Cross-examination of Arnelle Simpson

📄 Cross-examination of Arnelle Simpson — Tuesday, January 14, 1997

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1997\JAN\14\CROSS-EXAMINATION-OF-ARNELLE-S.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 41 of 57

◀ Direct examination of Arnelle Simpson Cross-examination of Arnelle Simpson (part 1) ▶

Witness: Arnelle Simpson
Examiner: Daniel Petrocelli
Called by: Defense • Date: Tuesday, January 14, 1997 • Utterances: 161

Petrocelli cross-examines Arnelle Simpson, OJ's daughter, focusing on three areas: the movements of the family dog Chachi on the night of June 12, the layout and alarm system of the Rockingham property, and Arnelle's own schedule showing she had not seen her father for days before the murders. A key impeachment moment occurs when Petrocelli uses Arnelle's criminal trial testimony to contradict her claim that the rear door alarm had no delay.

# 1 A:

Good morning.

# 2 Q:

Let's get this business of the dog out of the way.

# 3 MR. PETROCELLI:

Can you put up the exhibit?

# 4 MR. FOSTER:

1984. (Exhibit 1984 displayed.)

# 5 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) That's Chachi, right?

# 6 A:

Yes.

# 7 Q:

Is that the Ashford gate or the Rockingham gate?

# 8 A:

It looks like the Ashford gate, Ashford gate.

# 9 Q:

And the gate is open, right?

# 10 A:

Yes, it is.

# 11 Q:

Now, it is true that as of June 12, Chachi was badly arthritic? Correct?

# 12 A:

True.

# 13 Q:

And it is also true, that as of June 12, it was not Chachi's habit to run outside when the gates opened, correct?

# 14 A:

No.

# 15 Q:

Correct?

# 16 A:

No.

# 17 Q:

It's not?

# 18 A:

Not correct.

# 19 Q:

It was his habit?

# 20 A:

Sometimes.

# 21 Q:

But generally, he did not run outside of the gate when the gates opened, correct?

# 22 MR. LEONARD:

It's a she --

# 23 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) Excuse me. Generally, Chachi did not run outside when the gates opened?

# 24 A:

Sometimes, she did.

# 25 Q:

But again, generally, she did not, correct?

# 26 A:

Generally . . . correct.

# 27 Q:

Okay. And, in fact, when you came home that evening, one o'clock in the morning, June 13 --

# 28 A:

Yes.

# 29 Q:

-- you came up Ashford, approached the Ashford gate, and made a left into the Ashford driveway, right?

# 30 A:

True.

# 31 Q:

And Chachi didn't run outside, right?

# 32 A:

No. But then, also, when I pulled in, I stopped and waited for the gate to close, so she wouldn't have a chance to run out.

# 33 Q:

Nothing unusual happened and you didn't see the dog running outside toward the gate, correct?

# 34 MR. LEONARD:

Objection. I object to that. He appears to be reading from the deposition, not an inconsistent statement.

# 35 THE COURT:

He can posture however he wants.

KEY QUOTE

# 36 MR. LEONARD:

Thank you, Your Honor.

# 37 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) Is that correct?

# 38 A:

Can you repeat the question, please.

# 39 Q:

Yeah. When when you came in that evening, nothing unusual occurred with regard to Chachi, correct?

# 40 A:

Correct.

# 41 Q:

Okay. And Chachi was the only dog on the property on that evening, correct?

# 42 A:

Correct.

# 43 Q:

Okay. Now, let's talk a little bit about -- let's talk a little bit about the layout here of the property. You lived, Ms. Simpson, in these rooms back here, where it says "Arnelle's room," right?

# 44 A:

Yes.

# 45 MR. PETROCELLI:

The exhibit number is what, here?

# 46 MR. FOSTER:

116.

# 47 MR. PETROCELLI:

Excuse me. 116. Right.

# 48 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) And there's a door -- these are French doors that go into the main residence, right?

# 49 A:

Yes.

# 50 Q:

And this is -- there's a door here at the end. In fact, we just saw the picture of it. That doesn't have the lock on the outside, right?

# 51 A:

True.

# 52 Q:

And that's a door that you use frequently, and used when you were living there in June of 1994, correct?

# 53 A:

Yes.

# 54 Q:

And, in fact, that's the quickest way, now, to get into the house. Correct?

# 55 A:

Correct.

# 56 Q:

And your normal procedure would be to go to that door, and if it was not locked, you would go inside that door, right?

# 57 A:

Depending on what time of the day it is, yes.

# 58 Q:

And if the door is locked, then you're out of luck and have you to go all the way around to the front, correct?

# 59 A:

Correct.

# 60 Q:

And if the door is not locked, you can go in, right?

# 61 A:

True.

# 62 Q:

Now, there's no alarm pad on the outside of this door, correct?

# 63 A:

Correct.

# 64 Q:

So you don't know when you're about to open the door, whether or not the alarm is on, correct?

# 65 A:

Yes.

# 66 Q:

Now, if you open that door and the alarm is on, you hear a beeping sound, and you have a certain amount of time to go and deactivate that alarm, right?

# 67 MR. LEONARD:

Your Honor, I object. There is absolutely no foundation for that question. It's beyond the scope and it misstates the evidence.

# 68 THE COURT:

Overruled. Go ahead.

# 69 ARNELLE SIMPSON:

Repeat the question, please.

# 70 MR. PETROCELLI:

Yeah. (The reporter read the record as follows:)

# 71 Q:

Now, if you open that door and the alarm is on, you hear a beeping sound, and you have a certain amount of time to go and deactivate that alarm, right?

# 72 A:

I'm saying that there is no -- the alarm goes off automatically. There's no time for me to run to turn the alarm off. I -- I -- I have to do it immediately.

KEY QUOTE

# 73 Q:

(BY MR. PETROCELLI) Do you remember giving testimony at the criminal trial?

# 74 A:

Yes.

# 75 MR. PETROCELLI:

I'd like to -- I'm going to look at page 35698, Mr. Leonard. Reading from the top of the page:

# 76 Q:

There's an alarm sensor for the rear door, isn't there?

# 77 A:

Yes.

# 78 Q:

And that alarm sensor has a 40 second delay, correct?

# 79 A:

Yes.

# 80 Q:

So if you enter through the rear door, you have 40 seconds to get to a key pad to disarm the alarm, correct?

# 81 A:

Yes. When -- you gave that testimony under oath in the criminal case -- do you remember that?

# 82 A:

Correct.

# 83 Q:

Now, on the morning of June 13, when you were awakened by the police officers -- By the way, Detectives Vannatter and Lange, they treated you well that morning, right?

# 84 A:

Yeah.

# 85 Q:

You had no complaint?

# 86 A:

No.

# 87 Q:

They didn't ransack your room, correct?

# 88 A:

Correct.

# 89 Q:

They didn't ransack the house or do anything like that, correct?

# 90 A:

Correct.

# 91 Q:

Now, when you -- when they came to your room, obviously, seeing police officers or police detectives early in the morning, that must have been frightening for you, right?

# 92 A:

Yes.

# 93 Q:

And you were confused and frazzled and frightened, right?

# 94 A:

Yes.

# 95 Q:

Okay. And after you left the room, your purpose in mind was to try to locate your father, correct?

# 96 A:

Correct.

# 97 Q:

And you took with you some keys, right?

# 98 A:

Yes.

# 99 Q:

And you had a phone book that was in your car, in the Saab?

# 100 A:

Yes.

# 101 Q:

Okay. Now, in order to walk from your room with the detectives, you have to walk past that rear door, correct?

# 102 A:

Correct.

# 103 Q:

And then walk all the way around to the front, right?

# 104 A:

Yes.

# 105 Q:

Now, it is your testimony that you did not go into the rear door, right?

# 106 A:

I did not.

# 107 Q:

It's also your testimony that you didn't even check to see if it was locked or unlocked, correct?

# 108 A:

Correct.

# 109 Q:

So you had no idea whether it was locked or unlocked at that particular point in time; is that your testimony?

# 110 A:

Yeah. Because only -- at 5:30 in the morning, the alarm would be on. It would be my natural instinct to go to the front door.

KEY QUOTE

# 111 Q:

But you didn't check?

# 112 A:

No, I did not.

# 113 Q:

You didn't know at that point in time, when you were walking past the rear door, whether the alarm was on or off?

# 114 A:

I assumed it was on.

# 115 Q:

You didn't know?

# 116 A:

I assumed that it was on.

# 117 Q:

I know you assumed it. But you didn't know for a fact, right?

# 118 A:

No, I didn't.

# 119 Q:

All right. And it's your testimony that when you were first told by some of the detectives about Nicole's death, you would already be inside of the house and had come out, on your way to the car, right?

# 120 A:

No.

# 121 Q:

And it was on your way to the car that you were informed of Nicole's death?

# 122 A:

True.

# 123 Q:

After you had been inside, right?

# 124 A:

True.

# 125 Q:

So the sequence of event is, you went inside the house, came out; and then, on your way to the car, is when you learned about Nicole?

# 126 A:

Actually, on our way from the car, back into the house.

KEY QUOTE

# 127 Q:

Back into the house?

# 128 A:

Yes.

# 129 Q:

Having already been in the house?

# 130 A:

Yes.

# 131 Q:

All right. And before then, you didn't know anything about Nicole have been killed?

# 132 A:

No.

# 133 Q:

And when you were outside, on your way back into the house, and when you were first told by the detectives about it, you were very, immediately and visibly, shaken and upset?

# 134 A:

Most definitely.

# 135 Q:

In terms of your schedule that week, Ms. Simpson, as I understand it, your father was out of town Tuesday through Friday night?

# 136 A:

Correct.

# 137 Q:

And you slept over a girlfriend's house Friday, correct?

# 138 A:

Correct.

# 139 Q:

And you didn't see your father Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, correct?

# 140 A:

I don't -- it's hard for me to say during the week, no.

# 141 Q:

Well, when he was out of town?

# 142 A:

Yeah.

# 143 Q:

And you didn't come back to Rockingham Friday night, right?

# 144 A:

True.

# 145 Q:

And on Saturday, you came back to Rockingham, and then you left and went out with some girlfriends, and came back and spent most of the time in your room, right?

# 146 A:

Came home -- I didn't come home until Saturday evening, I guess. Then I stayed home for the rest of that evening.

# 147 Q:

And your father was out Saturday evening, and you didn't see him Saturday evening?

# 148 A:

No, I did not.

# 149 Q:

Then you got up the next morning, and by the time you left the house -- it was to go to see a girlfriend -- it was around noontime, right?

# 150 A:

No. I went to church Sunday morning.

# 151 Q:

Right. Then came back?

# 152 A:

Yes.

# 153 Q:

Then you left about noontime, I think?

# 154 A:

Yes.

# 155 Q:

And you didn't see your father that morning, either?

# 156 A:

No.

# 157 Q:

You were gone all day Sunday and did not return until, as you've said, sometime around 1:00 in the morning, right?

# 158 A:

True.

# 159 Q:

So you really hadn't seen your father in a long time, right?

# 160 A:

Yeah.

# 161 Q:

And you hadn't spoken to him in that while?

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Arnelle Simpson

I'm saying that there is no -- the alarm goes off automatically. There's no time for me to run to turn the alarm off. I -- I -- I have to do it immediately.

Directly contradicts her sworn criminal trial testimony that the rear door alarm had a 40-second delay, enabling Petrocelli's impeachment.

Arnelle Simpson

Because only -- at 5:30 in the morning, the alarm would be on. It would be my natural instinct to go to the front door.

Explains why she did not check the rear door, but concedes she did not actually know whether the alarm was on or off.

Judge Fujisaki

He can posture however he wants.

Dismissive ruling overruling Leonard's objection that Petrocelli was improperly reading from deposition; signals court's tolerance for Petrocelli's impeachment style.

Arnelle Simpson

Actually, on our way from the car, back into the house.

Corrects Petrocelli's characterization of the sequence of events when she learned of Nicole's death, showing she was attentive to details under cross.

Evidence (3)

1984

Photograph of Chachi the dog at the Ashford gate

Displayed to establish the gate was open and dog's condition/habits

116

Layout/diagram of the Rockingham property showing Arnelle's room, rear door, and French doors

Used to establish property layout and routes of entry

Informal

Arnelle Simpson's criminal trial testimony, page 35698, regarding the rear door alarm sensor and 40-second delay

Read into record to impeach her civil trial testimony about the alarm

Notable Exchanges (3)

Petrocelli•Arnelle Simpson

Petrocelli confronts Arnelle with her criminal trial testimony that the rear door alarm had a 40-second delay, after she claimed in civil testimony there was no delay at all. She concedes she gave the prior testimony under oath.

devastating

Petrocelli•Arnelle Simpson

Extended questioning establishes Arnelle had not seen or spoken to her father for multiple days (Tuesday through the early morning of June 13), undermining any claim of knowledge about his whereabouts or state of mind.

strategic

Leonard•Petrocelli

Leonard interjects to correct Petrocelli that Chachi is female, not male, while Petrocelli is mid-question.

procedural

Light Moments (1)

Leonard

Defense attorney Leonard interjects mid-question to correct Petrocelli: 'It's a she --' referring to the dog Chachi.

Credibility Attacks (2)

⚔ Arnelle Simpson

Prior inconsistent statement

Petrocelli read from Arnelle's criminal trial testimony (page 35698) in which she confirmed under oath that the rear door alarm had a 40-second delay, directly contradicting her civil trial claim that the alarm went off immediately with no delay.

⚔ Arnelle Simpson

Establishing lack of personal knowledge

Petrocelli pressed Arnelle to admit she did not actually check whether the rear door was locked or the alarm was on — she only assumed it was — undermining the certainty of her account of movements that morning.

Objections

2 objections (0 sustained, 2 overruled)

Proceeding 8792 • 161 utterances • Defense witness

Civil Trial

Department 103