The State's Toxicologist Admits the Comforter Cocaine Number Shouldn't Count | Pt 29

The comforter was the state's strongest physical evidence in this poisoning trial. On cross, their own toxicologist said the cocaine number on it shouldn't count. Dr. Kari Midthun is the NMS Labs forensic toxicologist the state brought in to carry almost all of its lab evidence: the blood, the urine, and the cocaine found on the comforter from Jade Benning's apartment. Benning was a 25-year-old chef, about five months pregnant with a daughter she had already named Ivy, when she collapsed in February 2023. The state says her boyfriend, former Tennessee Titans scout Blaise Taylor, secretly gave her a lethal dose of cocaine to escape a baby he never wanted. The defense says the science never proved it, and the medical examiner refused to call the death a homicide. On Day 4 Midthun gave the state its biggest physical-evidence number, a cocaine reading off the comforter stain. On Day 5 the defense put the lab itself on trial: a blood vial that arrived unsealed, a reviewer the prosecution swapped in days before trial who signed off on thousands of pages in under an hour, drug hits the lab never ran down, and collection dates the DA's office had changed ten days out. Then watch the state try to put it back together on redirect. WATCH WITH JUSTICE 3:24 to 16:44 - The defense walks Midthun through the lab's own rules, then shows the blood the toxicology rests on arrived unsealed, with no one able to say who drew it or where it sat before NMS. 16:44 to 36:51 - The reviewer first assigned to this case was subpoenaed, the DA emailed to move it to Midthun, and the records show her adopting two cases, 1,912 pages and 2,616 pages, in under an hour. Watch her explain. 37:27 to 42:38 - The number that doesn't count. The analyst who produced the comforter cocaine result tells the jury quantitation should not be done, then the labels show police logged the comforter at 9:30, eight minutes before Taylor's 911 call. 42:38 to 50:50 - Pressed on the extraction method she hand wrote for this case, Midthun is asked if it was validated before she used it and says she is not sure how to answer. 50:50 to 57:04 - The comforter also flagged meth and marijuana. Midthun never ran them down, and the lab can find no record it ever told the police those hits existed. 1:04:34 to 1:11:02 - Ten days before trial, the DA's office had Midthun reissue reports with changed collection dates. Watch what she says was the only thing that changed. 1:29:52 to 1:43:40 - The state rebuilds: cocaine sits in the earliest, pre-hospital samples and fentanyl only appears after the hospital. On recross, Midthun confirms the date changes came from the DA's office, not from any doctor. COMPLETE CASE COVERAGE justiceisaprocess.com SUBSCRIBE for daily trial coverage and hit the notification bell so you never miss testimony. JOIN to unlock the Case Notebook powered by NotebookLM, where you can chat with the evidence, ask questions about testimony, and go deeper than any comment section allows. CASE BACKGROUND REPORT: https://www.justiceisaprocess.com/tn-... Complete case overview including the charges, the timeline, the key players, and the legal questions this trial raises. State of Tennessee v. Blaise Taylor. Davidson County Criminal Court in Nashville, Judge Steve Dozier presiding. Taylor faces two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of felony murder in the deaths of Jade Benning and her unborn child. He is presumed innocent. The state is seeking life without parole. PLAYLISTS AND RESOURCES Website: https://www.justiceisaprocess.com/cov... Full Trial Live Broadcasts:    • TN v. Blaise Taylor - LIVE BROADCAST   No Breaks Edition:    • TN v. Blaise Taylor - NO BREAKS EDITION   Trial Analysis Podcast:    • TN v. Blaise Taylor - CASE STORY TRIAL POD...   Key Moments and Testimony:    • TN v. Blaise Taylor - KEY CLIPS AND TESTIMONY   Subscribe for Daily Coverage:    / @justiceisaprocess   FAIR USE AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE This content is produced under Fair Use (17 U.S.C. 107) for news reporting, criticism, and educational purposes. We provide transformative commentary on public court proceedings, advancing public understanding of the judicial process through timestamps, analysis, and educational context. #JusticeIsAProcess #BlaiseTaylor #JadeBenning