Redirect examination of O.J. Simpson (part 1)

📄 Redirect examination of O.J. Simpson (part 1) — Tuesday, February 4, 1997

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1997\FEB\4\REDIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-O-J-SI.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 53 of 57

◀ Sidebar: objections Cross-examination of O.J. Simpson (part 2) ▶

Witness: O.J. Simpson
Examiner: Daniel Petrocelli
Called by: Plaintiff • Date: Tuesday, February 4, 1997 • Utterances: 24

Petrocelli presses Simpson on his suspiciously detailed account of chipping golf balls on the night of the murders, challenging whether he memorized and rehearsed the story. Simpson admits he never told police about the golf ball chipping. The proceeding ends with a jury rereading request being fulfilled, then transitions to direct examination about the January 1, 1989 domestic violence incident.

# 1 A:

As I can. And this is as much detail as I can recall. I grabbed a 3 wood, and I looked at the face of it and I swung it a bit. And I went to the trunk of my Bentley, where I had another set of clubs 'cause the purpose of going into the garage was to get a sand wedge, which is a special league club, and I was playing with a new set of golf clubs that I had just got from the Calloway people the previous week. I was on the road and I didn't like the sand wedge that came to it, so I was looking for my old sand wedge that I normally use. And I went into my trunk of my Bentley, where I had a set of clubs. And I also needed some balls that I play with, a ball called a Maxflite 100HT. Unless you play golf, you don't understand how important that is to a golfer, the type of ball that they play with. Since I had, I believe, a sleeve of this ball, and I normally play two sleeves a round of golf. I looked in my trunk, where I had a bunch of balls, and I tried to find nonscuff balls, and I got about four, five nonscuff balls and put them aside. I got a windbreaker and put it aside, and whatever was in my trunk, and I dropped it on the ground and I took about three or four scuff (sic) balls, dropped them on the grass that was right behind my Bentley, and I took a pitching wedge 'cause I couldn't find any sand wedges at this time. I believe it was right before or directly right after I put a call in to Paula because if she was around, she could have driven me to the airport. And in any event, I chipped those balls. I sculled one; it hit my playground equipment, and it -- because it was dark there -- it bounced and I was cringing, because I just got all the dents out of my Bentley, and I thought the ball may have hit my Bentley. Then I hit -- I mean, I hit a ball over into my neighbor's yard, put that club and that pitching wedge back into the trunk of my car, and I walked out of the Rockingham gate and looked into the back of my Bronco to see if there was any clubs in there. My dog had come out. And in that time, as I said, I put that call in to Paula, my dog went across the street into Mr. Sheinbaum's yard and did her business in the -- in the -- what she normally does in the grass, but not gras -- I can't even think of the name of it now -- then we walked around 'cause the gate had closed and I didn't have any key, and came back in on the other side of Ashford. I came to -- I -- I can't recall if I went in to the front door then or the garage, but I put the club away, and I either turned off the lights downstairs -- if I had already turned out the lights. I may have turned them off before I went in. But I turned off the lights downstairs, except for my lamps that I normally keep on, and I went upstairs.

# 2 Q:

Now, Mr. Simpson, if I asked you to repeat that, you could do it word for word, couldn't you?

# 3 A:

I -- I may be able to come relatively close to that.

# 4 Q:

You memorized this story, haven't you?

KEY QUOTE

# 5 A:

I recall, to the best of my ability, what I said.

# 6 Q:

You memorized it, have you not? You've sat -- You've sat down, rehearsed it and memorized it?

# 7 A:

I don't think I've ever rehearsed it. I told the story before --

KEY QUOTE

# 8 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) You would agree that you have quite an extraordinary recall of the events that you just related to the jury, correct?

# 9 A:

I wouldn't characterize it as extraordinary, no.

KEY QUOTE

# 10 Q:

Pretty detailed, right?

# 11 A:

That as best as I can recall, I told the jury.

# 12 Q:

And you didn't tell the police any of those details, did you, sir?

# 13 A:

I told the police -- I answered every question the police asked me.

# 14 Q:

Did you tell the police about chipping golf balls?

KEY QUOTE

# 15 A:

I don't believe the police asked me --

# 16 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) I didn't ask you if they --

# 17 A:

-- about what happened after I came back from --

# 18 Q:

Excuse me, Mr. Simpson. I only asked you if you ever told the police, for any reason, whether you chipped golf balls that night. Yes or no?

# 19 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) Please --

# 20 A:

No.

# 21 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) I want the question back. I'm going to ask it again, so we don't have an objection. JUROR: That will suffice.

# 22 THE COURT:

That completes the request of the jury's request for rereading of the direct examination testimony of O.J. Simpson regarding his activities between 9:45 and 11; is that correct? JUROR: I believe so, Your Honor.

# 23 THE COURT:

All right. Then the reporter will read next is 11 slash 26 J Kelly direct of O.J. Simpson re January 1 incident. ORENTHAL JAMES SIMPSON, called as a witness by the People, was sworn and testified as follows: FURTHER DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. KELLY:

# 24 Q:

Mr. Simpson, on January 1, 1989, after you had removed Nicole from your bedroom the second time, she went downstairs before you, did she not?

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Petrocelli

You memorized this story, haven't you? You've sat -- You've sat down, rehearsed it and memorized it?

Core credibility attack — implying Simpson's detailed recall is a scripted performance rather than genuine memory.

Simpson

I don't think I've ever rehearsed it. I told the story before --

Simpson inadvertently concedes he has told the story multiple times, which is exactly Petrocelli's point.

Petrocelli

Did you tell the police about chipping golf balls?

The trap closes — Simpson's elaborate story was never shared with investigators despite its supposed importance to his alibi.

Simpson

No.

One-word admission that undermines the authenticity of his detailed account; if it really happened, why omit it from his police statement?

Notable Exchanges (1)

Petrocelli•Simpson

Petrocelli uses Simpson's own hyper-detailed golf alibi narrative against him, suggesting the specificity (Maxfli 100HT balls, scuff vs. nonscuff, Bentley dents) reveals rehearsal rather than genuine recall — then lands the blow that Simpson told police none of it.

strategic

Credibility Attacks (2)

⚔ Simpson

prior inconsistent statement / omission

Petrocelli contrasts Simpson's extraordinarily detailed account of chipping golf balls with his complete failure to mention any of it to police, implying the story was fabricated and memorized after the fact.

⚔ Simpson

rehearsed testimony

Petrocelli directly accuses Simpson of having rehearsed and memorized his alibi narrative, pointing to its unusual level of specific detail as evidence of coaching rather than authentic recollection.

Objections

1 objections (0 sustained, 0 overruled)

Proceeding 8876 • 24 utterances • Plaintiff witness

Civil Trial

Department 103