Redirect examination of Lawrence Fiato (1 of 2)

📄 Redirect examination of Lawrence Fiato (1 of 2) — Wednesday, January 8, 1997

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1997\JAN\8\REDIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-LAWREN.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 37 of 57

◀ Direct examination of Lawrence Fiato Redirect examination of Lawrence Fiato ▶

Witness: Larry Fiato
Examiner: John Kelly
Called by: Plaintiff • Date: Wednesday, January 8, 1997 • Utterances: 36

Counsel read selected portions of Lawrence Fiato's criminal trial testimony into the record. The excerpts establish that Fiato characterized his interactions with Detective Vannatter — both in a hotel room and on a smoking deck — as casual, joking, and stress-relieving, not serious. Fiato also admitted he had no clear memory of exactly what was said on either occasion.

# 1 A:

It was not a serious night.

# 2 Q:

We were laughing and joking and it was like -- I think it was like when we were -- first got back and we were all seeing each other again, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, shooting the breeze.

# 3 A:

If somebody characterized it as a bunch much of guys bullshitting, would that be an accurate characterization?

MR. P. BAKER: Objection. There's no answer to that question.

# 4 THE COURT:

Okay. It's stricken.

# 5 MR. KELLY:

Next question. (Reading:)

# 6 Q:

Would it be accurate to characterize is it as a bunch of guys BS-ing?

# 7 A:

Yes.

# 8 Q:

Yes.

# 9 MR. BAKER:

There are two.

# 10 MR. KELLY:

There are two questions, yes.

# 11 MR. BAKER:

No. One is the question; yes, yes.

# 12 MR. KELLY:

Going to 46605, the continuation.

# 13 MR. BAKER:

Sure.

# 14 (Reading:)

# 15 Q:

And the statement on the smoking, would you describe the circumstances on that particular event similar to what we were asking, but as to whether it was serious night at the hotel room?

# 16 A:

No. I mean, it was not serious; it was similar to the hotel room.

# 17 Q:

Okay.

# 18 MR. KELLY:

46605, line 21. (Reading:)

# 19 Q:

And would it be accurate to say, Mr. Fiato, that neither one of these statements is something on which you have a clear memory as to exactly what was said?

# 20 A:

That's correct.

# 21 Q:

Would it be accurate to say that you did not attribute anything of significance to whatever Mr. Vannatter may have said on either occasion?

KEY QUOTE

# 22 A:

That's correct.

# 23 MR. KELLY:

46610, line 4.

# 24 MR. BAKER:

Sure.

# 25 (Reading:)

# 26 Q:

Mr. Fiato, when you testified as a witness at the first trial, when you were in court, there was -- that was very serious business, wasn't it?

# 27 A:

When I was this court, yes.

# 28 Q:

When you were not in court, did you, in fact, joke around with Detective Vannatter?

# 29 A:

Yes. It was one way -- one of the ways to get this stuff off your chest.

KEY QUOTE

# 30 MR. KELLY:

Going over to 46611, line 2. (Reading:)

# 31 Q:

How would you characterize what Detective Vannatter was doing with you when you were joking with him to relieve your stress?

# 32 A:

He was acting the same way I was acting. If that means he was acting like me, I would have to say he was acting like me, because it looked that way.

KEY QUOTE

# 33 Q:

Is that circumstance both at the hotel and out on the smoking deck?

# 34 A:

Yes. That is what we had in common.

# 35 MR. KELLY:

Nothing further. (Selected portions of the trial transcript of Lawrence Fiato were read by counsel, Mr. P. Baker reading the questions, and Mr. Baker reading the answers.)

MR. P. BAKER: Page 46609, line 3. (Reading:) (Reading of selected portions of criminal trial transcript.)

# 36 Q:

When you were outside up here on the 18th floor, you were here for serious business; you were here as a witness in a murder case, weren't you?

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (3)

Witness (Fiato)

That's correct. Would it be accurate to say that you did not attribute anything of significance to whatever Mr. Vannatter may have said on either occasion? That's correct.

Fiato concedes he attached no significance to Vannatter's statements, gutting the probative value of whatever Vannatter allegedly said.

Witness (Fiato)

He was acting the same way I was acting. If that means he was acting like me, I would have to say he was acting like me, because it looked that way.

Fiato frames both himself and Vannatter as equally casual — mutual stress relief, not a confession or serious admission.

Witness (Fiato)

Yes. It was one way -- one of the ways to get this stuff off your chest.

Fiato explains the joking as emotional coping, contextualizing any statements by Vannatter as offhand rather than deliberate.

Evidence (1)

Informal

Selected portions of Lawrence Fiato's criminal trial transcript (pages 46605–46611)

read into record by counsel

Notable Exchanges (2)

Kelly•P. Baker

Minor procedural dispute over whether there were one or two questions being posed during the reading — quickly resolved.

procedural

Kelly•Fiato (via transcript)

Fiato acknowledges he has no clear memory of exactly what was said by Vannatter and attributed no significance to it — the core defense point.

strategic

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Phil Vannatter

prior inconsistent context — minimizing weight of prior statement

Defense uses Fiato's own testimony to establish that whatever Vannatter said was said in a joking, casual atmosphere and that Fiato himself attributed no significance to it, undermining any damaging inference from Vannatter's alleged statements.

Objections

1 objections (1 sustained, 0 overruled)

Proceeding 8753 • 36 utterances • Plaintiff witness

Civil Trial

Department 103