Thank you very kindly. Good afternoon again. We will next be calling Detective Ken Berris to the stand. Detective Berris.
Good afternoon, Judge.
Kenneth Berris, called as a witness by the Defendant, was sworn and testified as follows:
Raise your right hand, please. You do solemnly swear that the testimony you may give in the cause now pending before this court, shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God.
Please have a seat in the witness stand and state and spell your first and last names for the record.
Yes. My name is Kenneth Berris. My last name is spelled B-E-R-R-I-S.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. COCHRAN
In that connection, have you come here today to be with us here in California to--pursuant to a subpoena issued by this court?
All right. I'd like, sir, to direct your attention back to the date of Monday, June 13th of 1994. Do you recall that date?
At some time in the morning hours of June 13th, were you assigned some duties in connection with the O'Hare Plaza Hotel in Chicago, Illinois?
Approximately what time did you get a call or were you assigned some particular duty?
At approximately 11:00 o'clock in the morning on that date, myself and Detective Anthony Bongiorno--if you'd like, I'll spell the last name.
Of course. B-o-n-g-I-o-r-n-o. He's also assigned to area 5 detective division where I am also assigned. We were assigned to go to the O'Hare Plaza Hotel by Sergeant Vernice Jones, a supervising sergeant in our unit.
All right. And thereafter, after you and Detective Bongiorno were assigned to this particular hotel, what time, if you recall, did you arrive at the O'Hare Plaza Hotel?
And is that--would I be correct in assuming that that hotel is near the airport in Chicago?
All right. And when you arrived there at the hotel around 12:00 noon, did you have occasion to go and speak with a general manager at that hotel?
Without telling us the conversation at that point, tell us the name of that general manager, sir?
All right. And did you and your partner officer have occasion to talk to Peter Phillips?
All right. And during the course of that conversation, did you obtain some information about a room 915 in the O'Hare Plaza Hotel? You can answer that yes or no.
And were you able to ascertain whether or not that room had been secured that morning prior to your arrival?
All right. And after--thereafter, at some point, did you and your partner have occasion to go up to room 915?
All right. And so would you describe for the jury what kind of a key did you have for that particular room?
It was a--what I might refer to as a card key. It's put into a slot. It's a card coded and it's put into a slot, and the code unlocks the door.
All right. And are those the kind of doors that have some kind of little computer in them?
Let me see if I can give a word picture. You slide the little card into it and a little green light comes on, you push the handle and the door opens up; is that right?
Now, with regard to that particular room, did you ever have occasion to check to see whether or not there was in fact a computer that would tell the number of times anyone had entered that room on June 13th, 1994?
I never determined anything like that, that there was such a computer as part of the locking device.
All right. At that time, sir, did you have occasion to look around or look inside the room?
And would I be correct in assuming that there was no one in that room at that point?
And with regard to the bed in the room, did the bed appear as though someone had slept in that bed the night before?
Yes. The bed wasn't made. The covers were tossed back as if someone had been sleeping in the bed.
KEY QUOTEAll right. And so the--the bed hadn't been made by the maids at that point, is that correct, sir, the best you could tell?
All right. Now, you said--you told us that you stayed in there approximately a half hour. And then did there come a time when you then left and went someplace else to make a phone call?
Yes. The three of us, myself, Detective Bongiorno and Mr. Phillips left the room or mini suite of rooms, if you will. We--the room was secured and locked, and we then went to Mr. Phillips' office where I called the--our crime lab, which is called police department crime lab, and requested crime lab technicians to come to that location.
So by 3:00 o'clock then on June 13th, 1994, the crime lab technicians arrived. And tell the jury their names, sir, please?
Uh, crime lab technicians John Stella, S-T-E-L-L-A, and crime lab technician John Naujokas, N-A-U-J-O-K-A-S, they responded to that location.
All right, sir. Now, I want you to just describe generally for the jury in brief fashion how this room was laid out, the hotel room. Can you do that for us?
Yes. Room 915 could be described as actually a mini suite of rooms, if you will. It consists of a living-dining area combination. And after passing through a doorway, you would be in the bedroom of the suite, and then passing through another doorway, you would be in the bathroom of the suite.
All right. The first time when you were there with Mr. Phillips, did you ever go in the bedroom the first time?
All right. When you went back this second time with Naujokas and Stella, the criminalists, was Mr. Phillips accompanying you at that point?
Yes, he was. However, he did stay in the living-dining area with Detective Bongiorno.
All right. And when you went back in--you described for the jury this particular room--at some point, you--and I think you described for us the bed appeared as though it was unmade still; is that correct?
All right. And then you had occasion, did you not, to go into the bathroom area of that suite of rooms; is that correct?
Okay. In the bathroom area, can you describe for the jury what, if anything, you saw in the sink of the bathroom area there of suite 915?
In the basin of the sink was a broken drinking glass. It was a clear--clear glass that was broken and in the base of the sink along with a paper doily that--those are usually on top of the glass when they're in the room.
Did you see any other remnants or shards of this glass on the so-called vanity area in and around the sink?
Yes. There were--there were at different locations along the vanity several small--and I'll describe them as chips because they were very small--of broken glass.
All right. And now, what about towels? Did you see any large towels in this same general area near the sink, basin area?
Yes. On top of the vanity directly to the right of the wash basin was a towel that was not folded. It appeared to have been used. It was wrinkled and left on top of the vanity to the right of the basin.
And when the towel was lifted up, did you have occasion to see another a washcloth or a face cloth?
And describe for the jury what you saw with regard to this washcloth or face cloth.
Uh, that washcloth had reddish--a reddish stain on it which I suspected to be blood.
KEY QUOTEAll right. And you saw--describe for us how you saw that washcloth or face cloth.
Uh, it was--well, it was underneath the towel is the best I could describe it to the right of the sink bowl. When I initially had gone into the bathroom, I didn't see it since the towel was on top of it concealing it from view.
KEY QUOTEAll right. So would I be correct that, Detective Berris, you couldn't see the smaller face cloth until the towel was lifted up by the technicians? Is that correct?
All right. Now, with regard to the things you just described for our jury, were there photographs taken of that bathroom area and the sink area which might be illustrative of what you just talked about?
Your Honor, I would like to--I've shown these to counsel. I'd like to show the witness a couple of these if I might, and then I'll put them on the elmo if I might.
I'm going to show you what's first been marked--I think we've marked these starting with 1331. Let's see.
I want to place before you several photographs--Mr. Darden has seen these. I want to place before you Defendant's 1331, and I want you to describe what's depicted in 1331, sir.
That is a photograph of the washcloth with the red stain on it which was suspect blood that was found to the right of the wash basin in the bathroom of that mini suite of rooms.
And is that a fair and accurate portrayal of the way that--that washcloth appeared after it was removed--after the towel on top of it was removed?
This is 1331, your Honor. Thank you. And I'd like also to have Mr. Harris--I believe we've blown up 1331. We have 1331-A also.
Now, while Mr. Harris is moving 1331-A in position, that's the way that particular face cloth looked after the towel that had been on top of it had been moved; is that correct, sir?
I would like to ask you in turn about the other photographs. Will you look at 1332 and tell us what's depicted in 1332.
In that photograph, it's a photograph of the wash basin and vanity of the bathroom in room 915, and you--it depicts in the basin the broken drinking glass and white doily cover, and atop the vanity to the right is the wrinkled towel which was there upon our inspection.
And is that the towel you described for us earlier that had the--that had the--that covered the face cloth?
So 1332 is a fair and accurate portrayal of the way the towel, the large towel looked while it covered the smaller face cloth depicted in Defendant's 1331; is that correct?
Would it be better to describe that as a hand towel? Doesn't appear to be a bath towel size.
If the Judge says call it a hand towel, I think generally we'll call it a hand towel. Let's call it a hand towel.
Well, they give you three kinds of towels in a hotel. They give you wash cloths, hand towels and bath towel. These are experts on hotel towels.
KEY QUOTEOkay. With regard to that, let's move quickly through this then. The hand towel was covering the face cloth; is that right?
All right. And to the left of that is the glass you've described, the broken glass that's in the wash basin; is that correct?
I want to put 1331 back up for just a moment and ask you a question. You had mentioned there were some chips of glass, and I want you to look at 1331 and point out to us, if you can, the--whether you can see some--a chip of glass to the left of--upper left of this particular face cloth.
All right. And that was--that's basically to the left and above the foot of the basin; is that correct?
That is a photograph of the wash basin in the bathroom of room 915 with the broken drinking glass inside the basin with the white doily cover.
And in 1333, you can see the doily mixed in with the broken glass; isn't that correct?
And in the bottom of that glass, does there appear to be something, some kind of white substance or something in the bottom of the broken part of the glass?
Yes, there was. A cloud--I'll describe it as a clouded liquid. Not a clear liquid, but a clouded liquid.
All right, sir. Moving along to 1334 and 1335, you previously described the bedding. Tell us what's depicted in 1334.
That is a photograph of a bedding--I'm not sure whether it's the top or bottom sheet that I see before me here in the photograph. However, that is the bedding in the room of 915.
It's another photograph of the bedding for that room, and that--there's also depicted a red stain, which was suspect blood.
So I'll just show these quickly to the jury, if I might. This is 1334, your Honor.
All right. And let's take a look at 1335. All right. And that was also a spot, red spot on the bed; is that correct?
If I were to look at 1331-A and wanted to look--can you see this? Is this the fragment of glass that was depicted in the smaller photograph?
No. No, it doesn't. I was moving to another subject, your Honor. Thank you. You can take that down, Mr. Harris. Thank you, your Honor.
I just wanted to ask one quick question about--. Looking at 1331-A, can you point out for the jury where this area of fragment of glass is located on that?
All right. All right, sir. You may resume the stand. Now, approximately how long did you and Detective Bongiorno and the other two criminalists remain in room 915 the second time that you went there?
Oh, we were there quite a long time. I'd say we left, oh, a couple of hours later, perhaps 5:00 o'clock. I'd be estimating though, Mr. Cochran.
And one other question. With regard to this kind of white substance in the bottom of that glass, did it appear to you that could have come from someone brushing their teeth and--
During the time that you were in that room, did you ever have occasion to check the sink trap for anything that may have been washed down that particular drain at all?
Is that correct? Now, with regard to the items that were in that room that we've just seen, the broken glass, the towel, the bedding, the pen, did the criminalists, Stella and Naujokas, in some way take those items into their possession, the Chicago Police Department?
And thereafter, where did they take these particular items? They took them from room 915 to some location; is that correct?
I'm sorry. They took them from this scene to the police--Chicago police crime laboratory at the Chicago police headquarters.
All right. And were they booked there for--and held there until the arrival of some members of the Los Angeles Police Department?
All right. This was done--they were taken on the 13th I presume in the evening hours to the Chicago Police Department; is that correct?
Do you know at some point thereafter, did a Detective Luper and a Detective le Fall from the Los Angeles Police Department come to Chicago in connection with their investigation of this case?
Do you know at what point or which date Detective Luper took possession of the items recovered by you and the criminalists in room 915?
And prior to the time they took custody of these times, they had been held in the custody and control of the Chicago Police Department, right?
All right. And since you've been in California for this short period of time, have you had occasion to see the box that purportedly contains these items?
I was informed that that box contains some of the--or the items from the room 915.
All right. And what we've shown the jury are photographs of those items that had been in that particular room; is that correct?
All right. Now, with regard to that particular room--and so we're clear, the broken glass fragments were all picked up and brought also; is that correct? They were retained as best you could?
All right. Now, with regard to that particular room, if you recall, the other bedding or anything that you didn't see that had any discoloration on it, I presume you left that intact; is that correct?
Things that didn't manifest anything that was a suspect stain or--is that what you mean, Mr. Cochran?
You only took things that may have had some stain and the broken glass, et cetera; is that correct?
All right. Were you able to--did you look around the room, did you see whether or not there were any laundry bags at all in that room?
All right. And the photographs which we've shown our jury here were photographs that were taken out of the direction of the Chicago Police Department; is that correct?
The people who actually took the things, and they were taken on June 13th of 1994; is that right?
I want to place before you a photograph that's Defendant's 1336 and ask you to describe for the jury what is depicted in that photograph, sir.
It is a photograph of the bedroom area of room 915 that shows the bed in that suite of rooms with the covers--how I've described tossed back, the bed being unmade as if it had been slept in.
And that's the--that's the way you observed that bed on June 13th, the time you were in there in the afternoon hours; is that correct, sir?
And I notice to the left of the bed and area of the bedding there, there's a phone. Is that the way that phone was there?
And with regard to that phone, do you recall whether or not you ever had that phone fingerprinted?
Now, that is--there's a glare. That is a fair and accurate portrayal of how that unmade bed appeared when you were there on June 13th, the afternoon hours?
And the phone is in the upper right-hand corner of that photograph; is that correct?
And the bedding we see on that bed where you saw those red spots, that was--the bedding was still on the bed at that point and was subsequently taken and we have photographs of that; is that correct?
All right. And you've come to California last night pursuant to a subpoena to testify; is that correct?
That washcloth had reddish--a reddish stain on it which I suspected to be blood.
It was underneath the towel is the best I could describe it to the right of the sink bowl. When I initially had gone into the bathroom, I didn't see it since the towel was on top of it concealing it from view.
The bed wasn't made. The covers were tossed back as if someone had been sleeping in the bed.
Well, they give you three kinds of towels in a hotel. They give you wash cloths, hand towels and bath towel. These are experts on hotel towels.