Paula Ernst explained the construction and accuracy checks behind Exhibit 620, a Boylston Street diagram displayed to the jury as a demonstrative aid. She cautioned that some evidence locations were approximate, generalized or grouped because items had been moved.
WitnessFederal Bureau of Investigation
Paula Ernst
Chief of the FBI laboratory's Operational Projects Unit in Quantico, Virginia.
Appeared2015 Federal Trial
39 lines·3 proceedings·3 mentions
About
Paula Ernst testified for the prosecution on Day 30 about Exhibit 620, a to-scale diagram of Boylston Street. As chief of the FBI laboratory's Operational Projects Unit, she explained how her unit combined scene measurements, laser scans, aerial imagery and evidence records to build the display. The Court allowed it to be shown to the jury as a chalk, or demonstrative aid.
During Nadine Pellegrini's direct examination, Ernst described links between evidence numbers, descriptions and photographs, and demonstrated filters for evidence categories. She explained that the unit cross-checked source data, obtained review by another specialist and checked photograph-to-evidence-number matches through the field office and laboratory. She also personally compared selected diagram measurements with known data.
Ernst qualified the diagram's precision: some moved items could not be specifically located, some were grouped, and some locations were approximate or generalized. Those qualifications distinguished the diagram's scale from the certainty of individual evidence locations. Defense counsel declined to question her, and she was excused.
Trial Record (3)
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