Direct examination of India Allen

📄 Direct examination of India Allen — Tuesday, December 3, 1996

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C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\DEC\3\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-INDIA-AL.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 24 of 57

◀ Sidebar: India Allen testimony admissibility Redirect examination of India Allen ▶

Witness: India Allen
Examiner: John Kelly
Called by: Plaintiff • Date: Tuesday, December 3, 1996 • Utterances: 101

India Allen, a retired model, testified about witnessing O.J. Simpson physically strike Nicole Brown in a Beverly Hills veterinary hospital parking lot in approximately 1983. Allen was an employee at the time and watched Simpson confront Nicole over a fur coat, yell an obscenity at her, grab the coat, and hit her across the face — causing her sunglasses and headband to fly off and revealing a fading bruise under her eye. This was Allen's first time ever testifying about the incident.

# 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 INDIA ALLEN:

I do.

# 3 THE CLERK:

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

# 4 INDIA ALLEN:

Okay. My name is India Allen, spelled I-N-D-I-A. My last name is A-L-L-E-N.

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. KELLY:

# 5 Q:

Morning, Ms. Allen.

# 6 A:

Morning.

# 7 Q:

You're married; is that correct?

# 8 A:

Yes, I am. I think my husband is in here. He's an officer in the Marine Corps.

# 9 Q:

And your married name is?

# 10 A:

India Rose.

# 11 Q:

Okay.

And is it my understanding that you use the name India Allen for professional purposes; is that correct?

# 12 A:

Yes. I used to be a model; I'm retired now.

# 13 Q:

Okay.

And you use the name India Allen?

# 14 A:

Yes, I did.

# 15 Q:

Now, by the way, do you have any children?

# 16 A:

Yes, I do. I have two, and I have one on the way.

# 17 Q:

You're expecting?

# 18 A:

Yes.

# 19 Q:

Now, taking you back a little bit, about -- did you ever work in a veterinary hospital?

# 20 A:

Yes, I did. I worked for Dr. Shipp in Beverly Hills.

# 21 Q:

And when you say veterinary hospital, this is where you took care of animals, cats, dogs, et cetera?

# 22 A:

Yes; they were a full service. They did flea baths, they did surgery, everything, shots, everything.

# 23 Q:

And do you recall the location of this veterinary hospital that you worked at?

# 24 A:

Yes. It was -- I think it was 351 Foothill Drive, I think, something like that.

# 25 Q:

Okay. That's Beverly Hills?

# 26 A:

Yes, Beverly Hills.

# 27 Q:

Do you recall approximately what year you worked at this hospital?

# 28 A:

It was in the early '80s. I think it was '83.

# 29 Q:

Okay.

And what exactly did you do there when you worked there?

# 30 A:

I washed dogs and cleaned up after them, and cleaned the kennels, and all that glamorous stuff.

# 31 Q:

And how old --

# 32 A:

That's what I did.

# 33 Q:

How old were you at this time?

# 34 A:

I think I was about 20. I think I went through a birthday there, so I'm not really sure at this time.

# 35 Q:

How long did you work there for?

# 36 A:

Not very long. I think about six months, something like that.

# 37 Q:

Okay.

Now, during the time you worked there, did you ever have occasion to meet Nicole Brown during your employment there at the hospital?

# 38 A:

Yes, I did. I don't know if you'd call it meet. She didn't pay that much attention to me. I washed her dogs.

# 39 Q:

Okay.

# 40 A:

Yeah.

# 41 MR. KELLY:

Can I see 2194.

# 42 (Exhibit 2194 displayed.)

# 43 Q:

(BY MR. KELLY) Do you recognize the individual on the screen there?

# 44 A:

Yes, I do.

# 45 Q:

Is that Nicole Brown?

# 46 A:

Yes, it is.

# 47 Q:

Okay.

And can you tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury, under what circumstances you first dealt with Ms. Brown while working at the hospital there?

# 48 A:

Well, the first -- I saw her a couple of times. She came in with her two Chows to get them washed. I usually did the washing 'cause they -- they kind of had little tempers on them, so I usually did it. And so I saw her a couple of times, and -- and then one day she came in, she was wearing actually a very similar head band to that one she always wore, and she --

# 49 Q:

(BY MR. KELLY) If I could interrupt you.

Did there ever come a time that you observed Mr. Simpson at this animal hospital also?

# 50 A:

Yes. Only I only saw Mr. Simpson once.

# 51 Q:

Was that after you had met or dealt with Nicole Brown a couple times there?

# 52 A:

Yes, yes, it was.

# 53 Q:

Okay.

And could you tell me what, if anything, you observed the time that Nicole Brown was there at the hospital and Mr. Simpson arrived there also?

# 54 A:

Well, she came in to pick up her dogs -- and she always wore sunglasses, she always came in sunglasses and the head band, and always very glamorous. She was wearing -- I think she was wearing a gold Spandex exercise outfit. She was wearing a full-length fur coat over it. I think it was a silver fur but I'm not positive, I'm not that well versed in furs. And she came in to pick up her Chows and --

# 55 MR. BAKER:

I'm going to move to strike as nonresponsive.

# 56 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 57 Q:

(BY MR. KELLY) You can go ahead.

# 58 A:

Okay.

She came in to pick them up, and I brought -- I always brought them out to the car for her. And another guy was with me. I carried out a bag of dog food and put it in her trunk, and I had the dog, and she opened the car door, and when she opened the car door, Mr. Simpson pulled into the parking lot and sort of parked sideways, he didn't actually pull into a spot, he was kind of parking sideways.

This was on the side of the building. We came out the side door.

And he was very angry. When he got out of the car, he came kind of around the car very quickly and started yelling at her about wearing the coat out during the day. And he was very upset; he told her that he -- I don't know if I can say this or not, out loud.

# 59 MR. BAKER:

I'm going to object on hearsay grounds in any event, Your Honor.

# 60 Q:

(BY MR. KELLY) This is referring to a statement of Mr. Simpson?

# 61 A:

Yes, it is.

# 62 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 63 Q:

(BY MR. KELLY) Okay.

You can tell us what you heard Mr. Simpson state at this time.

# 64 A:

He said, I didn't buy this fur coat for you to go fuck somebody else, is what he said. And then he said -- then he said, I want the coat back, and he grabbed her by the back of the coat and started trying to pull the coat off of her.

And she said she was -- at the time they were kind of going around and around about the coat, she was saying she wasn't going to give the coat back, it was her god damn coat; and so, anyway, she jerked away from him, and that's when I saw him strike her. He hit her across the face, and her glasses and her head band flew off and her hair kind of flew to the side when she came back up.

It was the only time I ever saw her without her sunglasses.

She had sort of a fading bruise under her eye.

KEY QUOTE

# 65 Q:

And in addition to that fading bruise under her eye, did you see any other marks on her face at this time?

# 66 A:

Just her face was red where he hit her.

# 67 Q:

Okay.

And what if -- let me ask you a couple questions.

First of all, do you remember what kind of car Nicole Brown had at the time when you were putting the dogs in it?

# 68 A:

I know it was a Mercedes. I think it was a white Mercedes, but I always get the white of her Mercedes and her gold pants mixed up, so it could have been one or the other. It might have been white pants and gold Mercedes.

# 69 Q:

Was it a large Mercedes, small one; do you remember what type it was?

# 70 A:

No, it was small, I think it was a 450SL.

It was very nice, nice car.

# 71 Q:

You also indicated that Mr. Simpson was angry when he exited his car.

# 72 A:

Yes.

# 73 Q:

Would you describe exactly what you observed about Mr. Simpson when he exited his car?

# 74 MR. BAKER:

Asked and answered, Your Honor.

# 75 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 76 A:

Well, he got out of the car, and he was mad. I mean he looked like he was gritting his teeth, and his fists were clenched, and it was -- it was kind of intimidating. I stayed where I was. It was enough to keep me where I was with the dogs, and they were a little agitated, so it was difficult to hold onto them.

# 77 Q:

And how did you feel when you observed Mr. Simpson first come out of the car?

# 78 MR. BAKER:

Objection, relevance.

# 79 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 80 A:

Well, I was a little -- first I was shocked because they were two famous, beautiful people and what I thought getting ready to have a knock-down, drag-out right in front of me, so -- while I was holding these dogs. So I was -- I was -- I was shocked and a little intimated standing there.

# 81 Q:

Now, what, if anything, happened after Nicole was hit and her sunglasses and head band came off?

# 82 A:

She kind of held the coat close to her, didn't look like she was going to give up the coat, and she picked up her sunglasses, and she picked up her head band, and she stomped over to the car, and she said, I'm going home.

And she took the dogs from me; she put the dogs in the car.

And he said, I'll talk to you about this when we get home.

Then she got kind of intimidated and said, fine, I'll talk to you about it when we get home.

And she got in the car and jerked out of the parking lot first, and then he got in his car and he followed her.

# 83 MR. KELLY:

Steve, can I see the picture, please. (Photo displayed.)

# 84 MR. KELLY:

I'm going to show you one other picture up on the board, please.

THE COURT REPORTER: Do we have an exhibit number, please.

# 85 MR. FOSTER:

Next in order.

# 86 MR. KELLY:

Next in order, Erin.

# 87 THE CLERK:

2222.

# 88 (The instrument herein described as a photo of O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson in fur coat was marked for identification as Plaintiffs' Exhibit No. 2222.)

# 89 Q:

First of all, do you recognize the person wearing the long fur coat in that picture there?

# 90 A:

Yes, that's -- that's Nicole. I'm not used to seeing her hair that way, but yes.

# 91 Q:

The individual next to her?

# 92 A:

Looks like Mr. Simpson.

# 93 Q:

And by the way, do you recognize the coat?

# 94 A:

Yes, that looks like the coat, yes.

# 95 Q:

That she was wearing that day in the parking lot?

# 96 A:

Um-hum.

# 97 Q:

And one other thing. Prior to Mr. Simpson pulling in the parking lot that day, were you familiar with who he was before then?

# 98 A:

Only from television, only from commercials, yeah. I had never actually seen him in person before. Only from TV. But I recognized him immediately.

And the car was -- was pretty fancy. I think it was a -- I think it was a big, blue Rolls Royce.

# 99 Q:

And is this the first time you've ever testified regarding what you witnessed that day?

# 100 A:

Yes, it is.

# 101 MR. KELLY:

Okay.

I have no further questions.

Temperature

emotional

Key Quotes (4)

India Allen

He said, I didn't buy this fur coat for you to go fuck somebody else, is what he said.

Direct quote of Simpson's words during the confrontation, establishing possessive and controlling behavior over Nicole

India Allen

He hit her across the face, and her glasses and her head band flew off and her hair kind of flew to the side when she came back up.

Eyewitness account of Simpson striking Nicole Brown, corroborating the domestic violence pattern

India Allen

She had sort of a fading bruise under her eye.

When the sunglasses came off, a pre-existing bruise was revealed — indicating prior abuse beyond this incident

India Allen

It was the only time I ever saw her without her sunglasses.

Implies Nicole habitually wore sunglasses to conceal bruising, strongly suggesting ongoing domestic violence

Evidence (2)

Plaintiffs' 2194

Photo of Nicole Brown Simpson

displayed for witness identification

Plaintiffs' 2222

Photo of O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson in a fur coat

introduced and identified by witness as the coat from the parking lot incident

Notable Exchanges (2)

India Allen•John Kelly

Allen describes the full confrontation sequence: Simpson parking sideways, approaching with clenched fists, yelling about the fur coat, grabbing it, striking Nicole, and then following her home — all corroborated by photo of the coat

revealing

Robert Baker•Hiroshi Fujisaki

Baker attempted four objections (nonresponsive, hearsay, asked and answered, relevance) all of which were overruled, allowing Allen's full account of the incident into evidence

strategic

Light Moments (1)

India Allen

Allen described washing dogs and cleaning kennels as 'all that glamorous stuff' — a wry nod to her later career as a model

Objections

4 objections (0 sustained, 4 overruled)

Proceeding 8419 • 101 utterances • Plaintiff witness

Civil Trial

Department 103