6.Michael Macias — Direct

MICHAEL MACIAS: Michael Macias, M-A-C-I-A-S.

MICHAEL MACIAS: Good morning.

MICHAEL MACIAS: I work at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia.

MICHAEL MACIAS: I grew up in Sumpter, South Carolina.

MICHAEL MACIAS: I attended University of Lander, University of Clemson and University of South Carolina.

MICHAEL MACIAS: A bachelor's in electrical engineering at the University of Clemson.

MICHAEL MACIAS: I got a bachelor of science in chemistry at the University of South Carolina.

MICHAEL MACIAS: I attended Florida International University for graduate school.

MICHAEL MACIAS: A Ph.D. in chemistry.

MICHAEL MACIAS: That's correct.

MICHAEL MACIAS: I entered on duty with the FBI in September of 2011.

MICHAEL MACIAS: My title is a physical scientist in the explosives unit at the FBI lab. I handle evidence, help teach post-blast investigator schools.

MICHAEL MACIAS: We do. We train at Eglin Air Force base in the demolition phase of their explosives course down there for the military on how to handle, appropriately, explosives.

MICHAEL MACIAS: My -- the supervisor I work for and I were assigned the Boston bombing case. So any evidence that came into the lab would fall into our purview and our assortment and analysis.

MICHAEL MACIAS: Yes. The evidence that came in, when it came to the explosives unit, at the end of the analysis phase we did all the physical measurements and did the analysis on the actual evidence that was submitted in order to determine whether or not there was viable evidence to rebuild an explosive device and identify any parts based on markings and where they may have sourced from.

MICHAEL MACIAS: I was at work at the FBI lab.

MICHAEL MACIAS: Right after the bombings occurred on April 15th, we were notified that we would be deploying some of our members of our unit to Boston to help collect and identify evidence. And that night I was also informed that we would be the ones primary on the evidence as it came into the lab. So we started prepping the room for storage and inventory the evidence as it came in on the 15th.

MICHAEL MACIAS: I was the primary responsible.

MICHAEL MACIAS: I was not responding to Manassas to deliver the items to the lab. Some of the other members of our unit who were qualified to handle and transport evidence brought it to the laboratory.

MICHAEL MACIAS: That is where the evidence was being delivered for the FBI flights.

MICHAEL MACIAS: Manassas is about halfway between D.C. and Quantico; about 20 miles from D.C. and 20 miles from Quantico, Virginia.

MICHAEL MACIAS: The items were brought to the lab. We received them, signed chains of custody to accept all the different boxes that were brought in. We began our check-in procedure which included documentation of all the containers that we received as well as inventorying of each specific item and the packaging as it was brought into the lab. Our inventory process did include assigning a unique identifier number to each item of evidence, as well as photographing the evidence as it was received into the lab.

MICHAEL MACIAS: In this case it was a Q number, "Q" meaning questioned item, item of evidence that was brought in. And so it would be a Q assigned with a specific number, sequential number as we received more and more evidence.

MICHAEL MACIAS: That's correct. The laboratory assigns specific identifier numbers for our records.

MICHAEL MACIAS: After assigned a Q number and the photography was done to document the evidence as received, we then developed an examination plan for each piece of evidence to determine what units within the lab would go for analysis, and monitor chain of custody as it proceeded throughout the lab.

MICHAEL MACIAS: Some of the examples of the units would be the DNA unit. The latent prints or fingerprint unit; the trace exam for hair and fiber unit; tool marks unit; chemistry unit; and explosive chemistry unit.

MICHAEL MACIAS: Trace helps remove tape from different devices to look for specific hairs and fibers that may be help to identify and source to other items. So they remove the tape so that no contamination has occurred, no extra hairs or fibers fall into it, and then they'll use that to identify the hairs and fibers for classification purposes.

MICHAEL MACIAS: The firearms and tool marks unit, we're looking at tool marks and comparison tools that may have been recovered from search scenes to try and identify if the tool marks found on the actual items of evidence that were submitted from the crime scenes would match the tool marks that were created from the tools that were recovered from the search scenes.

MICHAEL MACIAS: In that case they are looking for fingerprints, identifying according to their protocol based on their methods of recovering fingerprints to try and match those fingerprints to other fingerprints that may be submitted or other items that may have been submitted.

MICHAEL MACIAS: The DNA unit would swab different pieces of evidence where they, according to their protocols, would determine likely source of DNA, could be determined, and then report those results as a comparison to DNA samples from known people.

MICHAEL MACIAS: Within the chemistry lab, there are several subunits, including metallurgy, and they can determine the composition of different pieces of metal that were submitted. There's paints and polymers, and they would determine pattern matches for things like polymer tapes as well as the adhesive material underneath in order to source match those items to related items that had been submitted.

MICHAEL MACIAS: After each item was submitted to each unit, it would come back to us in chain of custody to ensure all items were present, and then we would move the item to the next unit in the prepared examination plan.

MICHAEL MACIAS: After all examinations were performed by the other units of the lab, all evidence was returned to the explosives unit where we performed our examinations.

MICHAEL MACIAS: Edward Knapp -- Special Agent/bomb tech Edward Knapp was in charge of developing the report based on the results that we -- an examination of the evidence in the explosives unit.

MICHAEL MACIAS: The initial examination is just to document the state of the item as it comes in and the general description of the item as we receive it.

MICHAEL MACIAS: A BB would be recorded as a spherical metal item. If it is known as an actual BB, we can refer to it as a BB.

MICHAEL MACIAS: Measuring wire, we would actually document the color of the sheathing, the color of the strands, any print that was on the actual sheathing of the wire. We'd measure the diameter of the wire in an effort to determine the actual gauge of the wire.

MICHAEL MACIAS: Yes, I do.

MICHAEL MACIAS: This is Item Q122 that we received into the laboratory.

MICHAEL MACIAS: That is correct.

MICHAEL MACIAS: The item was received with most of the information seen on this can pre-prepared by the evidence retrieval unit on-scene, and then we add our unique numbers attached to this, including the Q number I mentioned before, as well as my initials to identify that this has been checked in and inventoried, and then the analysis on these items would be performed.

MICHAEL MACIAS: When we receive the evidence into the laboratory, sometimes it's multiple pieces of evidence, or as I mentioned, tape was removed from evidence for latent prints, for an example. So the evidence, as it's being analyzed, will be separated into multiple items. In this case, Item Q122 is the original item, and Q122.1 was an item that was separated out and given a separate number in the system, but it sources from the original number the ERT gave when we received it into the laboratory.

MICHAEL MACIAS: Correct.

MICHAEL MACIAS: About this can? We've got the ERT information as they collect it, so there's seven points of information including date, location and who collected it. And they assign a specific number on-scene, what they refer to as an S number, in this case S2056. Then as it's prepared at their -- from what I understand, as it's gathered at their warehouse, they are adding a 1B number, FBI identification number, as well as bar code number for identification purposes within their system. So that information was then received on this can as we got it into the lab as well as the seal across the top. Once we received it into the laboratory and we've opened it up and identify what the item is, we assign a laboratory number. And that is based on the set of evidence that is received. Each shipment gets a unique identifying laboratory number. Then each item in that shipment is given a separate Q number, and in this case again Q122 and 122.1. And then my initials are added to that and the can is resealed and initialed as it moves around the lab for examination purposes.

MICHAEL MACIAS: That is correct.

MICHAEL MACIAS: All pieces of evidence were followed under the same procedure, standard, in the explosives unit.

MICHAEL MACIAS: It's photographed as it's received into the lab along with the inventory process. So it's assigned a Q number and then we photograph it immediately.

MICHAEL MACIAS: That's correct.