Attorneys in the Moe Gibbs murder trial questioned two law enforcement officers involved in the investigation into the death of Mindy Morgenstern and engaged in numerous battles over entering evidence and the phrasing of questions to witnesses.

Gibbs, 35, a former Barnes County jailer, is accused of killing Morgenstern, a Valley City State University student from New Salem, in her off-campus Valley City apartment in September 2006. A deadlocked jury in Minot could not reach a verdict in the case at a trial that lasted from June 19 to July 12. The second trial is being held at the Burleigh County Courthouse.

Barnes County State's Attorney Brad Cruff continued questioning Bureau of Criminal Investigations Special Agent Mark Sayler, the case agent in the Morgenstern murder. Sayler had been on the witness stand Tuesday afternoon when court adjourned. He was cross-examined by defense attorney Jeff Bredahl on Wednesday and spent about 4½ hours testifying from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon.

Later, prosecutors called Valley City Police Det. Mark McDonald, who was initially in charge of the investigation. Defense attorney Dennis Fisher was cross-examining McDonald when Southeast District Judge John Paulson adjourned for the day.

Cruff is being assisted in the prosecution by Barnes County Assistant State's Attorney Lee Grossman and Assistant Attorney General Jon Byers.

Sayler talked Wednesday about using luminol in the apartment building where both Gibbs and Morgenstern lived. Luminol is a chemical that makes blood glow under a black light, even if it is not visible to the naked eye.

The test turned up footprints in Gibbs' apartment, but the state crime lab could not determine what the footprints were made of. No evidence of blood was found in the hallways in the apartment leading from Morgenstern's door to Gibbs' door.

Sayler said investigators had used Morgenstern's first missed call on her cell phone, at 12:47 p.m., and the time when residents of the building began smelling Pine Sol, around 1 p.m., to determine an approximate time of death.

Pine Sol had been dumped on Morgenstern's body, and residents in the building and investigators reported a strong scent of the cleaning product in the building.

Bredahl questioned the time of death established by Sayler, saying there were discrepancies in when the Pine Sol scent was noticed. Sayler said the time was based on initial reports of the smell.

Sayler also told jurors about other leads checked by investigators and explained why four fingerprints found in Morgenstern's apartment were not identified. He said the prints did not match Gibbs or Morgenstern, and determining who they belonged to would require fingerprinting everyone who ever had been in the apartment.

He also said DNA profiles found on knives and gloves at the scene were partial profiles that could not positively identify anyone.

Partial profiles can only exclude people from being possible contributors, and Gibbs was excluded as a possible source of the DNA on those items.

McDonald said during his testimony that he believes Morgenstern was killed by a left-handed assailant because of the way the cuts looked and the position of Morgenstern's arm.

He also told jurors about asking Gibbs about scratches on his hands while interviewing him on Sept. 20. He said Gibbs reported getting a deep gouge on his left hand while moving boxes on Sept. 14 and a superficial cut on his right hand while positioning his stepdaughter in a car seat on Sept. 15.

The issue of the scratches was one of several things attorneys argued about on Wednesday. Defense attorneys wanted prosecutors to show a videotape of McDonald interviewing Gibbs, rather than allow him to testify. Prosecutors said they did not wish to show the video on Wednesday and argued that McDonald's testimony was good enough.

The attorneys also argued about the admittance of cell phone and computer records, the phrasing of questions to the officers and had a back-and-forth battle about who should be questioned about the results of testing at the state crime lab. At times, both defense attorneys and prosecutors asked the officers about results of tests, and both sides objected to such questions, saying crime lab employees were better suited to answer the questions.

The jury was dismissed at 4:14 p.m. after Fisher asked to show a redacted video of the interview that would show only parts featuring McDonald. Cruff indicated he would object to that, and Paulson dismissed jurors so the attorneys could argue their points.

Paulson said he would decide on the issue today.

McDonald is expected to continue testifying this morning, following Paulson's decisions about the video and other issues.

Also brought up Wednesday was how to handle the process involved in the supervisory writ filed at the Supreme Court on Tuesday by prosecutors.

Paulson said he has "no clue" how the court will handle the writ, which asks the state high court to intervene in the case and force Paulson to allow testimony regarding sexual charges Gibbs also is facing in two other cases.

Defense attorneys wanted the jury sequestered because of media coverage of the writ, which included information from closed hearings, but Paulson said he trusted jurors to avoid media coverage of the trial.

The Supreme Court was in Grand Forks on Wednesday hearing cases and did not act on the writ. Paulson said the court can summarily dismiss the action, which means they would take no action and would not hear testimony, or they could require the attorneys and Paulson to testify on the issues involved.

Colette Bergman, Supreme Court deputy clerk, said nothing had been scheduled as of Wednesday afternoon regarding the discussion of the writ.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)