090323IT

Page 5929

1 you're either proofing witnesses that are on the stand today or you're at

2 the gaol, so it does need -- and we're not allowed --

3 JUDGE ROBINSON: We can't spend the rest of the afternoon talking

4 about --

5 MR. ALARID: We're not allowed to go into the gaol on the

6 weekends. If the Court could order it, that would be wonderful.

7 JUDGE ROBINSON: Very well. That's another matter.

8 The next witness, please.

9 MR. IVETIC: Next witness is Benjamin Dimas, Your Honours.

10 [The witness entered court]

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: Let the witness make the declaration.

12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I do solemnly declare that I will

13 speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

14 WITNESS: BENJAMIN DIMAS

15 JUDGE ROBINSON: You may sit, and you may begin, Mr. Ivetic.

16 MR. IVETIC: Thank you, Your Honours.

17 Examination by Mr. Ivetic:

18 Q. Good day, Mr. Dimas. As you know, my name a Dan Ivetic, and I'm

19 one of the counsel for Milan Lukic in these proceedings, and it's my task

20 to ask you some questions today to have you assist us in questions that

21 arise out of your are of expertise in the investigations that you

22 perform.

23 First of all, sir, one reminder before we start with the

24 questions, since we're both speaking the same language, English, and

25 since everything has to be translated into multiple languages and a

Page 5930

1 written transcript produced, I would ask that you try to pause between my

2 question and giving your answer, and I will also try avoid overlapping of

3 the two of us talking so that everything can be properly recorded. Is

4 that fair enough, sir?

5 A. Yes, it is.

6 Q. Thank you. Now, could you --

7 MR. IVETIC: And in true form, I ignored my own advice right at

8 the get-go.

9 Q. Sir, could you would state your full name for the record and

10 spell same.

11 A. It's Benjamin Kenneth Dimas. B-e-n-j-a-m-i-n; middle name,

12 Kenneth, K-e-n-n-e-t-h; Dimas, D-i-m-a-s.

13 Q. Thank you, sir, and could you also tell us a little bit about

14 yourself, just basically where it is that you currently reside.

15 A. I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

16 Q. Thank you, sir, and when is it that you were born?

17 A. I was born on the 16th of November, 1962.

18 Q. Now, I'd like to just very briefly have you give us a summary of

19 your educational background; first of all, what can you tell us about

20 high school?

21 A. I graduated from Cibola High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico,

22 and I graduated in 1980.

23 Q. And we'll be looking at your CV later, shortly, but I understand

24 that you started learning skills and working in areas relate to your

25 current occupation at a very young age. Could you tell us about your

Page 5931

1 first experiences as a fireman. When and where was that?

2 A. When I had turned 16, I joined the local volunteer fire

3 department. That was the Albuquerque Fire Department, and there I just

4 basically learned basic fire-fighting operations during that time.

5 Q. And just one clarification. You indicated Albuquerque. Did you

6 mean Alameda county?

7 A. Actually, it was the Alameda Volunteer Fire Department, which was

8 in Bernalillo county within the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

9 Q. Thank you.

10 MR. IVETIC: And I guess if we can have the CV brought up. I

11 believe that's 1D22-0686.

12 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Ivetic.

13 MR. IVETIC: Yes.

14 JUDGE ROBINSON: I'd like to exhort you not to spend an overly

15 long time on the CV.

16 Mr. Groome, are you taking any particular point in relation to

17 the qualifications of this witness?

18 MR. GROOME: Your Honour, the same point that I took with

19 Mr. McCoy, and it doesn't necessarily necessitate us going through an

20 exhaustive exposition of Mr. Dimas's background. I have no question that

21 Mr. Dimas is a qualified fire investigator. I do contest as I did with

22 Mr. McCoy whether he has the experience necessary to make a determination

23 as to the cause of the fire damage he saw on Pionirska Street.

24 MR. IVETIC: And, Your Honours, I will be briefer than I was with

25 Mr. McCoy. I've tried to streamline my examination in that regard, but I

Page 5932

1 think it goes towards the issue that the Prosecution has now presented an

2 expert on this topic --

3 JUDGE ROBINSON: Just a minute, please.

4 MR. IVETIC: Yes.

5 [Trial Chamber and legal officer confer]

6 [Trial Chamber confers]

7 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Groome, the Chamber has been considering

8 whether we need to hear this argument again because the data in relation

9 to Mr. Dimas has been sent to the Chamber. We have that already, as do

10 you. Do you have any particular questions that you wish to put to him,

11 and we will give a ruling on it so we can move to the matter.

12 MR. GROOME: Your Honour, his experience is comparable to

13 Mr. McCoy. I have no questions that I would put to him. I just would

14 not want to be here silent and the Court think that I'm somehow accepting

15 him as an expert. I would make the same objections that I made with

16 Mr. McCoy, and I trust the Chamber will make its ruling.

17 [Trial Chamber confers]

18 JUDGE ROBINSON: The Chamber accepts Mr. Dimas as an expert for

19 the purposes for which he has been called. So please proceed to the rest

20 of his evidence.

21 MR. IVETIC: I will, Your Honour, but I believe that in order in

22 terms of weigh the experts since you're going to have competing experts;

23 to weigh the experts appropriately, you do need to have some of the

24 specific information and specific background items because Mr. Dimas has

25 additional expertise, additional experience that Mr. McCoy did not have,

Page 5933

1 so in terms of weighing these experts, these Defence experts --

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: Give us the additional expertise.

3 MR. IVETIC: Fair enough, and I will try to keep it brief and go

4 just to the stuff that's important.

5 Q. We do not have your CV up on the screen, Mr. Dimas. I'd like to

6 first off ask you -- first off ask you, is this version of your CV

7 complete, up to date, and accurate, or do you have some corrections you'd

8 like to make or additions you would like to make to the CV?

9 A. Actually, I do have some corrections and some additions I do need

10 to add to this. This wasn't my most current.

11 Q. Could you direct us to those additions and/or corrections by

12 making reference to the page of the CV so that the court personnels can

13 accurately find it on the electronic version that has been submitted into

14 e-court.

15 A. First off, on page 6, simply there I just had the dates between

16 my associate's degree in criminal justice and fire science backwards. I

17 attained the fire science degree first. That was the 1991 -- I mean,

18 1999.

19 The next correction would be on page 7, and there I just typed up

20 the association inaccurately. It's actually the International

21 Association of Arson Investigators, so the word "international" is in the

22 wrong place.

23 Q. And I'm reminded by the court officers that there's a discrepancy

24 between the electronic version of your curriculum vitae that is in

25 e-court and the hard copy that have you in front of you.

Page 5934

1 MR. IVETIC: Your Honours, page 5 of the CV that was, I believe,

2 disclosed to Mr. Groome - he can correct me if I'm wrong - somehow did

3 not end up in the e-court version. We're working to rectify that at

4 present, but I don't anticipate it'll cause a problem again. I ask

5 Mr. Groome to respond if it is a problem, if he has not been served with

6 it; but I believe he had the full CV, and I will be asking for that to be

7 corrected and then re-tendering the CV as completed for admission at that

8 point in time.

9 Q. Now, Mr. Dimas, as you've heard the instructions of the

10 Trial Chamber, they want to try and limit the -- or strike that.

11 A. Excuse me one moment. I wasn't finished.

12 Q. Oh, go ahead.

13 A. In regards to page 5, just so you know, that was just some more

14 advanced courses and training that were listed. I had no corrections

15 there. The additions I did have was I did not put that I had been

16 involved with our fire department SOGs or standard operating guidelines.

17 I just recently helped rewrite them and implement quite a few new

18 guidelines into the department standard guidelines for fire

19 investigation.

20 In addition, on my summary, I briefly touched on training the

21 fire cadets. On my new CV I went more in-depth. I've actually been

22 training our fire cadets for a 4-hour block for the last four years. In

23 addition, I've gone to two community colleges and given seminars there on

24 fire investigation, as well, and that's all.

25 Q. And perhaps you could clarify for me. You just completed some

Page 5935

1 sort of training in Maryland, too; is that correct?

2 A. That is correct. I just spent two weeks in Maryland for another

3 advanced interview interrogation class accompanied with courtroom

4 testimony.

5 Q. Now, as I was saying earlier, I'm going to try and streamline

6 some of your background focussing just on some things of interest with

7 respect to the reasons you are here to testify in this case. You already

8 mentioned in your discussions, page 6 of your CV and the two degrees you

9 have received, the two associates degrees in applied science; if I could

10 just ask you specifically with respect to the fire sciences degree that

11 you indicated you received first what emphasis or curricula was a part of

12 fire sciences for those of us that are not conversant with that degree.

13 A. That degree basically covered all the basics for fire-fighting

14 operations, including tactics, basic operations, inspections,

15 investigations. It covered all aspects for that degree, and it was a

16 two-year degree.

17 Q. Okay. Now, if we look at page 2 of your CV, you set forth some

18 of your various employment and occupational experiences relating to

19 various items. I want to just briefly touch on your time-period in the

20 United States Navy, and you indicate there that you were an aircraft and

21 ship-board fire-fighter, and could you tell us about what kind of

22 training or instruction you received in that field while a member of the

23 US Navy?

24 A. While serving in the United States Navy, I was actually an

25 aircraft electrician on F-14s. During that, I was stationed on land as

Page 5936

1 well as sea, so we had to be trained first in ship-board fire-fighting in

2 case anything occurred on board. Then in addition, once I received my

3 training on aircraft, I had to learn aircraft fire-fighting, again, just

4 in case anything happened. It was just basic fire-fighting on what can

5 happen on either one because each situation is different.

6 Q. Okay. We'll not go into more detail on that, but I would like to

7 know, you do mention there -- there's an entry linked to you being a

8 training officer for your division within the Navy, and if you could just

9 highlight for us whether that had anything to do with fire, fire

10 prevention, causes of fire, et cetera.

11 A. Actually, that did not go to the fire part of the training. That

12 was any time any new -- or changes had been made on how to repair

13 aircraft. It was my responsibility to update everybody within my

14 division and maintain their training records as well.

15 Q. Okay. You indicate in your CV that you were discharged from the

16 Navy and then the Navy reserve. Could you just tell us whether that

17 was -- what type of discharge that was.

18 A. From the regular United States Navy, I received an honorable

19 discharge, at which time I also was discharged with a Good Conduct Medal.

20 I had received a Sea Service Ribbon with a bronze star for going to sea

21 on two occasions. I also received unit commendation, as well, for our

22 last deployment. My discharge from the Navy Reserve was an honorable

23 discharge as well.

24 Q. I think that's fine. I'd like to move to where the bulk of your

25 occupational experience has been when you joined the Albuquerque Fire

Page 5937

1 Department where according to resume you've been in various capacities.

2 To try and break it up and move quicker, I'd like to focus first of all

3 on the time-period when you spent classified as a fire-fighter at station

4 16 to 19 in 1991 and 1996, and we've already heard evidence as to the

5 size of the fire --

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Ivetic, I'm getting impatient. We have

7 already ruled he's an expert for the purposes for which he was called,

8 and I'm directing you now to move to the evidence. We can read all of

9 that.

10 MR. IVETIC: Are you ruling then that the Prosecution cannot call

11 their own expert. Are you ruling then that my expert outweighs that

12 expert. Are you making those rulings, Your Honours, because --

13 JUDGE ROBINSON: Don't ask me any questions. Just follow my

14 directions.

15 MR. IVETIC: Your Honour --

16 JUDGE ROBINSON: Follow my directions. I'm not here to answer

17 questions from you. That is totally out of order. Follow my directions

18 and move to the evidence. That's my instruction.

19 MR. ALARID: Your Honour, if I might --

20 JUDGE ROBINSON: I'm not hearing you. Move to the evidence for

21 which he came here.

22 MR. ALARID: Your Honour, what I have to say will say less than

23 30 seconds.

24 JUDGE ROBINSON: I do not wish to hear you. I want Mr. Ivetic to

25 move to the evidence for which the witness was brought. We have heard

Page 5938

1 enough about his expertise. We do not wish to hear anymore.

2 MR. ALARID: In a vacuum it would be okay, but the Prosecution is

3 bringing an expert, and with them bringing an expert and us already

4 having opinions --

5 JUDGE ROBINSON: I know that, and I've made my ruling.

6 MR. ALARID: But they're saying it's a different context, and

7 we're saying --

8 JUDGE ROBINSON: I have made my ruling, so he must follow my

9 instructions.

10 MR. ALARID: They're saying Mr. Dimas isn't qualified.

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: If you do not wish to have the witness testify,

12 then we'll call another witness.

13 MR. ALARID: Exception.

14 MR. IVETIC: If Your Honours would just give me a few moments to

15 try and reorganise my notes, I would try to comply with your instruction,

16 Your Honours.

17 Q. Now, let's focus on the -- let's start, first of all, with the --

18 your involvement in this case. First of all, what did you look at or

19 review prior to making a visit to the site -- to the sites, pardon me, in

20 Visegrad as part of your review or report?

21 A. I was given a compact disk with witness statements and

22 photographs to review prior to coming to the scene.

23 Q. And when you say photographs, what was your understanding of

24 where did these photographs come from? What entity were they provided

25 by? I should say taken by.

Page 5939

1 A. It was my understanding that they were taken by the Prosecution

2 on one of their examinations of the scenes.

3 Q. And with respect to -- before we get to the actual review of the

4 Pionirska site, which is where I think we'll begin, prior to that review

5 in the course of your employment with the Albuquerque Fire Department,

6 arson/fire investigation division, prior to that site how many other

7 locations had you had occasion to review and make opinions upon in the

8 course of your employment leading to arson/fire investigations?

9 A. In my time within the Fire/Arson Investigation Division, I've

10 gone to an excess of 600 fires where I've either been the lead or

11 assisting in the investigation.

12 Q. And I was remiss in not pointing out. I believe you are a --

13 your current position within the fire department involves some quality

14 control duties. Could you explain for us how those relate to

15 investigations done by your department as to suspected arson/fire

16 locations, what specific quality control duties you have and what

17 percentage or portion of the investigative case files do you have access

18 to as part -- within that role?

19 A. Well, I assumed the quality assurance position in 2007. During

20 that time, my position basically requires me to review all reports, case

21 files, files being submitted to the district attorney's office for review

22 and for approval. I also am in charge of our evidence as well as the way

23 it's maintained, transferred to the Albuquerque Police Department. I'm

24 responsible for the training of our new fire investigators. There's many

25 avenues to it, but basically --

Page 5940

1 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Ivetic, am I to understand that you are not

2 following my instructions? I told you to bring the witness to the

3 evidence for which he was brought.

4 MR. IVETIC: And Your Honour, respectfully --

5 JUDGE ROBINSON: I imagine that that relates to his examining the

6 house and matters of that kind.

7 MR. IVETIC: Your Honour, respectfully, I'm talking about the

8 examination of the house. Before we talk about what he did at the house,

9 we have to talk about what his standard operating procedure is, what are

10 his experiences as to specific investigation of this type, especially

11 where it's matters that are not set forth in the curriculum vitae. With

12 all due respect, the curriculum vitae gives you certain information that

13 Your Honours can review and you can make conclusions upon; but where it

14 is silent it is my obligation, under my professional obligations to my

15 client to brink forth evidence that is not brought forth in the report,

16 not brought forth in the curriculum vitae that is relevant to these

17 proceedings, relative to his expertise.

18 JUDGE ROBINSON: Proceed quickly.

19 MR. IVETIC:

20 Q. Now, Mr. Dimas, if I could ask you to please continue and

21 complete your answer as to the -- what specifically is meant by quality

22 control duties that you have within the fire arson investigation

23 department and how that affects how you approach a review such as this

24 one in the Pionirska Street location.

25 A. Well, it all goes back to maintaining everything in a systematic

Page 5941

1 approach. We -- that's part of being a quality assurance officer. I

2 make sure that all the newer investigators follow the standard operating

3 procedures and guidelines of our office as to any investigation, the same

4 which I would follow, because I still conduct investigations, even though

5 I'm in this position now.

6 Q. Thank you. And with respect to the items that you had reviewed

7 prior to going to the site in Pionirska, did you initially have occasion

8 to view any video-tapes of the scene prior to going to do the on-site

9 investigation?

10 A. No. I wasn't privy to any video-tapes.

11 Q. And for the record, when did you attend the Pionirska site to

12 perform a physical inspection of the premises where it is alleged that

13 the suspect fire occurred?

14 A. It was the 29th of January, 2009.

15 Q. And did you prepare a report following that physical inspection

16 of the premises setting forth your observations, empirical findings, and

17 opinions and conclusions relative to the same, relating to both Pionirska

18 and Bikavac?

19 A. Yes, I did.

20 Q. And if we could just briefly go through the formality of calling

21 up the record, 1D22-0682. And sir, is this the report that you authored

22 relative to the Pionirska and to the Bikavac locations as your assignment

23 for this particular court proceeding?

24 A. What I see on my screen is one page, so ...

25 Q. Okay. Do you recall how many pages your report consists of? I

Page 5942

1 believe we have four in e-court.

2 A. That is correct. It would be four pages.

3 Q. Okay. I want to ask you a few questions first about the

4 generating of this report. When was it generated? Was it generated

5 before, after, during the physical examination of the sites in Visegrad

6 that you just testified about having taken place in January of 2009?

7 A. It was after I completed my investigations.

8 Q. And with respect to the findings in the report or the conclusions

9 of your investigation. Did you and Mr. McCoy have occasion to peer

10 review or -- peer review or -- the conclusions that you both had

11 independently determined as to the site prior to drafting your reports?

12 A. Yes. That's one of our normal procedures. We use peer review,

13 bounce ideas back and forth, and then ultimately it's my determination

14 and decision as to the ultimate cause.

15 Q. Now, before going into some specification, I would like to ask

16 you with respect to this report, if I were to go through and ask you to,

17 under oath, now, answer questions based upon the materials based therein,

18 would your answers to the questions here be the same as specified in the

19 report?

20 A. Yes, it would.

21 MR. IVETIC: And Your Honours, since you've ruled that he is an

22 expert, I would then ask to tender this report into evidence as the next

23 1D exhibit number, which again the CV, the CV would have to be updated

24 with the missing page.

25 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

Page 5943

1 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit 1D184, Your Honours -- 83, I apologise.

2 MR. IVETIC:

3 Q. Now, I asked you first of all if you reviewed any videos prior to

4 the site and prior to this report. How about after? Have you had time

5 since the authoring of the report and since your exploration of the site

6 to view any video-tapes of the Pionirska location?

7 A. Yes, I have.

8 Q. And could you briefly tell us what kind of a video-tape is this?

9 When does it date from?

10 A. I believe the video-tape was June of 2001. I'm not sure of the

11 month, but it was 2001; and it's my understanding that it was made by the

12 Prosecution in an examination during that time.

13 MR. IVETIC: Your Honours, we have a portion of the video-tape --

14 the video-tape in question was disclosed to us as P660.3, by the Office

15 of the Prosecution; with the assistance of my colleague Mr. Cepic, I

16 think we can play a portion if it and have Mr. Dimas commentate on what

17 he sees and how that affects certain things that he saw with respect to

18 the Pionirska property during the course of his physical review of the

19 same; so I believe it will help us, and I believe it will answer some

20 questions that Mr. Groome spent some considerable time upon last week

21 with Mr. McCoy as to the portico.

22 MR. GROOME: Can I just ask how we set our monitors so that we

23 can see this?

24 MR. IVETIC: May we begin the video? Is it -- good.

25 [Videotape played]

Page 5944

1 MR. IVETIC:

2 Q. Sir, can you commentate for us, what is that structure that we

3 see there that the cameraman is approaching?

4 A. Off to the left-hand side, that's that actual structure that we

5 went to. This is one of the neighboring houses. Can we just pan around.

6 That's the Pionirska house involved or the one that we went to

7 investigate in the background with the red bricks. That's a close-up of

8 one of the sides. Now, the small shed you see off to the side there,

9 that was not there at the time of my investigation. Again, we just focus

10 back in.

11 MR. IVETIC: [Indiscernible] back -- forward some, Mr. Cepic.

12 THE INTERPRETER: Interpreter's note: It is very difficult to

13 hear the speakers in the courtroom because of the background noise. If

14 there are any comments to be made, we kindly ask that the recording be

15 paused while that is being done. Thank you.

16 THE WITNESS: Okay. They're just noting the GPS location as to

17 where they're actually standing, filming from an approximate distance

18 away from the building.

19 MR. IVETIC:

20 Q. Can you make out the date on the GPS?

21 A. I can not see it on the screen at this time. Again, they're just

22 doing a circular review of the building itself. Just another reading.

23 I'll try and read -- it does say June 2001. I couldn't make out the

24 exact date.

25 Q. All right. I'm hoping that we'll get to the point where it's

Page 5945

1 going to focus on the door of the location. It should be -- well, let me

2 ask you about this. What about the second floor as we see it now? Is

3 that similar to the condition that you saw the premises in the 2009?

4 A. No, actually it's in much worse condition. It's actually leaning

5 a lot more. It looks a lot more -- or it is more unsafe when I went out

6 there. Like I stated, the upper portions are actually leaning now.

7 Q. Sir, I want you to focus your attention on the area next to the

8 entrance of the door, the basement as this video pans around to it, and

9 tell us what you see in the video to the right of the door under the

10 portico that we've all been referring to in this case.

11 A. Okay. As you're looking down in there, you can actually see that

12 right next to the door is actually a structured wall, which is no longer

13 there are at the time of my investigation; and apparently it's being

14 considered the portico under there, and we found fire damage in there

15 that we looked at. And since this was taken in 2001 by the GPS,

16 obviously that portico fire happened after 2001.

17 Q. And just now so we can clarify, we've had some photographs that

18 you and Mr. McCoy tendered as part of your report that showed some signs

19 of alligatoring. Would that be the area in question where the

20 alligatored wood was to be found?

21 A. Yes, it is. It's on that wall where the door is on the far back

22 corner of that little structure. Originally, we documented that to show

23 what alligatoring should look like.

24 MR. IVETIC: I believe that eventually we're going get a good

25 shot of the door going into the basement. One moment. This is the view

Page 5946

1 from the --

2 Q. Well, first of all of, let me ask you this. The video has been

3 fast-forwarded to the area now on the second floor of the premises. You

4 viewed this video with me prior to today. Do they ever go inside the

5 basement room that was the subject of your examination where all the

6 witness statements say that the fire occurred?

7 A. No. At no time -- at one point, they make approach towards the

8 door, and it appears that they're going to go -- enter or go around to

9 the window, and then suddenly the camera backs out and goes back up on

10 that hill, and they zoom in to one individual peering into the window.

11 Q. Based upon your knowledge and experience, what would have been

12 the appropriate method of preserving or memorializing the site if you

13 have a video camera and you have a suspected crime site with access view

14 of a window?

15 A. They should have actually gone completely around the entire

16 structure, at least made entry into the building itself; if that's the

17 building in question to document any evidence in there. I understand

18 there's some concerns because there are armed guards, but nevertheless

19 one individual does peer through a window. It wouldn't have been that

20 difficult to raise the video camera and just pan it inside the window to

21 see if there was any type of damage at that time, and that was not done

22 in this case, and at no time did they look into the structure for any

23 type of damage.

24 MR. IVETIC: Okay. If we could just -- Djuro, if we could

25 perhaps fast-forward a little bit -- there should be a portion where we

Page 5947

1 come right up to the door to the basement. If we could go a few

2 increments forward. Right there, if we could pause there.

3 THE WITNESS: That clearly shows the structure that's underneath

4 the portico, and you can see it's all the way up to the door, and the

5 part of the fire that we looked at in the far corner. Here it looks like

6 they're suddenly going to go around and look into maybe the window or

7 whatever. We note some plastic on the window, and then for some unknown

8 reason, they don't and they end up back up on the hill after this. See,

9 it jumps straight to going back. We have one individual at the window in

10 question.

11 MR. IVETIC:

12 Q. And now --

13 MR. IVETIC: Okay, Mr. Cepic, we can pause that. Now I think

14 we're done with that for our purposes.

15 Q. First of all, there was the door that was visible to the basement

16 of the room from this video from 2001. Sir, was that the same door that

17 you saw on the site in 2009 in the course of your physical examination of

18 the property at Pionirska Street?

19 A. After reviewing the video and freeze-framing it, it appears to be

20 the same door and door jamb, and I came to that conclusion just by --

21 when I was on scene, and I examined the door, the door was actually

22 installed backwards. Where the doorknob or whatever would be was

23 actually up against where it's hinged, and this had that same locking

24 square mechanism in the same area; so it appears to be the same door from

25 the one I observed in 2009.

Page 5948

1 Q. Okay. Now I'd like to call up --

2 MR. IVETIC: Thank you, Mr. Cepic. That's it with the video, I

3 think. Your Honours, I would tender the video in question. Rather than

4 editing it, I think I'd tender the whole video so that the parties have

5 the opportunity to view the whole video, which deals with more than just

6 the Pionirska location. The Pionirska location, I think, is only about

7 ten minutes or so, but I don't want to be accused of altering anything,

8 so I just want to present it as is into the record; and I can provide a

9 DVD of that hopefully later today so that that could be reviewed by

10 Your Honours to see the elements that is have been discussed and in

11 particular the wooden shed or structure that is built in what we have

12 been calling the portico. So I think we should probably mark it for

13 identification at this point.

14 [Trial Chamber confers]

15 MR. GROOME: Your Honour, the Prosecution has no objection to

16 admittance of the video.

17 JUDGE ROBINSON: We'll admit it.

18 THE REGISTRAR: That's Exhibit 1D184, Your Honours.

19 MR. IVETIC: Thank you. Now I'd like to call up, just to focus

20 on this point, Y020-3539 -- pardon me, I take that back. That is

21 going -- that is already in evidence as 1D169. So if we could call up

22 1D169, I think that that -- there's no need to introduce multiple

23 exhibits of the same thing.

24 Q. Now, sir, are you familiar with this -- the location of this

25 photograph and where this photograph was taken?

Page 5949

1 A. Yes. This is the area inside that portico which the video showed

2 was a shed, and that was in the far corner.

3 Q. And so, sir, the alligatored wood that you see on both the left

4 and the right images on the screen, can you -- do you now have further

5 information as to what that wood might relate to, what that wood

6 comprised when it was whole?

7 A. It appeared just to be part of the shed structure itself after

8 reviewing the video.

9 Q. Thank you. And again, when you visited the site in January of

10 2009, apart from the items that you see here on the photographs, was the

11 shed that was in place in 2001 visible at all? Did we have any idea that

12 there was a shed there?

13 A. No. What you see in these photos is what was left. There was

14 actually no indication that there was a structure there prior.

15 Q. Thank you. And if I can ask you now, going back to your

16 arrival -- I should say the team's arrival at the Pionirska location,

17 where did you begin your review of the Pionirska site?

18 A. In relation to the site itself or going back to the reports and

19 everything?

20 Q. In relation to the site itself. When you arrived at the scene of

21 the location, could you tell -- try and tell us, explain for us where you

22 began your examination and what you were looking for.

23 A. Initially, our standard of procedure is we always do a 360 or a

24 complete walk-around of the structure. At that time, I had Mr. McCoy

25 walking with me, photographing and to document what we were seeing as we

Page 5950

1 were walking around. We do this to see if we notice any type of damage

2 that just really calls out to us, any patterns we might see from the

3 exterior that might lead us to one area more than another, and we just do

4 this as part of our standard operating procedures.

5 Q. And now if we focus, first of all, you say that you first off do

6 a walk-around of the structure, so I presume you focus on the exterior of

7 the structure. Can you first tell us what, if anything, struck you on

8 the exterior of the room where the investigation was centered, the

9 basement room of the house at Pionirska Street?

10 A. The room itself, we were noting that we weren't seeing what we

11 normally would on a normal structure fire, especially with windows.

12 Usually when a fire vents itself out a window, you see patterns. We

13 normally consider them to call V-patterns, or just basically where the

14 fire and soot billows out of a window and it goes up to the next level.

15 MR. IVETIC: Now, if we could call up -- just checking to see if

16 it's already been introduced into evidence so I can call it up by the

17 exhibit number. I don't see that it's been introduced, so I would like

18 to call up Y020-3473.

19 Q. And once that comes up on the screen, sir, if you could describe

20 for us, first of all, by marking with the assistance of the court usher,

21 using the pen, to mark -- in one colour to mark the area where the door

22 to the subject room is in the location at Pionirska and another colour to

23 mark where the wall of that room and the extent of that room terminates

24 as far as the rest of the structure is concerned, and I'm talking about

25 using, perhaps, blue for the door and red for where the outer wall of

Page 5951

1 that basement room terminates in relation to the rest of the building at

2 Pionirska Street.

3 A. Okay. Right here's the door, and it extends to this area right

4 here, and I took measurements. That area right there is 6 feet, and then

5 the portico actually extends -- did you need a different colour for the

6 portico area?

7 Q. Well, you've indicated the -- am I to take it that the blue --

8 the blue vertical line on the right-hand side indicates the terminating

9 point of the wall as to the basement room at Pionirska?

10 A. That is correct.

11 Q. Okay. With respect to -- we see now and in the video the upper

12 wall of the second and third floor was intact. Here it seems to have

13 fallen, but the rest of the Pionirska house, to the right of that line,

14 is it sitting on any basement, or is it sitting on something else? What

15 is supporting that portion of the Pionirska house?

16 A. To the right of that second blue line, all that would be

17 supported by dirt or whatever's underneath it. The wall dead-ends right

18 there. The portico itself is another little notched-out area, but

19 there's nothing other than dirt supporting that second level or ground

20 floor.

21 Q. Are there any windows or other connecting features between the

22 basement room of the Pionirska structure connecting it to those other

23 parts of that structure that are to the right of the blue line that you

24 have drawn in on this document?

25 A. No, there is not.

Page 5952

1 MR. IVETIC: Since we're here, I'd like have to this marked and

2 admitted as the next available 1D exhibit number.

3 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

4 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit 1D185, Your Honours.

5 MR. IVETIC: Thank you, Madam Registrar. Now if we can call up,

6 please -- one moment. Well, since we'll be marking it, if we can call up

7 perhaps alongside one another Y020-3490 and Y020-3491, and bring them

8 side by side. I'd like to now focus you on this portion of your

9 pictures. Do I need to repeat the numbers or -- okay. There we go. And

10 if we can have one of the images just replaced by Y020-3491 side by side,

11 I think we can deal with the two photographs simultaneously and thus save

12 some time. There we go.

13 Q. Now, sir, do you recall looking at these photographs, and based

14 upon your knowledge, having been to the scene of the site, what walls or

15 portions of the structure are depicted in these two photographs?

16 A. That's the wall on the east side of the structure, and it's an

17 area that's not even near the lower basement area. That's the area that

18 we're talking about that's supported on the ground. The basement has

19 nothing to affect or deal with that area. What we're seeing there are

20 some bricks that are obviously collapsing more than likely due to the

21 severe moisture that's within the structure.

22 Q. When you say we're seeing some bricks that are obviously

23 collapsing, it would be helpful, I think, if you could use the drawing

24 tool again with the assistance of the court staff to demarcate or

25 identify the specific bricks that you are making reference to.

Page 5953

1 A. That'd be in these areas here and here. They're failing more

2 than likely due to all the damage, the severe moisture, and again, the

3 building of the lower basement area is nowhere near this. This is

4 approximately 6 to 8 feet away that's sitting on top of the landscape or

5 dirt itself.

6 Q. Now, if we can just back up a bit. It's been -- it's been

7 postulated by the Prosecution, I believe using these -- the same

8 photographs, that an air fuel explosion of some type took place within

9 the basement room that was the subject of the investigation and caused

10 the damage; that is to say the damage to these bricks that is evidenced

11 on this side of the structure that you have now circled. What do you

12 have to say as to that? Do you agree with that being a likelihood or

13 even a probability?

14 A. It's not a probability due to the fact the basement structure is

15 below level. This is above level, and the shockwave would have to again

16 penetrate through -- we're talking 6 to 8 feet of dirt, whereas have you

17 a wall directly in the basement that's still intact and did not fail.

18 Q. And just so we can back up a bit, perhaps there was one item I

19 ought to have gone through with you before, but you attended the

20 Post-Blast Investigation School of the FBI in 2005, according to your

21 curriculum vitae. Could you please detail for us, first of all, what --

22 to whom that course was offered by the US Department of Justice and the

23 Federal Bureau of Investigations and what curricula you covered therein,

24 what types of things you were specifically trained to look for.

25 A. I was put on by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and it was

Page 5954

1 put out to our department, the fire investigators, and the local police

2 department; and it basically taught us how to identify signs of blast,

3 how to reconstruct a scene that has been involved in a blast, including

4 the reconstruction of any type of device and specifically with IEDs or

5 improvised explosive device, something that somebody would just make up

6 in a time of war, and how to reconstruct it.

7 Q. And in conjunction with that, I see in 2002 you also attended a

8 course, I believe, in conjunction with the Department of Justice and the

9 National Emergency Response as to weapons of mass destruction, terrorism.

10 Whereas did you have any training as to -- instruction as to blast,

11 post-blast investigations arising therefrom?

12 A. Actually, I attended I believe it was three altogether, weapons

13 of mass destruction, but they dealt on different aspects other than

14 post-blast. They were more for biological, chemical warfare as well as

15 the treatment of patients.

16 Q. Okay. Now, in your employment with the fire department, have

17 you -- and specifically your employment as an arson/fire investigator

18 within that division, have you had occasion to deal with structural fires

19 that you have investigated that were the result of so-called air fuel

20 explosions?

21 A. Yes, I have. During my time in the department, I have personally

22 been the lead on four structure fires that have been involved in a blast

23 due to this nature.

24 Q. Okay. And we'll get back to your specific observations of the

25 basement room, but since we're dealing with this now, I want to ask you:

Page 5955

1 Based upon your knowledge and experience and what you saw at the scene

2 with your own eyes, do you consider it to be likely that an air fuel

3 explosion took place and caused the damage in the basement room of the

4 Pionirska Street location?

5 A. No, it is not, but then again I wasn't directed to look for --

6 examination of that nature. I did review and make note of things I saw,

7 and I saw nothing of that nature.

8 Q. All right.

9 MR. IVETIC: If we could save this and tender it as the next

10 available 1D exhibit.

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

12 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit 1D186, Your Honours.

13 MR. IVETIC: Thank you, Madam Registrar.

14 Q. Now, if we can return to where we were going before, which was

15 your external examination of the structure. If we could focus now once

16 again on the room, the basement room. First of all, what can you tell us

17 about the entranceway to that room? What stood out for you or struck

18 your attention as you examined the entranceway to that basement room

19 where it is alleged that this fire occurred and that many persons

20 perished?

21 A. Well, initially walking up to the door we're looking at the roof

22 area where the portico was, specifically in front of the doorway. Again,

23 since it's a doorway, that's an opening for fire to travel out of. We

24 initially saw what appeared as black staining, so basically examined it

25 more thoroughly, and it was determined that it was mold of some type, and

Page 5956

1 it varied in colours from green to dark black, and it's very moist and

2 damp.

3 Q. I'd like to hold you up there for a second just to explain to us.

4 Now, you say you examine it more thoroughly, and it was determined that

5 it was mold of some type. Could you describe for us what you physically

6 did with the door frame to ascertain whether the darkened area was mold

7 or fire damage or smoke damage.

8 A. Well, after noting the ceiling area outside the door, I also

9 checked the door frame itself, and the dark areas followed the travel

10 line of the water and moisture. So to see if that was mold or not, I

11 actually scraped my finger across of it to see if it would come off like

12 normal residue of ash, which it did not. It was slimy to the touch, and

13 it was more like a mold. Anybody who's dealt with fires at all knows

14 that ash is very dry and powder-like.

15 MR. IVETIC: If we can call up, I believe, 1D165. I believe this

16 is an exhibit that we used with Mr. McCoy. Rather than calling up a new

17 one, I think we can make use of it if it's not too marked up. Actually,

18 I guess it is mark up. If we could go to -- pull up Y020-3527, please,

19 and that should hopefully give us the document on the right. There we

20 go.

21 Q. Now, sir, looking at this photograph, is this the door frame that

22 you were talking about, and could you please indicate for us using the

23 pen what portion of the door frame you tested and the manner that you

24 described with your finger to ascertain what the cause was of the

25 darkened appearance of the material. I apologise. You should always

Page 5957

1 wait for the court usher. I should have made that clear earlier.

2 A. I'm sorry. Where I scraped it was just in this area right here

3 because there's already scrape marks in the other areas, so I didn't want

4 to compromise that, and this was done after Mr. McCoy had already

5 photographed it, so you wouldn't see my scrape on it.

6 Q. And, again, what can you tell us -- you've already told us how

7 you determined that it was mold. What can you tell us about the

8 appearance of this discolouration? Would it -- the location of the

9 darkening, did that also provide any kind of clues as to whether, in

10 fact, it was due to fire or to some other cause?

11 A. While examining that upper beam, it was noted that it followed

12 the travel line of moisture. If you note it traveling this direction, it

13 actually ties in with this water pattern, as well, and it also seeped

14 into this beam here, so it had the appearance of actually going with the

15 water, and that's how it got saturated and became moldy.

16 Q. Thank you.

17 MR. IVETIC: And I guess for the record, we should indicate that

18 the red enclosed rectangular shape in the middle of the door frame was

19 the initial marking by the witness, and all other markings in red are the

20 subsequent markings that he has just made demonstrating the path of

21 water.

22 Q. Was the area there moist to the touch?

23 A. Yes, it was.

24 Q. And -- we can't see in this photograph. Let me see if I can find

25 another photograph.

Page 5958

1 MR. IVETIC: If we can have this admitted as the next 1D exhibit

2 number, and then I believe we can then move on to ...

3 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit 1D187, Your Honours.

4 MR. IVETIC: Thank you, Madam Registrar. If we could go to P280.

5 Q. I was going to ask you about that piece of wood to the left of

6 the door jamb, but I think the next exhibit is a depiction of it. Now,

7 sir, do you recognise this portion of the door frame, and did you, in

8 fact, ascertain any empirical findings and make any conclusions as to the

9 darkened or discoloured portions of this wood material?

10 A. Yes, I did. I noticed this as being similar to the door shim,

11 which is basically just described -- it's a piece of wood to support this

12 door jamb and keep it level and upright and straight, and in regards to

13 this I did look at this for any type of burn patterns. I didn't find

14 any. What I found was more mold.

15 Q. Did you do the same type of physical testing?

16 A. Yes, I did. I ran my fingers along it and just looked at it.

17 Again, on any wood surface, I'm looking for any type of charring,

18 alligatoring, I mean, even just soot. Didn't find any alligatoring.

19 Everything's still smooth. As far as soot, again, it was still slimy to

20 the touch, and if you look in this area right here - I'll draw next to

21 it - you can actually see, it's actually more like it's seeping into the

22 wood whereas burn actually would burn it, and if the flame is coming --

23 or fire is coming out of that hole, it would be lapping around the wool.

24 Q. You've made a marking in red ink noting where you said the mold

25 was seeping into the wood. If I could ask you to perhaps choose a

Page 5959

1 different-colour marker and indicate by way of lines and an arrow what

2 direction you would expect a fire to be lapping over across the wood as

3 you just actually indicated, if it were coming out of the door.

4 A. Actually, on this portion I was looking it, if it was coming out

5 of the door frame, where this is fitted through; so I was looking at

6 seeing if fire was coming out of here, because it's an obvious gap, and

7 there was none, so we'd see lapping over this area, and we do not.

8 Q. And for purposes of memorializing the record, we would reflect

9 that the blue arrows are the mark-up of this photograph that you have

10 done to indicate that, and just to make clear, the light blue circle was

11 already on the photograph, and have you not made that marking; is that

12 correct?

13 A. That is correct, and I would like to state one more thing. This

14 is also on the interior of the structure. You can tell that by the door.

15 It's opened in, and that's one thing we note, the door opens inward, so

16 this is inside the structure.

17 Q. Okay.

18 MR. IVETIC: And if we can have, then, this saved and admitted as

19 the next 1D exhibit number.

20 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit 1D188, Your Honours.

21 THE WITNESS: May I make a correction? I'm sorry.

22 MR. IVETIC: Sure.

23 THE WITNESS: I'm sorry, Your Honours. I was looking at this

24 incorrectly. That is the exterior. The door I'm looking at in the

25 background is actually opening inwards. I'm sorry. My perspective was

Page 5960

1 incorrect.

2 MR. IVETIC:

3 Q. And -- okay. And with respect to the exterior review of the

4 structure, of the -- pardon me, the interior view of the basement room

5 because, of course, we all agree that there was some sort of a fire on

6 the upper floors of the structure; is that correct?

7 A. That is correct.

8 Q. Focussing on the basement room, the door of which we were just

9 looking at, could you tell us with respect to that whether, in fact, you

10 found any signs on the exterior of the structure indicating the

11 likelihood or probability that that fire was evidence, that a large or

12 fully enveloped fire emanating from that basement room was evidence. Was

13 there any signs of that on the exterior?

14 A. No, there was not. Normally in a multi-storey structure, we look

15 at all the openings, again, the doors and windows because that's the best

16 way for a fire to travel is upwards; and we found no indication of a fire

17 coming out the door or two windows extending to the upward area that did

18 show fire damage.

19 Q. And then one more from the exterior before we move to the

20 interior. I'm just trying to find the appropriate picture.

21 MR. IVETIC: Well, I guess we'll just call it up as a new one:

22 Y020-3541, I think is the one we're needing to look at. Hasn't been

23 attached. Let me try and find -- well, let's move on, then. If we find

24 it we'll get back to it, but I'd like to proceed further.

25 Q. Now, after completing the visible physical inspection of the

Page 5961

1 exterior of the room in question, what could you tell us when you move to

2 the interior of the room what -- how did your investigation proceed, and

3 what first jumped out at you or struck you as interesting and of help to

4 you in reaching the conclusions that you reached in your report?

5 A. Well, initially entering into the structure, again, we used a

6 systematic approach. Normally in a larger structure we'd go around the

7 full building. Since this was a singular room, I just made entry into

8 it, and the first thing I noticed was the lack of flooring and

9 approximately two-thirds of it. So in that regard, I started inspecting

10 the dirt itself for any signs or remains of a fire or fire debris.

11 Q. Now, could you explain for us, what is the process that you

12 normally would employ based upon your knowledge and experience in which

13 you did employ at the site in question to check for any signs of fire or

14 fire debris as regards to the dirt, the exposed dirt on the floor?

15 A. What I did in the area where the dirt was, again, it's two-thirds

16 of that room, and the room, again, is 13 feet by 18 feet. And up until

17 where the wood planks are, I -- in various locations, I actually dug into

18 the dirt looking for some type of ash, wood chunks, burn chunks, any type

19 of wood debris that would normally be left behind.

20 Q. And you say that would normally be left behind. What is your

21 experience and what has been your experience with regards to your

22 occupation as to whether this debris can be completely cleaned out by --

23 cleaned up enough by an untrained person who is not a fire investigator

24 so as to remove all trace material?

25 A. It's unlikely. There's no way to get down deep enough. Even if

Page 5962

1 you had people walking on it, you'd find some sort of ash in relationship

2 to it. It's nearly impossible, or it is impossible, actually, to remove

3 everything out of a building, to save -- to clean it up, in your words, I

4 believe it was. You find something in every fire, and that's what my

5 job, is is to go in and find evidence in these matters.

6 Q. And now if you could explain something for us, in your line of

7 work when you're looking for such debris, for instance, in this case in a

8 dirt area, are you looking for large pieces, small pieces? I mean, what

9 type of matter are -- what size does the matter you're looking for

10 typically come in?

11 A. Actually, I'm looking for any and all, big, small, down to ash.

12 Again, any signs of fire, any type of evidence that might indicate a

13 fire. You know, during a normal investigation, you don't discount

14 anything you find. You must rule, look at everything, make a note of it,

15 and then take the totality of your investigation to come to your

16 conclusion.

17 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Ivetic, we'll take the break now.

18 MR. IVETIC: Thank you, Your Honours.

19 --- Recess taken at 3.45 p.m.

20 --- On resuming at 4.21 p.m.

21 JUDGE ROBINSON: The Chamber apologises for the delay. We have

22 had to be consulting on some of the issues raised in the case.

23 Mr. Ivetic.

24 MR. IVETIC: Thank you, Your Honour. I've used the time

25 efficiently and I've located the missing photograph that we had prior of

Page 5963

1 the doorway, just to finish that off before we return to the floor

2 boards, Mr. Dimas. If I can have the assistance of the court usher or

3 court officer to call up Y020-3543.

4 Q. And when that photograph comes up, sir, I will again ask you to

5 review the same and advise us if you recall this particular feature of

6 the door, and if you could describe for us what your trained eyes see

7 with respect to the same. And if need be, if you need to use a pen,

8 please wait for the court assistant to assist you.

9 A. That's the other side of the door frame in the upper corner.

10 Again, this is the area that we're talking about earlier. Approximately

11 after the photos were taken, this area here is where I actually scraped

12 from.

13 Q. For the record -- let the report reflect that you have marked in

14 red ink a circle towards the right-hand side of the photograph. Please

15 proceed.

16 A. It was determined that everything in the area here was mold as

17 well as over here. Again, this also shows the travel of the water coming

18 down in the same direction that I point out earlier. Again, on this edge

19 of the beam, what I was looking at is this area right here. That's where

20 the water has been soaking into the wood, which follows that line, and

21 the mold has been going into the wood. In relation to this superior

22 portion --

23 Q. If we could -- for purposes of preserving the record, let the

24 record reflect that the left-most red line on the portion of the wood

25 wedge or shim, I think you had called it previously, is what's been

Page 5964

1 referred to by the witness. Now, sir, if you're going to mark any

2 further, I would ask with the assistance of the court staff that you

3 change colours so that we don't lose track of what is being depicted by

4 you in these photographs.

5 A. What I also did was these areas here or the gaps between the

6 wood, I was looking inside that area that area there; again I'm looking

7 for fire patterns, soot, debris, any type of indication that fire was

8 rolling through that area. It also aided me, or what I was looking for

9 was to see if this door frame was there at the time of the fire or after

10 the fire. Either way, there should have been some type of damage in

11 between there if this door was here now or afterwards. You would find

12 something between where this jamb was because of the size of the gap.

13 Q. Now, from this photograph we see sort of the rough appearance of

14 the -- I guess it's concrete that's up by the door. In your experience,

15 given the rough nature of the surface that is involved by the door frame

16 and by the door jamb, would it be possible -- strike that. Would it be

17 probable that someone could -- again, an untrained person could clean all

18 trace matter and are all evidence from that location?

19 A. No. There's just too many little cracks or gaps within all this

20 mortar and concrete to just scrub everything out of it.

21 Q. And is there anything else you need to tell us with respect to

22 this photograph, or shall I tender it?

23 A. You can tender it.

24 MR. IVETIC: Your Honour, I would ask that the photograph as

25 marked be tendered as the next available 1D exhibit number with the

Page 5965

1 caveat that the blue markings are the most recent markings on this

2 photograph.

3 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

4 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit 1D189, Your Honours.

5 MR. IVETIC: Thank you, Madam Registrar.

6 Q. Now, before the break we were talking about the area of the floor

7 inside the basement, and you had indicated that you had performed some

8 tests to poke into the dirt to see if you could find any evidence of

9 debris that you would have expected resulting from a fire. You indicated

10 that two-thirds, approximately, of the interior floor was exposed dirt.

11 Could you tell us, did you check in one area, multiple areas, and if so,

12 how many areas approximately did you check in that fashion?

13 A. I approximately did five areas around that two-third area.

14 Basically, I did almost like a square pattern. I did corners of that

15 open area and then one in the centre. I felt that would give me the best

16 probability of finding something in the entire area.

17 Q. Okay. And now I'm going to give you somewhat of a hypothetical.

18 In your opinion based upon your experience and your knowledge, if there

19 had been a fire and either the wood in that two-thirds-exposed area had

20 been completely consumed or burnt up or had been removed after the fact

21 by someone using tools, would you still expect to have found something?

22 A. Yes, I would. You just can't get rid of everything. If you

23 start at one spot, you might stop on another spot, put a [indiscernible]

24 in the ground. There's just no way to get rid of everything. You might

25 get rid of the larger debris and scoop it up, but to remove ash totally,

Page 5966

1 you can't do it.

2 MR. IVETIC: Okay. Now, let me turn to Y020-3618, and alongside

3 that if we could have Y020-3617.

4 Q. And sir, now I'd like to start examining the wood interior.

5 First of all -- I will wait for the picture to resize. I guess -- if

6 that can --

7 MR. IVETIC: Maybe I'm just causing too much confusion this way.

8 If we can just pull up one of the photographs, perhaps the 3618 by

9 itself. Maybe that'll just be easier than trying to orientate them

10 lengthwise. And I believe that needs to be flipped -- rotated, pardon

11 me, 90 degrees. There we go.

12 Q. Sir, was there a portion of the interior floor that was still

13 intact, that is to say where the wood floor beams were still intact?

14 A. Yes, it was. That was approximately the one-third area that I

15 was talking about versus the two-thirds of dirt.

16 Q. Now, if I can direct your attention to the dark areas in the --

17 correct me if I'm wrong. This is a corner of the room that is depicted

18 in this photograph; is that accurate?

19 A. That is correct. This is the north-west corner of the building.

20 Q. And did you have occasion to note the -- first off, the dark

21 matter in the corner and the darkened wood floor-boards when you first

22 entered the room, and what was your first -- initial observations and

23 your ultimate conclusion?

24 A. Well, my initial observations from when I first walked in the

25 door, I thought I saw several patterns in the back corner, which later on

Page 5967

1 were identified as human feces, which were some of the darkened spots in

2 that soled plank area. Now, the area towards the bottom of the photo, I

3 inspected that area, and it actually goes a little bit further down on

4 one of the other photos. I inspected this area here because this was the

5 darkest and blackest area. And from the initial photographs that I had

6 reviewed before going to the scene, it appeared to be fire damage to me,

7 so I was curious to examine it.

8 Once I got to the examination of it, I did note that there was

9 some burned pieces of wood in this area, but on the edge of it, on the --

10 one of the other photographs, I actually found that the first part, most

11 of the blackening is done due to the mold and moisture content. On one

12 of the pieces of the wood, I did actually snap it off and inspect it

13 visually and felt it just to see if it had any fire damage.

14 Now, in this particular photo, the centre -- I believe it's more

15 over to the right just maybe -- on my screen, maybe an inch up. I did

16 note that there was some burn patterns there.

17 Q. Can I take it one step at a time. First of all, you indicated

18 that you did physically snap off a piece of wood from the floor to

19 conduct an examination of it. Could you tell us approximately where in

20 reference to the room that procedure was undertaken.

21 A. Actually, it was just on the edge of this photo. It's not

22 depicted in this particular photo. It's approximately maybe one foot

23 further down from that one large plank in the centre.

24 Q. Okay.

25 MR. IVETIC: Perhaps if we can enter this exhibit -- sorry,

Page 5968

1 tender this picture as an exhibit into evidence as the next 1D number,

2 and then if we can call up -- let's try 3617 to see if that's the area

3 that Mr. Dimas is referencing.

4 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

5 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit 1D190, Your Honours.

6 MR. IVETIC:

7 Q. Does this provide a better vantage point from what you're talking

8 about?

9 A. No. The exhibit that has the best overall view, there's

10 actually -- I believe it's like a little kettle or a pot, a metal pot of

11 some sort on the right-hand side. It's a wider-angle view. It covers

12 more of the flooring.

13 MR. IVETIC: One moment.

14 If we can pull up Y020-3584, Your Honours. I think that's the

15 one that I'm looking for.

16 Q. And when that photograph comes up, Mr. Dimas, does this appear to

17 be the photograph that -- the view that you were referencing in your

18 prior discussion and answer?

19 A. Yes, it is.

20 Q. Okay. Could you tell us what you visually observed at the scene

21 when viewing this particular portion of the floor where the floor appears

22 to be somewhat intact, and if you could with the assistance of the court

23 assistants perhaps mark anything that you would like to draw the

24 Trial Chamber's attention to that is of significance in terms of your

25 conclusions and findings relative to the Pionirska Street location.

Page 5969

1 A. Okay. First, I'll point out the area that I actually broke off a

2 piece of wood and tested it by manually, physically feeling it, examining

3 it. It was basically in this area here. Somewhere in that area there,

4 snapped off a piece. Would you like me to switch colours for the next

5 portion or keep the same?

6 Q. Why don't we keep it the same for the time being, and we'll

7 denote that the area where you snapped off the wood has been marked in a

8 red circle towards the lower left-hand corner of the photograph, I would

9 say closer to the middle than to the left corner.

10 A. Okay. The one area I did note that had some burning and charring

11 was in this area here. In particular, we had some good charring on this

12 piece of wood, and other pieces around this area. What I didn't note was

13 during this investigation there was obvious signs that somebody has been

14 in the structure, obviously. I don't know if they're camping out or what

15 due to the human feces. You have actual remains of bones, consisting

16 more like a chicken bone or animal bone right here and right here; so it

17 wouldn't be impossible that that's where they're cooking their meat on.

18 Again, it had the appearance that somebody's been living in here since

19 the time of the fire.

20 Q. Now, with respect to the drawings that you've made, if you could

21 please put an A next to the area -- next to the circle that you drew

22 where you broke off a piece of the wood flooring.

23 A. [Marks]

24 Q. Thank you. And now if you could mark with a B the area where you

25 indicated that there was some charring and you said that persons were

Page 5970

1 camping out.

2 A. [Marks]

3 Q. And lastly, if you could mark with a C the locations where you

4 stated that you found some type of chicken bones.

5 A. [Marks]

6 Q. Thank you, sir. Now, I want to ask you a question about this

7 location. Using your knowledge and experience that you have as an

8 investigator of fires, do you believe that any fire that occurred in the

9 area for cooking -- that you indicated for cooking food based upon the

10 other evidence that's at this site would have fully enveloped the room

11 that is in question?

12 A. No. The amount of damage you see is limit to this one area right

13 here. You can see the unburned portion of the wood along the edge. When

14 you have a fire that grows to intensity to consume a room, it's called

15 flash-over. You need to get a temperature that reaches an excess of 1200

16 degrees Fahrenheit, and you'd have to have the fuel load or material to

17 burn to reach that type of temperature, and what's here is just not

18 enough to reach those temperatures.

19 Q. I'm just waiting for the translation to catch up with us. And

20 now with respect to the floor-boards, were there also portions of the

21 floor-board that were -- I believe in our discussions, you'd described

22 them to me as pristine condition.

23 A. Yes. In regards to the floor, we can see some of them. In

24 addition, throughout the whole room we actually found another piece that

25 was under one of the windows in question that was unaffected by fire or

Page 5971

1 flame of any type.

2 Q. And again, what does the existence of this pristine-condition

3 wood do for any hypotheses or any conclusions that you draw as to

4 whether, in fact, this room was subjected to a fully enveloped fire that

5 affected all the -- that would have affected all the interior of the

6 room?

7 A. In a fully evolved structure fire, it affects everything one way

8 or another. It doesn't have to be burning, charring, but you're going to

9 have sooting, some type of staining, especially with wood. Wood is

10 porous and it absorbs things of that nature. Basically, patterns can be

11 transferred three ways: You have consumption, that's when it would eat

12 the item up, such as the charring you see on wood. It's been eaten up by

13 the fire; you have the deposition or the depositing of items such as

14 soot; and the other one is just by heat itself, and what we're talking

15 there is, say, a plastic item too close to a camp-fire or you heat your

16 straw up too much. It tends to melt, and we don't see anything like that

17 in this fire.

18 Q. And now, just to clarify, you say with respect to this fire that

19 we've been talking about, this camp-fire, my question was with respect to

20 the room as a whole. Do you see any evidence to a fully developed --

21 fully evolved fire having been in this room that would encountered all

22 the interior in?

23 A. Maybe I misspoke myself I used the camp-fire just as a reference

24 to what you'd see when you got too close to -- a plastic item to a heat.

25 As far as -- excuse me, Your Honours. What I described earlier was, I

Page 5972

1 meant it for in a fully evolved structure fire. The camp-fire reference

2 was to strictly to try to make it so more people would understand.

3 Q. Okay. And is there anything else with this particular picture

4 that we have on the e-court right now that you could -- that assists you

5 in assisting us understand your conclusions, or shall we move on?

6 A. The only other item in relation to this is whenever I do find any

7 type of burn pattern, I don't only just look at the floor. I look at

8 what's in close proximity or what's above it because we all know a fire

9 goes up and out, so I did look at the ceiling level of this, and I didn't

10 find any damage consistent with the fire being of great intensity

11 underneath it.

12 Q. That's one of the areas I was going to ask you about. Now, when

13 you say you looked at the ceiling, did you note -- what was the condition

14 in the room in terms of the moisture? Was there any signs of active

15 seepage into the room either through the walls or through the ceiling as

16 you observed them?

17 A. Yes. There was moisture throughout. First off, the floor was

18 very damp and moist. The ceiling was actually in act of dripping of

19 water. We did note -- I forget which ones come from the ceiling,

20 stalagtites or stalagmites, but the water growth coming off the ceiling,

21 and there was active dripping coming from the ceiling in multiple areas.

22 Q. Let me ask you about this. There's been some suggestion that

23 wood that has been charred as a result of fire, that water and

24 environmental aspects can remove -- basically remove or wash off the

25 evidence of fire damage. What effect does the presence of water have on

Page 5973

1 wood that has been subjected to a fire and has been charred and/or

2 subjected to alligatoring? What effect does water have on that type of

3 wood, generally speaking, based upon your experience?

4 A. Actually, with wood -- with anybody who's every dealt with any

5 type of wood, any time you introduce moisture, the moisture actually

6 helps preserve it because it doesn't dry out. So whatever condition it's

7 in by the time it gets moisture, that's how it would stay. So actually,

8 it would help preserve the fire damage.

9 Q. Okay. So had there been hypothetically a fully evolved fire

10 confined in this area, the basement room, would you expect to have found

11 evidence -- more extensive evidence of it than you saw of the condition

12 of these floor-boards by the camp-fire area and the other areas that you

13 have indicated?

14 A. Yes, I would. That was one reason why I examined the edge of

15 where I marked A at. Since that was the leading edge of it, I want to

16 see what type of damage that was, and again, that was a smooth, slick

17 area to the touch; whereas the noted alligatoring was in the centre. It

18 wasn't a progression either way. It was isolate to where B is labelled.

19 Q. Okay. And had there been a fully evolved fire in this room, in

20 your opinion would there have been the possibility for the mold to cover

21 up the evidence of that fire?

22 A. No, there wouldn't be that much because there's a lot of areas in

23 there that are very limited on the moisture. Like I said, there's a

24 great deal, but the moisture doesn't encompass the whole room. What I

25 should probably note out is when we look at fire patterns, patterns give

Page 5974

1 us two indicators. They show us the movement or direction of travel as

2 well as the intensity of a fire, and that's why we're looking for

3 patterns. They tell us which way it's going, and it leads us back to

4 wherever the fire started. And again, the intensity, if it was a heavy

5 fire, a weak fire, again, in a large-scale fire you'd see a lot of heavy

6 damage.

7 MR. IVETIC: If we can save the photograph as marked and tender

8 it as the next available 1D exhibit, I'd like to move on.

9 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit 1D191, Your Honours.

10 MR. IVETIC: Thank you, Madam Registrar. And if we could in the

11 meantime pull up 1D22-0603.

12 Q. And while we're waiting for that to come up, sir, is it accurate

13 that you found one other location that you singled out or pointed out as

14 a potential small-scale fire in the basement room at the Pionirska

15 residence?

16 A. Yes. Directly as you walk into the door on the left-hand side

17 behind the door, again, the door opens inwards, so it's behind there

18 between the door and the first window, I did find some remains of charred

19 wood in that area as well.

20 MR. IVETIC: And if we could have the second page of in document.

21 I apologise. I think the second page has the portion that Mr. Dimas is

22 referring to.

23 Q. And sir, I believe it's going to be photograph number 7 on the

24 second page. Once it comes up, if you could take a look at that and tell

25 us whether that is the locale that you're making reference to now.

Page 5975

1 MR. IVETIC: I apologise. That's not it either. I guess it's

2 the next page, then. I apologise. Or 10. That's it, 10. Sorry. Too

3 slow. If we could back up to the next -- previous page, and it's

4 photograph number 10. I apologise.

5 Q. And sir, if you could tell us if that is the -- if that is the

6 location in question where you located evidence of a smaller-scale fire.

7 A. That is correct, in the corner there. I found some charred wood.

8 Q. And given the empirical evidence that you located, that is to say

9 the charred wood that you located, was it in your opinion -- in your

10 opinion, was that evidence for one to conclude that a large, fully

11 enveloped fire occurred in this room?

12 A. No, there was not. Again, all I did was I noted that there was

13 charred remains right there. It goes back to doing a complete

14 investigation and doing the totality of all the evidence. It was just

15 one more item for me to note. Again, when I review all the evidence

16 found on-scene, that's when I come to my conclusion.

17 MR. IVETIC: And, Your Honours, this particular document has been

18 tendered during the testimony of Mr. McCoy, and I just recall that

19 Your Honours are reserving ruling on this, so I will not tender this

20 again. I'll just wait for the ruling in due course on that, and I'd like

21 to move on to some more pictures as to the interior of the Pionirska

22 location, and if we could call up Y020-3590.

23 Q. And sir, are you able to place yourself back in the room and

24 describe for us where this window is located and where the -- where that

25 corner that is depicted in the room is located? Is that -- where is

Page 5976

1 that?

2 A. This is the same area as the previous one. It's directly inside

3 the room on the left-hand side as you walk through the door. That's the

4 very first window, and the little fire debris that I noted was in that

5 corner there, just basically from the corner to the edge of that wood

6 beam.

7 Q. And there appears to be some dark discolouration of the wall

8 visible in this photograph. Did you ascertain what that was, or did you

9 draw any conclusions as to what that was?

10 A. Yes. It was examined, and again, we found that there was a lot

11 of moisture content in this area, a lot of mold. The pattern underneath

12 the window that almost looks like a V, that is actually just moisture, so

13 we didn't find any evidence of fire patterns in that area.

14 Q. And do you see to the left of the window there appears to be some

15 sort of demarcation in the wall or line in the wall that appears to run

16 from the top and goes underneath the window, actually. Did you visually

17 observe that, and did you reach any conclusions as to what that was?

18 A. Are you describing the line on the left-hand side or the wood

19 beam underneath? I'm sorry. I'm not sure what you're asking.

20 Q. Let me try and clarify. I see some sort of a line to the left of

21 the window but before the corner that appears to run down from somewhere

22 up on top towards the area underneath the window and then curves towards

23 the window. It looks like a black line in this photograph.

24 A. Yes. We took a look at that specifically because at the very top

25 there's, like, a circular or square-type image on top of that line. Let

Page 5977

1 me see if I have you correct. You're talking about this line here?

2 That -- and then this up here, I first noted the opening in the top. It

3 appeared initially as being burned. We actually -- actually looked up

4 into it, and we determined it to be more of a junction box. We actually

5 found that the straight line there and one of the lines coming over here

6 were actually electrical wires which were actually plastered into the

7 wall itself, so the darkness, it's just due to being a black hole that's

8 been filled with water mold, what have you, but that's actually an

9 electrical junction box.

10 MR. IVETIC: Okay. If we can have the picture as marked tendered

11 as the next available 1D exhibit number, and then hopefully I can call up

12 a clearer photograph of that area: Y020- -- pardon me.

13 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit 1D192, Your Honours.

14 MR. IVETIC: Thank you, Madam Registrar, and I apologise for

15 preempting you. If I can have Y020-3579 and perhaps alongside it,

16 Y020-3578.

17 Q. And sir, while we wait for those, I hope those will be better

18 photographs of the area that you've described so as to permit you to --

19 no. I apologise. That's the wrong number. No.

20 MR. IVETIC: I apologise, Madam Registrar. Can I have Y020-3633

21 and alongside it, Y020-3634. There we go.

22 Q. Sir, do these provide a better vantage point of that which you

23 were describing to the upper left of the window?

24 A. That is correct. The square in the centre, again, if you just

25 look at a photo, it looks to be almost like a wood item inside, when

Page 5978

1 actually it's just an opening, and there's nothing inside of it.

2 However, these lines here and here were actually to identify those as

3 wires coming into that box.

4 Q. Thank you.

5 MR. IVETIC: Your Honours, if we can have this screenshot saved

6 with the markings attached and admitted as the next 1D exhibit number.

7 I'd like to move on.

8 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

9 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit 1D193, Your Honours.

10 MR. IVETIC:

11 Q. Now, we've been working our way from the floor upwards

12 systematically. I'd like to ask you a few questions now about the

13 ceiling, and with respect to the ceiling, could you describe for us what

14 spalling is, and what are the potential causes of spalling.

15 A. Spalling is a phenomenon that occurs in mortar, concrete, and

16 brick; and basically, it's the expansion of the water molecules within

17 those -- in those forms, and it can be caused either by heat or by severe

18 cold. And what happens is just causes expansion and contraction of the

19 water molecules, which makes the edges, basically, for lack of a better

20 word, pop and bust outward, and that's what spalling is.

21 Q. Now, would you agree with me that because of the various causes

22 or various potential causes for spalling that, therefore, you look at

23 other factors in addition to spalling before reaching any final

24 conclusion as to whether certain damage is based upon exposure to heat,

25 flame, or smoke or something else?

Page 5979

1 A. That is correct. In previous years, spalling used to be held as

2 a pure indication that ignitable liquid had been used. Then over the

3 course of the years, it was learned that it was more than just rapid

4 heat. That's when it was determined that it was due to the water

5 molecules and since that time is no longer one set indicator that any

6 kind of an accelerant or excessive heat was utilised. So in that matter,

7 that's why we can only use it as what we see. It's just another

8 indicator that something occurred there.

9 Q. So at the time that you visited the Pionirska site in

10 January 2009, what was the -- what was the overall totality of the

11 condition of the ceiling? Was it in good shape, bad shape? How would

12 you describe it?

13 A. It was in very poor shape due to the extreme water and moisture

14 that were seeping in. There was a lot of parts that were falling down.

15 I mentioned the little calcium or water stalagtites off the ceiling

16 dripping down, so there were areas that had actually collapsed downward.

17 Q. And now with respect to the ceiling, do you recall locating and

18 examining a hole in the ceiling that led up to the next level in the

19 Pionirska structure?

20 A. Yes. When you walk in just off to the right-hand side,

21 approximately I'd say four feet into the building, there is an opening

22 going up to the second floor. I was unable to determine what it was used

23 for. There was no type of pipe-work inside of it. It was just maybe a

24 three-inch-diameter hole going up to the second floor.

25 Q. Now, assuming for the moment in a hypothetical that a fully

Page 5980

1 evolved fire took place in the basement room and enveloped that room,

2 what would the existence of that circular opening in the ceiling mean

3 with respect to the fire and to the by-products of a fire?

4 A. Fire is much like water. It seeks the path of least resistance

5 to travel, so that's why we'll look at any type of opening or penetration

6 within a structure. That's why we look at the doors and windows. In

7 this case, this one was of great importance considering it's going

8 upward, and I stated earlier, fires as we all know travel up and out. So

9 if there was a fire inside this room, it would have let upstairs to the

10 next room, and upon examining that opening, found no evidence or no trace

11 of any soot or by-products of fire.

12 Q. And you -- let's ask you this question first. Do you consider it

13 plausible for there to have been a fire that would have not left such

14 residue and markings in the interior of this hole in the ceiling, and

15 perhaps -- perhaps to assist while you're answering that question, if we

16 can call up Y020-3361.

17 A. No. Again, any type of fire that would be generally near it or

18 next to it, as we all know, if have you a fireplace it would have that

19 chimney effect. The smoke would go up and rise into it.

20 Q. And now, unfortunately, in this photograph we don't have a

21 measuring tool or a ruler there to determine the diameter. You, I

22 believe, indicated it was 3 inches?

23 A. Approximately 3 inches, yes.

24 Q. Okay. And the rough interior that we see here, what -- what

25 would that rough interior mean in regards to any residue or any soot or

Page 5981

1 any smoke billowing through this hole from a fire in the basement room up

2 to the next level.

3 MR. GROOME: Your Honour.

4 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Groome.

5 MR. GROOME: It occurs to me that this is essentially a repeat of

6 what Mr. McCoy has testified to. The report has been tendered. I'm not

7 sure that I see the point of having two people testify to exactly the

8 same thing when both reports are now in evidence.

9 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes. We have been considering the same,

10 Mr. Ivetic. What's the point of this evidence which seems to be a

11 replication of earlier evidence?

12 MR. IVETIC: Your Honour, we have evidence that is still not

13 accepted by the Office of the Prosecutor which is still being objected to

14 by the Office of the Prosecutor. We have two individuals of varying

15 experience and varying qualifications who examined the Pionirska location

16 on behalf of the Defence. We have Mr. Dimas here who as we see in his CV

17 and the limited review of his experience is the one who does quality

18 control of the work of other fire/arson investigators, and he himself has

19 had similar experience in regards to this; and it goes towards

20 corroboration of the assertions that the Defence has made, and it goes to

21 explaining the portions of his report why he, in particular, believes

22 this photograph and what it shows is significant to his conclusion. And

23 again, it's something that the Defence cannot anticipate --

24 JUDGE ROBINSON: How much longer are you going to be?

25 MR. IVETIC: On the chimney? Just for another two or three

Page 5982

1 questions.

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: Well, just please conclude the

3 examination-in-chief. Go ahead, Judge Van den Wyngaert.

4 JUDGE VAN DEN WYNGAERT: I have a question. It seems that the

5 two experts visited the place at the same time together; is that correct?

6 MR. IVETIC: That's correct, Your Honour.

7 JUDGE VAN DEN WYNGAERT: Why didn't you have them draft one

8 report signed by the both of them? What's the purpose of the duplication

9 because we are hearing exactly the same from a different person in this

10 same case? Thank you.

11 MR. ALARID: Your Honour, one of the main things that the fire

12 investigators explained to me was peer review is essential. This is a

13 cold case, obviously, so with the limitations imposed, they wanted two

14 sets of eyes. Mr. Dimas is the lead investigator, and I think the

15 Prosecution used the junior status of Mr. McCoy to their theory of the

16 case, but the reality is the meat and bones of the investigation was

17 performed by Mr. Dimas, who is the lead and senior investigator.

18 Mr. McCoy was meant to carry the camera and of course has similar

19 qualifications but was not in the role of lead investigator on this

20 mission.

21 JUDGE ROBINSON: Two or three more questions, then.

22 Mr. Groome.

23 MR. GROOME: I would point out that's what's being pointed out

24 that what is being presented now is a lead investigator and junior

25 investigator was presented to the Court earlier today and last week as

Page 5983

1 two qualified experts in fire -- identification of fire causes.

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Ivetic.

3 MR. IVETIC: We can ask the witness to explain that. That was

4 one of the areas I was going to go into in his prior experience that I

5 had to short-circuit, so if that's something that Your Honours are

6 interested in, the gentleman's here. He can explain the standard

7 operation procedure is in his employment and his line of work and what

8 the significance found to --

9 JUDGE ROBINSON: Just ask your two more questions and let's move

10 on to the cross-examination.

11 MR. IVETIC: Your Honour, I have also Bikavac, which will be

12 about five or six questions as to the Bikavac site, the second site that

13 was sought.

14 JUDGE ROBINSON: Very well.

15 MR. IVETIC: Thank you, Your Honour. I apologise. I think I had

16 a question pending. Yes.

17 Q. Sir, I'm going to repeat the question that I had asked prior to

18 this exchange, and it was: Given the rough surface that we see in this

19 interior leading up to this hole in the second level, what does that lead

20 you to conclude or expect as to any smoke or fire markers, i.e. residue

21 of soot? What effect does this un-smooth surface have on the collection

22 of any of those trace matters?

23 A. Well, with it being uneven, porous, you'd still find, again,

24 evidence of some type of sooting or collection of fire up in there,

25 mainly sooting and ash, maybe, if there had been a fire there because ash

Page 5984

1 tends to float, as well, and there is no evidence of that.

2 Q. And do you have any measurement or approximation as to the

3 distance between the beginning of this whole in the ceiling and its

4 termination point, that is to say how deep or how long is this going

5 upwards?

6 A. It would be just whatever the thickness the slab was because it

7 ends on the floor of the second storey or the ground floor, so it's only

8 from the basement ceiling to the floor of the ground floor.

9 Q. Thank you.

10 MR. IVETIC: And if we could -- if we could just to be safe

11 tender this as an exhibit, Your Honours; I note that this exhibit was

12 used with Mr. McCoy, but my notes indicate that the one that he viewed,

13 he marked up, so I'd like to have a clean copy as well. One moment.

14 Yeah, I think it's illustrative to have a clean copy tendered. The one

15 that was previously tendered by Mr. McCoy has markings on it.

16 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

17 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit 1D194, Your Honours.

18 MR. IVETIC: Thank you.

19 Q. And now, Mr. Dimas, I'd like to move to the last area that we

20 had, will be brief as I know your investigations of that site were brief.

21 We also went to the Bikavac location. Is that accurate, and what can you

22 tell us about your trained observations as to the Bikavac site? Is there

23 anything that you can assist us as to that?

24 A. The scene exam was very limited since there was no structure

25 left. Again, there I observed what appeared to be the remains of the

Page 5985

1 foundation, some footings or footers that were out of concrete. I dug

2 into a couple areas within the dirt, again, looking for fire debris or

3 ash. I made note of areas where I found some black residue. That was

4 pretty much the extent of that investigation.

5 Q. And with respect to the black residue, what, if any, conclusions

6 or observations did you draw as to that?

7 A. It was determined to be a tar substance. When I noted the nearby

8 other buildings, it appears that they use it as a sealer within their

9 buildings.

10 Q. And with respect to the Bikavac site itself, could you describe

11 for us as one of the few persons in this courtroom who's actually been to

12 the location physically, how difficult was it to get there, and what was

13 the surrounding terrain like and the location of the houses like around

14 the site where the Bikavac location was situated?

15 A. We had a slight difficulty. Going -- the main road going up to

16 it was uphill. One of the vehicles had difficulty with its clutch. Once

17 we got onto the side street leading up to the house, that was very muddy

18 and narrow. Both roads were very narrow, so even in the small car we had

19 difficulty reaching the site.

20 Q. And what about the neighboring houses, the neighboring houses to

21 the empty lot where the Bikavac site was located? What can you say about

22 the distances between or how close they were to that site?

23 A. The edges of the foundation after we identified edge to edge was

24 very close in proximity to two homes. On one side, there's a house

25 that's approximately three storeys again. It was probably within three

Page 5986

1 feet of that structure, and then on the other side that side was maybe 6

2 feet away, so very close proximity, so that's always a concern especially

3 in a fully evolved structure fire because fire can radiate or be spread

4 to other buildings nearby.

5 Q. Okay. One moment. Let me just check.

6 MR. IVETIC: And again, Your Honours, I believe the photographs

7 of the -- that had been selected by the experts for inclusion in their

8 report is the -- has been tendered through Mr. McCoy, and we're just

9 waiting the ultimate determination of the Trial Chamber, so I do not need

10 to tender those photographs a second time, I don't believe. And with

11 that, I have no further questions on direct examination for this witness.

12 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you.

13 Mr. Groome.

14 Cross-examination by Mr. Groome:

15 Q. Good afternoon, Mr. Dimas. My name is Dermot Groome, and I'm

16 going to ask you some questions. The first question I want to --

17 MR. ALARID: A moment. I apologise, Mr. Groome. We got via

18 e-mail during the direct examination of --

19 MR. GROOME: Your Honour, I ask that this discussion not be in

20 front of the witness, Your Honour.

21 MR. ALARID: Why not?

22 MR. GROOME: Your Honour, this weekend the Prosecution went down

23 to look at the site again and has some evidence I'd like to show

24 Mr. Dimas. I'd ask that Mr. Alarid not be coaching through his

25 objections Mr. Dimas about what it is that Mr. Alarid now knows we intend

Page 5987

1 to show Mr. Dimas during this cross-examination.

2 MR. ALARID: Well, to be honest, I don't know. We haven't been

3 produced this evidence. It is Rule 68 and -- whatever the rule is --

4 JUDGE ROBINSON: Let us deal with it when Mr. Groome gets to it.

5 MR. ALARID: Excuse me? I apologise, Your Honour?

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: You're anticipating what Mr. Groome will produce

7 in cross-examination?

8 MR. ALARID: It's video and photographs, apparently, and evidence

9 collected at the site that he's saying was part of his mission on this

10 particular weekend. I think we should have an opportunity to been

11 presented this evidence if it's going to be tendered in open court, and

12 we should be tender this evidence before he questions the witness on it.

13 And so under those circumstances, Your Honour, I think it's just common

14 courtesy in terms of producing evidence that if they had it, and if it

15 was producible this morning, it should have been tendered to us this

16 morning. The fact that it's not tendered to us until during the

17 testimony --

18 JUDGE ROBINSON: Well, is that going to be your first business,

19 first part of business in your cross-examination to tender this?

20 MR. GROOME: No, it will not be, Your Honour.

21 JUDGE ROBINSON: All right. When you come to it, then we'll deal

22 wilt.

23 MR. GROOME:

24 Q. Sir, am I correct in stating --

25 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Groome, the Defence spent two hours, and I'm

Page 5988

1 expecting you will use just about the same time, not more.

2 MR. GROOME:

3 Q. Sir, am I correct in saying that you and Mr. McCoy both discussed

4 your conclusions in this case and are in agreement in all material ways

5 about your conclusions about your examination at Pionirska Street;

6 correct?

7 A. That's not necessarily true. As part of peer review, what we

8 do --

9 Q. Sir, as you can tell, I'm very limited in the time I have. What

10 finding do you disagree with Mr. McCoy?

11 A. Well, the findings or evidence, like, for example, I'm not sure

12 what Mr. McCoy fully testified to --

13 Q. How about his report? Let's just look at the two reports. Are

14 you in full agreement with everything he said in his report?

15 A. I actually did not read his report.

16 Q. So how does peer review occur if you don't read his report? Do

17 you simply just discuss what are your observations?

18 A. Yes. We bounce off the -- what we're visually seeing on-site.

19 Again, I was the lead investigator on the scene, so I'm bouncing of what

20 I'm seeing and to see if somebody else sees something different.

21 Q. Okay. Thank you. You were shown a video in your direct

22 examination taken in 2001. You've seen the entire video; have you not?

23 A. Yes, I have.

24 Q. And throughout that video, there are many soldiers with masks on

25 and heavy weapons; is that not correct?

Page 5989

1 A. That is correct.

2 Q. Would ill be correct in saying --

3 MR. CEPIC: I'm sorry. Just a problem in translation in B/C/S.

4 Both speakers have been speaking quite fast.

5 JUDGE ROBINSON: I see.

6 MR. GROOME: I apologise to the translators.

7 JUDGE ROBINSON: You are speaking very fast. Please slow down

8 and observe the pause between question and answer.

9 MR. GROOME:

10 Q. It would be reasonable for anyone looking at that video-tape to

11 conclude that security was of paramount concern during the time that

12 video was taken; correct?

13 A. That is correct.

14 Q. And you do not know as you sit here whether there was possible

15 concern for possible mines inside that building or in the area; do you?

16 A. No, I don't dispute that. What I stated was --

17 Q. Thank you.

18 A. Your Honour, can I finish my --

19 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, please finish.

20 THE WITNESS: What I stated earlier was if there was such great

21 concern, they could have at least held the video into the window. If

22 they did have an armed guard right there who peered in. Why not document

23 it with the camera it self?

24 MR. GROOME:

25 Q. It may be that the decision about what soldiers can do and what

Page 5990

1 civilian photographers can do might be different, but there's really no

2 need for us to dwell on that.

3 MR. GROOME: I'm going to ask that 1D169 be shown to the witness.

4 Q. Now, this picture that's coming up now is the picture of the

5 charred material - it seems everyone agrees it's charred - in the

6 portico. Now, correct, this is to the right of the door in the portico;

7 correct.

8 A. Yes.

9 Q. So standing looking at the front door of the room, it would be to

10 your right still under the portico?

11 A. No, sir. You go to the right of the doorway, it's actually on

12 the left-hand corner of that portico.

13 Q. But it's to the right of the doorway?

14 A. Yes, to the right of the doorway.

15 Q. I'm going to ask -- Mr. Ivetic introduced 1D184. It's a video.

16 I'm going ask that you show a still of this. I'm going to ask that it be

17 placed on the ELMO. So if that could be placed on the overhead projector

18 to your right, we'll all be able to see, and if we could zoom out a

19 little bit. Now, sir, you've mentioned this -- I think you've referred

20 to it as a shed. It looks like a boarded-up area to the right of the

21 door; correct?

22 A. Yes, it has the appearance of some type of structure.

23 Q. Now, the burnt that material that we see on 1D169 is not visible

24 from this standpoint, is it?

25 A. No, it's not.

Page 5991

1 Q. So it is impossible to know that this video taken nine years

2 after the fire, whether or not the material on the wall there is burnt or

3 isn't burnt; is that not correct.

4 A. Can you rephrase?

5 Q. It's impossible from this video to tell whether or not the burnt

6 material in 1D169, whether it's sitting up there in 2001 burnt or it's

7 un-burnt. It's impossible for you to tell that, is it not?

8 A. That's correct. You can't tell either way.

9 Q. Okay. Now, you seem to suggest in your evidence that the fire

10 damage or whatever we see in the portico must be the result of a fire

11 that involved this shed because we no longer see this shed material;

12 correct?

13 A. Not necessarily the shed, but there is a fire within where that

14 shed existed.

15 Q. Do you believe that this shed material burnt down in the same

16 fire that we see the charred material from 1D169?

17 A. I couldn't say to that.

18 Q. Okay. So it's quite possible that this shed material was simply

19 taken down and there was never a fire involved in its removal; correct?

20 A. That's correct.

21 Q. Because you've testified that there's no fire damage on the door.

22 If this shed structure were to be destroyed by fire, you would expect to

23 see some fire damage on the door so close by; is that correct?

24 A. That is correct.

25 Q. Thank you. Now, can I draw your attention to the -- above the

Page 5992

1 door. Do you see that very black area above the door? Could I ask you

2 to circle that so that we know that we're talking about the same -- the

3 same section.

4 MR. GROOME: And if I can ask while we're doing this, if we could

5 prepare to work with P270. It's in e-court.

6 THE WITNESS: Is that the area you're discussing?

7 MR. GROOME:

8 Q. Yes, except it looks like it extends all the way to the left.

9 A. Oh, correct.

10 Q. Now, you can't say that this is not smoke damage, can you?

11 A. Yes, I can.

12 Q. And how can you -- are you able to say that that's not smoke

13 damage?

14 A. Because I was physically at the site and examined it.

15 Q. Well, are you able to say that this isn't -- this is not charred

16 material?

17 A. Yes, I can.

18 Q. Does this look the same as the way you saw it at the site?

19 A. No. Actually, there's less of it now because of the time-period.

20 Q. So is it possible this is what we're looking at is the same

21 charred material you found to the right but now in your January visit

22 it's now missing?

23 A. No.

24 Q. It's not possible?

25 A. No.

Page 5993

1 Q. Okay. Thank you.

2 MR. GROOME: I would tender that, please.

3 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

4 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit P302, Your Honours.

5 MR. GROOME: Now, if we could take a look at P270.

6 Q. Sir, on your report, which is now 1D183, you refer to a beam, and

7 earlier in your direct testimony at transcript 49, you refer to a beam as

8 a pristine piece of wood. I want to be sure that we're talking about the

9 same piece of wood, okay? Okay, it should be up on the screen in front

10 of you. Do you see the piece of wood circled at the bottom that's

11 circled in blue?

12 A. Yes, I do.

13 Q. Is that the piece of wood that you describe as a beam that is

14 pristine?

15 A. Yes.

16 Q. Now, Mr. McCoy has testified similarly. Is it at all possible

17 that this could be a piece of furring strip used as a means of attaching

18 a piece of finished wall surface to the wall?

19 A. I examined it to see if anything might be attached to it, and I

20 did find a couple of nail holes or nails actually in it, but in

21 conjunction to everything else I eliminated anything been attach to it.

22 Simply, it was a clean piece of wood with two nails in it. Again, I do

23 the totality of all of my findings.

24 Q. Now, Mr. McCoy described it as a piece of wood, a beam embedded

25 in the concrete. Is that your recollection of the piece of wood?

Page 5994

1 A. Yes.

2 Q. How did you come to the conclusion that it was actually embedded

3 in the concrete wall?

4 A. Because the concrete is flush with the edges of it.

5 Q. Okay. Now, I'm going to ask that you be shown two pictures at

6 the same time on the screen. The first is Y020-3396, and the second is

7 Y020-3359. If they could be placed side by side on the screen. Okay.

8 Now, what I'm interested in -- let's look at the picture on your left,

9 3396. See that black line up there?

10 A. Yes.

11 Q. Running horizontally. Can I ask you to circle it so that, again,

12 we're both sure that we're talking about the same thing.

13 A. [Marks]

14 Q. Do you recall where in the room that was?

15 A. That was on the -- that'd be the east wall.

16 Q. Now, I've put the other picture there, hopefully to assist you.

17 This is the area to the left of the door. We can see the door jamb in

18 the right-hand side of the frame. Do you see that?

19 A. Yes, I do, so I stand corrected. That's actually the south wall.

20 Q. Okay. So am I correct in saying that the black line that we see

21 here that you've circled is to the left of the door at the upper portion

22 of the wall?

23 A. Yes.

24 Q. Did you examine this area?

25 A. I looked at the wall. I don't specifically remember doing this

Page 5995

1 line.

2 Q. Did you find any evidence of charring on this wall?

3 A. No.

4 Q. Did you examine the black material that's embedded in the

5 concrete?

6 A. No.

7 Q. So I take it, then, you didn't take a sample of it either?

8 A. No, I did not.

9 Q. Okay.

10 MR. GROOME: I'd ask that we tender the -- either the entire

11 screenshot or the -- well, actually, the entire screenshot, please.

12 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

13 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit P303, Your Honours.

14 MR. GROOME:

15 Q. Now, with respect to the ceiling, on page 2 of your report you

16 say: "Areas of concern ..." for windows walls and ceiling, and under

17 item 2(A), you state:

18 "Areas show no V-patterns, sooting, or spalling associated with

19 normal fire patterns."

20 Is it your evidence that the ceiling showed no signs of spalling?

21 A. That is correct. I ruled it out based on the deterioration of

22 the ceiling area.

23 MR. GROOME: Now, could I please ask that we look at on e-court

24 Y020-3622.

25 Q. Do you recognise this photograph?

Page 5996

1 A. Yes, I do.

2 Q. And can you describe where this is in the room?

3 A. That's actually on the east wall, towards the north edge of it.

4 Q. For those of us who might prefer a reference point from the door,

5 if someone were to stand in the door's threshold looking into the room,

6 which wall would it be on?

7 A. That would be on the right-hand side.

8 Q. Same wall that the flue or the -- what you describe, I think, as

9 a pipe chase is on?

10 A. Actually, I did not use the term "pipe chase." I just said an

11 opening, but yes, it's the same wall, and it's approximately 5 feet

12 further.

13 Q. Okay. What are your observations and conclusions about the

14 blackened material that we see in those pockets in the wall to the right

15 of the clay tile?

16 A. Actually, what I found was the one in the centre specifically, it

17 had a chunk of charred wood embedded in it.

18 Q. So you found a piece of charred wood embedded in the wall. That

19 didn't make its way into your report, did it?

20 A. No, sir, it did not. Again, what I took what I found and I noted

21 it down, and again, it's the totality of everything. I'm not going to

22 list if I find one little speck in one corner of each area. I'm going to

23 take my findings altogether.

24 Q. Let me ask you a few questions. Now --

25 A. Excuse me, let me finish, please.

Page 5997

1 Q. It's me that's asking the questions, sir. [Overlapping speakers].

2 A. You asked me a question. Your Honour.

3 JUDGE ROBINSON: Just a minute, Mr. Groome. Let him finish.

4 Yes, go ahead.

5 THE WITNESS: What I did do is normally when I find a chunk of

6 wood coming out of a room, I try to determine if there's any correlation

7 to it like a rafter going from one end of the wall to another, and I did

8 not. So I did noted down that I find a chunk of wood in this wall. I

9 was able to physically pull it out. It was not stuck in there. It was

10 just a piece of wood in the wall.

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you. Yes, Mr. Groome.

12 MR. GROOME:

13 Q. You said you noted it down. Where did you note it down.

14 A. In my notes at the time.

15 Q. Can I please have a copy of those notes I'm entitled to?

16 A. Actually, it's our policy that we destroy all our notes after we

17 write a written report.

18 Q. So the notes have been destroyed?

19 A. Yes.

20 Q. Now, where you found this charred wood was rather close to the

21 ceiling of this room; correct?

22 A. Actually, it's about a foot away approximately. From floor to

23 ceiling, it's about seven feet high.

24 Q. And is it your evidence that you did not think it was significant

25 to mention in your report or your direct evidence here today that you

Page 5998

1 found a piece of charred wood about 7 feet off the floor?

2 A. No because I couldn't determine how it got there. There was

3 charred wood on the floor, in the flooring that was left; so it could

4 have been somebody took the piece of wood, jammed it up there for what

5 reason; I have no idea. Again, it's a piece of burned wood in the wall

6 by itself.

7 Q. Okay. Now, is this tile where Mr. O'Donnell recovered what he

8 believed to be a fragment of a grenade?

9 A. No. Actually, that would be further to the left-hand of this.

10 Q. Okay. Thank you. Now, on page 2 of your report, again, you list

11 areas of concern for windows, walls, and ceilings; again, that there's no

12 sooting or V-patterns. Did you do a careful examination of the exterior

13 window of the basement room?

14 A. Yes, I did.

15 Q. And do you have find anything that could be considered smoke

16 damage?

17 A. No, I did not.

18 Q. Now I'd like to move to the door. On page 2 of your report

19 again, you say:

20 "Door and door jamb examined and showed no charring, sooting, or

21 any type of fire damage. Door also opened into the structure. Area

22 between the door jamb and block wall was examined for sooting or venting

23 patterns through penetrations and showed ..." I believe you mean no fire

24 patterns. You have two fire patterns. Did you mean no fire patterns?

25 A. I meant no fire patterns.

Page 5999

1 Q. Okay.

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Groome, it's time for the break. We'll

3 resume at 6.00 p.m.

4 MR. GROOME: Your Honour, could I ask that the witness be

5 instructed not to discuss his testimony with anybody during the break?

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: Witness, are you not to discuss your testimony

7 with anybody.

8 THE WITNESS: Yes, Your Honour.

9 JUDGE ROBINSON: Now, Mr. Alarid, the Chamber has been trying to

10 find additional court hours. It's possible that we may be able to sit

11 tomorrow morning, and I will let you know. Mr. Groome, that presents a

12 problem for you?

13 MR. GROOME: Not that, Your Honour, but there's a related matter

14 I'd like to address in terms of scheduling very briefly.

15 JUDGE ROBINSON: I'm let you know at the beginning of the next

16 session.

17 MR. GROOME: Your Honour --

18 JUDGE ROBINSON: And I also wanted to say to you, Mr. Alarid, you

19 gave us an overview of your witnesses for the week, and if we are able to

20 sit morning and afternoon on some of the days for the rest of the week,

21 then we might reach Mr. Groome's rebuttal witnesses because we're going

22 to give a decision on that tomorrow. So Mr. Groome should stand by.

23 MR. GROOME: I'll do my best, Your Honour. It's hard, but if I

24 could address one scheduling matter with the Chamber. At the end of last

25 week, Mr. Alarid advised us that the order of witnesses this week would

Page 6000

1 be Mr. Dimas, then Mr. Jenkins, and then Dr. Hough. Today when court

2 started, he said that they'd be shifting around Hough and Jenkins. I now

3 see that the Chamber has given a ruling where Prosecution will have

4 access -- I've only read the disposition. I haven't read the entire

5 ruling, but I think that I've concluded that the Chamber is going to

6 grant us access to some of this material. It's -- or maybe I'm wrong.

7 Are we not getting the audio-tapes?

8 MR. ALARID: No. We didn't rely on the audio tapes.

9 MR. GROOME: I haven't gotten a chance to read --

10 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please.

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: I'll have to check on that. I can't remember

12 off-hand.

13 MR. GROOME: Your Honour, what I'm asking is that Mr. Alarid be

14 instructed to produce the witnesses in the order that they were noticed

15 to us last week. Ms. Sartorio is doing Dr. Hough. There may be some

16 additional material that the Prosecution is getting. We would ask that

17 the noticed order be maintained. It was switched around last week and it

18 caused me to lose a night's sleep. I would ask that we maintain the

19 order as it's given to us on the Friday before.

20 JUDGE ROBINSON: That's fair enough, Mr. Alarid. Why are you

21 switching it around?

22 MR. ALARID: Your Honour, because we're two people and we're

23 trying to prepare -- Your Honour, if you give this Prosecution

24 consideration for losing a night's sleep when they have nine attorneys to

25 rotate through witnesses -- well, that's crazy. We have to do the best

Page 6001

1 we can with the 24 hours, man hours we have on a particular day between

2 two human beings, and that's all we have. And the fact that they get

3 granted everything and we get granted nothing --

4 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Alarid --

5 MR. ALARID: That is how I feel. That is how I feel.

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: There is no basis for that comment whatsoever.

7 MR. ALARID: That is -- I think the record is replete --

8 JUDGE ROBINSON: Let us adjourn, and we'll resume at 6.00.

9 --- Recess taken at 5.38 p.m.

10 [The witness stands down]

11 --- On resuming at 6.09 p.m.

12 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Alarid.

13 MR. ALARID: Yes, Your Honour.

14 JUDGE ROBINSON: Quickly, briefly.

15 MR. ALARID: Well, briefly it goes to the matter at hand, which

16 is the Prosecution has just shown me several bags containing apparent

17 material from the location known as Pionirska.

18 JUDGE ROBINSON: It's -- why don't you wait until they put it in

19 evidence?

20 MR. ALARID: Well, Your Honour -- well, Your Honour, here's the

21 problem: No foundation.

22 JUDGE ROBINSON: Why?

23 MR. ALARID: Well, the problem is that the Prosecution chose to

24 present a case with no expert forensic examination of the properties

25 before --

Page 6002

1 JUDGE ROBINSON: Are you going to introduce that in your

2 cross-examination now?

3 MR. GROOME: No, Your Honour.

4 JUDGE ROBINSON: Well, wait until that time. Why are you

5 preempting it?

6 MR. ALARID: Your Honour, because I asked --

7 JUDGE ROBINSON: I do not wish to hear you. Sit down.

8 MR. ALARID: It asks you to assume facts not in evidence,

9 Your Honour.

10 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Groome, continue the cross-examination.

11 Wait your turn. Don't waste time.

12 [The witness takes the stand]

13 MR. GROOME:

14 Q. Mr. Dimas, before I resume my questions about the door, I wanted

15 to ask you, given that you were one of the people that recently drafted

16 the new standard operating guidelines, what is the underlying rationale

17 why fire investigators of the Albuquerque Fire Department are instructed

18 to destroy the notes that they take at a fire scene after they've drafted

19 their report? What's the rationale, please?

20 A. Just that there's no need for them after you've written your

21 report.

22 Q. But haven't we just demonstrated that it's of critical need

23 because here's this piece of charred wood in the wall that was in your

24 notes but not in the report; correct?

25 A. That is correct.

Page 6003

1 Q. Let me turn to your report --

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: What is correct? You have put two propositions

3 to you, and you have said "that is correct." Are you agreeing with him

4 that what has been demonstrated is that -- would you repeat the question,

5 Mr. Groome, because I'm not sure the witness understood it when he said

6 that's correct.

7 MR. GROOME:

8 Q. What I'm putting to you, sir, is that you've admitted that you

9 have -- you noticed something in the charred wood in the wall; correct?

10 A. Yes.

11 Q. You say that you noted your observations about charred wood in

12 the wall in your notes, but you never put that in your report; correct?

13 A. That is correct.

14 Q. And what I'm saying to you now is, you have just testified that

15 the reason that the notes are destroyed is because there is no need for

16 them once you've drafted the report; correct?

17 A. Yes, that is correct. There's no need for your notes after

18 you've drafted it.

19 Q. And I guess what I'm suggesting to you is that you have just

20 demonstrated that there is a need because there's a very important

21 inconsistency between the notes that you took at the scene and the report

22 that has now been tendered as evidence in this case; correct?

23 A. No, there's not an inconsistency. It's just again it's just a

24 totality of all your evidence that you found. You don't have to include

25 everything as I stated earlier. If I noted that there's one piece of ash

Page 6004

1 in the centre of the room and I had made note of that, I wouldn't include

2 that in my report either.

3 Q. So the reason you did not record in the report your discovery of

4 charred wood near the ceiling of the centre of the room was because you

5 did not deem it important for your report?

6 A. That is correct. In addition, we also had it as photographic

7 evidence that we could discuss it in -- in putting the two together and

8 discussing it, that's when you can actually point out what you were

9 seeing as we did here today.

10 Q. Okay.

11 A. I did not make note in the report, but I can demonstrate it on

12 the photographic evidence.

13 Q. Is there anything else about your observations when you examined

14 the scene that did not make it into your report? So even if you think

15 it's insignificant, I'm asking you to list for me any other observations

16 you made at the scene which you did not include in your report.

17 A. I don't believe that I listed that the patterns above on the

18 second floor where there is actual wood that shows fire damage. There's

19 fire patterns up there. I didn't include that many my report --

20 Q. But you did have that in your notes?

21 A. Yes.

22 Q. Okay. Anything else in your notes that did not make it into your

23 report? Let's -- to save time, if we could focus on the basement room

24 and the portico. Is there any other observations you made about either

25 of those two locations, in the basement, that you noted in your notes but

Page 6005

1 you deemed that it wasn't important enough to put into your report?

2 A. I didn't list, as well, the pit marks that --

3 Q. Mr. O'Donnell?

4 A. -- Mr. O'Donnell was investigating. I didn't feel that was

5 necessary for my report. Again, we did photograph it, and if it came up,

6 I could explain and describe what I'd seen.

7 Q. Okay. Thank you. So other than that, is there anything else?

8 A. I don't believe so, no.

9 Q. Now, did you draw the conclusion that the door that's presently

10 there is the original door?

11 A. I didn't determine it either way. What I did was I examined it

12 for burn patterns, as I put in my report, the door itself, the door jamb.

13 I tried to see which way it opened, which way it swung. I did have

14 concerns as to the hinge marks and the locking area being incorrect.

15 That was another thing I did not note in my report, but I did observe it,

16 and it was photographed, and I explained it here today.

17 Q. Did you put that in your notes?

18 A. Yes, I did.

19 Q. So it seems that you're saying now that you really don't know or

20 you can't say with any certainty that the door was the same door that was

21 there the night of the fire; is that correct?

22 A. I never stated that, so ...

23 Q. All you can state is that what you observed, you made certain

24 observations about black mold and no presence of any kind of fire; is

25 that correct?

Page 6006

1 A. That is correct.

2 Q. So do you accept the possibility that the door may have been

3 changed?

4 A. Yes, the door may have changed, and that is one reason why I

5 examined the gaps between the door jamb and the concrete that it would

6 have been attached to to see if there was any damage in between because

7 had they removed the door, there still should have been some sort of

8 damage in between.

9 Q. Okay. Now, Mr. McCoy drew the conclusion that it was the

10 original door. Is that a conclusion that the two of you discussed?

11 A. I never discussed that with him. Again, it was my understanding

12 coming out here I was the lead investigator and had been chosen so by

13 Your Honours. Mr. McCoy was supposed to be down here to be my

14 photographer and to be a person I could ask questions to to see what he

15 was seeing, but it was my determination.

16 Q. Okay. Thank you.

17 MR. GROOME: Could I ask that we call up Defence Exhibit 1D174.

18 Q. It'll take a few minutes to call that up. While it's being

19 called up, in paragraph 3 of the first page of your report which is now

20 in evidence as 1D183, you state:

21 "I performed a systematic approach beginning with the exterior of

22 the structure trying to identified any type of burn patterns or fire

23 indicators."

24 Now it seems in the evidence that you've given in the last few

25 minutes and in direct examination that you did do an overview of the

Page 6007

1 entire structure, not simply the basement; correct.

2 A. That is correct.

3 Q. Now, I want to show you an exhibit that was used with your

4 colleague Mr. McCoy. It is 1D174. It is a picture of the upper floor of

5 the house. The floor has very obviously burned away. Mr. McCoy

6 testified that he saw smoke damage here. In fact, let me read to you

7 what he testified to at transcript page 5824:

8 "There is smoke damage, smoke discolouration in a V-pattern above

9 that timber." And this corresponds to the marks that he made. "It's

10 darker coloured areas of the tile. Arson investigators, we're trained to

11 read patterns. That's what leads us to the origin."

12 Has Mr. McCoy correctly outlined the area in which smoke damage

13 is apparent to the trained arson investigator?

14 A. First off, let's correct the terminology. It's fire

15 investigator. You have to investigate the fire before you make the

16 determination of it being an arson or not.

17 Q. Okay. I stand corrected. So fire investigator, with that

18 correction.

19 A. He does make a lot of good points, or he has noted a lot of items

20 here. He did miss a few other patterns here as well.

21 Q. Before we go on to additional smoke damage, if we can focus on

22 what he indicates as a V-pattern of smoke damage coming up from that

23 timber. Do you see it?

24 A. Yes, I do.

25 MR. GROOME: Now, if the witness could be given a red pen.

Page 6008

1 Q. It seems that you see additional smoke damage; is that correct?

2 A. That is correct.

3 MR. GROOME: Okay. If we can change the pen to red.

4 Q. And if you could show us the smoke damage that Mr. McCoy missed.

5 A. I'd say that's about it.

6 MR. GROOME: Okay. I'd ask that that be -- I would tender that

7 exhibit under a new number, and if we could leave it on the screen.

8 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

9 THE REGISTRAR: Exhibit P304, Your Honours.

10 MR. GROOME:

11 Q. Now, Mr. Dimas, the evidence provided by Mr. McCoy and yourself

12 raises a very significant issue in the trial. You see seven people

13 escape that fire; six of them gave sworn evidence before this Chamber.

14 The seventh died after the fire, but his son recounted what happened that

15 night. All seven are resolute in their account that over 65 women,

16 children, and elderly burnt to death in that room, never seen after the

17 night of the fire. The evidence of Mr. --

18 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Ivetic, are you saying that's a

19 misstatement?

20 MR. IVETIC: Yes, I am, Your Honour.

21 JUDGE ROBINSON: In what respect?

22 MR. IVETIC: There's been no testimony that -- or foundation laid

23 that the fire that enveloped the upper levels of this house was related

24 to the alleged incident that these witnesses testified to, Your Honours.

25 MR. ALARID: And I would add, Your Honour, just with regards to

Page 6009

1 65 women, children, and elderly, the witnesses of those referenced by

2 Mr. Groome vary greatly on whom they identified as being part of the

3 group, and that is one of our issues with regards to proper victims or

4 alleged victims being named in this case.

5 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Groome.

6 MR. GROOME: Do you want me to respond to that, Your Honour,

7 or ...

8 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes. Yes.

9 MR. GROOME: Your Honour, I'm asking him to focus on the basement

10 room, although there has been testimony that not only with the upper

11 floors but the two Memic houses were burned that night, but I'm just

12 asking the witness about the bottom floor. With respect to the exact

13 number of witnesses, I'll leave that to the Chamber. I thought I was

14 being fair.

15 Q. But let me just reword it, sir. A substantial, substantial

16 number of women, children, and elderly, seven people say died in the room

17 where you say no fire occurred. Now, it's just simply irreconcilable;

18 either those witnesses are deceiving this Chamber or you and Mr. McCoy

19 are. Do you fully appreciate the predicament that your evidence now

20 places us in?

21 A. Yes, I do, and I utilised some of the witness statements to add

22 into what I was finding.

23 Q. Okay. Well, I sat here Friday when Mr. McCoy was telling us that

24 there was apparent smoke damage on these walls, and I could not see none,

25 and I still could not see any. And I thought I had to make a choice

Page 6010

1 between believing Mr. McCoy and now believing you and believing my own

2 eyes. So I went down over the weekend with some investigators. I want

3 to show you some of the material that we brought back and some of what we

4 saw when we went down there.

5 I'm going to ask that you look at two video-clips, and I'm going

6 ask that we use the Sanction system.

7 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Alarid.

8 MR. ALARID: And this is the point, Your Honour. We've not been

9 provided this in advance, and I believe that the Prosecution had the

10 opportunity to provide this evidence this morning. We had a late day.

11 There's no excuse for it not being provided in advance of the testimony.

12 And what I'm objecting to, Your Honour, is in basic principle is we have

13 an instance where a homicide case, the Prosecution has chosen to present

14 its forensic examinations in rebuttal?

15 In what jurisdiction can that be proper where no forensic exam is

16 done and they're only doing it in response to us taking trained people

17 down there? At the very least, Your Honour, the witness should have had

18 an opportunity to review these photographs this morning. Concurrent to

19 that, Your Honour, no foundation and proper foundation has been laid on

20 this, and this violates the rules of disclosure. Thank you. And we

21 still don't have them, Your Honour.

22 JUDGE ROBINSON: What do you mean you still don't have them?

23 MR. ALARID: They have not been produced to us. We have received

24 no disks or the usual methods of giving us our copy.

25 JUDGE ROBINSON: You have still not received them?

Page 6011

1 MR. ALARID: No. What he's going to show --

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: Let's let him deal with that point first.

3 Mr. Groome.

4 MR. GROOME: They're all in e-court. Your Honour will recall the

5 ruling at the pre-trial conference. Upon cross-examination, the party is

6 to notify the other party about what exhibits it seeks to use. I walked

7 in this morning with these exhibits. They were -- we went down over the

8 weekend. I would note that exhibits used with this witness were

9 disclosed to me this morning, although also on the same pre-trial

10 conference. We were required to disclose those to each other 48 hours in

11 advance, so I am several days late on that. If I could finish my remark.

12 MR. ALARID: That was your exhibit we used, Mr. Groome.

13 MR. GROOME: Your Honour, the providence of where the exhibit

14 came from is not the issue. The other party is to be notified 48 hours

15 in advance of when before an exhibit is used with a witness. These were

16 recently collected. I've complied with the Chamber's pre-trial

17 conference ruling. I've made them available during the break for

18 Mr. Alarid. They're all put out on the table here. He walked over, took

19 a cursory look, and walked back to his desk. He had a full opportunity

20 throughout the entire break to look at the exhibits here. They've been

21 out since the beginning of the break --

22 JUDGE ROBINSON: Let me consult the Trial Chamber's order on this

23 as to when notice to be given by the cross-examining party.

24 MR. ALARID: Your Honour, we assumed that we'd also be

25 provided -- notice is one thing, but we were never provided the actual

Page 6012

1 materials.

2 MR. IVETIC: And they are not in e-court and the e-mail that we

3 received says we don't have reference numbers for these videos materials,

4 so, therefore, Your Honours, they have never been tendered to us in any

5 format whatsoever.

6 [Trial Chamber confers]

7 JUDGE ROBINSON: So they are in e-court?

8 MR. IVETIC: They are not in e-court. We have not been provided

9 any reference numbers for them. We have not been provided copies of

10 them.

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Groome, you told me they are in e-court.

12 They say they are not in e-court. What's the position?

13 MR. GROOME: I'm sorry, Your Honour. They're in Sanction. It's

14 a different system. So I stand corrected, Your Honour.

15 MR. IVETIC: Sanction is an OTP-only system not available to

16 either the Defence or the Registry, is my understanding.

17 JUDGE ROBINSON: This is what we're going to do. We have 40

18 minutes until the end of the session. We are going to adjourn now.

19 We're going to resume in the morning, and the Defence will be given the

20 opportunity to look at these -- is it tapes?

21 MR. GROOME: Yes, Your Honour. I don't believe the same right

22 extends to the witness, so I would ask that the witness again because

23 he's in the middle of his testimony not have communication with anyone

24 overnight.

25 MR. ALARID: And Your Honour, we would ask to be able to provide