Direct examination of Jim Merrill (part 3)

📄 Direct examination of Jim Merrill (part 3) — Thursday, December 5, 1996

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\DEC\5\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-JIM-MERR.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 26 of 57

◀ Session resumption Direct examination of Raymond David Kilduff ▶

Witness: Jim Merrill
Examiner: Daniel Petrocelli
Called by: Plaintiff • Date: Thursday, December 5, 1996 • Utterances: 42

Petrocelli reads portions of Jim Merrill's deposition establishing that OJ Simpson called Merrill on June 14, 1994 — the morning after the murders — and that their conversation included discussion about Simpson's golf bag, which Merrill had shipped to Los Angeles on a later flight. This was confirmed as the last time Merrill ever spoke to Simpson.

# 1 MR. PETROCELLI:

I had a few more questions.

# 2 MR. LEONARD:

Certainly. I don't have any objection to Mr. Petrocelli reading these portions. Thank you.

# 3 MR. PETROCELLI:

On page 28, Mr. Leonard, line 19.

# 4 Q:

Mr. Merrill?

# 5 A:

Yes.

# 6 Q:

Directing your attention to the 14th of June, did you receive a phone call from Mr. Simpson?

# 7 A:

Yes.

# 8 Q:

Tell me what Mr. Simpson said in that phone call?

# 9 A:

I don't -- I don't recall word for word. He gave me an explanation of what happened the day before. Obviously, by then I knew what had transpired. That was basically the whole conversation.

# 10 Q:

Was there any discussion about the golf bag?

# 11 A:

Yes.

# 12 Q:

Who initiated that discussion?

# 13 A:

I initiated that conversation.

# 14 Q:

Why did you ask him about the golf bag?

# 15 A:

I didn't ask him about the golf bag. Just in the course of the conversation I mentioned that I tried to get the golf bag to him in time knowing that he was going back to LA or wherever he was going and that I put it on a plane that just left -- I'm sorry that left just after his.

# 16 Q:

Do you recall any further discussion about the golf bag in that conversation?

# 17 A:

Well, he asked whether or not I had made any arrangements to have it delivered to him. I said "no, I didn't. I just got it there." I gave him the baggage ticket number and he just said, "well, I guess I'll have somebody go pick it up." And that was the whole basis of that conversation.

Mr. Leonard, page 37 line 14. "Q. Now, after Mr. Simpson called you and apologized on the morning of June 15 -- that should be June 14 -- did he ever call you again later that week to apologize for anything else?

# 18 A:

No.

# 19 Q:

Did he call you to talk to you about what was happening in your life, how things were with you?

# 20 A:

No.

# 21 Q:

Did he talk to you about anything that week?

# 22 A:

No. Just that one call.

# 23 Q:

So after the call in which he apologized to you, you never spoke to him again, right?

# 24 A:

That's correct.

# 25 Q:

So the last time he ever talked to you was on the morning of June 14 when he called you to apologize, right?

# 26 A:

That's correct.

# 27 Q:

And it's that very same phone call that you and he talked about his golf clubs, correct?

# 28 A:

Yes.

# 29 Q:

The last time you ever spoke to O.J. Simpson was on June 14, 1994, correct?

KEY QUOTE

# 30 A:

That's correct.

# 31 Q:

And in that conversation there was discussion about his golf clubs, true?

# 32 A:

Correct.

# 33 MR. PETROCELLI:

Okay thank you.

# 34 MR. LEONARD:

Very briefly.

Page 94 line 11.

# 35 Q:

Now, when you left the agent with the golf clubs, did you make any arrangements to notify Mr. Simpson what you had done with his clubs?

# 36 A:

No.

# 37 Q:

Did you have any intention or plan to do that?

# 38 A:

Yes.

# 39 Q:

And what was your plan?

# 40 A:

The next day -- see I didn't have his number. He has a personal assistant; I don't recall her name. But if a phone call would have been made to her to let her know where Mr. Simpson's clubs were.

# 41 Q:

But the remainder of that day you made no attempt to notify Mr. Simpson in Los Angeles about his clubs, right?

# 42 A:

No.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (3)

Witness (Merrill)

He gave me an explanation of what happened the day before. Obviously, by then I knew what had transpired. That was basically the whole conversation.

Establishes that Simpson contacted Merrill on June 14 and offered an explanation of events — the content of which is notably absent from the deposition excerpt.

Witness (Merrill)

I just got it there. I gave him the baggage ticket number and he just said, 'well, I guess I'll have somebody go pick it up.'

Documents Simpson's response to learning his golf bag was in LA — calm and practical, asking for the baggage ticket to retrieve it.

Examiner

The last time you ever spoke to O.J. Simpson was on June 14, 1994, correct?

Establishes the definitive endpoint of contact between Simpson and Merrill, boxing in the timeline of Simpson's communications after the murders.

Evidence (1)

Informal

OJ Simpson's golf bag, shipped by Merrill on a flight to Los Angeles just after Simpson's departure from Chicago

discussed — establishes chain of custody and Simpson's awareness of its location

Notable Exchanges (1)

Examiner•Merrill

Systematic confirmation that the June 14 call was the last contact between Merrill and Simpson, and that this same call covered the golf bag — linking Simpson's post-murder communications directly to the bag's whereabouts.

strategic

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 8487 • 42 utterances • Plaintiff witness

Civil Trial

Department 103