Thirty-three

Tom Delaney was going to testify out of turn. As a defense witness, he should not have been heard until after the prosecution rested.  But he was not subject to a subpoena.  He could testify for the defense only through an arrangement with Eagan and the FBI, and this was the day when he had been made available.

He had arrived in Jacksonville the evening before. Thursday morning.  Hadley met his star witness for the first time.  Hadley and Vernon Davids briefly reviewed his testimony, and the court was called to order.1

His direct testimony was succinct.  He said that he had made footprint tests or examinations in a thousand or more cases.  Comparing Zeigler's shoes to one of the  photographs of the bloody footprints-Defense Exhibit 1-he had found some general similarities, but not enough to make a positive identification.  Comparing the shoes to a second photograph.  Defense Exhibit 2, he found that Zeigler's shoes did not make the print.  The bloody print showed a border around the edge, Zeigler's shoe did not have that border.

Eagan asked Delaney if he had used liquid blood in making his comparisons. Delaney said no, that his usual method was to press the sole of the shoe on an inked pad, and then make a print of the sole on a piece of onionskin paper, which he could place on the photograph of the unidentified print.

Eagan finished his cross-examination, the defense had no redirect, and Delaney was excused.  He left the courtroom.

Eagan now called Mattie Mays to the stand, but then told Judge Paul that she had not arrived from Orlando.  He asked for, and was granted, a ten minute recess to prepare another witness.

The witness was Herbert MacDonell.  The professor began by describing the work of a criminalist, and his own background and qualifications.  He said that in the case at hand he had examined the store, studied OCSO photographs, and made his own photos.

Eagan asked the clerk for Zeigler's shoes in evidence and the two photographed prints that were now Defense Exhibits 1 and 2.  MacDonell said yes, he had tested the shoes to compare them to the photographs.

"Was that to determine whether the shoes...made the prints in the photographs?" Eagan asked.

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1   Hadley now says that years after the trial, he learned that Bob Eagan had met with Delaney, after he arrived on Wednesday, in an attempt to shake his testimony, but that Delaney would not budge.  This would have made an excellent point on rebuttal, but Delaney never mentioned the meeting to Hadley.