When did you realize that this was a police officer shooting? I knew it right from the start. The police were everywhere.

Transcription

1 State your name and spell the last name. Daniel O Neal. O-N-E-A-L State your occupation Medical examiner. When did you realize that this was a police officer shooting? I knew it right from the start. The police were everywhere. Did you ever feel that they prevented you from doing your job? No ma am. No one interfered with my ability to do my job. Would you have handled this differently if police hadn t been involved? No ma am. An investigation is an investigation. Protocol is the same. Next you said that you checked the body of Hector Morales? Yes, ma am. I was looking for weapons. I checked in all of his pockets, but I didn t find any. Standard procedures.

2 Did you find anything incriminating in his pockets? Anything that might lead you to believe that the deceased was fleeing from police? We found two lighters, two $5 bills and a small little bag of marijuana, or what appeared to be marijuana. To your knowledge, were you the first person to go into the pockets, or do you know if there was anybody else? We typically ask if anybody got his cell phone out. Sometimes they take the cell to get information. That wasn t done. When you first arrived, you said that the police were taking photographs. Were you directing the police on what photographs to take? No, ma am. I was relying on them to take the photographs. I didn t want to interfere. I was not directing them. You said there were injuries. How many were there and where were they located? Be as detailed and specific as possible. There was one below his nipple. There was also one in the clavicle area. There were also injuries to the forehead, the eye, the neck, the side, the arm, and the hand.

3 Below the nipple, in the clavicle area, the forehead, the eye, the neck, the side, the arm, and the hand. And the position of the body? How was the body positioned? Well, if I remember correctly, when looking at me, one arm was out. One arm was out, and the left arm, yes, that s right, the left arm was against his waistband. In your report, you modified some information as to the direction of the body. Can you remind the jury in which direction the body was facing? Was it east or west? I m going to assume that his head was west and his feet were east. I just want to clarify that his head actually faced Green Street and his feet faced Glendale. Okay, I see. You said that the police officers had already examined the body, photographing the body, and so forth. If the police had already examined the body, why wouldn t the objects you found inside the pockets have been taken out?

4 They don t actually examine, they just take photographs. They don t touch the body until I get there, and I can t touch the body until the detectives get there. We kind of do it in tandem. We don t want to disturb anything. So, the police don t touch the body until you arrive, and you don t touch the body until the detectives arrive. What is the purpose of doing it in tandem? Wouldn t it be more efficient to work together at the same time? That way nothing gets contaminated. Things get moved around or kicked around and we have all have different information then. That way, they come in and photograph everything as it is. I come in, if I move anything, then they photograph it again. Let me see if I understand. Would you be able to say that are there things that there are things that a body can tell a medical examiner, or should be able to tell a medical examiner? That s correct. If the body is tampered with, the information we gather might not be accurate. That is why we do things that way. Otherwise, it could interfere with the investigation.

5 You said that you arrived at the scene around 2:30 p.m., but that after you got to the scene you had to wait another hour before starting your investigation of the body? Yes. The crime scene unit arrived. They had to get their cameras ready and all of their little place cards; find evidence on the scene; mark it; and take photographs of it. So all of that was going on? Was there anything else happening at the scene of the crime? Please describe what you saw in detail. What did you see upon your arrival? There are typically several officers. Some transcribe; some give out measurements; some photograph. You always have a photographer with a transcriber because they both work together as a team. Were paramedics called initially to do, you know, the first instance? Do you recall if they did anything to the body? I m not sure if they were called. I know they arrived on the scene shortly after it happened. There weren t any leads.

6 Do you wish to say that the police didn t have any leads? Please explain what you mean by the word, leads. The paramedics usually put a lead on the body for EKG s to see if there is a heartbeat. There wasn t one. So what you are saying, in other words, is that, when you got there, the body was deceased? Hector Morales was deceased? Correct. There were no leads and there was no EKG because Hector had already died. There were no signs of life. When they do the EKG, do they ever move the body? No. I guess they could tell that it was a fatal wound. Thank you, Mr. O Neal. I have no further questions, Your Honor. Thank you, counsel.