Sidebar: Nancy Ney testimony admissibility

📄 Sidebar: Nancy Ney testimony admissibility — Tuesday, December 3, 1996

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\DEC\3\SIDEBAR-NANCY-NEY-TESTIMONY-AD.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 24 of 57

◀ Redirect examination of Craig Baumgarten Video deposition and scheduling ▶

Date: Tuesday, December 3, 1996 • Utterances: 27

Plaintiffs attempt to call Nancy Ney, a crisis hotline worker who received a call from someone matching Nicole Brown Simpson's profile five days before the murders. Defense objects on hearsay grounds, and Judge Fujisaki presses plaintiffs on whether the state-of-mind exception applies, ultimately ordering them to brief the issue before he rules. Ney's testimony is deferred to the following day.

# 1 MR. GELBLUM:

Nancy Ney, Your Honor.

# 2 MR. BAKER:

What?

# 3 MR. GELBLUM:

Nancy Ney.

# 4 MR. BAKER:

Your Honor, I want to approach.

# 5 MR. GELBLUM:

I thought you weren't going to object on that, Bob.

# 6 THE COURT:

Isn't that the first ruling I made this morning?

MR. P. BAKER: That was about a document.

# 7 MR. BAKER:

That was about a document.

# 8 THE COURT:

Okay. Come up.

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

# 10 MR. GELBLUM:

Your Honor, it comes in the hearsay. First, the state of mind exception the state of mind. We've been over this several times. Her state of mind is clearly relevant. It's all about the state of mind five days before the murders. They are extreme fear Mr. Simpson phone calls.

In terms of identifying her as Nicole Brown Simpson, as Nicole -- she said Nicole. And I have a lot of identifying characteristics: Age, in 30s, married to a high profile man, married for eight years, two children, boy and a girl under 10 years old, lives in West LA, Caucasian, police had been called 8 times. All of these things match exactly with Nicole Brown Simpson.

This -- there's really no doubt at all this is Nicole Brown Simpson.

Plus, she will testify that she heard recordings of the 911 call and the voice she heard on the phone is consistent with the voice on the -- very, very high probability this is Nicole Brown Simpson.

# 11 MR. PETROCELLI:

Plus, Simpson's testimony.

MR. P. BAKER: High probability? They can't identify it as Nicole Brown Simpson. It's hearsay. Mr. Simpson is not in the room when this call is made. Under 352, this has got to be excluded.

# 12 MR. GELBLUM:

It's your crucial testimony. This one woman is saying things that match up precisely with Nicole's situation with Mr. Simpson corroborate with other witnesses. As soon as she heard about the witnesses -- as soon as Ms. Ney heard about the murders, she said it that sounds familiar. I looked through my records. She went back and looked and said that's got to be the same person. All the identifying characteristics identify it.

# 13 THE COURT:

What about the cases that counsel cites?

# 14 MR. GELBLUM:

That's hearsay in those cases. They don't have the state-of-mind exception.

# 15 THE COURT:

This is hearsay.

# 16 MR. GELBLUM:

It's an exception, state of mind.

# 17 THE COURT:

What state of mind?

# 18 MR. GELBLUM:

Nicole's state of mind, fear for -- from Mr. Simpson.

# 19 THE COURT:

What is the state of mind in these cases?

# 20 MR. GELBLUM:

I don't know. I can only assume it wasn't raised. They said it's hearsay.

KEY QUOTE

# 21 THE COURT:

You can what do you mean you can only assume good.

KEY QUOTE

# 22 MR. GELBLUM:

Your Honor we got this this morning. I got this this morning. If you want us to brief it, we'll brief it. I haven't had a chance to read these. They don't have any representation state of mind, there was any exception to the state of mind.

# 23 THE COURT:

You better brief it.

KEY QUOTE

# 24 MR. GELBLUM:

Okay. Call another witness.

# 25 MR. GELBLUM:

Tomorrow morning.

# 26 THE COURT:

Okay.

# 27 MR. GELBLUM:

On those two cases.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Peter Gelblum

Age, in 30s, married to a high profile man, married for eight years, two children, boy and a girl under 10 years old, lives in West LA, Caucasian, police had been called 8 times. All of these things match exactly with Nicole Brown Simpson.

Gelblum's argument for identifying the anonymous caller as Nicole — a circumstantial but cumulative identification.

Peter Gelblum

I don't know. I can only assume it wasn't raised.

A notable stumble — Gelblum admits he hasn't read the cases cited against him, undermining his position.

Hiroshi Fujisaki

You can what do you mean you can only assume good.

Fujisaki's visible skepticism at Gelblum's unprepared response to the defense's case citations.

Hiroshi Fujisaki

You better brief it.

Judge orders briefing rather than ruling, effectively delaying Ney's testimony.

Evidence (2)

Informal

Nancy Ney's records from a crisis/hotline call received five days before the murders, from an anonymous caller matching Nicole Brown Simpson's profile

discussed, admissibility contested

Informal

911 call recording — Ney reportedly heard it and said the voice was consistent with the caller she spoke to

referenced as corroborating identification

Notable Exchanges (2)

Peter Gelblum•Hiroshi Fujisaki

Fujisaki presses Gelblum on the state-of-mind exception by asking what state of mind was at issue in the defense's cited cases; Gelblum admits he hasn't read them and received them only that morning.

revealing

Peter Gelblum•Robert Baker

Gelblum suggests Baker had previously agreed not to object to this witness ('I thought you weren't going to object on that, Bob'), implying a prior understanding that Baker now disputes.

strategic

Objections

1 objections (0 sustained, 0 overruled)

Proceeding 8450 • 27 utterances

Civil Trial

Department 103