There is no evidence of cleaning otherwise the defense wouldn't have said that there is no explanation for the total lack of DNA. This is from their motion:
No matter what came first, the car or the genetic genealogy, the investigation has provided precious little.There is no connection between Mr. Kohberger and the victims.There is no explanation for the total lack of DNA evidence from the victimsin Mr.Kohberger’s apartment, office home, or vehicle.
This means they did not detect cleaning chemicals in his car that would have used to get rid of DNA. I think it also means that they didn't find any kind of protective clothing and other gears/tools in his possession/which he bought
that would have helped him not to transfer DNA onto his car.
There were many detailed, lenghty posts here on Websleuths for example from 10ofrods explaining that it would be impossible to not to find DNA evidence in his car no matter how hard he cleaned or what kind of protection he used. Many experts also had this same opinion, they were all expecting a treasure trove of evidence in his car.
I wish I were as confident as you are in the word choices and meaning of the Defense.
But I'm not. I've spent too long working around lawyers (and in labs) for me to think that.
"Cleaning" is an ordinary activity, is it not? Some people would claim that "cleaning" DNA is impossible (and it is difficult, in many circumstances - but not impossible). With time and effort, it's possible (esp with pre-planning).
The possibility that the defendant may have knowingly and knowledgeably erased evidence (I believe he didn't enter his apartment wearing bloody clothes, btw) is on the table. I won't mention the ways that blood and DNA evidence can be altered or rendered useless, but the process could be indistinguishable from ordinary detailing of a car. I am guessing most people would know what *not* to use in this process - but a person with a master's in criminal justice should know ALL the alternatives.
Finding upholstery cleaner in a car is normal. The Defense implies that (somehow) all methods of cleaning DNA from a car or apartment would be detectable, but I think that the State would have been heavily criticized if they had added "carpeting had been cleaned with X solution" to the PCA. However, I do expect an expert to testify that the car was very, very clean (showing signs of recent use of a vacuum and of other products). Can the forensics say WHEN this was done? Not that I know of. Can they say how many times it was done? Not in my opinion.
The Defense of course wants to spin this in their own direction. If I were the State, I'd wait until trial to give the evidence about all the "chemicals" found in the car. If it's quite a few different ones (again, I am not going to list viable ways of ridding various car components of heme/DNA evidence), that could make for a good couple of hours of testimony. In the end, an expert will likely testify that the car was thoroughly cleaned and list all the ways it was cleaned - thereby leaving the jury to guess what had been there before the cleaning. This is why we have juries and why juries are supposed to use their own standards of reasoning.
So I couldn't disagree more with your statement that "this means they did not detect chemicals in his car." Of course there were chemicals in his car (all kinds - including byproducts of the carpeting and upholstery itself). I would imagine that a good forensics team would have taken samples from those items. Are you saying that the car had NEVER once been cleaned? How would you know this? It would take expert testimony to walk a jury through the forensic processes used on the carpet, seats, steering wheel, etc. They could have found many different products - but without any way of putting a timestamp on it.
What I'd like to see, of course, is whether Kohberger's own DNA was distributed in the car in a manner consistent with ordinary use. THAT would make for interesting expert testimony.
But there's no way you can
know what the lab found - unless you are an insider to this case.
IMO.
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