LAPD Sergeant David Rossi, the watch commander on duty the night of June 12-13, 1994, describes his response to the Bundy crime scene. He walked through the scene with Officer Riske and Sergeant Coon around 1:20-1:25 AM, observing the two bodies, a single glove, a knit cap, an envelope, and blood drops on the rear gate — and critically testified that he saw only one glove at the front of the location.
# 1 MR. MEDVENE: Thank you.
Sergeant David Rossi.
DAVID ROSSI, called as a witness on behalf of 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 SGT. DAVID ROSSI: I do.
# 4 THE CLERK: Please be seated.
# 5 MR. MEDVENE: The Court please, the parties have stipulated to foundation admissible of exhibit , a view of Nicole Brown's back from the landing or up above.
# 6 (The instrument herein described was admitted into evidence as Plaintiffs' Exhibit No. 43) # 7 THE CLERK: Sir, would you please state and spell your name for the record?
# 8 SGT. DAVID ROSSI: My name is David Rossi, R-O-S-S-I.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. MEDVENE:
# 9 Q: What is your occupation, sir?
# 10 A: I'm a Sergeant for the Los Angeles police department presently assigned to West Los Angeles division.
# 11 Q: And how long have you been with the Los Angeles police department?
# 12 A: I've been with Los Angeles police department 27 years; 27 and a half years.
# 13 Q: How long have you been a Sergeant?
# 15 Q: What's your present assignment?
# 16 A: I am the night watch or the p.m. watch assistant, watch commander.
# 17 Q: And what was your assignment as of June , 13, 1994?
# 18 A: I was the morning watch, watch commander.
# 19 Q: And what did you do or what was your principle job as watch commander?
# 20 A: Watch commanders are responsible for, and held accountable for all of the police activities on their watch. I deploy my police officers in the areas they need to be deployed pursuant to radio call, leads, crime appearance, et cetera.
I discuss crime problems with them. I approve, I review and approve their arrests and advise booking sections. I approve and review most of the crime and arrest reports. I do a number of administrative type function within the station.
And I respond to the field when called, or in some cases, I respond to the field when I am supposed to. When I'm supposed to respond according to department manual.
# 21 Q: Under what circumstances do you go to the scene?
# 22 A: If I'm called by a field supervisor to respond, or if a police officer calls me, I'll respond on anything. I respond to the field on most shootings, all officer involved shooting and all homicides.
# 23 Q: And what are your duties when you respond to the scene on a homicide?
# 24 A: Prior to responding, my duty is to make several notifications to the detectives that will be investigating the homicide and to my command staff to notify them of what I was told happened in the field. I then respond to the field to make sure that the scene is secured properly and to make any necessary changes or augmentations to the scene if I deem it necessary for proper securing of a location and any obvious evidence.
# 25 Q: Did you receive any call in the early morning hours of June 13?
# 27 Q: Approximately when and from whom?
# 28 A: It was sometime between midnight and :30 in the morning and I received the call from Officer Riske.
# 29 Q: And did you receive certain information from him?
# 30 A: Officer Riske told me he had responded to a radio call in the vicinity of 875 south Bundy. And that he and his partner had discovered that there was a double homicide the two victims dead in front of 875 south Bundy.
# 31 Q: Did you give him any instructions?
# 32 A: I asked him if he had -- well, he told me prior to that that the house was open and there were lights on. I asked him if he had checked the house for any other victims or suspects and he said not yet. I told him to clear the house, make sure there were no other victims or suspects. To call a field supervisor to respond to the location and to secure the location and call as many officers as he can get there.
# 33 Q: Shortly thereafter, did you receive another call?
# 36 A: I received a call from Sergeant Martin Coon who was the field supervisor on duty that night.
# 37 Q: Did you make a determination whether or not Sergeant Coon was at the scene?
# 38 A: Yes, I did. He told me he was at the scene.
# 39 Q: And did you give Sergeant Coon any instructions?
# 40 A: Sergeant Coon reiterated what Officer Riske had told me. And by the time Sergeant Coon had arrived, the house, the interior of the house had been secured. And I told Sergeant Coon the exact same thing I told Officer Riske concerning securing the location. He said that it had been and I told --
# 41 MR. BAKER: Objection. Calls for hearsay.
# 42 THE COURT: Sustained.
# 43 MR. BAKER: And relevancy.
# 44 THE COURT: Sustained.
# 45 Q: (BY MR. MEDVENE) Did you make any notifications?
# 47 Q: To any detectives?
# 48 A: Yes, sir. I called the homicide detective, Detective Phillips.
# 49 Q: And the purpose of that call?
# 50 A: Because he handles all the homicides and responds when he's off duty to -- will respond from home.
# 51 Q: Is -- did there come a time that you responded to the scene?
# 52 A: That I responded to the scene, yes, sir. After I finished my telephonic notification.
# 53 Q: Approximately what time did you get to south Bundy?
# 54 A: I believe it was approximately 1:20, 1:25 in the morning.
# 55 Q: And what's the first thing you did on arrival?
# 56 A: First thing I did after exiting the police car is I walked to the front of the location on Bundy. In the street I observed banner tape around the location. I made a point to make sure that officers were strategically placed for security as far as stopping any unauthorized vehicular or pedestrian traffic.
# 57 MR. BAKER: Move to strike in view of the court's prior ruling.
# 58 THE COURT: Sustained.
# 59 MR. BAKER: That the banner tape and officer place taping out of the record.
# 60 THE COURT: It's already in.
# 61 MR. BAKER: I request it be stricken from the record.
# 62 THE COURT: It will not be stricken. Objection came too late.
# 63 Q: (BY MR. MEDVENE) Did you then make any request of Sergeant Coon and Officer Riske?
# 64 A: Yes, I did. They spoke with me in front of the location in the street and --
# 65 MR. BAKER: Object to anything more than yes.
# 66 THE COURT: Sustained.
# 67 SGT. DAVID ROSSI: Yes.
# 68 Q: (BY MR. MEDVENE) As a result of this, did you then do something?
# 69 A: Yes. I asked Sergeant Coon and Officer Riske to escort me through the crime scene.
# 70 Q: And why did you want to be escorted through the crime scene?
# 71 A: Because I'm the watch commander and the responding detectives will approach me first and ask me what they had. And I needed to know as much as I could possibly find out to give them the information.
# 72 Q: And were you then escorted through the crime scene?
# 74 MR. MEDVENE: May I approach, Your Honor, put up an exhibit?
# 75 THE COURT: Go ahead.
# 76 MR. MEDVENE: Is that visible?
# 77 (Nod in the affirmative.) # 78 MR. MEDVENE: Your Honor, may the witness leave the chair and walk over to the exhibit?
# 80 Q: (BY MR. MEDVENE) We have before you what's marked as 2058 and I ask you if you can identify the lower picture. Purports to be a female which is exhibit 43. And tell us if you've ever seen that before.
# 81 (The instrument herein described was marked for identification as Plaintiffs' Exhibit No. 2058.) # 83 Q: And when did you see that person?
# 84 A: That's the body of the female that I observed at the front of the location.
# 85 Q: And I direct you to exhibit 38. Appears to be a body of a male. Did you ever see that before?
# 87 THE COURT: Counsel, why don't you put that on a higher rung so that everybody can see that?
# 88 MR. MEDVENE: Yes, Your Honor.
# 89 MR. BAKER: Those other two fold out halfway down. They'll fold out.
# 90 MR. MEDVENE: Everybody see?
# 92 MR. MEDVENE: Thank you, Your Honor.
# 93 THE COURT: Use the pointer if you're going to have him do anything with that.
# 94 Q: (BY MR. MEDVENE) Now, would you be good enough Sergeant to -- those two exhibits are magnetic and you can move them around. Could you place the position of the nail in the approximate position that you saw this scene at on June 13, in the early morning hours.
# 95 A: The way I saw it when I --
# 97 (Witness complies. Adjusts photos.) # 98 A: I would say approximately like that.
# 99 Q: Would you when you observed the scene, did you have any artificial light source?
# 100 A: Yes, sir, I did.
# 101 Q: And what was that light source?
# 102 A: I was using a flashlight.
# 103 Q: And could you point out to us -- do you have the pointer?
# 105 Q: Can you point out to us what you observed?
# 106 A: I observed the female body lying in the position that appears here. And the male lying in the position as it appears here?
# 107 Q: Did you see any other items?
# 108 A: I observed an envelope, one glove and hat, appeared to be watch cap, a knit cap.
KEY QUOTE # 109 Q: Let me put up on the TV, if I might, exhibit 38.
I ask if that's clear for the jurors. If the light's off, it's clear.
# 110 Q: If you'd put up 89, please. 89 has been placed in front of you. What is 89, if you can tell us?
# 111 A: That appears to be a knit watch cap.
# 114 Q: And could you please point on 2058 where you saw those items?
# 115 A: Very close to the area of this plant right here.
# 116 Q: Can you tell us whether or not you illuminated the area thoroughly?
# 117 A: Yes, I did. With my flashlight.
# 118 Q: And did you observe more than one glove?
# 119 A: No, sir, I did not.
# 120 Q: And where did you make your observation of the area? From what vantage point?
# 121 A: I was standing in the grassy area, possibly about six feet south of the female body.
# 122 Q: All right. Thank you. You may resume the witness stand.
After observing what you've told us about, where did you go?
# 123 A: I then walked with the Sergeant and the officer back down to the sidewalk. We proceeded southbound on the Bundy sidewalk to the next street which is Dorothy. Walked westbound on Dorothy to the alley and behind the location and walked to the rear of 875 south Bundy.
# 124 Q: Can you tell us whether or not, on your way from the front to the rear, you illuminated your pathway?
# 125 A: Yes, sir, I did all the way.
# 127 A: With the same high power flashlight I was using.
# 128 Q: On the way from the scene, as you described it, to the rear, did you observe another glove?
KEY QUOTE # 130 Q: Did there come a time that you got to the rear gate?
# 132 Q: Put up -- and did you walk through the gate?
# 134 Q: Can you put up 82, please?
Can you tell us what is 82, if you recall? Exhibit 82 is on the board?
# 135 A: That appears to be the gate -- that gate that I saw in the rear.
# 136 Q: Did anyone point anything else out to you on the gate?
# 137 A: Officer Riske, shined his flashlight on the rear, on the bottom running of the gate and pointed out blood drops.
KEY QUOTE # 138 Q: Could you take a look at exhibit 82 and ask what, or can you tell us what that is?
# 139 A: That appears to be the blood that I observed that night on the bottom rail of the gate.
# 140 Q: Can you -- could you -- were those markers, 115 and 116, on the gate that evening when you observed it?
# 142 Q: Could you point out the drops that you remember seeing?
# 144 MR. BAKER: Let the record reflect that he pointed to the dark spots directly under the running where 116 is, correct, Officer Rossi?
# 145 SGT. DAVID ROSSI: Yes.
# 146 MR. BAKER: Right. Directly lower.
# 147 THE COURT: Actually that's the not a rung that's a vertical bar.
# 148 MR. BAKER: Vertical bar. I guess a rung goes the other way.
# 150 MR. BAKER: I apologize.
# 151 Q: (BY MR. MEDVENE) Officer Rossi, your memory is that you saw certain blood on the rear gate?
# 153 Q: And then what did you do?
# 154 A: Then I walked out of the walkway and to the back, to the rear of the house.
# 155 Q: And sometime later, strike that, were
Detectives Phillips and Fuhrman at the Bundy scene at the time you had your walk through of the crime scene and went around to the rear?
# 156 A: No, they weren't.
# 157 Q: And approximately how much later did they arrive, if you know?
# 158 A: Approximately half an hour later.
KEY QUOTE # 159 Q: Did there come a time later that morning when you went back to west L.A. office?
# 161 MR. MEDVENE: I have nothing further, Your Honor.