Redirect examination of Randall Petee (part 1)

📄 Redirect examination of Randall Petee (part 1) — Wednesday, December 4, 1996

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\DEC\4\REDIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-RANDAL.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 25 of 57

◀ Direct examination of Randall Petee (part 2) Cross-examination of Randall Petee (part 2) ▶

Witness: Randy Petee
Examiner: Robert Baker
Called by: Defense • Date: Wednesday, December 4, 1996 • Utterances: 64

Baker cross-examines Randall Petee, an investigator from Grailey and Associates who conducted a Sunday evening timing/route exercise from 875 South Bundy to 360 North Rockingham. Baker works to establish that Petee's employer was not neutral — two colleagues (Marlow and Tippin) were former LAPD officers who later worked for the plaintiffs — and that Petee was aware the timing between the two addresses was critical to the case despite claiming he was not told so. The examination ends with Baker beginning to challenge the specific route Petee took.

# 1 THE COURT:

Cross.

CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. BAKER:

# 2 Q:

Pretty quiet out there on Sunday night.

# 3 MR. BAKER:

Mr. Petee, you may resume the stand.

# 4 (Witness complies)

# 5 Q:

(BY MR. BAKER) Pretty quiet out there?

# 6 A:

Yes.

# 7 Q:

Very few cars?

# 8 A:

Oh, yes.

# 9 Q:

Did you see any cars on Gretna Green or Dorothy or Mayfield that were moving?

# 10 A:

Yes.

# 11 Q:

How many on any of the three -- well, any of the six trips that you had?

# 12 A:

At a given time?

# 13 Q:

Yeah. Anything. Just -- did you see one time, period?

# 14 A:

Three.

# 15 Q:

Any more than that?

And when you got over to -- up by Brentwood -- Mr. Simpson's house, did you pick the way to get there, or did somebody tell you what routes to take?

# 16 A:

I was told what routes to take.

# 17 Q:

And were you told that -- well, did you get a Thomas Guide out, sir, and take a look and see what the quickest way to get to Rockingham would be from 875 South Bundy in that alleyway?

# 18 A:

Just to look at it for that specific reason.

# 19 Q:

Well, strike that. Let me withdraw the question and ask you a different one.

You were certainly told that time was important, were you not, before you started this assignment that you were given Sunday?

# 20 A:

Not directly.

# 21 Q:

You work for Grailey and Associates, right?

# 22 A:

That's right.

# 23 Q:

Grailey and Associates.

You know Mr. Marlow works there?

# 24 A:

Yes.

# 25 Q:

And Mr. Marlow is a former LAPD officer who investigated the Simpson case while he was with the LAPD, right?

# 26 MR. PETROCELLI:

Beyond the scope, Your Honor.

# 27 THE COURT:

Overruled.

There's no relationship with regard to this.

# 28 Q:

(BY MR. BAKER) That's true, is it not?

# 29 A:

Yes.

# 30 Q:

Mr. Marlow also investigated the case at the direction and through the payroll of the plaintiffs' lawyers during this civil case, right?

KEY QUOTE

# 31 A:

True.

# 32 Q:

And you knew from Mr. Tippin -- and he worked there, too, former LAPD, right?

# 33 A:

That's correct.

# 34 Q:

And Mr. Tippin investigated the Simpson case when he was an LAPD officer, correct?

# 35 A:

That's correct.

# 36 Q:

And he, in fact, reinvestigated the case at the direction and through the remuneration of the plaintiffs in this case, correct?

# 37 A:

Initially, yes.

# 38 Q:

And you were certainly aware when you got this assignment on Sunday, that time lines -- that is, the amount of time it takes to get from 875 South Bundy to 360 North Rockingham -- is critical in this case, correct?

You were told that?

# 39 A:

I was not told that it was critical.

KEY QUOTE

# 40 Q:

You understood that it was critical; that is, how much time anybody -- if it was Mr. Simpson, would have to leave 875 South Bundy and to get to 360 North Rockingham, true?

# 41 A:

I wasn't told in that manner.

# 42 Q:

Well, regardless of the words or what manner you were told, before you started this exercise of Sunday evening, you knew that time between 875 South Bundy and 360 North Rockingham was critical to this case, did you not?

# 43 MR. GELBLUM:

Asked and answered three times, Your Honor.

# 44 MR. BAKER:

Well, he won't --

# 45 THE COURT:

Won't answer it.

# 46 MR. GELBLUM:

He said no.

# 47 THE COURT:

I'm going to overrule it.

Well, Mr. Baker is entitled to get an answer.

# 48 Q:

(BY MR. BAKER) Can you answer that, sir, please?

# 49 A:

Yes.

# 50 Q:

All right. And you -- did you have a Thomas Guide before you started this exercise that you did this last Sunday with you?

# 51 A:

Yes.

# 52 Q:

And did you happen to kind of take a look at the Thomas Guide to see if -- if it -- if, in fact, you were trying to get from 875 South Bundy to the Rockingham address, what the quickest route would possibly be?

# 53 A:

No.

# 54 Q:

Well, did you think that by going south on Bundy, that that was the quickest way to go north, to the 360 North Rockingham place of Mr. Simpson?

# 55 A:

There's an arrow at Dorothy and Bundy that indicates you're not to make a left-hand turn onto Bundy.

KEY QUOTE

# 56 Q:

Well, maybe you didn't understand the question. Let me see if I can try it again.

If you -- you started -- as I understand it, sir, there's an alley that goes between Bundy and Gretna Green that services the house, including 875 South Bundy, is there not?

# 57 A:

Yes.

# 58 Q:

And as I understand your testimony, you were parked in the corner in the alleyway, true?

# 59 A:

No.

# 60 Q:

Where were you parked?

# 61 A:

At the alleyway on the street.

# 62 Q:

Oh, you were already on the street?

# 63 A:

Yes.

# 64 Q:

So you didn't go behind 875 South Bundy?

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Hiroshi Fujisaki

Well, Mr. Baker is entitled to get an answer.

Judge sides with Baker after Gelblum objects that the 'critical timing' question had been asked three times — the witness was being evasive and the judge compelled a response.

Witness

I was not told that it was critical.

Petee's repeated dodge on whether he understood the timing between Bundy and Rockingham was central to the case — Baker finally extracted a 'yes' only after the judge intervened.

Robert Baker

Mr. Marlow also investigated the case at the direction and through the payroll of the plaintiffs' lawyers during this civil case, right?

Core of Baker's bias attack — establishing that Petee's firm was staffed by former LAPD investigators who had since worked for the very plaintiffs calling this witness.

Witness

There's an arrow at Dorothy and Bundy that indicates you're not to make a left-hand turn onto Bundy.

Petee volunteers a traffic restriction to justify the southward route, but Baker's follow-up suggests this may not answer the underlying question about the most direct path north to Rockingham.

Evidence (2)

Informal

Thomas Guide map — whether Petee consulted it to determine the quickest route from 875 South Bundy to 360 North Rockingham before the exercise

discussed; Petee admits having it but says he did not consult it for route planning

Informal

Sunday evening timing/route exercise conducted by Petee between the two addresses

challenged — Baker questions route choice and whether exercise was designed to yield a specific result

Notable Exchanges (3)

Robert Baker•Witness•Peter Gelblum•Hiroshi Fujisaki

Baker asks three times whether Petee knew the Bundy-to-Rockingham timing was 'critical' — Petee keeps deflecting with 'I wasn't told in that manner.' Gelblum objects 'asked and answered.' Judge overrules and compels an answer, which Petee finally gives as 'yes.'

tense/revealing

Robert Baker•Witness

Baker establishes that Petee's firm (Grailey and Associates) employed Marlow and Tippin — both former LAPD Simpson investigators who later worked for the plaintiffs — suggesting the timing exercise lacked neutrality.

strategic

Robert Baker•Witness

Baker challenges Petee's starting position — Petee corrects that he was on the street, not in the alley behind 875 South Bundy — raising questions about whether the exercise accurately replicated a departure from the murder scene.

probing

Credibility Attacks (3)

⚔ Randall Petee

bias/institutional connection

Baker establishes that Petee's employer (Grailey and Associates) included Marlow and Tippin — former LAPD officers who investigated the original Simpson case and were subsequently paid by the plaintiffs — undermining the independence of the timing exercise Petee conducted.

⚔ Randall Petee

evasiveness/prior inconsistent conduct

Petee repeatedly claimed he was 'not told' timing was critical while acknowledging he understood it was — Baker used the contradiction to suggest Petee was shading his answers, requiring judicial intervention to compel a direct response.

⚔ Randall Petee

methodology challenge

Baker challenges Petee's failure to consult a Thomas Guide for the optimal route and questions his starting position (street vs. alley), suggesting the exercise may not have replicated the actual conditions a fleeing suspect would have faced.

Objections

2 objections (0 sustained, 2 overruled)

Proceeding 8484 • 64 utterances • Defense witness

Civil Trial

Department 103