Fingerprints found in Mindy Morgenstern's apartment did not match those of her or Moe Gibbs, and no usable fingerprints were found on evidence submitted to the state crime lab.

Annette Anderson, who works for the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation, said seven usable fingerprints were found in Morgenstern's apartment. The prints did not match Morgenstern, Gibbs or Morgenstern's ex-boyfriend's brother. Anderson said she was given only the prints of those three people to compare to the prints in the apartment.

"It's very hard to get good fingerprint evidence,"she said.

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.

Prosecutors called six people to the witness stand on Friday, the fourth day of witness testimony in the case. Southeast District Judge John Paulson, who is presiding over the case, adjourned for the day around 2:05 p.m. Testimony usually lasts until around 5 p.m.

Barnes County State's Attorney Brad Cruff, Barnes County Assistant State's Attorney Lee Grossman and Assistant Attorney General Jon Byers are prosecuting the case. Jeff Bredahl and Dennis Fisher represent Gibbs.

LaMonte Jacobson, supervisor of the forensic science section of the state crime lab, said no usable fingerprints were found on evidence submitted to the state crime lab. He said factors can affect whether fingerprints can be lifted from surfaces, such as how often someone cleans and how porous a surface is. For instance, he said he has never seen a fingerprint lifted off a piece of cloth.

"We process a lot of evidence for fingerprints. Sometimes you get lucky and find some. Sometimes you don't find any,"he said.

Jacobson said he also examined carpet taken from Gibbs' apartment, which investigators had seen footprints on when they sprayed the surface with luminol. Jacobson said he sprayed the carpet with luminol, but the entire carpet glowed and he did not see any footprints.

Earlier in the day, Dr. Mohamed Sedqi, from the Minnesota crime lab, testified to doing mitochondrial DNA testing on a piece of hair found in Morgenstern's left hand. Sedqi explained that mitochondrial DNA is passed down from a person's mother, thus siblings with the same mother have the same mitochondrial DNA.

The hair was tested for mitochondrial DNA, because it did not contain nuclear DNA, which is less plentiful in a cell and is unique to each person, Sedqi said. He said the test excluded Gibbs and Morgenstern as sources of the hair. There is no database for mitochondrial DNA, so the source still is unknown, he said.

"Mitochondrial DNA does not determine the gender of the sample,"he said.

Jurors also heard from Dr. Bradley Braunagel, a deputy coroner in Barnes County. Braunagel said he spoke to the state medical examiner's office to find out how to prepare Morgenstern's body for transport to Bismarck for an autopsy. He did not perform any examinations on the body, because coroners are not supposed to disturb evidence. He said he could not determine a time of death even if he had examined the body, because it is not his area of expertise.

Christina Judd, Gibbs' ex-wife, testified that Gibbs dropped her off at work at "12:30-ish" on Sept. 13, the day of Morgenstern's murder. She said she believes she sent him a text message asking for something to drink at 12:33 p.m., but she said she could not be sure because various phone records show 11:33 a.m. and 1:33 p.m.

Judd did not smell Pine Sol on Gibbs or her daughter, who had been with Gibbs, when he picked her up for supper at 5:30, and she did not see any blood on him. Judd said she thinks Gibbs was wearing the same clothes as when he dropped her off at work, but she also said most of his clothing was blue and consisted of athletic shorts and T-shirts with sleeves cut off.

"Did he look frazzled like he just got done killing somebody?" Bredahl asked.

"No,"Judd said.

Judd said Gibbs told her after his arrest that he had helped Morgenstern carry laundry into her apartment the day before her murder. She said she does not remember what day Gibbs pointed out scratches on his hands to her, but she thought it was Sept. 11, 12 or 13.

Judd's sister, Angela Curry, also testified that Gibbs had pointed out to her a deep scratch on his left hand and a scratch on his face on Sept. 15. Gibbs told her Judd's daughter had caused the scratch on his face, and he had cut his hand on the tailgate of his Chevy Blazer while moving.

Curry said she and her sister talked about Morgenstern's murder on Sept. 15, but Gibbs did not join in the conversation.

"Moe was really quiet about it," she said. "He really didn't say much of anything."

Under cross examination by Bredahl, Curry said Gibbs not saying anything was not out of the ordinary. She said he typically was quiet.

"Around me it seemed like it,"she said.

Paulson said Hope Olson, the director of the state crime lab, is slated to testify all day on Monday.

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