, who was being treated for postpartum mental health issues, argues she is not guilty by reason of insanity. 00:23 "In the criminalistics unit, I examine items of evidence for the possible presence of biological fluids such as blood, semen, and saliva. And those items would include clothing, weapons, or sexual assault kits, among other items. I also collect and identify trace materials such as hairs and fibers. I perform damage analysis on clothing and collect gunshot residues." 01:50 "And when you go to a crime scene to process with the crime scene response unit, what's the goal, or what are you looking to do there?" "My focus generally is on biological evidence, such as blood, semen, saliva, as well as documentation through sketches and diagrams." 02:39 "And what are the common screening tests that you can do at a crime scene?" "I perform screening tests for blood as well as screening tests for semen, depending on the case history and what the forensic relevant evidence is." 03:49 "And where was the first place that you went in this response?" "I responded to South Shore Hospital, the emergency department." 04:17 "I noted red brown stains on her hands. I did not have the opportunity to examine her entire body. She was mostly covered with blankets and other types of medical equipment. But I did note red brown stains on her hands." 04:38 "At that point in time, I was collecting samples from her hands for potential biological evidence relating to the crime. So when I noted the red brown stains, I collected samples from her hands." 05:12 "t some point after being at South Shore Hospital, did you then respond to 47 Summer Street in Duxbury?" "Yes, I did." 07:51 "Now, when you're at a scene and you see something that is a red brown stain, you don't refer to it as blood, correct?" "That's correct." "And even after the screening tests you don't refer to it as blood, do you?" "That's correct." 09:06 "Did you observe additional red brown stains in that master bedroom?" "Yes, I did." 09:19 "And how many stains did you document in the master bedroom?" "Four." 16:20 "While you were out in the backyard, did you also observe staining or red brown stains in the yard?" "Yes, I did." 17:49 "Moving to January 25 of 2023, did you go to the Brigham and Women's Hospital as part of the crime scene response again to see Lindsay Clancy, the defendant?" "Yes, I did." 18:42 "What was the purpose of going back to 47 Summer Street on June 15?" "I was informed that additional testing was being requested on some of the red brown stains that were noted on the exterior of the house up on the shingles. They had not previously collected from, so I went back to see if I could potentially collect samples from those." 19:49 "Where was stain A?" "That was right underneath the windowsill. The the window that was farthest right would have been the master bedroom on the exterior." 28:06 "I performed confirmatory testing on some of the swabs that were collected from the home. I believe those swabs collected from stain A." 30:28 "And so, if some of the items that you examined are selected for further testing, those swabbings or further snippets would then be sent to the DNA unit?" "That's correct." 31:39 "And so, this particular photograph is-is it fair to say this is a photograph from your work at the laboratory with the yellow exercise band?" "Yes, it is." 34:14 "And as far as your knowledge of some of the additional testing, you're aware that the exercise band swabbings were sent forward to the DNA unit for additional analysis. Correct?" "Yes, that's my understanding." 34:32 cross-exam by defense attorney Kevin Reddington 38:25 "bottom line is that you, as a chemist working for the Mass State Police, investigating this case, are confirming that the stains that are on the floor of the bedroom, all the blood, all those stains, are in fact human blood, right?" "I'm confirming the single stain that I collected from is blood." 40:22 "I didn't make any determination whether or not they were all the same consistency." 42:28 "And then the district attorney showed you the shingles and envelopes. You opened them up and looked at them, and you did a confirmatory test on those?" "I did not. I performed a screening test on each of those stains at the scene. I did not perform a confirmatory test on those stains due to the fact that the red-brown stain color was no longer visible. So potentially, the weather at some point, the red-brown stains appeared darker. They were no longer red-brown..." 44:37 re-direct