Direct examination of Stewart Tanner

📄 Direct examination of Stewart Tanner — Friday, October 25, 1996

Address:

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

TRIAL

▲ Day 3 of 57

◀ Exhibit admission: Tanner Cross-examination of Stewart Tanner ▶

Witness: Stuart Tanner
Examiner: Daniel Petrocelli
Called by: Plaintiff • Date: Friday, October 25, 1996 • Utterances: 78

Stewart Tanner, a bartender at Mezzaluna on June 12, 1994, testified briefly about Ron Goldman's presence at work that night, their loose plans to meet afterward at a bar in Marina Del Rey, and his subsequent attempts to reach Goldman the next morning when Goldman failed to show up for work. The testimony establishes Goldman's pager as an exhibit and confirms Goldman did not interact visibly with Nicole Brown Simpson at the restaurant.

# 1 MR. PETROCELLI:

We call Stewart Tanner. STEWART TANNER was called as a witness on behalf of the plaintiffs, 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 STUART TANNER:

I do.

# 4 THE CLERK:

Please be seated, sir. Please state and spell both your first and your last names for the record.

# 5 STUART TANNER:

Stewart Tanner, S-T-E-W-A-R-T, T-A-N-N-E-R. DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. PETROCELLI:

# 6 Q:

Good morning, Mr. Tanner.

# 7 A:

Morning.

# 8 Q:

You worked at Mezzaluna on June 12, 1994?

# 9 A:

Yes, I did.

# 10 Q:

And you were a bartender that evening?

# 11 A:

Correct.

# 12 Q:

On other evenings, did you do other things there, as well?

# 13 A:

I was a bartender or waiter.

# 14 Q:

Ron Goldman was on duty that night?

# 15 A:

Yes, sir.

# 16 Q:

And you saw him there at the restaurant?

# 17 A:

Yes.

# 18 Q:

Did you also see Nicole Brown Simpson there that evening?

# 19 A:

Yes, sir.

# 20 Q:

Do you remember what she was wearing?

# 21 A:

A black jacket and a black dress.

# 22 Q:

Okay. She was in a party of a number of people; is that right?

# 23 A:

Yes, sir.

# 24 Q:

Now, did you make plans with Mr. Goldman that evening to do something after work?

# 25 A:

Yes, sir. We were supposed to go out.

# 26 Q:

Where were you supposed to go?

# 27 A:

We were going to go to a restaurant and bar in Marina Del Rey.

# 28 Q:

Who else was going to go besides Ron and you?

# 29 A:

Another waiter that worked there, that didn't work there that evening, by the name of John Valente.

# 30 Q:

Was it definite that you were going to go?

# 31 A:

Not, not really. I mean, you know, they said, hey, why don't we, after work go by and hang out. And that's the way it was left.

# 32 Q:

Did Ron talk to you before he left the restaurant?

# 33 A:

Yes, sir.

# 34 Q:

And what did he tell you?

# 35 A:

You call me; I'll call you, you know, because I was getting off, obviously, later than he was. And that was it.

# 36 Q:

Were you planning to drive in one car or separately?

# 37 A:

Separately.

# 38 Q:

Okay. And Ron was going to meet Mr. Valente at --

# 39 A:

Yeah.

# 40 Q:

-- At the Baja?

# 41 A:

All three of us were going to meet up there, possibly separate times because -- just the timing of it all.

# 42 Q:

So you, Ron, and John Valente were going to drive there separately at different times?

# 43 A:

Right.

# 44 Q:

Okay. Did Ron tell you that he had a date with Nicole Brown Simpson that night?

# 45 MR. LEONARD:

Objection. Calls for hearsay.

# 46 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 47 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) Did Ron indicate anything to you about his plans to see Nicole Brown Simpson?

# 48 MR. LEONARD:

Same objection, Your Honor.

# 49 THE COURT:

You may answer yes or no.

# 50 STUART TANNER:

Can you repeat the question?

# 51 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) Did Ron tell you that he had any plans to see Nicole Brown Simpson?

# 52 A:

No.

# 53 MR. LEONARD:

Same objection, Your Honor.

# 54 THE COURT:

Same ruling. You can answer yes or no.

# 55 MR. PETROCELLI:

State of mind of the subsequent conduct under 1250, Your Honor. That's the only reason I was offering it.

# 56 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) In any event, did you see Ron and Nicole Brown Simpson in the restaurant that evening, interacting at all?

# 57 A:

Not at all.

# 58 Q:

Okay. Let me show you a picture of what's previously been marked as Exhibits 23 and 24.

# 59 MR. PETROCELLI:

Could you put those on, Steve.

# 60 (BY MR. PETROCELLI) Do you recognize that? (Referring to screen.)

# 61 A:

Yes, sir.

# 62 MR. PETROCELLI:

Can you show the next one.

# 63 (Monitor is displayed.)

# 64 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) And you recognize that?

# 65 A:

Yes, sir.

# 66 Q:

Okay. Now, did Ron Goldman have a pager?

# 67 A:

Yes, sir, he did.

# 68 Q:

Okay. And pagers that we just showed you that have been marked as Exhibits 23 and 24 --

# 69 A:

Yes, sir.

# 70 Q:

-- you recognize those as Mr. Goldman's pager?

# 71 A:

Yes, sir.

# 72 Q:

Okay. Did you actually go to Baja Cantina that night?

# 73 A:

No. I got off work later than I thought and was tired, and just went home and went to bed.

KEY QUOTE

# 74 Q:

What time did you get off of work?

# 75 A:

Sometime after 11:30 I think.

# 76 Q:

The next morning when you got up, did you call Ron or page him on his beeper?

# 77 A:

Ron and I worked on Mondays and he was never late to work. And I came in and he wasn't there, so I called his answer machine and left a message. And then I paged him after that.

KEY QUOTE

# 78 MR. PETROCELLI:

Thank you.

CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. LEONARD:

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (3)

Stewart Tanner

Ron and I worked on Mondays and he was never late to work. And I came in and he wasn't there, so I called his answer machine and left a message. And then I paged him after that.

Humanizes Goldman and underscores the shock of his absence — a man who was never late simply didn't show up.

Stewart Tanner

Not at all.

Directly answers whether Ron and Nicole were seen interacting at the restaurant — counters any suggestion of a romantic rendezvous that evening.

Stewart Tanner

No. I got off work later than I thought and was tired, and just went home and went to bed.

Explains why Tanner never met Goldman that night, establishing timeline and the innocuous reason plans fell through.

Evidence (2)

Exhibit 23

Ron Goldman's pager

identified by witness

Exhibit 24

Ron Goldman's pager (second image)

identified by witness

Notable Exchanges (2)

Daniel Petrocelli•Dan Leonard•Hiroshi Fujisaki

Petrocelli tried twice to elicit whether Ron told Tanner about plans to see Nicole; Leonard objected on hearsay grounds both times and was sustained. Petrocelli then argued the statement was admissible under Evidence Code 1250 as state of mind to show subsequent conduct, but the court limited the answer to yes or no.

strategic

Stewart Tanner•Daniel Petrocelli

Tanner describes discovering Goldman missing from work Monday morning and paging him — the first hint of something wrong.

quietly devastating

Objections

3 objections (3 sustained, 0 overruled)

Proceeding 8020 • 78 utterances • Plaintiff witness

Civil Trial

Department 103