Direct examination of Juditha Brown (part 2)

📄 Direct examination of Juditha Brown (part 2) — Friday, December 6, 1996

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\DEC\6\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-JUDITHA-.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 27 of 57

◀ Direct examination of Juditha Brown (part 1) Redirect examination of Juditha Brown ▶

Witness: Juditha Brown
Examiner: John Kelly
Called by: Plaintiff • Date: Friday, December 6, 1996 • Utterances: 41

Juditha Brown, Nicole's mother, testified about her last phone conversation with Nicole on the night of the murders — a call initiated to arrange pickup of forgotten glasses from Mezzaluna — which ended with 'I love you.' She then described learning of Nicole's death from Tom Lange via phone call and her confrontation with OJ Simpson at Nicole's open-casket wake, where Simpson said 'I'm so sorry, Nic' but never answered her direct question about whether he had anything to do with the killing.

# 1 (The instrument herein referred to as Plastic bag containing glasses and other items was marked Plaintiffs' Exhibit 25 for identification by reference to Criminal Trial No. BA097211 )

# 2 (Photograph of Exhibit 25 displayed on the Elmo Screen.)

# 3 Q:

(BY MR. KELLY) I ask you to look at these.

And do you recognize those, Ms. Brown?

# 4 A:

I guess.

# 5 Q:

Those appear to be your glasses from that night?

# 6 A:

They possibly are. I don't remember anymore, I'm sure they are.

# 7 Q:

Now, after you got home, you -- I'm sorry -- do you recall who you spoke to at Mezzaluna?

# 8 A:

It was a woman. No, I don't remember her name.

# 9 Q:

Do you recall the substance of the conversation?

# 10 A:

Yes. I said can you -- I know I left my glasses somewhere; could you please check outside. Because I had Justin on my lap, and as I got out of the car, I said, maybe they had fallen out, and there was a puddle in front where we got out. So I said, could you just check there and see if you find my glasses.

And she returned and she says, "Yes, I have them."

I said, "What luck."

# 11 Q:

And anything else in that conversation?

# 12 A:

And I said, "Well I'm going to call my daughter and tell her to pick up the glasses in the morning."

# 13 Q:

Did you then call Nicole?

# 14 A:

Then I called Nicole and I said, "You know, I found my glasses over there. Would you please pick them up in the morning."

And she said, oh, you know -- and she said a name, but it just slipped my mind, but who it was -- and she says "can bring it to Starbuck's Cafe, because we always talk, and we can meet there, and he can bring them."

# 15 Q:

Okay. Anything else in the conversation?

# 16 A:

And then she said good night, and "I love you."

And I said, "I love you." And those were the last words.

# 17 Q:

Did you receive a phone call the next morning?

# 18 A:

Yes.

# 19 Q:

Do you recall who it was from?

# 20 A:

Yes. It was between 6:00 and 7:00, and I -- I was in a deep sleep for some reason. And the phone call woke me up. And -- and Arnelle was on the phone, and she was sobbing, Mr. Simpson's daughter. And she sobbed. And I knew something had happened to Nicole. And then Tom -- I think it was Tom Lange what came to the phone -- and he says, "Your daughter is dead."

# 21 Q:

That was Nicole?

# 22 A:

And that was Nicole.

# 23 Q:

Now, on June 15, Ms. Brown --

# 24 A:

On June 15.

# 25 Q:

Was there a wake for Nicole?

# 26 A:

Yes, there was.

# 27 Q:

Okay.

And you were there at the wake?

# 28 A:

Yes.

# 29 Q:

And that was an open-casket wake?

# 30 A:

Yes.

# 31 Q:

And did Mr. Simpson attend that?

# 32 A:

Yes, he did.

# 33 Q:

And were you there when Mr. Simpson arrived?

# 34 A:

Yes.

# 35 Q:

Do you recall what Mr. Simpson --

# 36 A:

I was next to -- I was at the coffin, and Mr. Simpson came back -- came in and he said, "Could you move? Could you move? I have to be alone."

And I heard him say, "I'm so sorry, Nic. I'm so sorry." And he kissed her on the lips.

# 37 Q:

And did you do anything then, after you observed that with Mr. Simpson?

# 38 A:

Yeah. He walked away, and then I followed him and I confronted him, very close, and I said, "Did you have anything to do with this?"

And he said, "I loved your daughter." And that was the end.

# 39 Q:

Did he ever answer your question, though, Ms. Brown?

# 40 A:

No.

# 41 MR. KELLY:

I have no further questions.

Temperature

emotional

Key Quotes (4)

Juditha Brown

And then she said good night, and 'I love you.' And I said, 'I love you.' And those were the last words.

Establishes the final exchange between Nicole and her mother, giving the glasses retrieval call its devastating context.

Juditha Brown

And he says, 'Your daughter is dead.'

Tom Lange delivering the death notification; establishes timeline and manner in which the family was informed.

Juditha Brown

Mr. Simpson came back -- came in and he said, 'Could you move? Could you move? I have to be alone.'

Simpson's behavior at the wake — demanding to be alone with Nicole's body — is presented as revealing or suspicious.

Juditha Brown

I said, 'Did you have anything to do with this?' And he said, 'I loved your daughter.' And that was the end.

Simpson's non-answer to a direct accusation from Nicole's mother is a central piece of guilt-by-implication testimony.

Evidence (1)

Plaintiffs' Exhibit 25

Plastic bag containing Nicole's glasses and other items, by reference to Criminal Trial No. BA097211

Marked for identification; photograph displayed on Elmo screen; witness asked to identify

Notable Exchanges (2)

Juditha Brown•O.J. Simpson

At Nicole's open-casket wake, Brown directly asked Simpson 'Did you have anything to do with this?' Simpson responded only 'I loved your daughter' and did not answer the question.

devastating

Juditha Brown•Nicole Brown Simpson

Final phone call the night of the murders, originally about retrieving glasses from Mezzaluna, ended with mutual 'I love you' — the last words they spoke.

emotional

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 8529 • 41 utterances • Plaintiff witness

Civil Trial

Department 103