linked - Investigating the Terror

Although defense counsel's questions lack precision, we think a fair
construction of them implicated Williams' attempt to modify Whitehurst's
June 15, 1993, dictation. The sections Williams wanted deleted from that
dictation provided innocent explanations for the residue results as
alternatives to a more incriminating explanation--e.g., urine and fertilizer
as alternatives to urea nitrate. Accordingly, when counsel asked Williams,
And when we talk about format, the specific part of the format that you
didn't like is when those opinions gave alternate reasons for finding
some residue. Am I correct? , Williams erred when he answered, That's
not correct. Similarly, when counsel asked, Well, when they said that, say
like for urea nitrate, in those reports when it said, urea nitrate could have
came from sewage, you were dissatisfied with those kinds of conclusions;
weren't you? , Williams again erred when he answered, No, I was not. We
conclude that Williams' answers to these questions were, at a minimum,
misleading.
D. Other Allegations
In his January 8, 1996, letter to the OIG, Whitehurst made numerous other
allegations concerning Williams' testimony in Salameh.
1. In his testimony Williams attempted to distinguish high from low
explosives by saying that the velocity of high explosives is above, and the
velocity of low explosives below, 3000 feet per second. This is technically
incorrect (see Attachment C, infra), but a common error, which was
harmless here.
2. Whitehurst criticizes Williams' general testimony about dynamite. We
find Williams' testimony substantially accurate and within his area of
expertise. Any technical errors (e.g., what is or is not carbonaceous )
were harmless and insignificant.
3. Williams was technically incorrect when he testified urea nitrate which
is urea and nitric acid, or nitro urea, urea with sulfuric acid. Urea nitrate
does not consist of urea and nitric acid; urea and nitric acid when mixed
form a new substance, urea nitrate. Nitrourea is made by mixing urea
nitrate with sulfuric acid. Although these errors are inconsequential, it