Stefanie Happ, Firearms Examiner

She is a senior firearms examiner with the Colorado Springs Metro Crime Lab. She has a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry with an emphasis in criminalistics from the Metropolitan State College of Denver. She completed an internship with the Jefferson County Sheriff's crime lab for two years. She has training in latent print processing and examination, crime scene investigation, controlled substance analysis, and spent a short period of time with the CBI.

She was hired in October 2007 in her current capacity. Her first year was an apprenticeship. She was accepted to CA Criminalistics Institute, did an additional year of intensive study in serial number restoration and shooting incident reconstruction, took armors courses designed to teach how to identity how firearms should work and identify any present abnormalities, studied microscopic tool mark comparison, and passed competency and proficiency tests. She had over 1,000 hours of training and thousands of additional hours of research and study. She has been qualified as an expert witness 145 times in local and federal courts. This witness is qualified as an expert for this trial as a firearms examiner.

Background

• Tool marks are the firearm acting as a tool. It has a series of components like the barrel that impart different markings on the surfaces of the fired ammunition components like cartridge cases and bullets.
• She has a demonstrative piece to show the jury to explain cartridge and bullet. When the powder charge burns it releases a buildup of gasses which forces the bullet down the barrel of the firearm, forcing the action of the barrel open so the cartridge case can be extracted and ejected. The cartridge ends up in two pieces - the bullet or projectile, and the cartridge case.
• That general description covers most firearms as well as semi-automatic.
• A semiautomatic means one cartridge of ammunition is fired for one pull of the trigger. The cartridge case is extracted and ejected and often found left behind. With a revolver the cartridges are loaded into a cylinder and they remain in the cylinder until the operator manually removes them.

Firearms in the Case

• Exhibit 89 - evidence envelopes containing bullet fragments and red tips.
• The red tips appear to be consistent with the polymer plugs incorporated into various hollow point designs of bullets.
• Two demonstrative photos of Hornady ammo with red tips are showed.
• This type of bullet is designed to expand when it comes into contact with tissue to facilitate staying without the target at the time it enters, also to facilitate a larger wound tract.
• The polymer plug is designed to prevent that hollow point cavity from filling up with other materials preventing the expansion.
• The plastic red tips in E89 are consistent with the polymer plugs.
• Happ examined three different firearms, complete mechanical functioning examinations, and evaluated the firearms for comparison to recovered bullets.
• Firearm 1: FMK Model 9 C1G2 9mm pistol.
• Firearm 2: Smith and Wesson M&P Bodyguard Caliber 380 auto pistol.
• Firearm 3: Smith and Wesson M&P 9C 9mm Luger pistol.
• Size of the cartridge of 380 and 9mm are different; 380 auto is a lower velocity, smaller cartridge.
• Exhibit 484 and 485 is the S&W 9C 9mm.
• This was a functioning firearm capable of causing serious injury or death. There were no malfunctions.
• Exhibit 713 is the test fired bullets, cartridge cases, and silicon cast of the barrel.
• Once all identified characteristics of the firearm are documented, Happ loads it with the appropriate caliber ammunition and fires it.
• The expelled round is recovered - cartridge cases and bullets. They’re fired into a steel tank full of water to slow down the bullet gently without leaving any other marks. Any marks produced are solely from the barrel of the firearm.
• The recovered cartridge case and bullet are entered into evidence.
• The barrel’s unique tool marks form a signature of that firearm. Casts are made so the markings can be evaluated.
• Comparison can be done to prove it is a weapon used to kill someone or to eliminate a firearm.
• The .380 and the FMK were test fired. They were functional. They were capable of causing serious bodily injury or death.
• The test fired rounds from those two guns did not match the projectiles recovered from this investigation. Both firearms were eliminated as potential sources of those bullets.
• Exhibit 103, 88 - projectiles recovered from autopsy and pillow.
• One of the bullets in E103 was fired in the S&W 9mm Pistol (E484). The other bullet had similar general characteristics but it was damaged so it was inconclusive.
• Projectiles can be damaged by any of the target surfaces that the bullet travels through. It may obliterate markings left behind by firearms.
• In this instance the bullet was corroded due to the length of exposure to biological material.
• E88 is a bullet recovered at autopsy.
• It was also fired in the S&W (E484).
• Exhibits 680, 681, 682 are photos that Happ took using the comparison microscope.
• E680 is a photo of a bullet given to Happ for comparison purposes.
• Lands and grooves are high and low spots that are formed into the barrel of a firearm in a particular number and with a twist to make the bullet spin in one direction.
• E681 is a photo of the evidence bullet and the test fired bullet side by side.
• E682 is the same photo magnified more.
• These photos show that the bullet recovered at autopsy was fired from the same gun that Happ test fired.
• Happ shows the jury the pistol (E484) and explains what happens when it is fired and how the cartridge comes out; the cartridges do not generally fall into a neat pile; can bounce.
• There is no such thing as a disintegrating shell casing.

Cross Examination

• There are left and right handed pistols regarding the direction it ejects. It could be fired by either hand but it ejects to the right.
• Handedness is only one element to consider when choosing which side you want your cartridges to eject from; which eye you are using matters.
• A right handed shooter is right eye dominant, says defense.
• For left handed and left eye dominant it would be better to have a semiautomatic pistol that ejects to the left.
• E713 are test fires from the same S&W 9mm pistol.
• E103 is the bullets that were pulled from the pillow.
• You would expect two 9mm hollow points to go through the pillow if they did not hit anything else.
• The bullets have hard impact marks suggesting they hit something other than the pillow. Based on trace evidence on or in the bullet there was evidence of them passing through biological material, like possible hairs or bones.
• No distance testing was performed. It is unknown how far away the shooter was standing.
• The biological material was collected but it is unknown if it was tested.

Redirect

• Most guns eject to the left. You can find certain brands or buy a new slide to make it left.
• Any pistol can be used with either eye and by either hand.
• The biological substances on the bullets could have come from the time in the suitcase.
• It is uncommon to find fingerprints on fired bullets. There is a greater likelihood there will be fingerprints on cartridge case. Due to heat buildup most prints are found when a cartridge is picked up and moved after the fact.
• There are no fingerprints on shell casings that are never found.

Juror questions

• Did any of the three pistols eject from the left?: No.
• If someone is left eye dominant and a shell ejects across your field of vision would it cause someone to miss?: The first shot, nothing would be obstructing your vision. Subsequent shots fired after that in rapid succession. It becomes a concern when multiple rounds are fired where the shells are constantly running in the shooter’s field of vision.

Followup

• Many things determine accuracy like the firearm and whether the shooter is practiced.
• Left eye dominant can be accurate with a gun that ejects to the right.