Redirect examination of John Edwards (part 2)

📄 Redirect examination of John Edwards (part 2) — Monday, November 18, 1996

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\NOV\18\REDIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-JOHN-E.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 17 of 57

◀ Procedural pause Redirect examination of John Edwards ▶

Witness: Det. John Edwards
Examiner: Dan Leonard
Called by: Defense • Date: Monday, November 18, 1996 • Utterances: 148

Mr. Leonard cross-examines Officer John Edwards about his response to the 1989 domestic violence call at the Simpson residence. The examination covers Edwards's observations of OJ Simpson's behavior and sobriety as he left the property, his speed estimates of Simpson's departing vehicle, and the inadequacy of the photographic and medical response to Nicole Brown Simpson's injuries — specifically that Edwards took only three Polaroid photos and chose not to seek further medical attention for her.

# 1 DET. JOHN EDWARDS:

Okay.

# 2 Q:

(BY MR. LEONARD) Did I read those questions and your answers accurately, sir?

# 3 A:

Yes, you did.

# 4 Q:

Is there -- is your memory now refreshed as to what you said at the criminal trial, sir?

# 5 A:

Yes; I didn't smell any alcohol on her breath.

# 6 Q:

Did you say in the end, when you were finished being asked questions by Mr. Cochran, do you know -- did you say that, sir, with regard to the smell of alcohol on Nicole Brown Simpson's breath?

# 7 A:

Apparently I did; I didn't smell any alcohol on her breath.

# 8 Q:

By the way, as you sit here today, can you say whether or not Mr. Simpson was intoxicated that night or whether he had alcohol on his breath?

# 9 A:

I wasn't close enough to him to smell him.

# 10 Q:

Can you tell us whether he appeared to be intoxicated?

# 11 A:

He didn't appear to be intoxicated.

# 12 Q:

Okay.

Did you -- but again, you didn't get close enough to him to, for instance, detect any alcohol on his breath?

# 13 A:

We were about two feet a part.

# 14 Q:

When you -- according to your testimony, when you were engaged with him, apparently he was yelling; is that right?

# 15 A:

That's correct.

# 16 Q:

By the way, you were yelling back at him at times, weren't you, sir?

# 17 A:

No, I don't believe I did.

# 18 Q:

Never raised your voice at all?

# 19 A:

I may have raised my voice, but I didn't yell at him.

# 20 Q:

Did you in any way, sir, threaten him in any way?

# 21 A:

Never.

# 22 Q:

And when Mr. Simpson came out the second time -- you following me now? He had some clothes on?

# 23 A:

That's right.

# 24 Q:

You were with your -- you were with the sergeant -- is it Vittner -- how do you pronounce his last name?

# 25 A:

That's Vinger.

# 26 Q:

At some point after Mr. Simpson came out with his clothes on, was there -- it -- was a black and white summoned?

# 27 A:

After he came out, initiated another conversation with me, then the sergeant drove up.

# 28 MR. LEONARD:

If we can have the chart.

# 29 Q:

(BY MR. LEONARD) And the sergeant was there when Mr. Simpson got in the car and left, correct?

# 30 A:

Yes.

MR. P. BAKER: 1167.

# 31 (Counsel displays Exhibit 1167.)

# 32 Q:

(BY MR. LEONARD) Now, I want you to --

# 33 MR. LEONARD:

If the witness can approach the chart, Your Honor.

# 34 THE COURT:

Yes.

# 35 Q:

(BY MR. LEONARD) If you can get down quickly, sir --

Well, I don't want you to fall down. If you could, just walk over to the chart.

Just show us again -- I think you demonstrated this on direct examination -- but show us again where you were when you first became aware that Mr. Simpson was leaving the property.

# 36 A:

I was over here, right about where the S is on the street. I was in the roadway.

# 37 Q:

Okay.

Where was the other black -- where was the black and white?

# 38 (Indicating to Ashford Street)

# 39 A:

It had parked at an angle, just across the left front bumper of my vehicle.

# 40 Q:

Blocking your vehicle, more or less?

# 41 A:

Just a little bit.

# 42 Q:

And the first thing that came to you was, you actually heard the car door open and close; is that correct?

# 43 A:

I think I heard an engine.

# 44 Q:

You heard the engine going.

By the way, it was pretty quiet out there that night?

# 45 A:

Right.

Those hills echo noise very well.

# 46 Q:

You had no trouble hearing that car start up, correct?

# 47 A:

That's true.

# 48 Q:

And at that point, you went over to -- right up to the gate at Ashford, and you looked through, correct?

# 49 A:

No, I walked out. I was in the street. I just walked over --little bit over here, where I could get a better view through the gate.

# 50 Q:

You could see right through the Ashford gate; that was just a grate of some kind, right?

# 51 A:

Right.

# 52 Q:

You could see all the way over and out through the Rockingham gate without any difficulty, couldn't you?

# 53 A:

No.

# 54 Q:

Is that how you saw the -- that's how you saw Mr. Simpson exit, correct?

# 55 A:

I saw him exit, but I couldn't -- I didn't have a clear field of vision; there's trees in the way.

KEY QUOTE

# 56 Q:

Okay.

And so you say that Mr. Simpson was -- left the driveway at 15 miles an hour, correct?

# 57 A:

That's correct, long driveway.

# 58 Q:

Fifteen miles an hour, right?

# 59 A:

That's correct.

# 60 Q:

At this time, you were over at the Ashford gate, correct?

# 61 A:

Correct.

# 62 Q:

And you saw -- saw the car go out. You saw it's taillights, right?

# 63 A:

Right.

# 64 Q:

And you say that you saw the car going down -- south on Rockingham, and it was approaching speeds of 35 miles an hour; is that correct?

# 65 A:

Right.

# 66 Q:

Did you run all the way over to the intersection of Rockingham and Ashford so that you could get a look at the car disappearing down Rockingham?

# 67 A:

No. I just saw the taillights as it was leaving.

# 68 Q:

Obviously, the only way you could see them was through the yard and across -- and through the gate; isn't that correct?

# 69 A:

Right. Here I could see the taillights from underneath the trees.

# 70 Q:

You could see the taillights going down Rockingham, couldn't you?

# 71 A:

Just seen him going down that direction.

# 72 Q:

You had no trouble seeing that from where you were, right?

# 73 A:

Just the rear of the car and the taillights.

# 74 Q:

You had no trouble testifying to this jury that you could tell he was -- that the car was going 35 miles an hour, right?

# 75 A:

Right. It looked like it was going 35 miles an hour.

# 76 Q:

That was from your view of the receding taillights, all the way down Rockingham. Correct?

# 77 A:

That's correct.

# 78 Q:

By the way, you could hear this vehicle accelerate, too?

You could hear that clearly, couldn't you?

# 79 A:

I think you could hear -- it's not a real loud vehicle, but I think I heard it, yes.

# 80 Q:

Well, even if it was purring, you could hear it on that still night, couldn't you, sir?

# 81 A:

Right.

# 82 Q:

No problem at all as it went down Rockingham into the distance, right?

# 83 A:

Right. Right.

# 84 Q:

Now, what did you do, saddle up, jump in your cars, and head off to try to catch Mr. Simpson?

Is that what you did at that point?

# 85 A:

Saddle up?

# 86 Q:

Well, you jumped in your --

# 87 (Laughter.)

# 88 Q:

-- you jumped in your vehicle, right?

# 89 A:

This isn't the wild west.

What we did was, the sergeant got in his vehicle and maneuvered out of the way; and I got in my vehicle, made a U-turn, and we went down Rockingham.

KEY QUOTE

# 90 Q:

In pursuit of Mr. Simpson, correct?

# 91 A:

Yes.

# 92 Q:

Okay. All right.

And no siren, no red lights, right?

# 93 A:

Right.

# 94 Q:

Now, you may take a seat again.

You testified that at that point, you gave up your pursuit, right, and you were at the -- what, the coroner of Bundy and Wilshire at this point?

# 95 A:

Right.

# 96 Q:

And you decided that you were going to take Mrs. Simpson to -- or Nicole Brown Simpson to get some photographs taken at -- you wanted to take her downtown, right?

# 97 A:

Yes. I asked her if she would go.

# 98 Q:

And she wanted to go home and see the kids. So instead, you took her over to West L.A. police station?

# 99 A:

I asked her if she would do that, and she agreed.

# 100 Q:

Okay.

And you knew that there was photographic equipment there that you could take some -- take these photographs, right?

That's why you took her there?

# 101 A:

Well, I was hoping there would be photographic equipment.

# 102 Q:

And in fact, there was a Polaroid camera?

# 103 A:

Yes.

# 104 Q:

And your job at this point was to make sure that you would fairly and accurately and as best you could, try to depict the injuries. That's what you were most concerned with. In fact, that was the only reason you took her to the police station, right?

# 105 A:

Yes.

# 106 Q:

And you've used a Polaroid camera before, right?

# 107 A:

Yes.

# 108 Q:

That's not an unusual investigative tool, is it, sir?

# 109 A:

No.

# 110 Q:

And so you took -- are you the one -- are you the one who who took the photographs?

# 111 A:

Yes.

# 112 Q:

Now, the beautiful thing about a Polaroid camera, or one of the nice things, you take a picture and you get an immediate result; you don't like it, you can take some more pictures, right?

# 113 A:

Yes.

# 114 Q:

Okay.

So you took these three photographs and you looked at them and you took no more photographs that night, correct?

# 115 A:

That's partially correct.

# 116 Q:

How many more photographs did you take, sir?

# 117 A:

I took three photographs.

# 118 Q:

So you took three.

And you had an opportunity to look at those photographs, right?

They developed before your very eyes, didn't they?

# 119 A:

No.

# 120 Q:

They didn't?

# 121 A:

The one photograph was developing before Nicole Simpson's very eyes, sitting on the desktop of the station while I was taking the third picture.

# 122 Q:

But let me put it to you this way: By the time you left with Nicole to take her home, you had had an opportunity to review those photographs to see whether or not you needed to take additional photographs, correct?

# 123 A:

That's correct.

# 124 Q:

And you chose not to, correct?

# 125 A:

Correct.

No.

# 126 Q:

You chose not to take additional photographs?

Is that not sure?

# 127 MR. KELLY:

I'd object. He's in the middle of answering the prior question when Mr. Leonard interjected another one.

# 128 THE COURT:

Sustained.

Answer the first question.

# 129 MR. LEONARD:

It was the same question, Your Honor. I'll withdraw it.

# 130 THE COURT:

Okay.

# 131 MR. LEONARD:

It makes it easier.

# 132 Q:

(BY MR. LEONARD) Did you, before you left the police station with Nicole Brown Simpson to take her home, you took no more photographs of her, did you?

# 133 A:

That is correct

# 134 Q:

Now, when you were at -- strike that.

If you respond to a scene like this and you believe there are serious injuries to a victim, do you not have the obligation to try to get the victim medical care of some kind?

Either to take the victim, yourself, or to call an EMT, but to get the victim some medical attention?

That's your obligation as a reporting officer -- or a responding officer, is it not, sir?

# 135 MR. KELLY:

Object to this as to form. It's also argumentative and speculative, not relevant to this particular incident what he might generally do.

# 136 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 137 DET. JOHN EDWARDS:

I'm obligated to do what the victim wants.

# 138 Q:

(BY MR. LEONARD) No matter what the state of the medical condition of the victim; is that your testimony, sir?

# 139 A:

If the victim refuses medical treatment, I'm obligated to do what the victim wants.

KEY QUOTE

# 140 Q:

And by the way, when you were at Bundy and Wilshire, you were within what, five or ten minutes of a couple of different hospitals; isn't that right?

# 141 A:

That's correct.

We didn't want to go to those hospitals.

# 142 Q:

Instead, you went to the police station to take some photographs, correct?

# 143 A:

I asked her if she wanted to go to the hospital.

She said no.

# 144 Q:

Okay.

Instead, sir, you went to the police station to have some photographs taken; is that right?

# 145 A:

I asked her if she wanted to go to the hospital?

She refused.

I then asked her if she wanted to go to the police station to take pictures.

She agreed.

I did what the victim agreed to do.

# 146 Q:

It was your suggestion to go to the police station; it wasn't Nicole Brown Simpson's?

KEY QUOTE

# 147 A:

That's correct.

# 148 MR. LEONARD:

Thank you. No further questions.

REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. KELLY:

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Edwards

This isn't the wild west.

Spontaneous, dry retort to Leonard's 'saddle up' question; one of the few light moments in an otherwise tense examination.

Edwards

If the victim refuses medical treatment, I'm obligated to do what the victim wants.

Defense is pressing that Edwards failed Nicole by not insisting on medical care; Edwards deflects responsibility entirely onto Nicole's stated wishes.

Edwards

It was your suggestion to go to the police station; it wasn't Nicole Brown Simpson's?

Leonard pins down that the choice to photograph rather than seek medical care was Edwards's initiative, not Nicole's — undermining the 'victim refused' defense.

Edwards

I saw him exit, but I couldn't -- I didn't have a clear field of vision; there's trees in the way.

Contradicts his own speed estimate testimony; Leonard exploits the tension between obstructed sightlines and confident 35 mph estimate.

Evidence (2)

Exhibit 1167

Chart/diagram of the Simpson Rockingham property, used to show officer positions, gate locations, and sightlines

displayed; witness approached and pointed out positions on chart

Informal

Three Polaroid photographs of Nicole Brown Simpson taken at West LA police station

discussed; Leonard challenges adequacy — only three taken, no additional photos despite Polaroid's instant review capability

Notable Exchanges (3)

Leonard•Edwards

Leonard methodically dismantles Edwards's speed estimate of 35 mph by establishing that Edwards was at the Ashford gate, had obstructed sightlines due to trees, and only saw receding taillights — yet Edwards still confidently claimed he could estimate the speed.

strategic

Leonard•Edwards

Leonard establishes that Edwards had the opportunity to take additional Polaroid photos after reviewing the first ones, chose not to, then shifts to the medical care question — building a cumulative picture of inadequate documentation of Nicole's injuries.

revealing

Leonard•Edwards

Edwards insists Nicole refused to go to the hospital and he 'did what the victim agreed to do,' but Leonard pins him down: going to the police station for photos was Edwards's suggestion, not Nicole's wish.

heated

Light Moments (1)

Edwards

Leonard asked if officers 'saddled up' to pursue Simpson; Edwards responded deadpan 'This isn't the wild west' before describing the actual maneuver. Laughter in the courtroom.

Credibility Attacks (3)

⚔ Edwards

internal inconsistency

Leonard contrasts Edwards's claim of obstructed sightlines through trees with his confident assertion that Simpson's car was traveling 35 mph — pressing that the speed estimate was unreliable given the limited view.

⚔ Edwards

omission / inadequate investigation

Leonard establishes that Edwards had an instant-review Polaroid camera, took only three photos, reviewed them before leaving, and chose not to take more — suggesting inadequate documentation of Nicole's injuries.

⚔ Edwards

shifting responsibility

Leonard gets Edwards to admit that going to the police station instead of a hospital was Edwards's own suggestion, undercutting his repeated claim that he was simply following Nicole's wishes.

Witness Demeanor

(Laughter) — after Edwards's 'This isn't the wild west' remark

Witness approached the chart at counsel's request and indicated positions

Objections

2 objections (1 sustained, 1 overruled)

Proceeding 8320 • 148 utterances • Defense witness

Civil Trial

Department 103