Tuesday, December 10, 1996 — O.J. Simpson Civil Trial Day 29

📂 Tuesday, December 10, 1996 — Day 29

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\DEC\10

TRIAL

▲ Day 29 of 57

◀ Day 28 Day 30 ▶

Day 29 — Tuesday, December 10, 1996

Defense presses LAPD witnesses on evidence handling and chain of custody

Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki • Civil Trial • 27 proceedings • 3042 lines

Appearing:

🛡️ Robert Blasier 🛡️ Robert Baker 🔬 Andrea Mazzola 🗣️ Thano Peratis 👮 Det. Tom Lange ⚖️ Hiroshi Fujisaki 📜 Tom Lambert 📜 John Kelly 📜 Edward Medvene 👮 Det. Philip Vannatter 🔬 Gregory Matheson 📜 Daniel Petrocelli

tense

The day centered on defense challenges to LAPD evidence collection, storage, chain of custody, and witness recollections, with testimony from Vannatter, Mazzola, Peratis, Matheson, and Lange. Vannatter acknowledged leaving Simpson's reference-blood envelope unsealed for roughly three hours and not adequately examining shrubbery around the Rockingham glove. Mazzola testified about not changing gloves between two items and about unrefrigerated swatches and an unlocked drying cabinet. Peratis and Matheson were questioned about changing or imprecise blood-volume estimates, while Matheson and Lange disputed or minimized parts of the defense's theories. Plaintiff's counsel also examined Vannatter about detectives being out of one another's sight, the glove location, and delivery of Simpson's blood specimen.

Detective Vannatter conceded he never sealed Simpson's blood specimen envelope, leaving it unsealed in his possession for roughly three hours
Criminalist Andrea Mazzola testified that she had only six months' experience and had previously described herself as a 'crime scene trainee'; she did not change gloves between collecting the knit cap and the Bundy glove, and the swatches were not counted, sketched, or photographed
Nurse Thano Peratis changed sworn testimony about blood volume drawn from Simpson—originally 8 cc at grand jury and preliminary hearing, later revised to 6-6.5 cc after hearing Cochran's opening statement about missing blood
Mazzola testified that Rockingham swatches remained unrefrigerated until the team returned to the lab about ten hours after collection and were dried overnight in open, labeled test tubes in separate areas of the same unlocked cabinet
Serologist Matheson acknowledged approximately 1.5 cc of blood was unaccounted for between collection and toxicology testing of Simpson's reference sample
Defense counsel Baker challenged Detective Lange about detectives leaving Bundy before it was processed and about Fuhrman's role in entering Rockingham; Lange disputed many of Baker's characterizations

administrative Morning session opening 7 lines
witness examination Direct examination of Philip Vannatter 75 lines
witness examination Cross-examination of Philip Vannatter (part 1) 82 lines
sidebar Sidebar: video evidence 28 lines
witness examination Redirect examination of Philip Vannatter (part 2) 97 lines
witness examination Redirect examination of Philip Vannatter 90 lines
witness examination Re-redirect examination of Philip Vannatter 7 lines
administrative Witness dismissal 6 lines
sidebar Sidebar: examination procedures 8 lines
witness examination Direct examination of Andrea Mazzola 215 lines
administrative Recess (1) 4 lines
administrative Session resumption 2 lines
witness examination Redirect examination of Andrea Mazzola 508 lines
witness examination Direct examination of Andrea Mazzola (part 2) 254 lines
administrative Administrative matters 8 lines
witness examination Direct examination of Thano Peratis 629 lines
witness examination Cross-examination of Thano Peratis 104 lines
administrative Exhibits 12 lines
witness examination Direct examination of Gregory Matheson 126 lines
witness examination Redirect examination of Gregory Matheson 27 lines
witness examination Cross-examination of Gregory Matheson 36 lines
witness examination Recross-examination of Gregory Matheson 7 lines
administrative Exhibit marking 8 lines
witness examination Direct examination of Tom Lange 425 lines
administrative Recess (2) 2 lines
witness examination Redirect examination of Tom Lange 273 lines
jury instruction Jury instructions 2 lines

Day 29 • 27 proceedings • 3042 lines

Civil Trial

Department 103