Sidebar: chain of custody

📄 Sidebar: chain of custody — Wednesday, December 11, 1996

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\DEC\11\SIDEBAR-CHAIN-OF-CUSTODY.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 30 of 57

◀ Direct examination of Susan Brockbank (part 2) Direct examination of Susan Brockbank (part 3) ▶

Date: Wednesday, December 11, 1996 • Utterances: 24

Plaintiff's attorney Gelblum raised a chain of custody objection regarding a box of physical evidence (containing debris), questioning where the box had been stored before arriving in court. The clerk explained the lengthy process of tracking down the box through LAPD/SID, ultimately establishing it came directly from LAPD to the courthouse. After hearing the clerk's account, Gelblum withdrew the objection.

# 1 THE COURT:

Better approach. Approach the bench, then.

# 2 (The following proceedings were held at the bench, with the reporter.)

# 3 THE COURT:

You want chain of custody?

# 4 MR. GELBLUM:

Your Honor --

# 5 THE COURT:

You want chain of custody?

# 6 MR. GELBLUM:

Your Honor, I examined the box. They've had the box at their office.

Right?

# 7 MR. BLASIER:

No. It's been here the whole time.

# 8 MR. GELBLUM:

No, there's no physical evidence. There was physical evidence at their office.

# 9 THE COURT:

I'll give you chain of custody.

# 10 MR. GELBLUM:

Good. I was told by them they took all defense exhibits to their office. If that's not true, that's fine.

# 11 MR. BLASIER:

No.

# 12 MR. GELBLUM:

To come right from the courthouse to here. If it came right from the courthouse here, even in the criminal courts building, Your Honor, we had access to it; they had access to it.

I'm not challenging them to use the box. Just the debris in the box doesn't prove anything at this late date. That's all I'm talking about.

# 13 THE COURT:

You want chain of custody, I'll give you what we have.

# 14 MR. GELBLUM:

Before you got it, Your Honor, it was in the Criminal Courts Building.

# 15 THE COURT:

I'll give you what we have.

# 16 THE CLERK:

I got it from the LAPD, from somebody at SID. I called -- initially, I called my supervisor to try to get him to do it. It took him about a day and a half. He couldn't do anything.

So I called Hank Goldberg. I checked the transcript, and the D.A. that was using the exhibit in the criminal trial is Hank Goldberg. He gave me one number to call.

I called about three people, including Gregory Matheson.

And then I got Mr. Matheson on the phone. I recognized his name as a witness in the case. So I told him I didn't want to talk to him; I had to talk to counsel and to the Court first, that I was trying to locate a box.

And he said, well, the correct person to call for the box is this other person. He gave me the number.

So I called the person at the other number. I got -- I got -- gee, what happened then.

KEY QUOTE

# 17 MR. GELBLUM:

Is the bottom line, it went from SID to the courthouse?

# 18 THE COURT:

That's the bottom line?

# 19 THE CLERK:

The bottom line is, LAPD contacted me.

# 20 THE COURT:

Went through a lot of trouble just because of that gentleman right there.

MR. P. BAKER: I'm sorry.

KEY QUOTE

# 21 (The following proceedings were held in open court, in the presence of the jury.)

# 22 THE COURT:

I take it the objection is withdrawn.

# 23 MR. GELBLUM:

Yes, Your Honor.

# 24 THE COURT:

Thank you.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (3)

Peter Gelblum

The debris in the box doesn't prove anything at this late date. That's all I'm talking about.

Reveals the real concern — not just custody formality but the evidentiary weight of physical debris from what appears to be an older criminal trial exhibit.

The Clerk

I got it from the LAPD, from somebody at SID. I called -- initially, I called my supervisor to try to get him to do it. It took him about a day and a half.

The clerk's detailed account of retrieving the exhibit through Hank Goldberg and Gregory Matheson traces the chain of custody from the criminal trial to the civil court.

Hiroshi Fujisaki

Went through a lot of trouble just because of that gentleman right there.

Fujisaki's pointed remark — apparently directed at defense counsel P. Baker — signals mild frustration with the objection.

Evidence (1)

Informal

A box of debris/physical evidence originating from the criminal trial, retrieved from LAPD's SID (Scientific Investigation Division)

chain of custody challenged, then objection withdrawn

Notable Exchanges (2)

Peter Gelblum•Robert Blasier

Brief dispute over whether the box had been at the defense office or stayed at the courthouse the whole time — Blasier denies it was ever at their office.

tense

Hiroshi Fujisaki•Peter Gelblum

After the clerk recounted the custody chain, Gelblum withdrew his objection without further argument.

procedural

Light Moments (2)

The Clerk

The clerk loses her train of thought mid-explanation — 'I got -- I got -- gee, what happened then' — prompting Gelblum to cut in with 'Is the bottom line, it went from SID to the courthouse?'

Hiroshi Fujisaki

Fujisaki pointedly remarks 'Went through a lot of trouble just because of that gentleman right there,' drawing an apology from P. Baker.

Objections

1 objections (0 sustained, 0 overruled)

Proceeding 8614 • 24 utterances

Civil Trial

Department 103