Direct examination of Michael Gladden

📄 Direct examination of Michael Gladden — Tuesday, December 17, 1996

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\DEC\17\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-MICHAEL-.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 33 of 57

◀ Witness procedures Redirect examination of Michael Gladden ▶

Witness: Michael Gladden
Examiner: Dan Leonard
Called by: Defense • Date: Tuesday, December 17, 1996 • Utterances: 99

Michael Gladden, a courier, testified that he saw O.J. Simpson arrive by limousine at LAX airport around 11 p.m. on June 12, 1994 — the night of the murders. He observed Simpson's demeanor as calm and unremarkable, saw no cuts or bandages on Simpson's hands, and got an autograph from him signed 'O.J. Simpson, peace to ya.'

# 1 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?

# 2 MICHAEL GLADDEN:

I do.

# 3 THE BAILIFF:

Please be seated, sir.

# 4 THE CLERK:

And, sir, would you please state and spell your name for the record.

# 5 MICHAEL GLADDEN:

Michael Gladden, G-l-a-d-d-e-n.

# 6 THE CLERK:

Thank you.

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LEONARD:

# 7 Q:

Good afternoon, Mr. Gladden?

# 8 A:

Good afternoon.

# 9 Q:

How are you employed, sir?

# 10 A:

I'm a grocery store and a courier --

# 11 Q:

Courier?

# 12 A:

-- service.

# 13 Q:

You have to speak up.

# 14 A:

Grocery store and courier service.

# 15 Q:

And were you employed as a courier on June 12, 1994?

# 16 A:

Yes.

# 17 Q:

Directing your attention to the night of June 12, 1994, at approximately 11 o'clock, were you at the American Airlines section at LAX airport?

# 18 A:

Yes.

# 19 Q:

What -- Why were you there, sir?

# 20 A:

Dropping off some packages for the courier service.

# 21 Q:

And were you there with -- Was anyone else there that you work with?

# 22 A:

Yeah, Mike Norris.

# 23 Q:

Michael Norris?

# 24 A:

Yes.

# 25 Q:

Where were you -- where -- were you parked out at the American facility there?

# 26 A:

Right by the -- the main entrance.

# 27 Q:

On the upper or lower --

# 28 A:

Upper level.

# 29 Q:

Now, directing your attention to about 10 or 15 minutes after you were parked there, did you have occasion to see someone that you recognized?

# 30 A:

Yes.

# 31 Q:

And who was that?

# 32 A:

O.J. Simpson.

# 33 Q:

How did you have -- Explain how you saw him, where you were, and what you observed, sir.

# 34 A:

Well, we had just dropped our stuff off, and I was talking to somebody I knew inside the place, and when I came out -- out of the building, I went to talk to Mike Norris, and he was sitting in his van, so we were standing -- I was standing on the driver side of his van when the limousine pulled up right almost where I was standing, and then we were just standing there looking at the limo.

# 35 Q:

Did you see someone get out of the limousine?

# 36 A:

Yes.

# 37 Q:

And who was that?

# 38 A:

O.J. Simpson.

# 39 Q:

Did you recognize him at that point?

# 40 A:

Yes.

# 41 Q:

Okay.

What did you observe about Mr. Simpson at that point, in particular, directing your attention to his demeanor, the way he acted?

# 42 A:

He just got out of the limo, and -- the limo driver opened the door for him and he got out, just kind of walked slowly to the back of the van -- I mean the back of the limo.

# 43 Q:

Did Mr. Norris say something to him?

# 44 A:

Yeah, he said something like, hey, Juice, or something.

# 45 MR. PETROCELLI:

Objection.

# 46 MR. LEONARD:

Just to explain his observations.

# 47 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 48 Q:

(BY MR. LEONARD) I'm sorry. What did he say?

# 49 A:

He said, hey, Juice. Something to that effect.

# 50 Q:

And did Mr. Simpson respond?

# 51 A:

He said, hi, how you doing, or something like that.

# 52 Q:

Did you -- were you able to observe Mr. Simpson during this exchange with Mr. Norris?

# 53 A:

Yes.

# 54 Q:

And describe for the jury how he acted, what his demeanor was when he responded to Mr. Norris?

# 55 A:

Just really nothing out of the ordinary, just said hi.

KEY QUOTE

# 56 Q:

Okay.

# 57 A:

Then he walked to the back of the limo.

# 58 Q:

Now, at some point, did you approach Mr. Simpson?

# 59 A:

Well, after I was talking to Mike for a while, I walked over to my van which was parked behind the limo, and I got in the van, called in, told them we were done, and then he told us we could come in, and so we were like kind of blocked in, so I was sitting there for a few minutes, and I asked -- kind of like asked him, hey, Juice, could I get an autograph, and he said, yeah, just let me get my luggage situated.

# 60 Q:

Where -- During the period that you went back and sat in your van, were you able to observe Mr. Simpson?

# 61 A:

Yes.

# 62 Q:

Were you watching him?

# 63 A:

Yes.

# 64 Q:

Okay.

Were you able to see his hands?

# 65 A:

Not from where I was in the van.

# 66 Q:

Okay.

At some point, did you -- did you observe Mr. Simpson's hands?

# 67 A:

Yes.

# 68 Q:

Okay.

Did you see any cuts or band-aids or any bleeding on Mr. Simpson's hands?

# 69 A:

No.

# 70 Q:

When you approached Mr. Simpson and asked him for an autograph, did he give it to you right away?

# 71 A:

Well, he said, let me get my luggage situated, like I said. And then the limo driver came over with the car and they were carting -- and they were putting the stuff on the cart. It looked like they were about done, so then I kind of walked over to the side of them. Then he like -- kind of turned to his left and looked at me like, oh, I'm sorry, and he reached for the thing and I handed it to him.

# 72 Q:

Now, when you say the thing --

# 73 A:

The little --

# 74 Q:

-- what are you talking about?

# 75 A:

A little post-it pad, like about 3 by 5.

# 76 Q:

That was a pad full of post-it notes?

# 77 A:

Yes.

# 78 Q:

And you handed it to Mr. Simpson?

# 79 A:

Yes.

# 80 Q:

And he signed it?

# 81 A:

Yes.

# 82 Q:

Okay.

Did you see Mr. Simpson hold the post-it pad and sign it?

# 83 A:

Yes.

# 84 Q:

And did he -- Which hand did he hold it with?

# 85 A:

With the left, but he held it like down, and then he like signed it like this, like kind of bending over.

# 86 Q:

Okay.

And let me show you what's been marked as 1178.

# 87 (The instrument herein described as a copy of an autograph was marked for identification as Defendants' Exhibit No. 1178.)

# 88 (Mr. Petrocelli reviews exhibit.)

# 89 Q:

I show you what is marked for this trial as 1178 and was originally marked as 1243 in the criminal trial.

And can you tell me what that is, sir?

# 90 A:

That's a copy of the autograph.

# 91 Q:

Okay.

Can you read that please, sir?

# 92 A:

"O.J. Simpson, peace to ya."

KEY QUOTE

# 93 Q:

Now, can you tell us what Mr. Simpson was wearing when you saw him?

# 94 A:

Kind of like a jean outfit. Kind of like a jean -- long sleeve jean shirt, jeans, and kind of like some leather looking boots.

# 95 Q:

Did you, at any time during the time that you observed Mr. Simpson and the time that you interacted with him, did you notice him, -- observe -- did you observe him acting unusual in any way, sir.

# 96 MR. PETROCELLI:

That's leading, Your Honor.

# 97 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 98 A:

No.

# 99 MR. LEONARD:

I don't have any further questions.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (3)

Michael Gladden

No.

Direct denial of seeing any cuts, band-aids, or bleeding on Simpson's hands at the airport — undercutting the prosecution's theory that Simpson had a bleeding cut on his left hand that night.

Michael Gladden

Just really nothing out of the ordinary, just said hi.

Witness characterizes Simpson's demeanor as completely normal shortly after the murders allegedly occurred.

Michael Gladden

O.J. Simpson, peace to ya.

The autograph itself becomes Exhibit 1178, establishing Simpson's hand use and demeanor at the airport.

Evidence (1)

Defendants' Exhibit No. 1178

Copy of autograph signed by O.J. Simpson at LAX on June 12, 1994, reading 'O.J. Simpson, peace to ya' — originally marked as 1243 in the criminal trial

introduced and read aloud

Notable Exchanges (2)

Dan Leonard•Michael Gladden

Gladden describes handing Simpson a post-it pad and watching him sign with his left hand, bent over — establishing physical observation of Simpson's hands with no injuries visible

strategic

Daniel Petrocelli•Hiroshi Fujisaki

Petrocelli objected twice — once to hearsay about Norris calling Simpson 'Juice,' once to a leading question about unusual behavior. Both overruled.

routine

Light Moments (1)

Michael Gladden

Gladden casually recounts asking Simpson for an autograph — 'hey, Juice, could I get an autograph' — and Simpson telling him to wait until his luggage was sorted

Objections

2 objections (0 sustained, 2 overruled)

Proceeding 8682 • 99 utterances • Defense witness

Civil Trial

Department 103