(Albuquerque) It hinted of Johnny Cochran challenging the glove in the O.J. Simpson case; Gary Mitchell scrutinising a pair of shorts Wednesday which belonged to Girly Chew Hossencofft.

While standing directly before the jury box, Mitchell asked lead detective Michael Fox to inspect the shorts. Mitchell challenged the detective to locate any loose piece of thread on the shorts that might indicate a button is missing. Prosecutors maintain that a pink button found in defendant Linda Henning's car came from the shorts.

Henning attorney Gary Mitchell (2nd from right) asks Detective Michael Fox (center) to inspect Ms. Hossencofft's shorts for any sign of a missing button, specifically any loose thread (also pictured, Court TV's photographer and prosecutor Paul Spiers).

Detective Fox locates a loose thread, but Mitchell contends it's not due to a missing button. Mitchell says the shorts don't appear to be missing a button.

The shorts, along with other clothing belonging to Ms. Hossencofft, were discovered inside a blood-stained tarp found along Highway-60 one day after the 36-year-old woman disappeared.

As the judge dismissed the jury for a mid-morning recess Wednesday, Ms. Henning looked at me and indicated she wanted to tell me something. After I approached her, she told me that Mitchell had "ruled-out the sword and the gun" during the final 45-minutes of court the previous day. She stated that none of the local television stations were present at that time and she wanted the word to get out. So, I asked Mitchell about Henning's claim. He explained that he told the jury Tuesday afternoon that a Ninja sword and Henning's gun are irrelevant because Ms. Hossencofft's body was never found, therefore her cause of death is not known.

Also, it appears Diazien Hossencofft won't be testifying this week after all. While the defense has filed a Motion to Transfer Hossencofft from the State Penitentiary in Santa Fe to the Bernalillo County Detention Center in Albuquerque so that he would be available to testify this (Thursday) morning, the prosecution has not finished presenting its case. It appears prosecutors will finish calling witnesses Tuesday or Wednesday of next week (Monday is a holiday and there will be no court). Therefore, if the defense follows through and calls Hossencofft to testify, it will likely happen during the middle of next week. As of Wednesday afternoon, Hossencofft had not arrived at BCDC.