The defense team for Nima Momeni, the man accused of killing tech executive Bob Lee, called their first witness to the stand Thursday.
The witness was Dr. Greg Hampikian, an expert on DNA analysis and a now-retired professor at Boise State University.
On the stand, there was almost immediately an objection from the prosecution and a conference with the judge seemingly aimed to limit what he could talk about.
His main testimony involved the small amount of DNA found on the handle of the knife from a second, unidentified person. It's what the San Francisco crime lab analyst testified about a few days ago.
"What the defense is trying to do is give Mr. Momeni a pathway to walk through this case and explain his self-defense claims," legal analyst Steven Clark said.
The defense also raised questions again about the benefit of getting a fingerprint from something and getting DNA.
Hampikian testified DNA is great at telling you that someone may have come into contact with something, but a fingerprint can tell you how it did.
"The big key for the DNA expert called by the defense is they want to show that even if you extract DNA from the knife, you could have also found fingerprints and lifted the fingerprints," Clark said.
On cross examination, Kampikian said he has lifted prints from a crime scene before as a hobbyist and educator, but he's not an expert on getting fingerprints.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. >Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
He told jurors he's aware that rubber is not an ideal surface to lift a fingerprint from and he's aware the knife handle in this case is rubber. He also told prosecutors he had no issues with the analysis by the San Francisco crime lab.
The next witness was Aranza Villegas. She's one of Khazar Momeni's friends and was at Jeremy Boivin's party the night of the killing.
Villegas testified about the drugs that were at Boivin's party and talking with Nima Momeni on the phone, telling him where to pick up his sister. She testified that she did not know Lee, never met him and never had any conversations with Nima about him.
