EXPERT WITNESS SERVICES Page 2 of 4
I have been retained by attorneys and police departments in
California, Florida, Illinois, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, New York,
North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and elsewhere to
research, identify, and in some cases appraise, knives or parts
of knives both in civil cases and in criminal cases ranging from
illegal possession or concealment to receiving stolen property to
homicide. In several of these cases I have testified in court as
an expert witness on knives. These are some of the cases.
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LEGAL CASES
LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
NAPA, NAPA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA; March 22-23, 1988.
People vs. John R. Quattrone, doing business as Honest John's
Sports Emporium; Court No.53838. Civil suit for alleged unfair
business practices: selling knives that are allegedly illegal
under Cal. PC 653 (k) (switchblade and gravity knives).
Clients: John R. Quattrone and William L. Crow, Attorney.
Honest John's sold two types of knives that
the Napa County
District Attorney believed were illegal under PC 653 (k): namely
butterfly knives and Tekna sheath-retracting knives. I was the
only defense witness, and testified, with demonstrations, that
the knives are neither switchblades nor gravity knives. The
trial judge ruled in favor of the defendant, Mr. Quattrone.
However, this verdict was subsequently reversed on appeal.
Appellate decision - People v Quattrone
OSKALOOSA, MAHASKA COUNTY, IOWA; February 28, June 21, July 15, 1988.
State of Iowa vs. Richard Green and David Kelly Yant (murder).
Clients: Thomas H. Miller, Assistant Attorney General, Gary L.
Marker, Special Agent, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
In February clients asked me to examine a Remington
RH-32
hunting knife that was the weapon used in a murder for hire.
Green was accused of hiring Yant in California to murder his
stepmother in Iowa, from whom he stood to inherit $120,000. I
determined that the blade shape of the knife had been substantially
modified, and that the knife showed many signs of age and wear.
These observations of the knife's distinctive features were to be
used to support the testimony of a California man from the same
small town as Yant. The man claimed to have owned this particular
knife for many years, and his girlfriend said she had sold the
knife at a garage sale shortly before Yant had left to drive to
Iowa. Yant said he had gone to Iowa to deliver illegal drugs.
On June 21 I gave a 1-1/2 hour deposition
in Oskaloosa, under
examination by the attorneys for defendants Green and Yant. At
the trial in Des Moines in July, the California witness refused
to testify, so my corroboration of his testimony was not required.
This trial resulted in a hung jury (8-4 for conviction), so a
second trial was held in November 1988. This too resulted in
a
hung jury (11-1 for conviction). A third trial was held in
February 1989, in Washington, Iowa, in which both defendants
were acquitted, after having been held in jail for 17 months.
WASHINGTON, D.C.; June-July 1988.
Written statement in opposition to a petition of the American
Cutlery Manufacturers Association (ACMA) before the International
Trade Commission, Investigation Number TA-201-61, Certain Knives.
Client: William Adams, Cutlery Collectors Legislative Committee.
ACMA petitioned for a substantial emergency
increase in the
tariffs on imported knives. The client retained me to prepare
a
detailed written argument against ACMA's petition. This was the
principal opposing argument offered to the Commission. I also
engaged in several hours of telephone consultation with Commission
staff members Brian Walters and Karen Laney Cummings. In late
July 1988 the Commission voted 6-0 to deny the ACMA petition.
U.S. International Trade Commission
District of Columbia knife laws
LAKE CITY, COLORADO; Summer 1989
Historical case of Alfred Packer (murder and cannibalism).
Client: James Starrs, Professor of Law and Forensic Science
George Washington University,
Washington DC
Professor Starrs is a forensic archaeologist. In 1989 he
excavated the remains of five men, allegedly murdered and eaten
by Alfred Packer in 1883. In addition he had located several
relic knives which had allegedly belonged to Packer. Professor
Starrs asked me to examine photos of the knives, to determine if
they were in fact of sufficient age. I did. They were.
EUGENE, LANE COUNTY, OREGON; April 12, 1989.
State of Oregon vs. Daniel Joseph Kammer (89-20230).
Oregon POO 166.240 (illegal concealed weapon) and Oregon POO
166.270 (certain exconvicts forbidden to possess arms).
Client: Tina Stupasky, on contract to Public Defender's Office.
Mr. Kammer had been stopped for driving drunk,
and was found
to have a butterfly knife concealed in his pants pocket.
Therefore he was charged both with driving under the influence of
intoxicants and with carrying an illegal concealed weapon.
In Oregon there are no laws banning the possession,
manufacture, or sale of any type of knife. However, it is a
Class B Misdemeanor to carry "concealed upon the person any knife
having a blade that projects or swings into position by force of
a spring or by centrifugal force and commonly known as a
switchblade knife, any dirk, dagger, ice pick, slung shot, metal
knuckles, or any similar instrument by the use of which injury
could be inflicted ..."
Mr. Kammer's court-appointed attorney retained
me to testify
as to my opinion of whether or not this butterfly knife was a
switchblade knife. My expert opinion was (and is) that it is
not. I stated that a butterfly knife requires considerable
manipulation, in addition to centrifugal force, to be opened
fully. I also stated that a common pocketknife is more similar
to a switchblade knife than a butterfly knife is.
To rebut my testimony, the prosecutor called
as an expert
witness Lt. Bruce Combs, an instructor in survival tactics at the
Oregon Police Academy. Lt. Combs agreed that a butterfly knife
is not "commonly known as a switchblade knife," but he felt that
it does have "a blade that ... swings into position by ...
centrifugal force." He also felt that a butterfly knife has no
other function except that of weapon.
After careful reflection, Judge Winfrid Liepe
decided that
in his court a butterfly knife is to be considered a switchblade.
He felt that the phrases "centrifugal force" and "similar
instrument" together led to this conclusion. Judge Liepe's
decision in this case does not apply in any other court in
Oregon. Mr. Kammer agreed to a stipulated facts trial, and was
found guilty. Judge Liepe has since retired from the bench.
HOUSTON, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS; October 1989.
Homicide
Client: Lieutenant Greg Neely, Homicide Bureau, Houston Police
Department.
Lt. Neely inquired about a possible Chinese martial arts weapon
found with the decomposed body of an Asian woman. I referred
him
to an expert in the field of Chinese martial arts.
EUGENE, LANE COUNTY, OREGON; April 18, 1990.
State of Oregon vs. Jeffrey Paul Sutter (10-90-01611).
Oregon POO 166.270 (certain exconvicts forbidden to possess arms).
Client: Robert N. Peters, Public Defender Services of Lane County,
Inc.
Mr. Sutter was arested for illegal possession of a controlled
substance. He was found to have concealed upon his person a
World War II vintage USMC combat survival knife. He was charged
with being a convicted felon "who carries a dirk, dagger, or
stiletto." The prosecuting attorney, upon being informed that
I
would be called to testify that the knife in question was not a
dirk, dagger, or stiletto, dismissed the POO 166.270 charge.
BANFF, ALBERTA, CANADA; May 1990
Homicide of Lucie Turmel
Client: Dahl Chambers, RCMP/GRC Banff
A large unmarked knife was recovered from the scene of a
homicide. I examined photos of the knife, and determined it to
have been hand-made, but I was unable to identify the maker.
SAN JOSE, SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA; April 13, 1992
People vs. Jose Dasilva Martins, Cal. PC 12020 (felony concealed
dirk or dagger).
Client: Mrs. Denalee Vertner (Vertner & Vertner, Attorneys)
Mr. Martins was charged with concealed carry
of a dirk or
dagger. The knife in question was a "Stinger" model hunting-
utility knife made by the Iron Mountain Knife Company of Sparks,
Nevada. I was referred to Mrs. Vertner by Mr. Sonny Guiler,
president of Iron Mountain Knife Company. I examined the knife,
and wrote a letter stating "my expert opinion [is] that this
knife is NOT a dagger or a dirk. Rather it is a hunting knife, of
the type explicitly exempted from PC 12020." I understand that
the charge against Mr. Martins was dismissed.
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