Motion: autopsy photographs

📄 Motion: autopsy photographs — Thursday, November 7, 1996

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\NOV\7\MOTION-AUTOPSY-PHOTOGRAPHS.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 11 of 57

◀ Motion: 402 ruling Exhibit photo objections ▶

Date: Thursday, November 7, 1996 • Utterances: 30

Plaintiffs' counsel Petrocelli and Medvene clashed briefly with defense counsel Blasier over whether autopsy photographs from the criminal trial could be used with Dr. Spitz the following day. Blasier argued most of the ~35 photographs would inflame the jury under Evidence Code 352, while Medvene contended they were necessary to address defense arguments about the length and nature of the struggle. Judge Fujisaki, skeptical of the sheer volume, deferred the ruling to the following morning.

# 1 MR. PETROCELLI:

Your Honor, we have the matter of the autopsy pictures we'd like to take up now.

# 2 THE COURT:

You've got one minute.

# 3 MR. PETROCELLI:

Well, it's not our position, it's theirs. We intend to use them tomorrow.

# 4 MR. BLASIER:

Perhaps -- maybe it might be best to do it first thing in the morning.

I was going to ask the Court to go over photographs that they intended to use, to make a ruling as to the admissibility of the various photographs.

# 5 MR. PETROCELLI:

We have a lot of preparation in place. And for us to -- tomorrow morning, to get a ruling that we can't use a lot of the material, would be really prejudicial to us.

Dr. Spitz has come in from out of town, and we just heard about this today. They wanted a hearing today, and here's where we are.

# 6 MR. BLASIER:

I notified yesterday. I'm saying we can't do it in a minute, is all I'm saying.

# 7 THE COURT:

Well, how many pictures are you objecting to?

# 8 MR. BLASIER:

I'm objecting to all of them. They intend to use all of the exhibits that were used in the criminal trial, essentially all of them, is what Mr. Medvene told me.

The coroner, in the criminal trial, testified for eight days. Every single wound was described. And sounds explicit to the jury, in my view for the purpose of inflaming the jury, not informing the jury.

There's very little controversy about the number of wounds, about the type of wounds. There are a couple of wounds where there are some issues involved.

I can see photographs would be appropriate for defense I have wound on the hands, for instance, but there's really only one major ruling that there's going to be controversy about: That's an abdominal wound to Mr. Goldman, which I don't think they have photographs of tissue inside the wound, which is what the relevant argument is going to be.

And it's our position that the photographs that are calculated to inflame the jury, under 352, should be excluded.

# 9 THE COURT:

How many are there?

# 10 MR. BLASIER:

What's the total number?

Several boards with --

# 11 MR. MEDVENE:

We have a number of boards.

# 12 THE COURT:

How many pictures?

# 13 MR. MEDVENE:

Approximately 35.

# 14 THE COURT:

Why do you need 35 pictures?

# 15 MR. MEDVENE:

Well, the pictures basically go to the issues that defendants put in play. It's not just the cause of death, Your Honor. The defendants have raised the length of the struggle, the nature of the struggle, the amount of time that it took, could all of the wounds have been caused by one assailant.

The pictures go to those issues.

And I might say, the examination, certainly compared to the criminal trial, will be brief. I estimate the total examination on direct would be -- with the pictures, will be in the area of two and a half hours, give or take a few minutes, Your Honor.

So we intend to put in the pictures to show and to demonstrate our point; that the struggle was in the area of a minute and not twenty minutes, like the defendants contend, and to show the placement of wounds and how the wounds could have been caused and placed by the assailant within a relatively short period of time.

There's also a question in terms of what wound or wounds were the fatal wound. And the pictures --

# 16 THE COURT:

Mr. Medvene, without cutting you short, we'll go through this tomorrow. I'm concerned that 35 photographs seem somewhat excessive, without having seen the photographs.

# 17 MR. MEDVENE:

We're talking about two different victims and two different crime scenes, in effect, Your Honor, so you have -- About --

# 18 THE COURT:

Mr. Medvene, I've only been in this business since 1963.

# 19 MR. MEDVENE:

I understand, Your Honor.

# 20 THE COURT:

And I've handled more than one homicide.

# 21 MR. MEDVENE:

I understand.

# 22 THE COURT:

And I must confess, never, ever seen that many photographs in any homicide.

KEY QUOTE

# 23 MR. MEDVENE:

Fifteen pictures, Your Honor.

KEY QUOTE

# 24 THE COURT:

Autopsy photos? No, I haven't seen that many.

# 25 MR. PETROCELLI:

Can we address this in the morning, Your Honor?

# 26 THE COURT:

Yes, you may.

# 27 MR. PETROCELLI:

Does court start at 9:00 tomorrow?

# 28 THE COURT:

Yes.

# 29 MR. PETROCELLI:

Thank you, Your Honor.

# 30 THE COURT:

Thank you.

(At 4:30 P.M., an adjournment was taken until Friday, November 8, 1996, at 9:00

A.M.)

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Hiroshi Fujisaki

I must confess, never, ever seen that many photographs in any homicide.

The judge's blunt skepticism signals he will likely pare down the number of autopsy photos admitted — a significant pretrial signal to both sides.

Robert Blasier

The coroner, in the criminal trial, testified for eight days. Every single wound was described. And sounds explicit to the jury, in my view for the purpose of inflaming the jury, not informing the jury.

Frames the defense's 352 prejudice argument and directly invokes the criminal trial's perceived excesses.

Edward Medvene

We intend to put in the pictures to show and to demonstrate our point; that the struggle was in the area of a minute and not twenty minutes, like the defendants contend.

Reveals a core factual dispute — duration of the attack — and explains why plaintiffs view the photos as substantively necessary, not merely cumulative.

Edward Medvene

Fifteen pictures, Your Honor.

Medvene quietly revised downward from 35 mid-argument after the judge's pointed skepticism — a real-time concession on volume.

Evidence (3)

Informal

Approximately 35 autopsy photographs (boards) originally used in the criminal trial, covering wounds to both Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman

disputed; ruling deferred to morning session

Informal

Photograph(s) of abdominal wound to Ron Goldman, specifically tissue inside the wound

identified by Blasier as the one photograph where substantive controversy exists

Informal

Photographs of defensive wounds on hands

Blasier conceded these would be appropriate to admit

Notable Exchanges (2)

Hiroshi Fujisaki•Edward Medvene

Judge cut off Medvene's justification for 35 photos by invoking his 33-year career on the bench and stating he had never seen that many autopsy photos admitted in any homicide case. Medvene immediately revised his number downward to 15.

revealing

Daniel Petrocelli•Robert Blasier

Petrocelli pushed to address the issue immediately given Dr. Spitz had traveled from out of town; Blasier said he needed more time. Judge split the difference by deferring to the next morning.

strategic

Light Moments (1)

Hiroshi Fujisaki

After Medvene defended needing 35 photographs, Judge Fujisaki dryly noted 'I've only been in this business since 1963' before stating he had never seen that many autopsy photos in any homicide — a deadpan rebuke that caused Medvene to immediately backpedal to 15.

Witness Demeanor

(At 4:30 P.M., an adjournment was taken until Friday, November 8, 1996, at 9:00 A.M.)

Objections

1 objections (0 sustained, 0 overruled)

Proceeding 8199 • 30 utterances

Civil Trial

Department 103