📄 Sidebar: Mike Gilbert admissibility — Friday, February 7, 1997
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▲ Day 56 of 57

Sidebar: Mike Gilbert admissibility

Date: Friday, February 7, 1997 • Utterances: 22
The defense sought to call Mike Gilbert as a witness to undermine plaintiff expert Roesler's testimony about Simpson's memorabilia market value. Gelblum moved to preclude Gilbert because the defense had refused to produce him for deposition despite repeated demands. Judge Fujisaki excluded Gilbert, ruling the defense made a tactical decision not to provide him and must live with it, but allowed two other fact witnesses (including Bruce Fromong) to testify.
1 THE COURT:

Approach the bench.

2 (The following proceedings were held at the bench with reporter:)
3 MR. GELBLUM:

Beginning August up to the week before trial we demanded Mr. Gilbert's deposition. They listed him as an expert. We said, finally, on September 6, if we don't get his deposition we're going to seek to preclude him. We never got his deposition. I'm seeking to preclude him here.

4 MR. LEONARD:

This is impeachment, direct impeachment, of Mr. Roesler on facts. It's not opinion. My understanding of the rule is that we can call non-disclosed experts. But he's also being called as a fact witness. So he's not an expert. He's another business agent for Mr. Simpson with regard to his memorabilia and autograph sales and he's going to directly contravene what --

5 THE COURT:

Why didn't you provide him for deposition?

6 MR. BAKER:

The answer to that, Judge, is we didn't think you would allow the speculative, 25 years in the future of income, because it's exceedingly, I thought, very speculative, and under your present cash value --

KEY QUOTE
7 THE COURT:

That's not very good grounds for not providing him for deposition.

KEY QUOTE
8 MR. LEONARD:

Your Honor, first of all, we would rely on the section of the code which allows for using non-disclosed experts for purposes of impeachment of expert's opinion on fact alone.

9 THE COURT:

What exactly is he going to impeach?

10 MR. LEONARD:

He's going to say there's no market. And he's also a fact witness. He's going to say there's no market, he's been trying to sell memorabilia and autographs, and there's nobody out there. Simpson can't even get placed at the shows.

11 THE COURT:

Is that the very subject matter on which he was going to be deposed?

12 MR. GELBLUM:

Exactly.

13 THE COURT:

Sustained.

14 MR. LEONARD:

Your Honor, we also have two witnesses that are fact witnesses; one has a shop in Manhattan Beach, and he also attends all the shows, and he will testify --

15 THE COURT:

A shop?

16 MR. LEONARD:

A card shop. A memorabilia shop, excuse me. He will testify that there is no market, there is none, you can't give them away. The photographs of cards and so forth, and also him, the person, who has actually attended the card shows on Mr. Simpson's behalf, his name is Bruce Fromong. He's come down from Oregon. He also has a shop in Oregon. Again, these witnesses just would testify, again direct impeachment of Mr. Roesler's testimony, that there is no market. Roesler also testified he hasn't even contacted any of the people that actually sell the material. This is direct impeachment.

17 MR. GELBLUM:

Sounds like they're going to render opinions. These are undisclosed experts.

18 MR. LEONARD:

They're --

19 MR. GELBLUM:

These are released -- undisclosed experts for impeachment. That's the code --

20 MR. LEONARD:

Well, that's what -- Gilbert falls in this category.

21 THE COURT:

Gilbert is a whole different ball game. You made a tactical decision not to provide him for deposition and I think you have to stand by that so I'm excluding him. The other two you may call.

KEY QUOTE
22 MR. LEONARD:

Okay.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (3)

Robert Baker
The answer to that, Judge, is we didn't think you would allow the speculative, 25 years in the future of income, because it's exceedingly, I thought, very speculative
Baker reveals the defense made a calculated tactical gamble in refusing to produce Gilbert for deposition, which Fujisaki immediately dismissed as insufficient grounds.
Hiroshi Fujisaki
That's not very good grounds for not providing him for deposition.
The judge signals before ruling that the defense's justification is weak.
Hiroshi Fujisaki
Gilbert is a whole different ball game. You made a tactical decision not to provide him for deposition and I think you have to stand by that so I'm excluding him. The other two you may call.
The ruling: Gilbert is excluded as a direct consequence of the defense's own litigation strategy, but the door stays open for fact witnesses Fromong and the Manhattan Beach shop owner.

Evidence (2)

Informal
Roesler's expert testimony on future memorabilia/autograph income for Simpson
discussed as the testimony Gilbert was meant to impeach
Informal
Simpson memorabilia, autographs, photographs, and trading cards
discussed as the subject matter of the market value dispute

Notable Exchanges (2)

Hiroshi FujisakiRobert Baker
Judge asks directly why Gilbert wasn't produced for deposition; Baker admits the defense thought the income projections were too speculative to survive, so they didn't bother. Fujisaki immediately signals this reasoning is inadequate.
pointed
Dan LeonardPeter Gelblum
Leonard tries to reframe Gilbert and the two shop owners as pure fact witnesses doing direct impeachment, not undisclosed experts. Gelblum counters that anyone rendering an opinion about market conditions is functioning as an expert regardless of label.
strategic

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Roesler
contradictory fact testimony
Defense sought to call Gilbert, Bruce Fromong, and a Manhattan Beach shop owner to testify that there is no market for Simpson memorabilia and that Roesler had not even contacted the people who actually sell the material — directly undercutting his future income projections.

Objections

1 objections (1 sustained, 0 overruled)
Proceeding 8923 • 22 utterances
Civil Trial
Department 103
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📂 FEB 7, 1997 📄 Sidebar: Mike Gilbert admissib
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