In January 2008, the judge assigned to St. Guillen's murder case, Cheryl Chambers, was reassigned to the state's Appellate Division. Littlejohn's defense attorney Joyce David challenged the autopsy findings as well as the search warrants giving police the authority to search Littlejohn's van, his apartment, and to investigate his cell phone records. Prosecutors were given permission by Justice Abraham Gerges to admit evidence from Littlejohn's other crimes. Opening arguments were given on May 11, 2009. Prosecution headed by Kenneth Taub laid out the case that Littlejohn was a sex fiend. According to the Daily News, Taub said that "He [Littlejohn] did the same thing to two other women three months before" and "Until this case, he got away with it." They briefly described the circumstantial evidence against Littlejohn. Littlejohn wore glasses in the courtroom. Some defense lawyers have described this as the "nerd defense, which is a tactic used to make felons and other criminals appear less menacing to the jury during a trial." The defense was headed by Joyce David, who said that the case was a "racially charged frame-up by police eager to close a blockbuster case," according to the Daily News. David said, "He's a black man with a long criminal record," and "Who's going to care about him?" David pointed her finger at bartender Daniel Dorrian of The Falls bar and said that "Darryl Littlejohn is being framed to protect Danny Dorrian". Prosecution's case Claire Higgins, St. Guillen's best friend, was among the first to take the witness stand. She described the time she had shared with St. Guillen on the night of her disappearance. Daniel Dorrian, manager of the bar where St. Guillen was last seen, indicated during the trial that Littlejohn and St. Guillen had "a screaming match" that night. According to the Daily News, "Dorrian insisted he didn't lie when he initially stonewalled cops about St. Guillen's kidnapping and murder." However, he later admitted telling police that he did not remember St. Guillen being in The Falls bar, having attributed his initial statements to a fear of backlash against his bar. Defense lawyers suggested that Dorrian might have been the real killer and that St. Guillen might have returned to The Falls bar and "hooked up with Dorrian", though NYPD never investigated him as a possible suspect. Littlejohn's ex-girlfriend, Sandra Smith, testified on May 14, the fourth day of the trial, testifying that