Christian Liewer, CSI

He is a CSI with the Colorado Springs Metro Crime Lab. He has been with them for almost 4 years.

Background

• They respond to scenes, vehicle processing, autopsies, and in person processings fpr general documentation and evidence collection purposes.
• He has a Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice with an emphasis in forensic investigation and a Masters in Forensic Science from University of Florida.
• He does not hold any current national certifications.
• He completed a 6 month training program.
• He goes to many trainings within their scope of work: bloodstain pattern analysis, shooting incident reconstruction, latent print processing, etc.
• He has responded to approximately 75 crime scenes and 220 call outs.
• He has testified almost 10 times as a crime scene investigator in Colorado Springs.
• The witness is qualified as an expert in crime scene investigations.

The Crime Scene

• On February 3rd 2020 he was requested to respond to the Stauch home to complete a search for latent bloodstains or projectile defects.
• He responded to the home 3 different times
• February 3rd 2020 before lunch
• February 3rd 2020 around 6PM
• February 5th 2020 after lunch
• There was a CSI in training with him for his responses and two additional CSIs also responding to the home.
• Latent blood stains are very diluted or cleaned up blood stains that need additional processing to be made visible.
• Blood is important in crime scene investigation due to the DNA.
• He collects and preserves blood and DNA for additional use by his team.
• His role is to document and collect as much as he can.
• BLUESTAR is used for latent bloodstains to assist in visualizing the stains.
• A presumptive test for blood. It reacts to blood and multiple other substances. Wen it reacts with blood it glows a bright blue color in the dark.
• It reacts to any oxidizing agents including cleaning agents, bleach, and horseradish. Additional testing is needed to confirm blood and DNA.
• Exhibit 442 is a diagram created of the Stauch home. It includes the address, level of home, blue, yellow, and purple markers indicating BLUESTAR reactions.
• His first job was focusing on the garage area.
• Exhibit 443 - 450 are photos of the Stauch home.
• E443 is a photo from outside the garage.
• E444 is a photo in the garage.
• E445 is more of the garag.
• E446 is the garage near the laundry room.
• E447 is a photo of the rug at the base of the stairs leading to the laundry room.
• He was tasked with finding blood between the garage and Gannon’s bedroom.
• BLUESTAR is mixed with distilled water and sprayed.
• E448 is a photo of the stairs leading to the laundry room and a bit of the door.
• E449 is another photo of the rug and bottom of the stairs from a different angle.
• The stairs are darker now because they have been sprayed with BLUESTAR.
• There are blue glowing dots on the rug at the base of the stairs.
• The witness is using his camera to demonstrate how it works. It is a Nikon D500.
• In taking photos of BLUESTAR reactions, they are concerned with aperture, ISO setting, and shutter speed. A slower shutter speed means it can take photos in darker conditions.
• You need a dark room to use BLUESTAR but some light to show what is glowing, not just the reaction.
• If what the reaction is on can be collected, it is, if not, a swab is taken.
• Exhibit 451 is the rug from the garage.
• Exhibits 452 - 458 are additional photos from the first visit to the Stauch home, along the south wall of the garage.
• E452 is more of the rug and the garage floor.
• E453 is a BLUESTAR photo of the ground near the rug.
• This reaction is brighter.
• E454 is a photo of a military backpack on the floor.
• E455 is a photo of the bag moved.
• E456 is a reaction on the floor where the bag had been.
• E457 is a photo of the boards in the garage and a box near them.
• E458 is a positive BLUESTAR reaction on the boards.
• Exhibit 459 is an envelope containing swabs from the BLUESTAR reactions.
• The boards in E457 were collected, the box was swabbed.
• Exhibits 460 - 476 are more photos from the Stauch home.
• E460 is a photo of a bag that he moved.
• It had been on top of the boards.
• E461 is a BLUESTAR positive reaction next to and on the boards.
• E462 is another photo of the boards.
• E463 is a photo of the BLUESTAR reaction on the boards.
• E464 is another photo of the boards.
• E465 is a closeup of the boards.
• E466 is a photo of the boards cut to collect for samples.
• E467 is a photo of the bottom of the stairs between the laundry room and the garage.
• It’s the corner of the room just next to the rug.
• E468 is a BLUESTAR reaction under the items in that corner.
• E469 is the same view with the items moved.
• E470 is a BLUESTAR reaction of the corner with nothing in it.
• It almost looks like a shoe print to me.
• E471 is the door to the laundry room from the garage.
• E472 is the BLUESTAR reaction on the door.
• E473 is a photo with the door open, the doorway of the laundry room.
• E474 is a BLUESTAR positive reaction on the floor of the laundry room.
• E475 is a photo inside the laundry room looking a the ground.
• E476 is more BLUESTAR reactions on the laundry room floor.
• Exhibit 446 is a photo from the garage with the boards and a blue bag next to them.
• There was a camera malfunction during his response.
• He is explaining that his camera had a shutter issue and his shutter was open for 30 seconds but the pictures were coming out almost completely dark and it was making a weird noise.
• They just made notes and sampled it directly instead of trying to photograph it again and diluting the sample.
• Swabs were taken and the camera was eventually replaced “that year”.
• Exhibit 477, 486-502(?) are photos that he took on the evening of February 3rd 2020.
• E477 is a corner of the storage room in the basement in the northeast corner facing east; farthest wall.
• E486 is a picture of a corner of stairway - the first landing going downstairs.
• E487 is a closeup photo of a bloodstain on the landing wall.
• E488 is a photo from Gannon’s doorway.
• Gannon’s bed has been removed.
• E489 is a photo of the corner of Gannon’s room where his bed was, from across the room.
• E90 is a photo of the wall next to Gannon’s bed.
• E491 is a photo of the corner where Gannon’s bed was.
• You can see an electrical socket.
• E92 is a photo of the corner where Gannon’s bed was.
• Multiple areas react with BLUESTAR; based on the color of the reaction it is presumptive positive for blood.
• E493 is a photo, closer up, of the reactions in the corner.
• E494 is a photo of the corner of the room with the carpet cut up.
• There were bloodstains on the underside of the carpet. The top of the carpet was faintly darker brown than the rest.
• E495 is a closeup of the underside of the carpet highlighting the bloodstain.
• They continued on to see how far it goes. The padding was pulled up to expose the concrete sublayer.
• E496 is a photo with the carpet padding pulled up.
• There is a darker stain on the padding and the concrete is stained red.
• E497 is a zoomed in photo of the carpet padding.
• E498 is a photo showing how far the carpet was pulled back showing additional possible bloodstains.
• E500 is a closeup photos of the same area from a different angle.
• E501 is a photo of the possible bloodstain with a measurement marker.
• E502 is a closer photo of the same area.
• They did not use BLUESTAR because the stains were visible.
• The stains were cut out and collected to be preserved best as possible.
• Exhibit 503 and 504 are cuttings of the carpet and padding.
• He was also looking for projectile defects but no defects were found.
• Exhibit 505 - 509 are more photos that were taken during the evening of February 3rd 2020.
• It’s not abnormal to have between 500 and 1000+ photos to show the condition of the scene before, during, and after the processing.
• E505 is a picture on the concrete subfloor under the second possible bloodstain.
• E506 are additional possible bloodstains with the measurement marker.
• E507 is another photo of the first area of bloodstain with the measurement marker.
• Leiwer walks exhibits 503 and 504 past the jury.
• E508 is a photo of Gannon’s windowsill.
• There is a chip in the sill, some of it was missing paint.
• E509 is a photo of the defect in the windowsill with a measurement marker.
• There were visible, possible dilute bloodstains on the outlet cover.
• Exhibits 510, 511 are photos of the outlet cover in Gannon’s room.
• E510 is a photo of the corner of the room showing the outlet.
• E511 is the outlet cover with a measurement marker showing the scale of the outlet.
• You can see faint dilute brown or red stains along the outside of the outlets.
• They are dilute marks with linear orientation.
• Exhibit 512 is the outlet cover.
• There was a BLUESTAR positive reaction on the outlet cover.
• The volume of BLUESTAR sprayed is a fine mist that sprays per pump.
• The dilute marks were not made by BLUESTAR because not enough BLUESTAR is used to dilute it to that level.
• The outlet cover was taken off.
• Exhibit 513 - 515, 516, 517.
• E513 - 515 are photos of the outlet with no cover.
• E513 is a photo of the outlet with no cover.
• E514 is a photo of the outlet from a different angle, from above and slightly to the right.
• E515 is a closer photo of the outlet from a different angle.
• E516 is swabs of the possible bloodstains on the outlet itself.
• E517 is a photo of the corner of the room with no outlet cover and the cut carpet.
• Another step was trying to find a weapon or blunt force instrument that could have cause that bloodstain pattern.
• A pistol was located on a chest of drawers in the master bedroom.
• Exhibits 478 - 483 are additional photos from the master bedroom, of the room and of the handgun on 2/3/2020.
• E478 is a photo of the master bedroom.
• E479 is a photo in the master bedroom, showing the dresser and TV.
• E480 is a photo of another dresser next to the other dresser; there is a black rectangle, that’s the firearm.
• E481 is a photo of the top of the dresser showing the firearm, a teddy bear, and photos of Laina and Gannon.
• E482 is a closer photo of the firearm.
• E483 is a closer photo of the firearm on an envelope.
• The slide is locked back, there is no round or cartridge in the chamber and there is a scale above the gun indicating its size.
• Exhibits 484 and 485 is the evidence box with the firearm in it, and an envelope containing the magazine containing 16 cartridges.
• E484 has been processed.
• When you collect a firearm you lock the slide back and disengage the firearm. A chambered round will be expelled and the magazine is removed.
• There was no round in the chamber of this firearm.
• Exhibit 573?
• This firearm has a grip cover that covers the serial number; it has been fingerprinted.
• He is walking exhibit 484, the firearm, to the jury.
• It has approximately a 17 round capacity.
• They do not remove cartridges to count them because they can be fingerprinted and processed.
• Exhibit 518, 519 are swabs of the BLUESTAR reactions in the stairwell and basement level.
• On his diagram, the green dots are BLUESTAR reactions from the evening of 2/3/2020.
• There are reactions in Gannon’s room, outside of it, in the storage room, at the base of the stairs, at the landing of the stairs.
• Exhibit 520- 527 are more photos of the home.
• E520 is a photo of the top of the washer and dryer; a bottle of vinegar is on top of the dryer.
• E521 is a closeup of distilled vinegar.
• E522 is a photo of the kitchen cabinet with the doors open and some contents pulled out.
• E523 is a photo closeup photo of items that hadn’t been pulled out.
• E524 is a photo of smoke and odor eliminator.
• E525 was the other side of the cabinet with baking soda in it.
• E526 is a closeup of the baking soda.
• E527 is a photo of more of the contents pulled out of the cabinet.
• On 2/5/2020 there were small stains visible on Gannon’s wall in the light.
• There were no knives in any odd places in the house.
• No bloodstained clothing was found.
• A sheet with possible blood on it was found in a basement bedroom. He says it belonged to Harley but defense objects for hearsay.

Cross examination

• It was a comforter on the bed he collected and a sheet in the closet had a BLUESTAR reaction in the northwest basement bedroom; teenager girl’s room.
• There was a bloodstain on the mattress and comforter. It was the same source of blood from the mattress and comforter.
• In the laundry basket there was a sheet that had a BLUESTAR reaction.

Juror question

• How is testing done to separate BLUESTAR from blood?: The BLUESTAR is not a component of blood DNA tests for a different type of material than BLUESTAR. It does not override the DNA.
• Does BLUESTAR impact the DNA sample?: The amount sprayed would impact the sample but not BLUESTAR itself. It does not negatively affect DNA processing.