Duluth-based MVA Scientific Consultants, with its 11 state of the art laboratories, is just as dedicated, minus the sensationalism, in examing a stray hair or microscopic fiber and solving the crime. The smaller the better.
"If you can see it with a naked eye, it's too big for us," said Timothy B. Vander Wood, 57, MVA executive director.
MVA’s expertise has been used in a variety of cases ranging from matching particles from World Trade Center dust to identifying the origins of food contamination to proving where in the manufacturing process a fly was embedded in a medical bottle stopper. MVA, which has 14 employees, provided the only forensic evidence in one of Atlanta’s most well-known murder cases.
Usually MVA is hired when a company’s internal researcher hits a dead end. Sometimes, the company is hired by lawyers to act as anexpert witness. The company charges a minimum $750 but costs can reach several thousands of dollars based on the scope of the work.
“When a black speck shows up on a microscope under a routine quality control test, there is a need to know where that speck came from,” said Vander Wood. “If you are the company that may be held liable for the situation, trust me, it’s a big problem. Often it comes down to who is responsible and who will pay. We take that black spec, identify it, find out where it came from and how it got there. Sometimes it doesn’t come from where you think.”
MVA’s ability to identify and locate the source of tiny material provided the only forensic evidence that linked Colvin C. "Butch" Hinton III to the 1995 strangulation of Emory student Shannon Melendi. Although there was plenty of circumstantial evidence, MVA analyzed specks of metal on masking tape and a cloth bag containing the victim’s ring that were found after she went missing. MVA discovered that the metals – titanium, tungsten, cobalt and molybdenum – were also found in tape both in Hinton’s possession and at Delta Air Lines where he worked. It was learned that Delta made the only purchase of the tape in the state.
“Even the FBI missed it,” he said.
Steve Moore, a partner with Kilpatrick & Stockton, hired MVA for a patent infringement case. After Moore’s client introduced a health care product, another company soon had a similar product. The case revolved around whether or not a gel penetrated into the structure of the bandage.
“It was very complex but Tim was able to explain it easily and in business terms,” Moore said. “He color-coordinated everything. It was so scientifically sound that any juror could see the patent infringement. My client was very pleased.”
Nothing the company does is routine. “We start with what we know and then we ask a lot of questions that ultimately allow a problem to be solved,” Vander Wood said.
