An Oakland police criminalist acknowledged at Hans Reiser's murder trial Wednesday that she had made a mistake while collecting a sample of blood found on a pillar in the computer programmer's home.Under questioning by defense attorney Richard Tamor, Shannon Cavness conceded that she should have taken at least two samples - and as many as five - from the pillar in Reiser's home. Instead, she took just one sample from what turned out to be two separate stains.
Cavness testified Tuesday that blood on the pillar matched the DNA profiles of both Reiser and his estranged wife, Nina, who is presumed dead even though her body hasn't been found. The 44-year-old defendant has pleaded not guilty to charges that he killed her in September 2006 after she dropped off their children at his Oakland hills home.
"If you had to do it over, you would have swabbed it two different times, right?" Tamor asked Wednesday about the bloodstain on the pillar.
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