Redirect examination of investigator Tippin

📄 Redirect examination of investigator Tippin — Monday, January 6, 1997

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1997\JAN\6\REDIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-INVEST.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 36 of 57

◀ Direct examination of investigator Tippin Cross-examination of investigator Tippin ▶

Witness: Investigator Tippin
Examiner: Dan Leonard
Called by: Defense • Date: Monday, January 6, 1997 • Utterances: 91

Plaintiff's attorney Gelblum crosses investigator Tippin about his handwritten notes from an early interview with Kato Kaelin. Gelblum establishes that Tippin had no tape recorder, did not capture everything verbatim, and had never visited Rockingham at the time — meaning he had no way to understand that Kato's room could not have had a view of the front of the house. Gelblum also clarifies a defense-highlighted entry on a 'clue sheet': the caller asking about a double homicide was a Channel 4 News reporter, not a tipster, and the responding officer said he knew of no such homicide.

# 1 A:

Yes, sir.

# 2 MR. LEONARD:

I don't have any further questions.

# 3 THE COURT:

Cross-examination. CROSS-EXAMINATION BY

# 4 Q:

Did you know what Kato's relationship was with Nicole?

# 5 A:

Not specifically, until I started talking with him and he indicated certain things.

# 6 Q:

Okay. And did he tell you that Cora Fischman used coke?

# 7 MR. BAKER:

Objection, there's no foundation.

# 8 MR. LEONARD:

Your Honor, I'm going to object to that.

# 9 MR. GELBLUM:

The document is ambiguous.

# 10 MR. LEONARD:

He hasn't testified it was ambiguous.

# 11 MR. GELBLUM:

He wasn't asked.

# 12 MR. LEONARD:

I'm objecting. There's no basis for him --

# 13 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 14 MR. LEONARD:

Thank you.

# 15 Q:

(BY MR. GELBLUM) Did Mr. Kaelin tell you that Nicole's friends used coke as well?

# 16 A:

I don't remember him saying that.

# 17 Q:

Okay. And did he also list Faye Resnick as one of her friends?

# 18 A:

Yes.

# 19 Q:

And Chris Jenner?

# 20 A:

Yes.

# 21 Q:

And someone named Cici?

# 22 A:

Yes.

# 23 Q:

And her three sisters?

# 24 A:

Yes.

# 25 Q:

Mr. Kaelin listed all those people as her friends?

# 26 A:

Yes.

# 27 Q:

And again, you have no idea how close Kato was with Nicole at this point in time?

# 28 A:

No.

# 29 Q:

Now, back on page 3, I guess page 2 after you ripped the first page off, where you wrote down about the entering through the side of the house into his room and OJ entered through the front, you see that?

# 30 A:

Yes, sir.

# 31 Q:

Did you have a tape recorder going at the time?

# 32 A:

No, sir.

# 33 Q:

So you couldn't check back your notes against the tape recorder?

# 34 A:

No, sir.

# 35 Q:

Were you taking shorthand or was this exactly what you were writing as it was being spoken?

# 36 A:

Well, most of my statements here is brief.

# 37 Q:

Okay. Are these the actual notes you were taking as Mr. Kaelin was speaking?

# 38 A:

Yes, sir.

# 39 Q:

Okay. And are you confident that you got down verbatim every single word that he said?

# 40 A:

Not every word, no.

# 41 Q:

Now, at the time you took this statement had you ever been to Rockingham?

# 42 A:

No, sir.

# 43 Q:

And do you think you wrote down what Mr. Kaelin said in sequence about him entering through the side of the house and into his room and then OJ entering the front in the sequence he said those words? Do you think --

# 44 A:

Yes.

# 45 Q:

And so you hadn't ever been there. So at the time he told you that, did you know that if Mr. Kaelin entered around the side of the house into his room he couldn't possibly see what was going on in the front of the house?

# 46 MR. LEONARD:

I object, that's argumentative.

# 47 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 48 Q:

(BY MR. GELBLUM) Did Mr. Kaelin tell you from his room he could not see the front of the house?

# 49 A:

No, he did not.

# 50 Q:

Did he tell you that if he entered through the side of the house into his room, he would not be able to tell what Mr. Simpson was doing in the front of the house?

# 51 MR. LEONARD:

Your Honor, I object as argumentative.

# 52 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 53 Q:

(BY MR. GELBLUM) Have you been to Rockingham since then?

# 54 A:

On one occasion, yes.

# 55 Q:

Okay. And you're aware that you can't see the front of the house from Mr. Kaelin's room?

# 56 A:

Yes.

# 57 Q:

Now, on this clue sheet that Mr. Leonard asked you some questions about, do you still have that in front of you?

# 58 A:

No, sir.

# 59 Q:

Does your clue indicate who the caller was that told -- that asked Officer Merrin something about a double homicide on the west side?

# 60 A:

No, sir, just states female caller.

# 61 Q:

It doesn't say whether the female caller was employed?

# 62 A:

No.

# 63 MR. LEONARD:

Why doesn't Mr. Gelblum testify.

# 64 MR. GELBLUM:

I'm showing him the document.

# 65 MR. LEONARD:

I object to the leading.

# 66 MR. GELBLUM:

You want him to get out what on the document?

# 67 THE COURT:

Excuse me. The record will show that Mr. Gelblum went to the witness and pointed to the document that the defense used to refresh the witness' recollection. How is that leading? That's not leading.

# 68 Q:

Does the document say where the caller was from?

# 69 A:

I was looking at a different section. It does say at the beginning, a few lines up, that the caller was with Channel 4 News.

# 70 Q:

This was a media person calling in?

# 71 A:

Yes.

# 72 Q:

And, in fact, on the sheet, is there some follow-up showing calling Channel 4 News?

# 73 A:

The next line is a contact to a Pete Noise (phonetic) from Channel 4 News.

# 74 Q:

And back in the main entry, does that reflect what Officer Merrin told this person from Channel 4 News about whether he had heard anything about a double homicide? In other words, Officer Merrin's response to the media call, to the Channel 4 call?

# 75 A:

Well, he indicated that he didn't know of one.

# 76 THE CLERK:

For the record, is there an exhibit number for that?

# 77 MR. GELBLUM:

There was.

# 78 THE CLERK:

Is this 2308?

# 79 MR. GELBLUM:

I think it was.

# 80 THE CLERK:

Thank you.

# 81 Q:

(BY MR. GELBLUM) Now, finally, sir, sorry to move back and forth. Back again to your notes of the Kaelin interview, did Mr. Kaelin give you any details at all about these friends?

# 82 A:

No.

# 83 Q:

And you didn't write down any details about them, right, just listed them?

# 84 A:

They were listed for further investigation to be done.

KEY QUOTE

# 85 Q:

Okay. He didn't give you any details about the nature of or extent of his relationship with Nicole?

# 86 A:

No.

# 87 Q:

Or the nature and extent of her relationship with any of these friends?

# 88 A:

No.

# 89 Q:

Or the nature and extent of any asserted drug use?

# 90 A:

Not really, no.

# 91 Q:

Did he tell you anything about how he knew that anybody used drugs?

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (4)

Witness (Tippin)

Not every word, no.

Tippin concedes his notes of the Kaelin interview were not a verbatim record, undermining their reliability as a precise account of what Kato said.

Witness (Tippin)

Yes. [He was aware you can't see the front of the house from Mr. Kaelin's room.]

Tippin admits he now knows the layout contradicts the sequence he wrote down — Kato entering through the side could not have observed OJ at the front.

Witness (Tippin)

The caller was with Channel 4 News.

Deflates any defense implication that the 'double homicide' clue-sheet entry reflected an early civilian tip; it was a media inquiry, not a witness call.

Witness (Tippin)

They were listed for further investigation to be done.

Confirms that Nicole's friends — including Faye Resnick — were only names on a list with no detail, no drug specifics, and no characterization of relationships.

Evidence (2)

2308

LAPD clue/dispatch sheet used by defense to refresh witness recollection; contains entry about a Channel 4 News caller asking Officer Merrin about a double homicide on the west side

Discussed and clarified on cross — caller identified as media, officer's response was that he knew of no double homicide

Informal

Tippin's handwritten notes from his early interview with Kato Kaelin, including page references and a note about Kato entering through the side of the house and OJ entering the front

Challenged on cross regarding verbatim accuracy, sequence, and Tippin's lack of familiarity with Rockingham's layout at the time

Notable Exchanges (2)

Gelblum•Leonard

Leonard objects that Gelblum is 'leading' when Gelblum walks to the witness and points to the clue-sheet document. The court firmly rejects the objection, explaining on the record that showing a document to a witness is not leading.

testy

Gelblum•Tippin

Gelblum systematically establishes that Tippin had no tape recorder, did not take shorthand, did not capture every word, and had never visited Rockingham — building toward the point that the note sequence about Kato/OJ entries at the house is unreliable.

strategic

Credibility Attacks (2)

⚔ Tippin (notes)

Methodological challenge — no tape recorder, not verbatim

Gelblum gets Tippin to admit the Kaelin interview notes were not a complete or verbatim record, and that Tippin lacked knowledge of Rockingham's layout at the time, raising doubt about whether the note sequence accurately reflects what Kato actually said and meant.

⚔ Defense's clue-sheet inference

Contextual clarification

Cross reveals that the 'double homicide' entry the defense highlighted came from a Channel 4 News reporter, not a civilian witness, and that the officer responded by saying he knew of no such homicide — neutralizing any implication of suppressed early knowledge.

Objections

5 objections (4 sustained, 1 overruled)

Proceeding 8743 • 91 utterances • Defense witness

Civil Trial

Department 103