Sidebar: Crafts case reference

📄 Sidebar: Crafts case reference — Monday, August 28, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\AUG\28\SIDEBAR-CRAFTS-CASE-REFERENCE.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 143 of 167

◀ Cross-examination of Dr. Henry Lee (morning, part 1) Cross-examination of Dr. Henry Lee (morning, part 2) ▶

Date: Monday, August 28, 1995 • Utterances: 21

The prosecution (Goldberg) informed the defense at the last moment that they intended to question Dr. Henry Lee about his work on the Crafts case — the infamous Connecticut 'wood chipper murder.' Scheck objected to the surprise disclosure and asked for specifics. Judge Ito, familiar with the case, explained it to Scheck on the spot, and the sidebar ended with a light quip from Marcia Clark.

# 1 MR. SCHECK:

Your Honor, may we approach?

# 2 THE COURT:

With the court reporter, please.

# 3 (The following proceedings were held at the bench:)

# 4 THE COURT:

All right. We are over at the side bar.

# 5 MR. SCHECK:

As the jury was filing in Miss Martinez walked over and handed me this rather thick volume and said, "Oh, we are also going to be asking about the Crafts case." So I would like to know--he may know all about Dr. Lee's cases, but I certainly don't.

# 6 MR. GOLDBERG:

Your Honor, I don't intend to use this for impeachment purposes because I think he is going to tell me everything I want to know. And I'm going to ask him about this case for about three or four minutes very, very briefly.

# 7 THE COURT:

What are we talking about? Using DNA to tell us who this was?

# 8 MR. GOLDBERG:

And conventional serology.

# 9 MR. SCHECK:

Well, could he tell me with some specificity so I know? I may not regard it as impeachment, but I'm entitled no know what he is going to be referring to.

# 10 MR. GOLDBERG:

I don't know if he is actually. The body was chopped up, was spread outdoors, it was there for some time, the police collected it, think--

# 11 THE COURT:

Bits and pieces.

# 12 MR. GOLDBERG:

Yes. It is a very famous case.

# 13 THE COURT:

Yes, I am familiar with it.

# 14 MR. SCHECK:

I am the only one that isn't.

KEY QUOTE

# 15 THE COURT:

This is the one where the guy kills his wife, chops her up and puts her in a wood chipper.

KEY QUOTE

# 16 MR. SCHECK:

This is the wood chipper case?

# 17 THE COURT:

There is little bits of bones and they do DNA and he says the wife took off. He gives some alibi that she--

# 18 MS. CLARK:

She split.

# 19 THE COURT:

--she split or left him or something like that, but she is actually spread over the north forty.

KEY QUOTE

# 20 MS. CLARK:

Remind you of Trott's case?

KEY QUOTE

# 21 THE COURT:

Okay. Let's proceed.

Temperature

light

Key Quotes (4)

Barry Scheck

I am the only one that isn't.

Scheck's admission that he alone didn't know the famous Crafts case — underscores the last-minute nature of the disclosure and lands as a self-deprecating moment.

Lance A. Ito

This is the one where the guy kills his wife, chops her up and puts her in a wood chipper.

The judge himself summarizes the case for the record — unusual and somewhat comic, illustrating how well-known the Crafts case was to everyone but Scheck.

Lance A. Ito

she split or left him or something like that, but she is actually spread over the north forty.

Ito's dry delivery of the alibi versus reality captures the relevance to the Simpson case: a defendant's implausible story contradicted by physical evidence.

Marcia Clark

Remind you of Trott's case?

Clark's aside — seemingly a reference to another case involving a similar pattern — suggests she saw a thematic parallel she wanted Ito to register.

Evidence (1)

Informal

Thick volume on Dr. Lee's cases, including the Crafts case, handed to Scheck by Miss Martinez as the jury was filing in

disclosed late by prosecution

Notable Exchanges (2)

Hank Goldberg•Barry Scheck•Lance A. Ito

Scheck complained about last-minute disclosure of the Crafts case as a topic; Goldberg said he'd only use it briefly and wasn't treating it as impeachment; Ito resolved the confusion by explaining the case himself.

strategic with levity

Lance A. Ito•Marcia Clark

After Ito finished summarizing the Crafts case, Clark quipped 'Remind you of Trott's case?' — a knowing aside suggesting a pattern of cases Dr. Lee had worked.

collegial/wry

Light Moments (2)

Barry Scheck

Barry Scheck admitted he was the only person at the sidebar who didn't know the famous Crafts wood chipper case, prompting Judge Ito to explain it aloud.

Lance A. Ito

Ito matter-of-factly described Helle Crafts as being 'spread over the north forty,' delivering a grimly comic summary of the murder.

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 7440 • 21 utterances

Criminal Trial

Department 103