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THE JOURNEY OF DANIEL HORTZCLAW'S PANTS
STORYBOARD - DRAFT 2 - SCENES 1-17
8.31.26 - JASON@PEARPOD.COM - 949.212.7681
THE JOURNEY OF DANIEL HOLTZCLAW’S PANTS
I am Item Number 17. Before June 18, 2014, I had a simpler name. Pants.
Then I became evidence.
And people began using me to prove things.
That’s where my owner’s troubles began.
And people began using me to prove things.
That’s where my owner’s troubles began.
When police collect clothing for DNA testing, two things matter most:
Minimizing contamination.
And documenting custody.
The detective collecting me puts his ungloved hand inside my evidence bag before I go in.
That’s a no-no.
That’s a no-no.
My belt and I went into the same bag. Another no-no.
Separate items of evidence should be packaged separately.
Separate items of evidence should be packaged separately.
And there was nothing inside the bag keeping my fly separate from my legs, cuffs, pockets, seat—or the belt.
That means those different locations were not physically kept apart. Remember that.
Because fifteen months later, the prosecution would become extremely interested in exactly where on me DNA was found. That’s a lot to ask of “location” after packaging me in a way that didn’t keep one part of me separate from another.
But before anyone could argue about where DNA was found, a more basic question loomed. Where was I?
Cops collected me on June 18. The evidence facility’s records begin the following day, June 19. The records do not identify where I was kept overnight. They do not show who had control of me that night. And they do not show whether the evidence bag was sealed.
By the following day, the laboratory paperwork described my container as a tape sealed bag.
So sometime between those two events, somebody sealed the bag.
So sometime between those two events, somebody sealed the bag.
The case file doesn’t say. Those aren’t the only unanswered questions.
Visual: tape-sealed evidence bag.
WHEN?
WHERE?
THE JOURNEY OF DANIEL HORTZCLAW'S PANTS
STORYBOARD - DRAFT 1 - SCENES 17-21
- JASON@PEARPOD.COM - 949.212.7681
Three years after trial, Ms. Taylor acknowledged under oath that I had remained in laboratory storage. The property records confirm it.
On October 24, Adaira Gardner’s buccal swabs entered the DNA Laboratory.
On November 4, at 10:15 a.m., DNA was extracted from that known sample.
So the physical separation described to the jury was not what actually happened.
So the physical separation described to the jury was not what actually happened.
Did I go to central evidence storage…
—the place the jury had been told I was?
No.
No.
The property history placed me in the Sex Crimes Unit.
And there I remained for five months.
Where exactly was I within the Sex Crimes Unit?
Who had custody of me?
Who had custody of me?
Just kidding. But actually who knows what really happened to me?
The point is: If I remained sealed and was simply being stored, what was I doing in the Sex Crimes Unit for five months?
Adaira Gardner was one of key accusers.. She alleged that Daniel raped her through the fly of his uniform pants.
Daniel denied the allegation.
Daniel denied the allegation.
One fact is undisputed. Daniel and Adaira have both testified that he searched her during an encounter that took place on the street. She was wearing shorts.
That direct physical contact occurred the evening before I was collected.
That direct physical contact occurred the evening before I was collected.
The hand-pat search created an opportunity for biological material to transfer from Adaira to Daniel’s hands—or directly to me.
Material on his hands could later have reached my fly when he handled or unzipped me.
Material on his hands could later have reached my fly when he handled or unzipped me.
And material deposited somewhere else on me could potentially have moved to my fly when my surfaces folded and pressed against one another inside the bag.
Did either of those things happen? I don’t know. Nobody does.
Testing detects DNA. It does not tell the jury what kind of material carried it, when it got there, or how.
Did either of those things happen? I don’t know. Nobody does.
Testing detects DNA. It does not tell the jury what kind of material carried it, when it got there, or how.
“I would suggest to you that the most important thing about Adaira Gardner is the fact that DNA from the walls of her vagina was transferred... not of his cuff, not where he sits, but of the exact location she says his penis came in contact.”
This was the last thing the jury heard. Two big problems.
First, testing did not establish DNA was vaginal fluid. It could have come from her hands or legs.
First, testing did not establish DNA was vaginal fluid. It could have come from her hands or legs.
Second, finding DNA on my fly did not prove my fly was where it was first deposited.
My cuffs weren’t tested. My pockets weren't tested. My seat wasn't tested. And those parts of me were stored folded together, touching one another.
My cuffs weren’t tested. My pockets weren't tested. My seat wasn't tested. And those parts of me were stored folded together, touching one another.
That was a pretty wild adventure!
The ungloved hand inside my evidence bag.
The ungloved hand inside my evidence bag.
Me and the belt packaged together without an inner barrier separating my surfaces.
An undocumented overnight interval.
Two stories about the zipper position that can’t coexist
And 15 months of improper storage following collection.
But the jury was not asked to decide whether my chain of custody was proper.
Before trial, the prosecution and Daniel’s defense attorney signed this.
They stipulated that a proper chain of custody had been maintained—and that no item of evidence had been compromised in any way.
The jury never heard the history you just heard.
They were simply told my chain of custody was proper.
They were simply told my chain of custody was proper.
Now you have seen the record.
You decide.
You decide.
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