Dennis Oland's brown jacket analyzed by U.S. forensic video expert

A forensic video analyst cannot say definitively whether the brown sports jacket Dennis Oland is seen wearing in a security video on the day police believe his father, Richard Oland, was killed, is the same jacket seized from the accused's home.

But Grant Fredericks testified Monday at Dennis Oland's second-degree murder trial that he did note the top button of the seized jacket was broken, and that the top button of the jacket in the video surveillance appears smaller than the lower button.

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​There is not enough resolution in the video to be able to say the top button is broken, only that it is reflecting less light than the lower button, which could be due to its position or size, Fredericks told the Saint John courtroom.

Asked whether the top button could be broken, like the one on the seized jacket, he agreed it was possible.

Richard Oland's bludgeoned body was discovered lying face down in a large pool of blood in his investment firm office on July 7, 2011.

The 69-year-old prominent businessman had suffered 45 sharp and blunt force injuries to his head, neck and hands.

Dennis Oland, 47, who was the last known person to see his father alive during a meeting at his office the night before, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

Oland told police he was wearing a navy blazer when he went to visit his father that night, but video surveillance of him earlier that day shows he was wearing a brown jacket.

Police seized a brown jacket from his bedroom closet on July 14, 2011, which the Crown says had four areas of blood on it matching his father's DNA profile.

Analysis not like 'movie magic'

Fredericks, who operates Forensic Video Solutions, in Spokane, Wash., is a contract instructor of video sciences at the FBI National Academy, and a consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice.

He said he was contacted by the Saint John Police Force about the Oland case on March 15, 2012.

He was asked to examine video images and provide comparison analysis of "known" items, including the brown jacket, a checkered dress shirt and a blue pair of shorts, he said.

Fredericks told the jury most security videos compress the data to save memory space, resulting in a loss of resolution and quality. 

There are tools to enhance the data, but it's not like the "movie magic" often seen on televised crime shows, he said. Any analysis is limited to what was recorded.

Fredericks examined three videos of Oland, including a Brunswick House one, showing him at Tim Hortons on July 6, 2011, around 10:30 a.m.

"The individual I was asked to focus my attention on," was wearing a brown dress jacket, he said. The jacket had two buttons on the right hand side, a V-cut at the lapel, four buttons on the left sleeve and a breast pocket.

Fredericks then compared those findings with police photographs of the seized jacket, which had the same four features.

The Questioned jacket is indistinguishable from the Known jacket … It is not possible to state that it is the same jacket. However, the Known jacket cannot be eliminated as being the Questioned jacket.- Grant Fredericks, forensic video analyst

"After carefully examining the Known [seized] jacket … with the Questioned jacket worn by Male #1 [Dennis Oland in the video], I have formed the opinion that the Known and Questioned jackets are of the same class," he concluded in his 15-page report.

"The Questioned jacket is indistinguishable from the Known jacket. Since no unique characteristics are visible in the video that could uniquely identify the Questioned jacket, it is not possible to state that it is the same jacket. However, the Known jacket cannot be eliminated as being the Questioned jacket."

He also examined the checkered dress shirt Oland was wearing in the Brunswick House video, as well as a pair blue-grey shorts he was wearing in another surveillance video at a convenience store later that night.

In both cases, Fredericks could not same if the clothing items in the videos were the same as the articles seized from Oland's home, only that they had the same class features.

Not asked to analyze shoes, pants, red bag

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Gary Miller, Fredericks said he was not asked to provide any analysis of Oland's shoes, pants, or a red reusable grocery bag he reportedly had with him when he visited his father that night.

He wasn't asked to examine video or photos of Oland's car either, he said.

Miller asked Fredericks to look at the "brown" shoes Oland was wearing during his videotaped statement to police on July 7, 2011.

But Fredericks said it was "not an appropriate place to conduct an analysis for a lot of reasons."

"I'd be no better off than the jury," he said.

Still images are not not an accurate reproduction of the video, he said, adding he couldn't even say for sure if the shoes were brown. "It would simply be a guess."

Miller showed Fredericks another video of Oland, taken at Kent, and photographs of the six pairs of shoes police seized from his closet.

Asked if he might have reached a similar conclusion about the shoes as he did about the jacket, shirt and shorts, Fredericks said it's possible he might have found something unique that distinguished them, or not had any opinion at all.

"I don't know, I haven't examined them," he said.

Similarly, Miller asked Fredericks to look at the pants Oland was wearing in the videotaped police statement, compared to the pants he had on in the Brunswick House video, and asked whether they showed "similar creasing."

Fredericks stressed the photos taken from video change the ratio, which changes the shape and appearance of the creases. He also pointed out that creases change over time, and noted the 9.5 hour time difference between the two videos.

"I wouldn't describe them [the creases] as 'similar.' I wouldn't argue they're not, but I'm not in my lab doing an analysis."

As for whether he would have been able to provide a comparison analysis of the bag a man believed to be Oland is seen carrying in a security video outside his father's office on the evening of July 6, 2011, and a red reusable Compliments grocery bag seized from the trunk of Oland's car, Fredericks said "classification, possibly."

Miller also asked Fredericks about Oland's silver Volkswagen Golf City and some of its features illustrated in police photos, such as the five-spoke tire rims, a front grill that extends below the licence plate, and a bug protector across the front.

Fredericks said he'd only be guessing if he were to try to provide any comparison between the police photos and grainy surveillance videos the defence suggests show Oland's car.

He did, however, point out a dent behind the left headlight, which would be a "unique" characteristic that could be used to distinguish Oland's car from others in its class.

The trial resumes on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. when Miller is expected to continue his cross-examination of lead investigator, Const. Stephen Davidson.