Efforts to save Dale Porter's life, DNA results revealed at murder trial

For 45 minutes, they tried to save his life, toresuscitatethe heart and give Dale Porter a fighting chance.

"[We were] kind of hopeless," Dr.HasanAl-Obaidisaid during his testimony Friday morning at the first-degree murder trial of Al Potter in St. John's.

Al-Obaidiand a team of nurses and doctors at CarbonearGeneral Hospital worked for 15 minutes to save Porter a fisherman, trucker and father of two who had been stabbed several times.

Rehashingthe trauma call from nearly five years ago,Al-Obaiditried to remember the number of wounds he noticed while his colleagues triedto open Porter'sairways, enter IVs and keep him alive.

"I don't recall for details but I remember he had one [wound] at the base of the neck on the left side and he had maybe two on the right side [of his chest], one at the arm pitand on his arms," he said.

The most concerning woundwas on Porter's neck.By the time he made it to hospital, the doctor said he "had already lost almost all of his blood."

Andrea Sullivan, theparamedic on scene in the early morning hours of June 29, 2014, told the jury about being woken up around 4 a.m. to a call of a stabbing in North River.

"There was a couple bystanders screaming. One lady I remember was applying pressure to the left side of the neck and was screaming for our help," she said.

"He did have a pulse but was totally unresponsive."

Asked how many bystanders were there, Sullivan rememberedfour orfive, but admits she was focused more on getting Porter out of the chaotic scene and to hospital as quick as possible.

Sullivan and an RCMP officer rode in the back of the ambulance, ventilatingfor Porter and covering his wounds, while her partner drove to the hospital. A second ambulance met them along the way to provide assistance.

"Did you strike Mr. Porter in the neck for medical or non medical reasons?" asked Crown prosecutor Erin Matthews.

"No."

"Do you recall your partner doing that?"

"No,"Sullivan answered.

DNA results revealed

The first witness on the stand Friday was Florence Clestin, a DNA specialist from the RCMP's crime lab in Ottawa, who testified to the results of evidenceprocessed.

She said the lab examined a greyDenver Hayes hoodie that the jury has already heard was seized from Potter after he was arrested in early July of2014,in connection with Porter's death. He was not charged at that time.

Three stains were tested, with two coming back with Porter's DNA. The chances of the DNA belonging to someone else is one in 640 billion.

While brown in colour, testing did not reveal the stain was blood.However,Clestin said it's not ruled out as a possibility.

"It could be blood, it could be some other biological material but in the end a [DNA] profile was obtained," Clestin explained.

Staining discovered inside a Birch Hills taxi matched the DNA profile of the victim and another profile so minor that it couldn't be detected.

The filter of a cigarette seized from Porter's driveway contained the DNA of two people Potter and Porter.

How long does DNA last?

"Some people share a cigarette butt when they smoke,"Clestin offered when asked by defence lawyer Randy Piercey how one item could have two DNA profiles.

The DNA, she said, would come from the skin cells inside the mouth, not from the saliva itself.

Meanwhile, Pierceypointed out it was Potter's blood and his alone that was found on a Vikings Motorcycle Club leather vest.

"lf I bled on mygown and left it there for the weekend, could you tell it was my DNA?" Piercey asked, referring to his lawyer's robes.

"Probably," Celestin said.

"How long will DNA stay in spilledblood?" he inquired.

"If the fabric is kept dry and away from moist environments, the DNAwould remain intact," she said.

The jury was let go early on Friday, as the Crown finished calling witnesses ahead of schedule. Next week, the court is expected to hear from friends of Porter.

Past coverage:

• Day 4:Potter jury sees autopsy photos, knife at murder trial
• Day 3:Dale Porter killed over making fun, disrespecting Vikings motorcycle club, says Crown
• Day 2:Al Potter's murder trial delayed, as sheriffs find new potential jurors downtown
• Day 1:Jury picked for Al Potter's 1st-degree murder trial