Direct examination of Craig Baumgarten (part 1)

📄 Direct examination of Craig Baumgarten (part 1) — Tuesday, December 3, 1996

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C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\DEC\3\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-CRAIG-BA.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 24 of 57

◀ Cross-examination of Donna Estes Sidebar: Craig Baumgarten testimony ▶

Witness: Craig Baumgarten
Examiner: Dan Leonard
Called by: Defense • Date: Tuesday, December 3, 1996 • Utterances: 49

Plaintiff's attorney Daniel Petrocelli conducts direct examination of Craig Baumgarten, a longtime friend and regular golf partner of OJ Simpson. Baumgarten describes a conversation on the golf course the morning of June 12, 1994, in which Simpson told him Paula Barbieri was upset about being excluded from Sydney's dance recital that afternoon. The examination ends abruptly at a bench conference after Petrocelli asks an incendiary question suggesting Baumgarten suspected Paula of involvement in Nicole's murder.

# 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 CRAIG BAUMGARTEN:

I do.

# 3 THE CLERK:

Thank you.

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

# 4 CRAIG BAUMGARTEN:

Craig Baumgarten. First name, C-R-A-I-G, Baumgarten, B-A-U-M-G-A-R-T-E-N.

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. PETROCELLI:

# 5 Q:

Good afternoon Mr. Baumgarten?

# 6 A:

Good afternoon.

# 7 Q:

You are a friend of Mr. Simpson?

# 8 A:

Yes.

# 9 Q:

And you interact with him on a regular basis, right?

# 10 A:

Yeah.

# 11 Q:

How long have you known him?

# 12 A:

I think about eight years.

# 13 Q:

And in 1994, you were a regular golf partner of his, right?

# 14 A:

That's correct.

# 15 Q:

And you played golf with him and several other folks on the morning of June 12, 1994, Sunday morning, right?

# 16 A:

Yes, sir.

# 17 Q:

And on that occasion, Mr. Simpson told you some things about Paula Barbieri, did he not?

# 18 A:

We discussed a number of things. Yes.

# 19 Q:

What did he say in regard to Paula Barbieri, if you can recall?

# 20 A:

At one point during the -- during the round, we had a conversation concerning the fact that Paula was upset, that O.J. felt it best she not join him at the recital that afternoon at Sydney's recital. And -- Yeah.

# 21 Q:

Mr. Simpson reported to you that he had -- he was with Paula the night before?

# 22 MR. LEONARD:

Objection. Leading.

# 23 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 24 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) Was Mr. Simpson relating a conversation to you that he had had with Paula?

# 25 A:

I don't know at what point that conversation between Mr. Simpson and Paula occurred. It was my own knowledge that he had been with her that evening -- the previous evening.

# 26 Q:

And what did, again, he say that Paula was upset about?

# 27 MR. LEONARD:

Objection. Asked and answered and leading.

# 28 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 29 A:

He said that she wanted to go to the recital.

# 30 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) Did Mr. Simpson indicate whether or not he told Paula she could go to the recital?

# 31 A:

He felt it inappropriate. And he was discussing with me 'cause I had had similar situations many years earlier when I had been divorced, and I -- the woman I was involved with, and, you know, you just get in those situations sometimes when you have small children, going through a divorce, and you have other relationships.

KEY QUOTE

# 32 Q:

Just to be clear in this, what did Mr. Simpson tell you he had said to Paula about her not going to the recital?

# 33 A:

I don't know his words. He reported to me that he felt it inappropriate that she join him at that recital.

KEY QUOTE

# 34 Q:

Based on what Mr. Simpson told you about Paula being upset, when you left the golf course that day, did you have the state of mind that Paula was extremely upset?

# 35 MR. LEONARD:

Objection. Irrelevant, Your Honor, his state of mind.

# 36 THE COURT:

Paula's state of mind.

# 37 MR. LEONARD:

No, his state of mind. That was the question.

# 38 THE COURT:

I don't think that was the question.

# 39 MR. PETROCELLI:

It's foundational to the next question, Your Honor.

# 40 MR. LEONARD:

I object on relevance to Paula.

# 41 THE COURT:

Paula's state of mind. Sustained.

# 42 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) When you heard of Nicole's murder was sometime on the 13th of June, right?

# 43 A:

Yes.

# 44 Q:

And at the time, you formed the opinion that Paula might have had something to do with it, correct?

KEY QUOTE

# 45 MR. LEONARD:

Objection.

# 46 THE COURT:

Sustained.

Jury to disregard the question.

# 47 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) Did you have the belief, based on your conversations with Mr. Simpson --

# 48 MR. LEONARD:

I'm going to object and ask to approach.

# 49 THE COURT:

Approach the bench.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (3)

Craig Baumgarten

He felt it inappropriate. And he was discussing with me 'cause I had had similar situations many years earlier when I had been divorced, and I -- the woman I was involved with, and, you know, you just get in those situations sometimes when you have small children, going through a divorce, and you have other relationships.

Baumgarten contextualizes OJ's decision to exclude Paula from the recital within the awkward dynamics of post-divorce relationships — essentially normalizing what Petrocelli is trying to frame as tension and motive.

Daniel Petrocelli

And at the time, you formed the opinion that Paula might have had something to do with it, correct?

A dramatic and immediately sustained question attempting to introduce the idea that Paula Barbieri was a murder suspect in Baumgarten's mind — the judge sustains and orders the jury to disregard.

Craig Baumgarten

I don't know his words. He reported to me that he felt it inappropriate that she join him at that recital.

Baumgarten carefully hedges — he cannot recall OJ's exact words, only the substance — limiting Petrocelli's ability to pin down a precise statement.

Notable Exchanges (2)

Hiroshi Fujisaki•Dan Leonard

Leonard objects to a question about Baumgarten's state of mind; Fujisaki reframes it as being about Paula's state of mind; Leonard clarifies his objection is to his client's state of mind; the exchange reveals confusion about what exactly was asked, with both attorneys and the judge talking past each other briefly before Fujisaki sustains.

procedural confusion

Daniel Petrocelli•Dan Leonard

Petrocelli asks whether Baumgarten believed Paula might have had something to do with Nicole's murder. Leonard objects immediately, it is sustained, and the judge instructs the jury to disregard — followed by Leonard requesting to approach the bench.

heated/strategic

Objections

5 objections (3 sustained, 1 overruled)

Proceeding 8446 • 49 utterances • Defense witness

Civil Trial

Department 103