John Edwards.
JOHN EDWARDS, called as a witness on behalf of the Plaintiffs, was duly sworn and testified as follows:
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~?
Okay. Now, drawing your attention to January 1, 1989, at approximately 4 AM were you on duty that day?
Yes, I was. I was in uniform in a black and white police vehicle assigned as a training officer to a newer officer that just came on the department.
Okay. Now, going back to January 1 of '89, did you have occasion to receive a radio call at approximately 4 AM?
Would you be able to describe, just in general terms, the climate that particular early morning on New Year's Day, '89?
In the area of that address it's a hilly area. It was at night, it was dark, it was cool, it was damp, and it had been like a misty, light rain earlier that evening, so the ground was wet and the -- and the air was still thick with mist.
So I'll put up a diagram here.
(Counsel placed diagram entitled 360
North Rockingham Avenue Exhibit 116.)
(BY MR. KELLY) Can you explain, first of all, in what manner you approached that location in your marked vehicle?
Yes. I came off of Sunset and I drove up Rockingham, I was driving rapidly and I missed the first gate, I didn't even see it, and I went around the corner and I saw the second gate and I stopped there.
Little bit in that green area off to the side, not quite in front of the gate because it appeared to me the gate opened outward.
I got out of the car, walked over to the intercom box, it's a black pole with a little box on the top with a button, and I pressed the button to get someone's attention inside.
I came up Rockingham past this gate, parked my car approximately at this location here, walked over and pressed the button on this intercom box.
Next thing I saw -- well, next thing that happened was a woman came on the intercom box, and I said I'm a police officer, I'm here responding to a 911 call, a woman has been beaten at this location, I need to talk to her, I need to see her. And this woman responded, everything's fine here, the police are not needed.
I stood there. I told her I wasn't going to leave until I spoke to the person that was being beaten and saw them personally, I was not leaving. And within a few seconds a female Caucasian, blond hair, wearing a white bra only and a light colored jump -- pants or sweat pants or a pajama bottom, ran across right by the bushes and right over directly to this control box -- ran across the driveway from the bushes to the control box.
When she got to the control box she collapsed onto it. She literally collapsed onto the control box and kept pushing on the button about four, five times. Of course I couldn't see the button, but it appears she was pushing on the button, and she yelled several times to me, he's going to kill me, he's going to kill me.
Well, after she pushed the button several times she ran to the gate. The gate hadn't opened yet. As she got to the gate it opened, and she came flying through that open area of the gate, ran directly to me and collapsed onto me.
Both arms.
And could you describe to me exactly what she felt like in your arms at that time?
(BY MR. KELLY) You were able to make physical contact with her with your own arms, were you not?
Were you able to make any observations yourself in terms of what you felt of Nicole's body at this time? Can you describe her body, what you felt?
Yes. She was cold, wet, and shivering. And as I had my arms around her upper torso and her back, I could feel her bones were shivering.
KEY QUOTEWell, she repeated again he's going to kill me, he's going to kill me. I asked her -- I said -- says, well who's going to kill you? And she responded O.J. So I wasn't quite sure who she meant. I had a feeling from the initials, so I asked her do you mean the football player, O.J. Simpson, and she says yes, O.J. Simpson.
I took my flashlight out and I illuminated her face and her torso to see if she had any injuries. At the same time I told my partner to take off her jacket and put it on Nicole because she was shivering, very cold. And I looked at her face and I could see a bruised swelling on her right side of her forehead.
Yes, above her right eye and down a little bit and then -- a swollen right eye, some sort of a mark or a scratch on her right cheek, about a 1-inch cut above her left lip, just below her nose on the outside, there was an open cut, you could see the blood, then a little bit of blood was coming down between her teeth, in the cracks between her teeth. And she -- when I asked her about the injuries, she held up her -- she flipped up her upper lip and I could see a cut on the inside of her lip. Then I saw a bruise and her eye was start -- swollen and blackend on the left eye, and I saw a human hand print on the left side of her neck. I could actually see the three -- at least three finger outlines.
I asked her what happened to her and she said that O.J. had hit her, kicked her, slapped her, and pulled her hair.
After she told you those things, what, if anything, did you do next for Nicole or with Nicole?
What I did was I had -- my partner and I walked her to the police car which is just a short distance away, put her in the right rear seat of the police vehicle, closed the door, and then my partner and I got in the front seat and were looking back at her as she was crying. And we were -- we asked her if she wanted to place O.J. Simpson under arrest for beating her. She said yes. My partner then -- I told my partner, I said well, give her a crime report to sign. Normally we fill out those crime reports, but at this time I felt I needed to get her to sign a crime report. And my partner handed it to her, she took it rapidly and very determinedly signed it sideways, across, and -- instead of on the line she signed it sideways, in big letters signed her name.
By the way, while you were back in the car with your partner and Nicole, were the gates to the Ashford Street entrance open or closed?
Okay. Now, after Nicole had taken this action of signing off on the record, you were back in the front seat, what, if anything, did you observe next?
She said, you guys come out here, you talk to him and then you leave, you've been out here eight times before, you never did anything, I want him arrested and I want my kids back.
KEY QUOTENow, did there come a time after she made these statements that you exited your vehicle again?
Yes. Once she said that and had signed the crime report, and my partner was starting to get the detail boxes of the crime report filled out, I walked back towards the front of the gate and stood there looking in this direction. And pretty soon --
Then I turned to walk back towards the car and the gate opened, apparently, because a female came out of this yard area through the gate and walked over to my car rapidly, without me knowing it.
Prior to the appearance of that woman, had you observed anything or anybody on the other side of the gate?
Well, this female -- she was a short female, Hispanic. She walked over to the right rear door of the police car, she opened the door, and by this time I was walking towards her cause I saw her. She grabbed a hold of Nicole Simpson's right arm and she started pummeling on her, and she says, Nicole, you don't want to do this, come, come with me.
Yes. I think he came out before this -- I'm sorry, I got my sequence -- cause he came out twice. He came out prior to this woman -- this woman coming out.
Yes, I'm sorry. I was standing here looking, and Mr. Simpson came out the front door, walked directly towards me wearing a bathrobe, very determined, walked straight towards me, rapidly.
Can you tell me, when Mr. Simpson was walking towards you, were you able to observe what he was wearing at this time?
Yes. I used my flashlight to illuminate him as he got fairly close to me and I saw that he was wearing approximately a 3/4 length bathrobe, it was open, he was wearing some sort of underwear, shorts, no shoes and no other garments.
Well, he walked rapidly towards me and I thought he was going to talk to me, but what he did is he looked at the patrol car and he started yelling in the direction of the patrol car, and it was very animated.
Yes. He was yelling I don't want that woman in my house any more, I don't want that woman in my house -- in my bed any more, I got two other women, I don't want that woman in my bed any more.
KEY QUOTEOkay. And would you be able to describe -- first of all, were you able to see Mr. Simpson's face clearly that night when he approached you at the gate?
Could you describe as best you can his facial characteristics at this time when he arrived at the gate?
At the time that he started yelling his face was in a rage, he was very exited. He was yelling and he had -- there's two veins on his head, one on each side of his head, up before you got to the hairline, and they were pulsating rapidly, you could see him very -- see them very visibly.
KEY QUOTEI told him that his wife had been beaten, she said that he's the one that did it, she wanted him arrested, and that I had seen visible injuries to her, trauma, and I -- it was my duty to place him under arrest for spousal battery.
Yes. He said that I didn't -- I didn't hit her, I just pushed her out of bed. Then he made a statement -- says, you know, you guys be up here eight times before and now you want to arrest me for this, and he emphasized this. And he said, this is not a big deal, it's a family matter, why make a big deal of it.
KEY QUOTEI told him I was obligated to place him under arrest and -- for spousal battery, and I told him when my supervisor got here, got to the gate, then we would have to place him under arrest. I told him go inside and change clothes.
That's when the gate opened. I walked back towards the car, the gate opened, and a female came out.
She walked -- I didn't pay attention to her. Somehow she got that gate open, she went back inside, and the gate closed again.
About three minutes later, O.J. Simpson came back out. He walked right back to the -- only this time he went towards the corner of the gate, towards the wall, and we talked over -- just a little bit over the wall.
No. Now he was wearing a dark suit, jogging suit or running suit, either blue or dark blue. I couldn't be sure about the color.
He told me -- he says, what makes you so special, why do you want to make a big deal of this, you know. And again, I told him -- I says, you know, it's spousal battery, I have injuries, trauma, your wife wants you arrested, you have to be arrested for this. About that time a black-and-white patrol car came driving up the street, it was my supervisor, and I turned my direction from Mr. Simpson. I thought he understood what was about to occur, so I turned my direction to my supervisor, walked over onto the roadway and talked to my supervisor.
He had pulled up and parked a little bit in front of my car, just -- blocking just the left front of it. And I walked over -- we both got out of the car and we were talking.
Okay. And what, if anything, happened when you went -- by the way, who was your supervisor?
I was talking to the sergeant, I heard a car start up, I walked away, I looked through the gate and I could see that a blue Bentley had -- the lights were on, and it drove out of this driveway down Rockingham towards Sunset, went out of the driveway at around 15 miles an hour, and when it got in this area here, it was on up towards 35, 45 when it left down Rockingham.
Can we just -- can the record indicate that the officer was pointing just below the gate southbound on Rockingham when he indicated the vehicle was going 45 miles an hour.
15 miles an hour.
Q (BY MR. KELLY) When the vehicle reached Rockingham initially, could you be able to approximate what speed it was going as it entered onto Rockingham?
As it was going -- as it was coming out of the driveway towards Rockingham, it was going about 15 miles an hour.
Just so the record is clear, the witness has indicated right at the entrance to the Rockingham gate on Rockingham is at the point at which the vehicle accelerated to 45 miles an hour. May the record reflect that?
(BY MR. KELLY) You indicated that the vehicle was going approximately 15 miles an hour when it reached Rockingham Avenue; is that correct?
I observed the vehicle going away from me on Rockingham towards Sunset, and it appeared it was -- accelerated up to 35, 45 miles an hour.
And how long a distance were you able to see that car accelerate as it left the Rockingham entrance?
The Sergeant and I got back in our cars, and I -- once he moved his car, he will make a U-turn, go back down Rockingham towards Sunset in an attempt to catch up with the Bentley, and I broadcast on Symplex -- that's a car-to-car frequency, not over the city frequencies -- that we were in pursuit of a blue Bentley, O.J. Simpson driving, and we started to -- started searching through the area for the Bentley, and never did find it.
I took Sunset down to -- I think it was Bundy -- Bundy down to Wilshire. We ended up around Wilshire and Bundy, and couldn't find the car anywhere.
So I asked her if she would like to go to the emergency hospital so we could get her treated for her injuries. She said, no, she wanted to go home to her kids. So then I asked her -- I said well, would you go to the photo lab for us so we can get some good 35 millimeter photos of your injuries. It's downtown. She says no, I want to go home to my kids.
So then I explained to her -- I said West L.A. Station is really not that far from here, and we got to turn around and go back anyway, can we go over to the station and I'll use a Polaroid camera and we'll take some quick pictures of you, and I'll take you right back home to yor kids. She agreed to that.
So I got over to West L.A. Police Station on -- what street is that on? It's off Sunset -- I mean it's off Santa Monica. It's on -- escapes me. Starts with a B. Then I parked in front and went inside the front entrance of the police station, the public entrance, to the front desk.
Before going in there, when you were driving around with Nicole in the car, do you recall whether the vehicle windows were open or closed?
Oh, it was cold and damp outside. She was shivering. We had the windows up. I think the heater was on low.
And you had had occasion to speak to Nicole up close when she had first fell into your arms, had you not?
Is there any time that you notice the -- you noticed the odor of alcohol, either in the car or in any of your conversations with her?
Now, you indicated that you then arrived at the station to take some photos. Did you in fact locate a camera, first of all, that night?
Yes. Fortunately, the desk officer was able to give me a Polaroid camera; I believe it was a black Polaroid 600. And I took three photographs of Nicole at that time; one was a full body length photograph, mainly of the right side to depict the mud that was on the right side of these long pajama type pants, on the right leg.
Then I took two photographs of her face; one depicting a little bit to the -- to the right side, and a little bit of the front and left.
And then the camera was out of film. I gave the camera back to the desk officer and had my partner take her inside.
(BY MR. KELLY) Behind you -- Detective, I'd ask you to step back and look up on the board there, and I ask you if you recognize that photograph?
Yes. This is the -- looks like the second or third photograph I took. Here's one of the photographs laying on the desk, this is the right-side photograph of Nicole Simpson depicting the mud on the right pants leg, and my partner's uniform jacket is on her. Underneath that jacket is just a white bra.
Other than the jacket, does that fairly and accurately represent her appearance when you first saw her when you arrived at Rockingham?
Yes. I had her pull her hair back to take a photograph of the front and right side of her face, as best as I could. And this depicts some bruising on the right forehead above the right eye. The right eye is swollen above it and below. And there's a mark or a scratch on the -- on the right. You can see a -- is this the same photo? Then there's -- got big on me (indicating to TV screen zooming in on photo) -- Then a scratch underneath her nose on the left side is approximately a 1-inch open gash or scratch going into her lip. You can't see the one below it, under -- I mean underneath the lip.
Above her right eye, are you able to better discern the injury on her forehead at this point?
There's this swelling -- swollen area. It's easier to see with the naked eye. This photo depicts it a little bit. This is a swollen area of redness, and then that's some sort of a scratch pattern up here, and another scratch down below, and this area is all swollen.
Okay. By the way, did that picture fairly and accurately represent her facial appearance at that time the photo was taken?
And you also indicated earlier that you observed a neck injury or markings when you first arrived at Rockingham. Are those -- is that apparent on this picture here?
This is a little bit more towards the front. I was trying to show the -- I had her pull her hair up a little bit more off the left side to show the swollen eye. There was a scratch here and her forehead was swollen here, and the eye was swollen -- starting to blacken. And again, you can't -- you can see that there's a cut right there over her lip. You can't see that handprint.
She was cold, wet, and shivering. And as I had my arms around her upper torso and her back, I could feel her bones were shivering.
She said, you guys come out here, you talk to him and then you leave, you've been out here eight times before, you never did anything, I want him arrested and I want my kids back.
He was yelling I don't want that woman in my house any more, I don't want that woman in my bed any more, I got two other women, I don't want that woman in my bed any more.
He said that I didn't -- I didn't hit her, I just pushed her out of bed.
At the time that he started yelling his face was in a rage, he was very exited. He was yelling and he had -- there's two veins on his head, one on each side of his head, up before you got to the hairline, and they were pulsating rapidly, you could see him very -- see them very visibly.