Direct examination of Thomas Lange (part 2)

📄 Direct examination of Thomas Lange (part 2) — Thursday, October 31, 1996

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\OCT\31\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-THOMAS-L.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 6 of 57

◀ Jury instructions Sidebar: evidence foundation ▶

Witness: Det. Tom Lange
Examiner: Robert Baker
Called by: Defense • Date: Thursday, October 31, 1996 • Utterances: 210

Detective Tom Lange resumes direct examination covering his initial tour of the Bundy crime scene, the discovery of blood on the rear gate, and a July 3 revisit that revealed those blood drops had never been collected. The examination then moves to Simpson's failure to surrender on June 17, the Bronco chase, and the contents of the travel bag found in the Bronco — including a loaded .357 revolver, a passport, a disguise kit with receipt, and keys that may fit Nicole's condo.

# 1 THE CLERK:

You are still under oath.

And would you please state your name again for the record.

# 2 DET. TOM LANGE:

Tom Lange.

THOMAS LANGE, the witness on the stand at the time of adjournment, having been previously duly sworn, resumed the stand and testified further as follows:

# 3 THE CLERK:

Okay.

DIRECT EXAMINATION (Continued) BY MR. MEDVENE:

# 4 Q:

Did you have occasion during your initial tour with Detective Phillips to walk to the rear of the 875 South Bundy property?

# 5 A:

Yes.

# 6 Q:

Would you be good enough to show us, Detective Lange, or excuse me, Mr. Lange, how you walked to the property.

Haven't I put up Exhibit 18?

# 7 A:

This is when I initially got there the first time?

# 8 (Exhibit 18 displayed.)

# 9 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Yeah.

# 10 A:

This being Bundy here, I went from the front on Bundy, down to Dorothy. We walked to the west on Dorothy, to the alley behind the location. We went up the alley and entered the -- entered the residence through the garage, off the alley.

# 11 Q:

Okay. Sir.

Now, when you -- did there come a time when you arrived at the rear of the residence?

# 12 A:

Yes.

# 13 Q:

Did Detective Phillips point out to you the rear gate of the residence?

# 14 A:

Yes.

# 15 Q:

Did he make any reference to anything on the rear gate?

# 16 A:

Yes.

# 17 Q:

What do you recall seeing on the rear gate on June 13?

# 18 A:

A reference to, and what I observed, to what I believed to be blood on the rear gate. On the top portion, there appeared to be what might be considered a transfer of some type of a smear, and then I believe I saw two, what appeared to be blood droplets, on the lower inner rung of that gate.

# 19 Q:

Is there any question in your mind that what you saw on June 13 appeared to be blood?

# 20 MR. BAKER:

Objection. Leading, suggestive, argumentative.

# 21 THE COURT:

I'll sustain that. The witness testified he saw what appeared to be blood.

# 22 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Did you have occasion to visit the Bundy location on July 3, 1994?

# 23 A:

Yes.

# 24 Q:

And what were the circumstances of that visit?

# 25 A:

On July 3, 94, I was requested to do a walk-through with the District Attorney's office, with the prosecutors on the case.

As a consequence, I met them at that location, and we entered through the rear gate to do a walk-through.

# 26 Q:

As a result of that walk-through, did you give certain instructions?

# 27 A:

Yes.

# 28 Q:

And what were those instructions?

# 29 A:

I requested a criminalist, Mr. Fung, to meet us back at the Bundy location.

I also requested that a photographer respond to the location.

# 30 Q:

Why did you give those instructions?

# 31 A:

I arrived at the rear gate; I observed what appeared to be, perhaps initially, the same blood transfer that I saw back on the 13th of June.

I also saw --

# 32 MR. BAKER:

Move to strike as speculative, Your Honor.

# 33 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 34 A:

I also observed, once inside the gate, the two drops that I believe I saw on the 13th of June, giving rise to the speculation of the possibility that that blood had not been collected.

As a consequence, we contacted the criminalist and a photographer and had them respond back to Bundy to check that out.

# 35 MR. BAKER:

Can I have that answer reread?

# 36 THE COURT:

You may.

# 37 (Record read by the reporter.)

# 38 THE COURT:

Is it giving rise to speculation?

# 39 MR. BAKER:

Yes, Your Honor. Move to strike.

# 40 THE COURT:

Correct the record.

# 41 (Motion to strike denied.)

# 42 MR. MEDVENE:

I've put up on the board what's been marked as Exhibit 80, which purports to show certain pictures taken June 13, and under that, certain pictures taken July 3.

# 43 (Exhibit 80 displayed.)

# 44 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Were you present, Mr. Lange, when the July 3 pictures were taken?

# 45 A:

Yes.

# 46 Q:

And what do the July 3 pictures purport to do?

# 47 A:

They purport to show the blood that I observed on the rear gate on July 3, the same blood I observed on the 13th.

# 48 Q:

Are you talking about the bottom-rung pictures?

# 49 A:

Yes, the lower, where it says July 3, the lower six.

Would you like me to approach?

# 50 Q:

Yes.

# 51 A:

These six photos, the lower six, pertain to July 3, what I observed, and was these two blood drops.

In my mind, these were the same two blood drops that I observed on the 13th.

# 52 MR. BAKER:

I object. This is nonresponsive to the question.

# 53 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 54 MR. MEDVENE:

And you can resume your chair.

# 55 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) You're talking about blood drops 115 and 116?

# 56 A:

Yes.

# 57 Q:

Now, let me ask you: With respect to the picture on the board, June 13, does the picture or pictures taken on June 13 -- Strike that. Could you tell me what are the three pictures at the top of the board under June 13?

# 58 A:

The upper left, you have an overall shot of the rear gate, shot in a westerly direction toward the alley.

The second photo over, you have more of a close-up of the rear gate, taken in that same general direction.

The third shot is a blowup of the second shot.

So these are essentially the same photographs. This is a blowup of this. (Indicating)

# 59 Q:

The one on the far right is a blowup of the one in the middle?

# 60 A:

That's correct.

# 61 Q:

Do the pictures taken on June 13 show all the blood that you recall seeing on June 13?

# 62 A:

No.

# 63 Q:

And how do you explain that?

# 64 MR. BAKER:

Object, Your Honor. There's no foundation for that. Calls for speculation on the part of this witness.

# 65 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 66 DET. TOM LANGE:

These photographs were not taken to highlight blood on the rear gate. When we do that, they're overall photos to orient the blood or whatever the item is. And that is a close-up to identify what that item is being collected.

These June 13 photographs were not taken to highlight any blood on the rear gate.

# 67 Q:

Can you compare them to the ones taken on July 3 and tell me the difference, in light of what you just said, between the ones taken June 13 and the ones taken July 3?

# 68 A:

The difference from what?

# 69 Q:

In the photographs being taken specifically to highlight the blood or not to highlight the blood.

# 70 A:

Sure.

As I pointed out, whether it's blood or whatever, the item that's being collected, generally there's first an overall orientation shot taken of the overall area. In this case, the gate.

There's a close-up shot taken for the specific item; in this case, the two blood drops. There can be closer shots, such as this.

Generally, you'll have a ruler there.

And this will be taken during the process of actually collecting a piece of evidence.

Again, this is orientation farther away; the close-up is your identification.

# 71 Q:

And the photos you were pointing to as giving an example of the close-up shots, were those the middle photo on the second row and the third photo on the second row, or . . .

# 72 A:

Yes, these two. These are the close-ups, or the identification-type photos.

# 73 MR. MEDVENE:

If the Court please, the witness is pointing to what's been marked as Exhibit 82. The middle photo is 83, which is the photo on the right.

# 74 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) When you finished the initial walk-through with Detective Phillips, approximately what time was it?

# 75 A:

It had to be approximately 4:45 a.m., perhaps a little later, right in that area.

# 76 Q:

What then occurred?

# 77 A:

I went back out through the rear of the location, back down the alley, back over to Dorothy, into the front of the location, where I met with my partner, Detective Vannatter.

Lieutenant Rodgers was also there, and I believe Phillips and Fuhrman.

At that point, we discussed what to do with what we had. I made a decision, along with my partner, to take Phillips and Fuhrman and proceed to Mr. Simpson's residence, for a number of reasons.

# 78 Q:

What were those reasons?

# 79 A:

We wanted to meet Mr. Simpson.

# 80 MR. BAKER:

I object, Your Honor. The reasons that this witness had, not that we want to --

# 81 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 82 DET. TOM LANGE:

We felt that -- and I felt or we --

# 83 MR. BAKER:

I'm going to object again. Anything that uses the word "we" calls for hearsay, Your Honor.

# 84 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 85 DET. TOM LANGE:

We felt that Mr. Simpson, down the road, would be an integral part of this investigation, because he was either, at this point, in our minds, divorced or separated from one of the victims.

It wasn't clear at this point which it was.

We had two minor children who had been transported to the police station under very traumatic circumstances. We wanted to meet this individual.

We felt that there's certainly a possibility that he could be of assistance down the road in perhaps identifying the killers, giving us background information on the victim.

Certainly caring for his children.

I requested that Phillips and Fuhrman accompany us.

Phillips told me that Fuhrman --

# 86 MR. BAKER:

Objection to what Phillips said as hearsay, Your Honor.

# 87 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 88 DET. TOM LANGE:

-- requested that they go with us.

# 89 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) And what was your purpose in having Detectives Phillips and Fuhrman go with you and Detective Vannatter?

# 90 A:

Number 1, they knew the area. They knew how to get there. It was still dark; I was unfamiliar with that area; Vannatter was not familiar with that area.

More importantly, we wanted someone to stay with Mr. Simpson after we met him, to see to his needs, to assist him in getting his children back, to perhaps conduct some type of preliminary interview.

I figured that perhaps there would be a another very traumatic situation with him. We wanted someone to stay with him.

Vannatter and I were to return to the crime scene and conduct the investigation.

I had been told that Mr. Simpson only lived a couple of miles away, so I had intended to be back in 10, perhaps 15, 20 minutes, at the outset.

# 91 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Now, let me move you in time several days ahead, and ask if there came a time when a decision was made to charge Mr. Simpson with murder and to arrest him?

# 92 A:

Okay.

# 93 Q:

Was such a decision made?

# 94 A:

Yes.

# 95 Q:

And had arrangements been made for Mr. Simpson to surrender himself at Parker Center at a particular time in the morning hours of June the 17th?

# 96 MR. BAKER:

Objection. Foundation.

# 97 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 98 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Do you know whether Mr. Simpson was to surrender himself at the Parker Center in the morning hours of June 17?

# 99 MR. BAKER:

Foundation.

# 100 THE COURT:

You can answer yes or no.

# 101 MR. BAKER:

It's vague as to time when he knew.

# 102 THE COURT:

Assume it was before it occurred.

# 103 DET. TOM LANGE:

That was my understanding.

# 104 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Did Mr. Simpson surrender at Parker Center on June 17?

# 105 A:

No.

# 106 Q:

Did you receive information that Mr. Simpson was out at Mr. Kardashian's house?

# 107 MR. BAKER:

Objection. That's hearsay, Your Honor.

# 108 THE COURT:

Sustained

# 109 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Did the police, to your knowledge, attempt -- strike that.

After Mr. Simpson did not surrender at Parker Center, did the police, to your knowledge attempt to arrest him at Mr. Kardashian's house?

# 110 MR. BAKER:

Foundation again, Your Honor.

# 111 THE COURT:

Sustained as to form.

# 112 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Were you the commander in charge of the investigation of the double murders, Detective Lange?

# 113 A:

I was one of the two lead investigators, yes.

# 114 Q:

Were orders given by you or Detective Vannatter, to your knowledge, that officers should go to Mr. Kardashian's house to arrest Mr. Simpson?

# 115 MR. BAKER:

Your Honor, the objection as to what orders he gave --

# 116 THE COURT:

You may ask whether he gave an order.

# 117 MR. BAKER:

He asked more than that, but I have no objection to that question.

# 118 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Did you participate in the giving of any orders for officers to go to Mr. Kardashian's house and arrest Mr. Simpson?

# 119 A:

I did not give those orders, no.

# 120 Q:

Were those orders given, to your knowledge?

# 121 MR. BAKER:

Objection. That calls for hearsay, Your Honor.

# 122 THE COURT:

Sustained

# 123 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Do you have any information whether officers went to Mr. Kardashian's house?

# 124 MR. BAKER:

Hearsay.

# 125 THE COURT:

You can answer yes or no.

# 126 DET. TOM LANGE:

Yes.

# 127 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Did they go to Mr. Kardashian's house?

# 128 MR. BAKER:

Hearsay.

# 129 THE COURT:

Sustained to that.

# 130 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) What information do you have as to whether or not officers went to Mr. Kardashian's house?

# 131 A:

I received information that they had responded to his home that afternoon.

# 132 Q:

Was Mr. Simpson there?

# 133 A:

No.

# 134 MR. BAKER:

That's all hearsay.

# 135 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 136 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Later in the day, was Mr. Simpson located?

# 137 A:

Yes.

# 138 MR. MEDVENE:

Where --

# 139 MR. BAKER:

Just a minute, Mr. Medvene.

There's no foundation.

# 140 THE COURT:

I've sustained all these objections, Mr. Baker. But if it means we're going to have to go for the extent of calling four, five officers to show someone went to the Simpson house, that someone detained Mr. Simpson at some point or other. I thought this was an effort to save time. But if it's that important to you, I'll sustain the objections, and we'll just jump through the hoops.

# 141 MR. BAKER:

I object to the Court's comments. I'm entitled to make objections that I feel are appropriate for my client.

# 142 THE COURT:

That's exactly what I said.

# 143 MR. BAKER:

I don't appreciate the Court's comment. I would appreciate that -- that I'm entitled to make objections, and I ought to be able to do it without the Court making comments relative to my objections.

KEY QUOTE

# 144 THE COURT:

I made the comments. I'll stick by them.

Go ahead.

KEY QUOTE

# 145 MR. MEDVENE:

Yes, Your Honor.

# 146 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Was Mr. Simpson, to your knowledge, located later in the day?

# 147 A:

Yes.

# 148 MR. BAKER:

Calls for hearsay.

# 149 THE COURT:

He may answer yes or no.

# 150 DET. TOM LANGE:

Yes.

# 151 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Where was Mr. Simpson located, to your knowledge?

# 152 A:

Initially, he was located -- I believe it was northbound on the 405 Freeway in Orange County.

# 153 Q:

Did there come a time later on June 17, after the time he was located, when Mr. Simpson was apprehended and arrested?

# 154 A:

Yes.

# 155 Q:

At the time he was arrested, were any possessions taken from him?

# 156 A:

Yes.

# 157 MR. BAKER:

Object. There's no foundation for this, Your Honor, unless he was there.

# 158 THE COURT:

Sustained. Answer stricken.

# 159 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) To your knowledge -- Strike that.

Was Mr. Simpson's car -- Strike that.

Was the vehicle Mr. Simpson was traveling in impounded at the time of his arrest?

# 160 A:

Yes.

# 161 Q:

As part of the impounding of the car, were certain items taken?

# 162 A:

Yes.

# 163 Q:

What items?

# 164 A:

There was a .357 revolver; there was a black leather traveling bag, containing several items; there was a cellular phone; I believe there was a green towel involved.

Basically, I think that's it.

# 165 Q:

Was the traveling bag impounded?

# 166 A:

Yes. I testified to a black leather, what I call a travel bag.

# 167 Q:

What -- did you examine the items that were in the traveling bag?

# 168 A:

Yes.

# 169 Q:

What items were in the traveling bag?

# 170 MR. BAKER:

I'm going to object, Your Honor. That's asked and answered.

# 171 THE COURT:

Overruled.

If he looked at the travel bag, you may inquire.

If you're just asking him to state what somebody else found, sustained.

# 172 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) I'm asking him: Did you look in the travel bag?

# 173 A:

Subsequently, yes.

# 174 Q:

What did you find?

# 175 A:

I found what appeared to be changes of underwear; there were numerous credit cards, and what I would term private club membership-type cards.

There was an NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame ring; there was what I would term a goatee and mustache disguise kit, with a receipt.

There was a passport in the name of Mr. Simpson.

I believe that was it. There might have been some other smaller items, socks.

# 176 Q:

Any --

# 177 MR. BAKER:

I'm going to object and move to strike if -- it's leading and suggestive, Your Honor.

# 178 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 179 DET. TOM LANGE:

There were keys. I believe there was some kind of address book or identifier or something, but there were keys; there were two or three sets of keys, couple of pen knives -- at least one pen knife on one of the key rings. And again, there were many other items. I just -- I don't recall specifically at this time what they were.

# 180 MR. MEDVENE:

Can you put up 690, please.

# 181 (Exhibit 690 is displayed)

# 182 (The instrument herein referred to as Photograph of items contained in Mr.~Simpson's travel bag at the time he was arrested, was marked for identification as Plaintiffs' Exhibit No. 690.)

# 183 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) We have on the board, Exhibit 690.

Have you seen what that picture portrays when you examined Mr. Simpson's bag?

# 184 A:

Yes, that appears to be the what I would term a disguise kit or disguise mustache and goatee that I observed.

# 185 MR. MEDVENE:

Would you put up 689, please.

# 186 (Exhibit 689 displayed.)

# 187 (The instrument herein referred to as Mr. Simpson's Passport was marked for identification as Plaintiffs' Exhibit No. 689.)

# 188 Q:

MR. MEDVENE: Can you tell us whether or not that passport was the one you were referring to?

# 189 A:

Appears to be the one, yes.

# 190 MR. MEDVENE:

Would you put up 676, please.

# 191 (The instrument herein referred to as A .357 magnum revolver was marked for identification as Plaintiffs' Exhibit No. 676.)

# 192 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Do you recognize that?

# 193 A:

That appears to be the .357 revolver that I alluded to earlier.

# 194 MR. MEDVENE:

Excuse me. Put that back.

Thank you.

# 195 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Do you recognize what has "item 64" next to it, which is, I believe, Exhibit -- which is Exhibit 677?

# 196 A:

Yes. Six .357 rounds of ammunition taken from the cylinder of the revolver.

# 197 (The instrument herein referred to as Six .357 rounds of ammunition taken from the cylinder of the revolver marked as Plaintiffs' Exhibit 676, was marked for identification as Plaintiffs' Exhibit No. 677.)

# 198 MR. MEDVENE:

Would you put up 699, please.

# 199 (Exhibit 699 displayed.)

# 200 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Recognize that?

# 201 A:

Yes. That's the two keys with the -- appeared to be some type of -- perhaps a child's ring, what I term a Smokey the Bear ring; it had Smokey the Bear insignia on it. These two keys were attached.

# 202 (The instrument herein referred to as Smokey the Bear key ring with two keys attached was marked for identification as Plaintiffs' Exhibit No. 699.)

# 203 MR. MEDVENE:

Put up 698, please.

# 204 (Exhibit 698 displayed.)

# 205 DET. TOM LANGE:

Also appears to be one of the key rings with pen knife. And I believe that's a Bentley insignia there on the key ring.

# 206 (The instrument herein referred to as key ring with Bentley insignia, containing pen knife was marked for identification as Plaintiffs' Exhibit No. 698.)

# 207 Q:

(BY MR. MEDVENE) Were those items found in the bag?

# 208 A:

Yes.

# 209 Q:

Did you determine whether the keys on Exhibit 699 found in Mr. Simpson's bag fit the lock to Nicole Brown's condominium?

# 210 MR. BAKER:

I want to approach on this.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (5)

Thomas Lange

There was what I would term a goatee and mustache disguise kit, with a receipt.

The disguise kit is among the most damaging items from the Bronco — implies premeditated flight and concealment.

Hiroshi Fujisaki

if it means we're going to have to go for the extent of calling four, five officers to show someone went to the Simpson house, that someone detained Mr. Simpson at some point or other. I thought this was an effort to save time. But if it's that important to you, I'll sustain the objections, and we'll just jump through the hoops.

Rare visible frustration from Fujisaki, signaling Baker's hearsay objections were obstruction rather than substance.

Robert Baker

I don't appreciate the Court's comment. I would appreciate that -- that I'm entitled to make objections, and I ought to be able to do it without the Court making comments relative to my objections.

Baker openly challenges the judge, escalating courtroom tension.

Hiroshi Fujisaki

I made the comments. I'll stick by them.

Fujisaki refuses to back down — establishes who controls the courtroom.

Thomas Lange

In my mind, these were the same two blood drops that I observed on the 13th.

Lange's identification of uncollected blood drops on July 3 raises questions about evidence collection lapses at Bundy.

Evidence (12)

Exhibit 18

Map/diagram of 875 South Bundy property showing approach route

displayed for orientation testimony

Exhibit 80

Comparative photo board: June 13 and July 3 rear gate blood photographs

displayed, discussed in detail

Exhibit 82

Overall orientation photo of rear gate (June 13)

referenced

Exhibit 83

Close-up photo of rear gate (June 13)

referenced

Plaintiffs' Exhibit 690

Photograph of goatee and mustache disguise kit found in Simpson's travel bag

introduced, identified by Lange

Plaintiffs' Exhibit 689

Simpson's passport found in travel bag

introduced, identified by Lange

+ 6 more

Notable Exchanges (3)

Hiroshi Fujisaki•Robert Baker

After repeated hearsay objections block testimony about officers going to Kardashian's house, Fujisaki openly criticizes the tactic as a time-wasting formality. Baker objects to the judicial commentary and defends his right to object without rebuke. Fujisaki refuses to retract.

heated

Edward Medvene•Thomas Lange

Lange walks through the contents of Simpson's travel bag item by item — the disguise kit (with receipt), loaded revolver, passport, NFL Hall of Fame ring, credit cards, and key rings — building a picture of a man prepared to flee.

revealing

Edward Medvene•Thomas Lange

Lange explains the July 3 return to Bundy and the discovery that blood drops 115 and 116 on the rear gate appeared never to have been collected, prompting him to call in criminalist Fung and a photographer.

strategic

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ LAPD/investigation

evidence collection failure

Baker's objections and Lange's own testimony implicitly highlight that blood drops 115 and 116 on the rear gate were not collected on June 13 and required a return visit on July 3 — suggesting gaps in the initial crime scene processing.

Objections

19 objections (9 sustained, 7 overruled)

Proceeding 8093 • 210 utterances • Defense witness

Civil Trial

Department 103