Direct examination of Louis Karpf

📄 Direct examination of Louis Karpf — Friday, October 25, 1996

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\OCT\25\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-LOUIS-KA.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 3 of 57

◀ Cross-examination of Robert Heidstra Witness scheduling and jury instructions ▶

Witness: Louis Karpf
Examiner: Daniel Petrocelli
Called by: Plaintiff • Date: Friday, October 25, 1996 • Utterances: 142

Louis Karpf, a neighbor living one building north of Nicole's Bundy Drive condo, testified that he arrived home from a San Jose trip between 10:40-10:50 PM on June 12 and encountered Nicole's agitated Akita barking in the middle of Bundy Drive while going to his mailbox. On cross, the defense challenged his timeline by pointing out his flight arrived at 10:12 PM rather than 10:00 PM as he assumed, suggesting his arrival home was closer to 10:50-11:00 PM than 10:40-10:45.

# 1 MR. PETROCELLI:

Louis Karpf, Your Honor. LOUIS KARPF, called as a witness on behalf of the plaintiff Goldman, was duly sworn and testified as follows:

# 2 THE CLERK:

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?

# 3 LOUIS KARPF:

I do.

# 4 THE BAILIFF:

Please be seated.

# 5 THE CLERK:

And, sir, if you would, please state and spell your name for the record.

# 6 LOUIS KARPF:

It's Louis Karpf, L-O-U-I-S, K-A-R-P-F. DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. PETROCELLI:

# 7 Q:

Morning, Mr. Karpf?

# 8 A:

Morning.

# 9 Q:

Where do you live?

# 10 A:

I live at 873 South Bundy Drive.

# 11 Q:

Referring you to Exhibit 18 --

# 12 MR. PETROCELLI:

Can you all see here, by the way?

# 13 (Nod affirmatively.)

# 14 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) This is Nicole's condominium. You see that?

# 15 A:

Yes, I do.

# 16 Q:

Where in relation to Nicole's condominium do you live?

# 17 A:

It would be the first building north.

# 18 Q:

So it would be here?

# 19 A:

Right.

# 20 Q:

That's correct?

# 21 A:

Okay.

# 22 Q:

On the evening of June 12, did you -- where were you around 10 o'clock or so?

# 23 A:

I was just getting back from a trip to San Jose, arriving at LAX.

# 24 Q:

Okay. And about what time did you get home?

# 25 A:

I arrived home between 10:45, 10:40 to 10:45.

# 26 Q:

Now, when you arrived at home, what did you first do, pull into your garage?

# 27 A:

Yes; I pulled in the garage next to the alley. So...

# 28 Q:

And after you pulled into your garage, what did you then do?

# 29 A:

I entered the house, put my bag down, and proceeded to the mailbox.

# 30 Q:

So you didn't do anything in between?

# 31 A:

No, I didn't.

# 32 Q:

And so you go in the garage, go in the house. Did you go out a door?

# 33 A:

Yes. I go out the front door.

# 34 Q:

Okay. And you went out to the mailbox, right?

# 35 A:

That is correct.

# 36 Q:

Where is it located?

# 37 A:

It's about 10 feet from the curb on Bundy.

# 38 Q:

So that would be north of Nicole's condominium, right?

# 39 A:

Yes.

# 40 Q:

Okay. Tell us what happened when you went out to your mailbox.

# 41 A:

As I was approaching the mailbox, a large and agitated dog was in the street, and it was coming towards me, barking profusely. So I stepped back inside the gate, close to the mailbox, and waited for him to leave.

KEY QUOTE

# 42 Q:

So you were getting to the mailbox, but never quite got there because you saw the dog?

# 43 A:

That's correct.

# 44 MR. PETROCELLI:

And Steve, could you put up that picture? It's Exhibit 28.

# 45 (The instrument herein described was marked for identification as Plaintiff's Exhibit Nos. 28.)

# 46 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) Let me show you a photograph of a dog that has been marked as Exhibit 28. Is that the dog that you saw?

# 47 A:

Yes, it is.

# 48 Q:

Okay. And what did you do after you saw the dog?

# 49 A:

I stepped back inside my gate, which is a locked gate, and waited for him to leave.

# 50 Q:

And the dog was where, again?

# 51 A:

It was in the middle of the street, coming towards me.

# 52 Q:

And you were a little frightened?

# 53 A:

Yes, I was.

# 54 Q:

What was the dog doing, other than walking towards you?

# 55 A:

Barking very loudly.

# 56 Q:

You then retreated?

# 57 A:

I then retreated inside the gate.

# 58 Q:

And what happened next?

# 59 A:

As soon as he started to walk up the street, which is north, I proceeded to get my mail, and then I went back in the house.

# 60 Q:

Okay. What time was it when you saw the dog in the middle of the street, when you were going out to the mailbox?

# 61 A:

I would say the latest would be about 10:50.

# 62 Q:

Could it have been earlier than 10:50?

# 63 MR. BAKER:

Speculation. Leading.

# 64 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 65 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) What was the approximate time range?

# 66 A:

I'd say between 10:45 and 10:50.

# 67 Q:

And after you saw the dog, you went inside. And did you hear or see the dog after that?

# 68 A:

No, I didn't.

# 69 MR. PETROCELLI:

Okay. Thank you.

# 70 THE COURT:

Cross.

CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. LEONARD:

# 71 Q:

Morning, Mr. Karpf; my name is Dan Leonard. I represent O.J. Simpson.

# 72 A:

Morning.

# 73 Q:

Now, you were interviewed by the police shortly after the incident right -- shortly after you witnessed what you did, right?

# 74 A:

Probably about one or two weeks later.

# 75 Q:

And you recall when you were interviewed by the police, you told them that you arrived home at approximately 10:50 to 11 o'clock. Do you remember that?

# 76 A:

I remember seeing what I wrote from what they said.

# 77 Q:

Okay. That was your best recollection at the time?

# 78 A:

At the time, right.

# 79 Q:

And you would agree that your recollection back then is better than it is now; would you agree with that?

# 80 A:

I would say yes for today, yes.

# 81 Q:

Okay. Because I thought you said today that you arrived home between 10:40 and 10:45. I just wanted to make sure.

# 82 A:

Somewhere around 10:45, plus or minus five minutes either way. I wasn't trying to be exact.

KEY QUOTE

# 83 Q:

But when you were talking to the police, you were trying to give them the most precise time you could, right?

# 84 A:

Yes, I was.

# 85 Q:

And again, you told them sometime between 10:50 and 11 o'clock?

# 86 A:

That's what I said, yes.

# 87 Q:

Okay. Now, the way you were able to reconstruct the time at that time that you arrived home for the police is, you were thinking back to the time that your plane arrived?

# 88 A:

I knew what time the plane arrived at and approximately how long it takes me to get home.

# 89 Q:

You thought the plane arrived at 10 o'clock?

# 90 A:

About 10 o'clock.

# 91 Q:

Have you ever -- have you ever tried to determine, after the fact, exactly what time that -- exactly what time that plane arrived by calling up the airline?

# 92 A:

No, I didn't.

# 93 Q:

Again, what you did is, you thought about it, and you determined that you had arrived at 10:00, and then you added on all the time after that, things you had to do: For instance, getting off the plane?

# 94 A:

Right.

# 95 Q:

Walking to the parking lot?

# 96 A:

That's correct.

# 97 Q:

Finding your car, right?

# 98 A:

Correct.

# 99 Q:

Paying for the ticket?

# 100 A:

Um-hum.

# 101 Q:

Or paying the parking, right, and then driving home, right?

# 102 A:

Yes. Um-hum.

# 103 Q:

And you figured out it was between 10:50 and 11 o'clock, based on that reconstruction?

# 104 A:

Yes.

# 105 Q:

Would it surprise you to learn that the flight arrived at 10:12, sir?

KEY QUOTE

# 106 A:

Yes, it would.

# 107 Q:

If the flight arrived at 10:12, would you agree with me that your time line gets moved up about ten minutes or so?

# 108 A:

If it arrived at 10:12, I possibly would not have gotten home before 10:50.

KEY QUOTE

# 109 Q:

In fact, would it be much closer to 11:00 or after?

# 110 A:

No.

# 111 Q:

Excuse me. It certainly wouldn't -- Excuse me?

# 112 A:

No.

# 113 Q:

It certainly wouldn't be 10:40 to 10:45, would it?

# 114 A:

I would say 10:50, if it got at the gate 10:12. I've done this many times.

# 115 Q:

Thank you very much. When you first arrived, you didn't hear, when you first walked out to the front of your property, you didn't hear the dog barking, right?

# 116 A:

Not from the garage, no.

# 117 Q:

Thank you.

# 118 A:

Um-hum.

# 119 THE COURT:

Anything else?

# 120 MR. PETROCELLI:

Yeah, a few more. REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. PETROCELLI:

# 121 Q:

What airline were you flying?

# 122 A:

Southwest.

# 123 Q:

When you got off the plane, how far was the parking lot?

# 124 A:

Maybe 100 feet from in front of the terminal.

# 125 Q:

So, right next to the gate?

# 126 A:

Yes.

# 127 Q:

Hundred feet, you said?

# 128 A:

Probably.

# 129 Q:

And then you got in your car. And did you make any stops along the way?

# 130 A:

No, I didn't.

# 131 Q:

You went up what, the 405?

# 132 A:

405 to Wilshire, west to Bundy, then north.

# 133 Q:

Okay. Little past 10 o'clock on Sunday night. Any traffic?

# 134 A:

Very little.

# 135 Q:

Okay. Thank you. RECROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. LEONARD:

# 136 Q:

Just so I can clarify, this was Southwest Flight 852 that you were on; is that right? 862. Excuse me.

# 137 A:

I have no idea.

# 138 Q:

It was a flight out of San Jose?

# 139 A:

That is correct.

# 140 Q:

Thank you.

# 141 MR. PETROCELLI:

Nothing further.

# 142 THE COURT:

You're excused. I thank you.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (4)

Louis Karpf

As I was approaching the mailbox, a large and agitated dog was in the street, and it was coming towards me, barking profusely.

Establishes the Akita was loose on Bundy Drive between 10:45-10:50 PM, a key timeline marker for when the murders occurred.

Dan Leonard

Would it surprise you to learn that the flight arrived at 10:12, sir?

Defense attempts to push Karpf's timeline back ~10 minutes, which would move the dog sighting closer to 11:00 PM and compress the window for Simpson to commit murders and return home.

Louis Karpf

If it arrived at 10:12, I possibly would not have gotten home before 10:50.

Witness concedes the flight time adjustment but holds firm that 10:50 is still possible, not ceding the full ten minutes the defense was pushing for.

Louis Karpf

Somewhere around 10:45, plus or minus five minutes either way. I wasn't trying to be exact.

Witness qualifies his earlier precision on direct, giving the defense a small opening on credibility.

Evidence (2)

Plaintiff's 18

Aerial or street-level photograph of Nicole's Bundy Drive condominium used to orient witness location

discussed

Plaintiff's 28

Photograph of Nicole Brown Simpson's Akita dog

introduced and identified by witness

Notable Exchanges (2)

Dan Leonard•Louis Karpf

Leonard systematically walked Karpf through every step of his airport-to-home journey to show his time estimate was based on assuming the flight landed at 10:00 PM, then revealed the actual arrival was 10:12 PM, undermining the 10:40-10:45 home arrival time.

strategic

Daniel Petrocelli•Louis Karpf

Petrocelli rehabilitated on redirect by establishing the parking lot was only 100 feet from the terminal, Karpf made no stops, and there was very little traffic on the 405 on a Sunday night — supporting a fast transit time despite the later flight arrival.

rehabilitative

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Louis Karpf

prior inconsistent statement combined with factual impeachment

Defense confronted Karpf with his police statement giving a 10:50-11:00 PM arrival time versus his 10:40-10:45 PM testimony on direct, then revealed the flight actually landed at 10:12 PM rather than the 10:00 PM he assumed, making the earlier arrival time mathematically implausible.

Witness Demeanor

(Jurors nod affirmatively when asked if they can see the exhibit)

Objections

1 objections (0 sustained, 1 overruled)

Proceeding 8026 • 142 utterances • Plaintiff witness

Civil Trial

Department 103