Redirect examination of India Allen (1 of 2)

📄 Redirect examination of India Allen (1 of 2) — Tuesday, December 3, 1996

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

TRIAL

▲ Day 24 of 57

◀ Direct examination of India Allen Redirect examination of India Allen ▶

Witness: India Allen
Examiner: John Kelly
Called by: Plaintiff • Date: Tuesday, December 3, 1996 • Utterances: 107

Defense attorney Baker cross-examines India Allen, who testified on direct that she witnessed OJ Simpson slap Nicole Brown Simpson near a pet shop around 1983. Baker focuses almost entirely on credibility: Allen never reported the incident to police or prosecutors during the nine-month criminal trial, only came forward in February 1996 for the civil case, and her recollections of key details (month, season, car color) are uncertain despite the claimed vividness of the memory.

# 1 THE COURT:

Cross.

CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. BAKER:

# 2 Q:

Good morning.

# 3 A:

Good morning.

# 4 Q:

Do you have an agent?

# 5 A:

Do I have an agent?

# 6 Q:

Yes.

# 7 A:

No, I don't.

# 8 Q:

Did you have an agent?

# 9 A:

Yes, I used to.

# 10 Q:

Did you ever appear in Playboy magazine?

# 11 A:

Yes, I did.

# 12 MR. KELLY:

Objection, relevance.

# 13 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 14 Q:

(BY MR. BAKER) Do you have a web page presently?

# 15 MR. KELLY:

Objection, relevance.

# 16 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 17 Q:

(BY MR. BAKER) In the web page did you have -- do you appear without clothes?

# 18 MR. KELLY:

Objection, relevance, Your Honor.

# 19 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 20 MR. BAKER:

Your Honor, this goes to the issue of bias.

# 21 MR. PETROCELLI:

No speaking objections, Your Honor.

# 22 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 23 Q:

(BY MR. BAKER) Now, did you ever, at any time during the criminal trial, report what you've just told this jury, to the Police Department?

# 24 A:

No, I did not.

# 25 Q:

Now, you were aware of the murders in June of 1994, were you not, from all the media hype on this incident?

# 26 A:

Yes, I was, but I was in the process of moving at the time.

# 27 Q:

Well, the trial went on for nine months, and you were aware that there was some issue of domestic violence during that time, were you not?

# 28 A:

Yes, I was. And I was also aware that they had decided not to use it.

KEY QUOTE

# 29 MR. BAKER:

I move to strike everything after "yes, I was."

# 30 THE COURT:

Stricken.

# 31 Q:

(BY MR. BAKER) Now, so this -- your report of this incident, during the entire nine months of the criminal trial, was never made to the LAPD, was never made to the D.A.'s office, correct?

# 32 A:

Correct.

# 33 Q:

And now -- in terms of your recollection of this event, you seem now to have a pretty clear recollection of an event that took place some 13 years ago, correct?

# 34 A:

I wouldn't say that it's that clear, but, yeah, correct.

# 35 Q:

And how much time did you spend with Mr. Kelly before you got on the witness stand here today?

# 36 A:

Probably about 15 minutes.

# 37 Q:

And how much time did you spend looking at pictures before you got on the witness stand here today?

# 38 A:

Actually, none.

# 39 Q:

Never looked at those pictures that you've seen here?

# 40 A:

I've seen one shot of the fur coat picture.

# 41 Q:

Okay.

# 42 A:

That's it.

# 43 Q:

And how much time did you spend with the other plaintiffs other than Mr. Kelly.

# 44 A:

The other plaintiffs?

# 45 Q:

Yeah. Mr. Petrocelli.

# 46 A:

Oh, Mr. Petrocelli. I met with Mr. Petrocelli one time, just to tell him my story.

# 47 Q:

When was that?

# 48 A:

I believe it was in February.

# 49 Q:

How long did you spend with him then?

# 50 A:

He spent about 25, 30 minutes with me; not much time.

# 51 Q:

And now, you say that this occurred, you believe, in 1983?

# 52 A:

Yes, I believe it was, yeah.

# 53 Q:

What month?

# 54 A:

I'm not sure.

# 55 Q:

Do you know whether it was in the summer? Do you know whether she was wearing a fur coat in the summer, the winter, the fall, the spring?

# 56 A:

I think it was spring, but I'm not positive.

# 57 Q:

And you said in terms of Mr. Simpson, that he was driving a blue Rolls Royce. You have a pretty clear recollection then?

# 58 A:

I think it was. I remember it was a dark color.

# 59 Q:

But you're really clear?

# 60 A:

I'm pretty sure.

# 61 Q:

A Rolls Royce is a pretty distinctive car?

# 62 A:

Yes.

# 63 Q:

And you have no doubt in your mind, as you sit here today, that Mr. Simpson got out of a Rolls Royce in 1983, correct?

# 64 A:

I'm pretty sure it was.

# 65 Q:

Well, I mean --

# 66 A:

When I -- I was not that sophisticated back then so I -- I wasn't a connoisseur of car models, so I'm not positive.

KEY QUOTE

# 67 Q:

I understand that. I'm not trying to assert that you are. But a Rolls Royce doesn't look like any other car? At least to me it doesn't.

# 68 A:

No.

It was a big car, yes.

# 69 Q:

Your best recollection is it was a blue or dark Rolls Royce, right?

# 70 A:

Yes.

# 71 Q:

And you indicated that they exchanged words and you have a clear recollection, as you sit here now, of this incident 13 years ago, that Mr. Simpson was gritting his teeth? You recall that?

# 72 A:

Yes. Yeah, he was mad, he was very angry. That's one thing I remembered.

KEY QUOTE

# 73 Q:

All right.

# 74 A:

Yes.

# 75 Q:

You recall looking specifically at his fists, and both of the fists were clenched, right?

# 76 A:

Yes.

# 77 Q:

Who was this employee that went out with you that put the food in the car of Ms. Simpson?

# 78 A:

I think his name was Greg or Paul. And -- he was another assistant that worked there.

# 79 Q:

And what was his last name?

# 80 A:

I'm not sure.

# 81 Q:

How long did he work there?

# 82 A:

I have no idea. Longer than I did. He was a professional.

# 83 Q:

Now, the recollection that you have of this incident some 13 years ago, is that -- well, strike that.

Where was the dog food placed in Ms. Simpson's car?

# 84 A:

It was in the -- they put it in the trunk.

# 85 Q:

Where were the dogs placed by Ms. Simpson when she put them in?

# 86 A:

One of them rode in the front seat and the other one was kind of squished in the middle.

# 87 Q:

Now, you said -- in response to a questions by Mr. Kelly, you indicated that you always get mixed up between the coat and the pants, the colors?

# 88 A:

No, not the coat. The pants and the car.

# 89 Q:

Oh, that's right. I'm sorry.

# 90 A:

Yeah.

# 91 Q:

Well, how many times have you told this story that you always get mixed up?

# 92 A:

I've told it to my family a number of times over the years, just because it was the only time I'd ever seen two people like that fight.

# 93 Q:

I see.

So -- and it always kind of -- you get them mixed up, the color of the pants and the color of the automobile; is that right?

# 94 A:

Yes.

# 95 Q:

I see.

Now, in terms of your recollection, you have a clear recollection that Ms. Simpson (sic) backed out earlier after they had words earlier, that they were going to discuss this further at home?

# 96 A:

Um-hum.

# 97 Q:

And you saw Mr. Simpson's hand come in contact with Ms. Simpson, correct?

# 98 A:

Yes.

# 99 Q:

Okay. Where?

# 100 A:

On her check, her face; right there.

# 101 Q:

Open handed?

# 102 A:

It was open handed, yes, it was.

# 103 Q:

And this is -- you have no problem with your recollection of this event 13 years ago, correct?

# 104 A:

No.

# 105 Q:

And the only thing you didn't do is you didn't report it to the LAPD or the D.A.'s office at any time during the investigation of the case, or during the trial, and only came forward in February of 1996 for this case, true?

KEY QUOTE

# 106 A:

That's correct, yes.

# 107 MR. BAKER:

I don't have anything further.

REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. KELLY:

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Robert Baker

And the only thing you didn't do is you didn't report it to the LAPD or the D.A.'s office at any time during the investigation of the case, or during the trial, and only came forward in February of 1996 for this case, true?

Baker's signature closing question — summarizing the entire credibility attack in one sentence, forcing a damaging admission.

India Allen

Yes, I was. And I was also aware that they had decided not to use it.

Witness volunteers an explanation for her silence that the judge struck, but the jury still heard it — she knew about domestic violence evidence being sidelined in the criminal trial.

India Allen

I was not that sophisticated back then so I — I wasn't a connoisseur of car models, so I'm not positive.

Undermines her earlier confident identification of a Rolls Royce, weakening the overall reliability of her 13-year-old memory.

India Allen

He was mad, he was very angry. That's one thing I remembered.

The one detail she holds onto firmly — Simpson's anger — which actually supports the plaintiff's domestic violence narrative despite other memory gaps.

Evidence (1)

Informal

Photograph of Nicole Brown Simpson in a fur coat, shown on direct — witness confirms she had seen only one such image before testifying

discussed

Notable Exchanges (2)

Robert Baker•John Kelly•Hiroshi Fujisaki

Baker repeatedly tries to introduce Allen's Playboy appearance and nude web page as evidence of bias; Kelly objects on relevance each time and is sustained. Baker attempts a speaking objection to explain his theory ('this goes to the issue of bias') but Petrocelli objects to the speaking objection and Fujisaki sustains again.

strategic

Robert Baker•India Allen

Baker methodically walks through every uncertain detail — month, season, car color, the name of the employee with her — to build a mosaic of an unreliable 13-year memory, while Allen holds firm only on Simpson's visible anger and the open-handed slap.

strategic

Light Moments (1)

Robert Baker

Baker corrects himself after mixing up 'coat' and 'pants' in his question — the exact confusion Allen said she always has — and apologizes: 'Oh, that's right. I'm sorry.'

Credibility Attacks (4)

⚔ India Allen

failure to report / delayed disclosure

Baker establishes that Allen never contacted LAPD or the DA during the entire nine-month criminal trial despite being aware of the case, and only came forward in February 1996 specifically for the civil case.

⚔ India Allen

memory reliability

Baker systematically exposes uncertainty in her 13-year-old recollection: she cannot identify the month, season, or with confidence the car make; she cannot recall the employee's full name or how long he worked there.

⚔ India Allen

bias / motive (blocked)

Baker attempted to introduce Allen's Playboy appearance and nude web page to suggest a publicity motive, but all three attempts were sustained as irrelevant before he could develop the theory.

⚔ India Allen

minimal witness preparation

Baker elicits that Allen spent only ~15 minutes with Kelly and ~25-30 minutes with Petrocelli before testifying, and never reviewed photos, suggesting either the lawyers found her unreliable or she rehearsed very little.

Objections

5 objections (5 sustained, 0 overruled)

Proceeding 8420 • 107 utterances • Plaintiff witness

Civil Trial

Department 103