Motion: witness testimony scope

📄 Motion: witness testimony scope — Tuesday, August 22, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\AUG\22\MOTION-WITNESS-TESTIMONY-SCOPE.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 140 of 167

◀ Motion: examination scope and recall Witness scheduling and motion ▶

Date: Tuesday, August 22, 1995 • Utterances: 31

Defense attorney Cochran makes a pre-testimony offer of proof to limit the scope of Chicago officer Berris's testimony and the prosecution's cross-examination to events inside the Oak Park Hilton hotel room — specifically his collection of a glass and towel. Judge Ito declines to rule in advance, preferring to see how the testimony unfolds, while noting the practical problem that this out-of-town witness cannot easily be recalled.

# 1 THE COURT:

Let's have Dr. Reichardt.

# 2 MR. COCHRAN:

There is another witness here from Chicago, Mr. Berris, your Honor, and again I wanted to briefly take up with the court, as an offer of proof, Mr. Berris is the officer who flew in last night from Chicago who responded to the room at the Oak Park Hilton hotel at eleven o'clock, and along with some technicians from the Chicago Police Department.

# 3 THE COURT:

I recollect who he is.

# 4 MR. COCHRAN:

Ultimately took possession of a glass.

# 5 THE COURT:

Glass.

# 6 MR. COCHRAN:

Shards of glass.

# 7 THE COURT:

Towel.

# 8 MR. COCHRAN:

The towel, et cetera.

# 9 THE COURT:

I know who he is.

# 10 MR. COCHRAN:

Luper of course took it up. I expect to ask him some questions limiting it to just those things, not even that part of his investigation, and I'm just pointing it out to this court so we can have this same limit you talked about with regard to cross-examination and that sort of thing.

# 11 MR. DARDEN:

Umm, let me see what my cross-examination looks like?

# 12 (Brief pause.)

# 13 MR. DARDEN:

I intend to ask him about his observations in the room. What is it that he is asking me to limit?

# 14 MR. COCHRAN:

I'm not--

# 15 THE COURT:

I think he doesn't want to go into the forest searches or anything of that kind of stuff.

# 16 MR. DARDEN:

Or means of escape from the hotel and all of that good stuff?

KEY QUOTE

# 17 THE COURT:

I suspect.

# 18 MR. DARDEN:

I would think that that would be relevant.

# 19 MR. COCHRAN:

I think not, your Honor. That is the reason I'm making this motion at this point so we can limit it and move on and we want to get this case to the jury by labor day, too. We are trying to do that. I'm calling it up front to get some understanding of where we are so we can move ahead.

# 20 THE COURT:

The problem is we have a witness--this witness is a witness from Chicago that is not easily recalled.

KEY QUOTE

# 21 MR. COCHRAN:

I understand that.

# 22 THE COURT:

That is the problem.

# 23 MR. COCHRAN:

What does that have to do with anything, your Honor, if we are calling him? It is our case and you said we can try the case a certain way. We are the ones who brought him out here.

# 24 THE COURT:

Let's see where it goes. Let's see how you lead him into this.

# 25 MR. COCHRAN:

I already told you how I'm going to lead him into this, your Honor, and I'm just trying to give the court a head's up on this.

# 26 THE COURT:

If he is there conducting an investigation in that room at that hotel, it depends on what he was doing.

# 27 MR. COCHRAN:

He was there conducting an investigation into that room and that is exactly the operative words, "In that room," and that is what I'm trying to get to, your Honor.

KEY QUOTE

# 28 THE COURT:

That is what it sounds like to me.

# 29 MR. COCHRAN:

I need five minutes. He just got here this morning. We would need five minutes. He would probably be the first and then Reichardt and then Weitzman. We could do the Menzione motion if the court would care to hear that at this point.

# 30 THE COURT:

I would like to get to the jury and get some testimony under our belts.

# 31 MR. COCHRAN:

We would like to do that also. I'm ready to finish with these two witnesses and ready to roll then.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (4)

Johnnie Cochran

I'm calling it up front to get some understanding of where we are so we can move ahead... we want to get this case to the jury by labor day, too.

Reveals defense strategy of proactively limiting cross-examination scope while also showing timeline pressure on both sides.

Lance A. Ito

The problem is we have a witness--this witness is a witness from Chicago that is not easily recalled. That is the problem.

Ito's practical concern: restricting cross now risks incomplete testimony from a witness who can't be brought back easily.

Christopher Darden

Or means of escape from the hotel and all of that good stuff?

Signals prosecution's intent to use Berris to explore escape-route evidence from the hotel, well beyond the narrow scope Cochran sought.

Johnnie Cochran

He was there conducting an investigation into that room and that is exactly the operative words, 'In that room,' and that is what I'm trying to get to, your Honor.

Cochran's core argument: the witness's role was bounded geographically and should be treated as such.

Evidence (2)

Informal

Glass shards collected from Oak Park Hilton hotel room

discussed as subject of Berris's testimony

Informal

Towel collected from Oak Park Hilton hotel room

discussed as subject of Berris's testimony

Notable Exchanges (2)

Johnnie Cochran•Lance A. Ito

Cochran argues defense should control the scope of their own witness; Ito pushes back noting that opening the door to the room investigation could justify broader cross given witness's unavailability for recall.

strategic

Christopher Darden•Lance A. Ito

Darden hints he wants to ask about escape routes from the hotel; Ito appears to tacitly agree this could be relevant, undermining Cochran's limitation request.

strategic

Light Moments (1)

Lance A. Ito

Ito and Cochran briefly complete each other's sentences listing the items collected — 'Glass.' / 'Shards of glass.' / 'Towel.' — before Ito cuts off: 'I know who he is.'

Witness Demeanor

(Brief pause.)

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 7388 • 31 utterances

Criminal Trial

Department 103