Captain Wayne Stanfield, an American Airlines pilot with 13 years of service, testified that OJ Simpson was a passenger on his flight from Los Angeles to Chicago on the night of June 12, 1994 — departing at 11:45 PM. Stanfield left the cockpit mid-flight to speak with Simpson, whom he admired, and obtained an autograph in his logbook. His key testimony was that Simpson appeared calm, warm, and congenial, and that Stanfield observed no cuts, blood, or bandages on either of Simpson's hands.
# 1 (The jurors resumed their respective seats.) # 2 THE CLERK: You do solemnly swear that the testimony you may give in the cause now pending before this court shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
# 3 WAYNE STANFIELD: I do.
# 4 THE CLERK: And, sir, if you would, please state an spell your name for the record.
# 5 WAYNE STANFIELD: Wayne Stanfield, W-a-y-n-e S-t-a-n-f-i-e-l-d.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LEONARD:
# 6 Q: Good afternoon captain Stanfield. Good afternoon, sir.
# 8 Q: Could you tell us what your occupation is.
# 9 A: I'm a commercial airline pilot.
# 10 Q: Who you do work for?
# 11 A: American Airlines.
# 12 Q: What is your rank at American?
# 14 Q: How long have you been a captain?
# 15 A: Starting six years.
# 16 Q: And how long have you been with American as a pilot?
# 18 Q: Are you -- and were you in the military, sir?
# 20 Q: Okay.
And have you just recently retired?
# 21 A: I retired in August.
# 22 Q: And what was your rank at retirement?
# 24 Q: Now, directing your attention to June 12, 1994, were you the pilot in charge and captain of flight 668 to Chicago from Los Angeles?
# 26 Q: That flight departed at what time?
# 28 Q: At some point, did you leave the cockpit and walk back into the first-class cabin?
# 30 Q: I take it the co-pilot was controlling the aircraft at that time.
# 31 A: The autopilot was controlling the aircraft. The co-pilot was monitoring the autopilot.
# 32 Q: Thank you.
What was your purpose for going back into the first-class cabin, sir?
# 33 A: Well, I'd been in the seat for three hours. To stretch, to use the bathroom.
# 34 Q: Any other reason you went back there?
# 35 A: In conjunction with that, I knew that Mr. Simpson was on board, and I briefly talked to him.
# 36 Q: Okay. How did you learn that Mr. Simpson was on board?
# 37 A: The number one flight attendant -- the first-class flight attendant had indicated that he had boarded.
# 38 Q: And that was early on when you first -- just before you took off?
# 39 A: Yes, in Los Angeles.
# 40 Q: Now, why did you want to talk to Mr. Simpson?
# 41 A: The short reason or the long reason?
# 42 Q: Let's stick with the short reason, since we don't have that much time.
# 43 A: He's an admired sports figure and a person that I had admired.
KEY QUOTE # 44 Q: Okay.
And you got -- and was it your intention to have him do anything?
You just wanted to engage in conversation with him, or did you bring something back with you to have him autograph?
# 45 A: I briefly wanted to explain to him how important it was to me that he represented a -- represented positively athletics, and how important that was to me.
And then I took my logbook back to get an autograph, as well.
# 46 Q: Okay.
By the way, do you have a -- do you have a copy of the page of your logbook that Mr. Simpson ultimately autographed?
# 48 Q: Can you show it to me?
# 49 A: Yes. This is the logbook.
These are the copies.
# 50 Q: May I approach, Your Honor?
# 52 WAYNE STANFIELD: Now, the --
# 53 MR. LEONARD: Can we mark this next?
# 55 MR. LEONARD: 2263.
MR. P. BAKER: It's been pre-marked as 1177.
# 56 THE CLERK: Then we'll take 1177.
# 57 MR. LEONARD: Thank you, Mr. Baker.
MR. P. BAKER: That was Mr. Foster.
# 58 MR. LEONARD: Thank you, Mr. Foster.
# 59 (The instrument herein referred to as Copy of a page from Captain Stanfield's logbook for June 12, 1996, autographed by O.J. Simpson, was marked for identification as Defendants' Exhibit No. 1177.) # 60 Q: (BY MR. LEONARD) Showing you what's been marked as 1177, just for the record, can you identify that that is a copy of a portion of your logbook; is that right?
# 62 Q: And so tell us what you did. You walked back to where Mr. Simpson was sitting, correct?
# 63 A: I left the cockpit, used the forward lavatory. Upon completion and exiting the lavatory, there's a half right turn looking to the aft of the aircraft. He was seated on the right side of the aircraft, and I made eye contact. I got his attention.
# 64 Q: And as you approached Mr. Simpson, did he do anything?
Did he get up?
Did he do anything?
# 65 A: No, not initially.
When I made eye contact, I asked if it would be an imposition to talk to him.
He said no, and he sort of came up to a half crouch.
# 66 Q: What did he do at that point?
# 67 A: We both extended our hands mutually, and shook hands.
# 68 Q: At that point, did you sit down next to him?
# 70 Q: And what was the reason for sitting down next to him, sir?
# 71 A: It's easier to conduct a conversation sitting next to somebody, than standing over them.
# 72 Q: So he was -- you sat down on his left side, correct?
# 74 Q: In other words, he was in the seat next to the window; is that right?
# 76 Q: And you sat down on the aisle seat?
# 78 Q: So his left side was to your right, correct?
# 79 A: That's a true statement.
# 80 Q: How long was your conversation with Mr. Simpson?
# 81 A: Several minutes. Three minutes or so.
# 84 Q: And tell -- tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury what Mr. Simpson's demeanor was during the conversation.
# 85 A: It was very warm, congenial, calm, cool, and collected.
KEY QUOTE # 86 Q: Now, at some point during this discussion, you passed your logbook to Mr. Simpson?
# 88 Q: And he took it from you?
# 89 A: I'd asked him if it wouldn't be an imposition that I get his autograph.
He said no, that it wouldn't.
And I had my logbook, and I extended it to him, to an open page. And then he didn't have a pen, and he sort of made a gesture, well, I don't have a pen, so I loaned him my pen.
And then he signed it, as you can see.
# 90 Q: So he took the logbook in his hands like this, something like that; is that right, sir?
Why don't you show us how he took it, if you recall.
# 92 Q: Do you have a specific recollection of how he actually took the book in his hands from you?
# 93 A: No, I wouldn't say that I -- that I directly do, no.
# 94 Q: But in any event, he held the book in both hands at some point; is that correct?
# 95 A: He accepted it. I don't know if he accepted it with one or two hands. But he obviously was holding it with one hand while he wrote the autograph.
# 96 Q: He was holding it with his left hand while he signed with his right?
# 98 Q: You were able to observe both hands at that point, sir?
# 99 A: Yes, I saw both hands.
# 100 Q: Did you see any cuts of any kind on his hands?
# 101 A: I have no recollection of any injuries or cuts, no.
KEY QUOTE # 102 Q: Any blood, any bandages, anything like that?
# 104 Q: Now, just just one final question.
What did Mr. Simpson write in the autograph?
He wrote "O.J. Simpson," his autograph, obviously, "Peace to you."
# 105 MR. LEONARD: No further questions.