Direct exam of FBI analyst Karen Lowe by JA - continued
Top of poster - hair in 2 growth stages. Andigen active growth phase. Top of poster shows two hairs - one forceably removed and one naturally shed.
Only hairs showing decomp are in the Andigen phase where karatin is still soft.
Determination of artifacts of characteristics is visual. Some of the articles mention location of banding, but it is not a standard.
Her exam of hair is looked at in 3 dimensions. She can increase magnification and focus to see characteristics better.
Training to recognize post mort root banding - in 13 years of case work she has worked over 2000 cases, not all decomp. Doesn't want to guess how many cases.
She has frequently seen post mort banding in the cases she has worked.
She found post mortim banding in this case.
She was shown Exhibit 87. She examined this in this case. She also examined Exhibit 89, 90, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100.
She was also given samples from known individuals in this case. State's Exhibit 103, 104, (sample from CA), (sample from GA). She was also given a hairbrush and comb. She found sample on the brush - Exhibit 105.
Her exam found human hairs. In the unknown exhibits, she found at least 11 hairs. One hair had characteristics of decomposition. It was Q-12. Exhibit 99.
This hair was a caucasion head hair with a post mortim root band. She examined with a stereo and comparison microscope, looking at it in 3 dimensions. Hair was light to medium brown, 9 inches long. None of the hairs had post mortim changes. She did not compare the hairs to each other.
Q-12 hair was dissimilar to ICA. It was similar to hair in the hairbrush from Caylee, but there was only one hair in the brush. Not compared to CA's hair.
It is her opinion that the hair in Exhibit 99 has a darkened band at the root portion of the hair which is consistent with apparent decomposition.
A portion of the hair with sent for midocondrial analysis. She retained the darkened root band and preserved it on a slide.
Exhibit 106 is the hair sample portion sent for midocondrial analysis.
JA - no further questions.