Direct examination of Josephine Guarin

📄 Direct examination of Josephine Guarin — Wednesday, December 4, 1996

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\DEC\4\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-JOSEPHIN.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 25 of 57

◀ Exhibit 2226 admitted Redirect examination of Josephine Guarin ▶

Witness: Josephine Guarin
Examiner: Daniel Petrocelli
Called by: Plaintiff • Date: Wednesday, December 4, 1996 • Utterances: 103

Josephine 'Gigi' Guarin, OJ Simpson's housekeeper since April 1994, was examined under Evidence Code 776 as a hostile witness. Petrocelli established two key facts: a fake goatee/disguise kit was regularly present on Simpson's desk up through at least the last day she worked (Friday June 10), and that Simpson's dog Chachi was well-trained and never ran off the property — undermining any defense claim that the dog could have wandered.

# 1 MR. PETROCELLI:

Josephine Guarin.

# 2 MR. BAKER:

Gigi.

# 3 MR. PETROCELLI:

Her formal name is Josephine Guarin. I believe she goes by the name Gigi.

Your Honor, this is an employee of the defendant so I assume I can treat her as under 776.

# 4 THE COURT:

All right.

# 5 MR. PETROCELLI:

Thank you.

JOSEPHINE GUARIN, called as a witness on behalf of Plaintiffs, pursuant Evidence code section 776, was duly sworn and examined as follows:

# 6 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?

# 7 JOSEPHINE GUARIN:

I do.

# 8 THE CLERK:

Was that a yes?

# 9 JOSEPHINE GUARIN:

Yes.

# 10 THE CLERK:

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

# 11 JOSEPHINE GUARIN:

Josephine Guarin. J-O-S-E-P-H-I-N-E, the last name is Guarin, G-U-A-R-I-N.

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. PETROCELLI:

# 12 Q:

Good afternoon, Ms. Guarin.

# 13 A:

Good afternoon.

# 14 Q:

You were hired by Mr. Simpson in about April of 1994?

# 15 A:

I believe so. I think so.

# 16 Q:

And you were hired to do what for him?

# 17 A:

I'm in -- I'm his housekeeper.

# 18 Q:

You have been his housekeeper ever since April of 1994 all the way to the present, right?

# 19 A:

Yes, yes.

# 20 Q:

Okay.

And when you were hired by Mr. Simpson, you -- he had a brief interview with you, right?

# 21 A:

Yes.

# 22 Q:

And in that interview, Mr. Simpson told you that Nicole might be moving back into the house, right?

# 23 A:

He might say that, but -- he might, yeah.

# 24 Q:

Correct?

# 25 A:

Yes.

# 26 Q:

Okay.

Now, let's focus on the time period, Ms. Guarin, April, May and June of 1994, okay?

# 27 A:

Okay.

# 28 Q:

And you understand that is before the death of Nicole on June 12?

# 29 A:

Okay.

# 30 Q:

Okay.

You saw, at one point in time, a fake goatee or disguise kit?

# 31 A:

I saw that, yes.

# 32 Q:

And you saw that in Mr. Simpson's house, right?

# 33 A:

Yes.

# 34 Q:

And you saw that fake goatee and disguise kit on Mr. Simpson's desk in his office in his home, right?

# 35 A:

Yes.

# 36 Q:

Okay.

MR. P. BAKER: Your Honor, I don't think there's a need to read from the depo.

# 37 MR. PETROCELLI:

I'm not reading from the depo.

# 38 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) And you saw it up until the last day that you left the house on Friday, June 10, right?

# 39 A:

I didn't check it there, but I know it's in the office. I cannot say until the last day that I saw it, but I saw it in the office.

# 40 Q:

Let's focus on that weekend, June 11 and June 12, correct?

# 41 A:

I'm not there.

# 42 Q:

You did not work that weekend, right?

# 43 A:

Yes.

# 44 Q:

In fact you were off that weekend, right?

# 45 A:

Yes.

# 46 Q:

And it was Sunday, June 12, you called Mr. Simpson from Knott's Berry Farm, was it?

# 47 A:

Yes.

# 48 Q:

And asked if you could take the rest of the night off, right?

# 49 A:

Yes.

MR. P. BAKER: Objection, vague as to time.

# 50 A:

Yes.

# 51 Q:

About 8 p.m. on the evening of June 12?

# 52 A:

Yes.

# 53 Q:

It was Filipino night at Knott's Berry Farm?

# 54 A:

The Filipino Independence Day.

KEY QUOTE

# 55 Q:

You wanted the rest of the night off because you were spending it there with your family?

# 56 A:

Yes.

# 57 Q:

And you asked him and he said okay, right?

# 58 A:

Yes.

# 59 Q:

And the last time you had been at the house was Friday, at the end of the day, right?

# 60 A:

Yes.

# 61 Q:

And as of that point in time on Friday at the end of the day, the last place you had seen that fake goatee or disguise kit was still on the desk in Mr. Simpson's house, right?

MR. P. BAKER: Asked and answered.

# 62 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 63 A:

No, I did not. I did not -- I cannot tell you when was the last time that I saw that fake goatee, but I didn't go to his room before, you know, to the office.

# 64 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) But to your knowledge, it had never left the desk where you last saw it, right?

MR. P. BAKER: Calls for speculation.

# 65 A:

I cannot answer it. I don't know.

# 66 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 67 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) Let me read from your deposition at page 231, line 23.

Remember when I took your deposition?

# 68 A:

Yes.

# 69 Q:

And you were in my office and you were under oath to tell the truth?

# 70 A:

Yes.

# 71 Q:

You remember that?

Let me read what you said.

(Reading.) "Q. But to your knowledge it had -- It had not left? "A. It's in there every time I go to the office. "Q. It was in there every time you went in there, right? "A. Yes. "Q. Was it in a packet or how was it packaged? "A. I think it's in the plastic -- it's in the top of his desk. "Q. Sitting on the top of the desk? "A. Yeah, on the top of his desk, yeah."

# 72 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) Do you remember that?

# 73 A:

Yes.

# 74 Q:

And that's -- those were your observations, right?

# 75 A:

Yes.

# 76 Q:

Okay.

Let me move to a different subject.

Now, at the time in June of 1994, Mr. Simpson had a dog on the property named Chachi right?

# 77 A:

Yes.

# 78 Q:

And Chachi's kind of an older black dog, right?

# 79 A:

Yes.

# 80 Q:

Did Mr. Simpson ever give you any specific directions with respect to making sure that Chachi did not get outside of the property?

# 81 A:

No.

# 82 Q:

Okay.

And isn't it true that Chachi never ran out of the property?

# 83 A:

That's what I know, she never ran out of the property. She never --

KEY QUOTE

# 84 Q:

Excuse me?

# 85 A:

She never ran out of the property.

KEY QUOTE

# 86 Q:

Okay.

# 87 A:

Get out.

# 88 Q:

And it was never a concern of yours that Chachi would run out of the property, correct?

# 89 A:

No.

# 90 Q:

Correct?

# 91 A:

Correct.

# 92 Q:

Okay.

And as far as you knew it was not a concern of Mr. Simpson's, correct?

MR. P. BAKER: Objection, speculation.

# 93 A:

I don't know.

# 94 THE COURT:

Sustained.

MR. P. BAKER: Move to strike.

# 95 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) And your --

# 96 THE COURT:

Stricken.

# 97 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) And your -- your testimony that Chachi never ran outside of the property was based upon your observations of the dog, correct?

# 98 A:

Correct.

# 99 Q:

Okay.

And the dog was trained, correct?

# 100 A:

Correct.

# 101 Q:

And, in fact, during the entire time that you had with Mr. Simpson through June 12 of 1994 there had never been an occasion when you were aware that Chachi had run out of the property, correct?

# 102 A:

Correct.

# 103 MR. PETROCELLI:

I have nothing further, Your Honor.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (3)

Josephine Guarin

It's in there every time I go to the office.

Deposition testimony confirming the disguise kit was a consistent fixture on Simpson's desk, introduced to rehabilitate her hedging live testimony.

Josephine Guarin

She never ran out of the property. She never -- Get out.

Confirms the dog was well-contained, undermining any defense theory that Chachi could have left and returned on the night of the murders.

Josephine Guarin

The Filipino Independence Day.

Clarifying detail about her whereabouts on the evening of June 12 — she was at Knott's Berry Farm for a Filipino cultural celebration, establishing she was not at the house.

Evidence (2)

Informal

Fake goatee / disguise kit found on Simpson's desk

discussed

Informal

Guarin's prior deposition testimony (page 231, line 23)

read into record to impeach/refresh

Notable Exchanges (2)

Daniel Petrocelli•Josephine Guarin

Guarin hedged on whether she saw the disguise kit on her last day, prompting Petrocelli to read her deposition where she said it was there 'every time' she went to the office.

strategic

Daniel Petrocelli•Josephine Guarin

Petrocelli established that Chachi never left the property and was trained, cutting off a potential defense escape route for the blood evidence or dog-wandering theories.

methodical

Light Moments (2)

The Clerk

Clerk asks Guarin to confirm her oath — 'Was that a yes?' — after an inaudible response.

Josephine Guarin

Guarin clarifies the event at Knott's Berry Farm was not just 'Filipino night' but specifically 'The Filipino Independence Day.'

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Josephine Guarin

prior inconsistent statement

When Guarin hedged on whether she had seen the disguise kit as of Friday June 10, Petrocelli read her deposition testimony where she stated it was on the desk 'every time' she visited the office.

Objections

4 objections (1 sustained, 2 overruled)

Proceeding 8475 • 103 utterances • Plaintiff witness

Civil Trial

Department 103