📄 Cross-examination of Ron Shipp (part 5) — Wednesday, February 1, 1995
Address:
C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\FEB\1\CROSS-EXAMINATION-OF-RON-SHIPP.DOC
TRIAL
▲ Day 10 of 167

Cross-examination of Ron Shipp (part 5)

Witness: Ron Shipp
Examiner: Carl Douglas
Called by: Prosecution • Date: Wednesday, February 1, 1995 • Utterances: 22
Carl Douglas cross-examines Ron Shipp, pressing him on a late-night visit to Simpson's home with a blonde woman, which Shipp clarifies occurred three weeks before the murders (not one week as implied) and involved a married family friend. Douglas closes by eliciting an admission that Shipp has a history of drinking problems, a credibility attack to undermine his earlier testimony.
1 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. MR. DOUGLAS, YOU MAY WIND IT UP FOR THE AFTERNOON, PLEASE.

2 MR. DOUGLAS:

THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR.

3 Q:

BY MR. DOUGLAS: IT IS TRUE, IS IT NOT, THAT ABOUT A WEEK BEFORE THE DEATH OF NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON, YOU VISITED MR. SIMPSON'S HOUSE UNANNOUNCED AT ABOUT 10:00 O'CLOCK P.M. WITH A BLOND FEMALE? TRUE?

4 A:

NO. THAT WAS APPROXIMATELY --

5 MR. DARDEN:

YOUR HONOR, YOU KNOW, I OBJECTED TO THE QUESTION. I THOUGHT THE COURT SUSTAINED IT.

6 THE COURT:

NO. OVERRULED.

7 Q:

BY MR. DOUGLAS: YOU MAY ANSWER.

8 THE COURT:

BUT NOT VERY BROAD HERE.

9 RON SHIPP:

NO. THE NIGHT THAT THE BLOND FEMALE WAS OVER, THAT WAS THREE WEEKS BEFORE. IT WAS A GOOD FRIEND OF MY WIFE AND WE'RE GOOD FRIENDS WITH HER HUSBAND. HER NAME IS LISA MADIGAN. THAT WAS THREE WEEKS PRIOR TO.

KEY QUOTE
10 Q:

BY MR. DOUGLAS: IS SHE ABOUT SIX FOOT ONE RESEMBLING NICOLE SIMPSON?

11 A:

NO. I AM SORRY. SHE'S ABOUT -- LISA'S 5/9, ALMOST 5/10.

12 Q:

WAS THIS THE WOMAN WHO YOU WANTED TO SHARE THE JACUZZI WITH?

KEY QUOTE
13 MR. DARDEN:

YOUR HONOR, OBJECTION. HOW IS THIS RELEVANT?

14 THE COURT:

THE FACT THAT HE WAS OVER THERE THREE OR FOUR WEEKS AGO, THAT'S ABOUT IT. THAT'S RELEVANT, COUNSEL.

15 MR. DOUGLAS:

VERY WELL.

16 Q:

BY MR. DOUGLAS: WHEN YOU WERE THERE ON THIS OCCASION, DID YOU ASK MR. SIMPSON TO GO AND BRING YOU SOME WINE?

17 A:

THAT'S CORRECT.

18 Q:

YOU DRINK A LOT, DON'T YOU?

19 A:

I USED TO.

20 Q:

YOU'VE HAD A DRINKING PROBLEM, HAVEN'T YOU?

21 A:

IN THE PAST I HAVE.

22 MR. DOUGLAS:

WE CAN STOP NOW, YOUR HONOR.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (3)

Ron Shipp
NO. THE NIGHT THAT THE BLOND FEMALE WAS OVER, THAT WAS THREE WEEKS BEFORE. IT WAS A GOOD FRIEND OF MY WIFE AND WE'RE GOOD FRIENDS WITH HER HUSBAND.
Shipp pushes back on the implied impropriety, providing a benign explanation and correcting the timeline Douglas suggested.
Carl Douglas
WAS THIS THE WOMAN WHO YOU WANTED TO SHARE THE JACUZZI WITH?
A pointed insinuation of inappropriate behavior, cut off by Darden's objection before Shipp could answer.
Ron Shipp
IN THE PAST I HAVE.
Shipp admits to a prior drinking problem — the payoff of Douglas's line of questioning, intended to damage his credibility as a witness.

Notable Exchanges (2)

Carl DouglasRon Shipp
Douglas implies Shipp visited OJ's home with a woman resembling Nicole a week before the murders; Shipp corrects the timeline to three weeks and identifies the woman as a married family friend named Lisa Madigan.
strategic
Carl DouglasRon Shipp
Douglas closes the session by getting Shipp to admit he 'used to' drink a lot and had 'in the past' struggled with a drinking problem.
revealing

Credibility Attacks (2)

⚔ Ron Shipp
prior bad acts / character
Douglas elicits an admission that Shipp had a drinking problem, undermining his reliability as a witness who claimed intimate knowledge of Simpson's state of mind.
⚔ Ron Shipp
bias / impropriety
Douglas implies Shipp made a suspicious late-night visit to Simpson's home with an attractive blonde woman, suggesting he had his own questionable relationship with the household that colors his testimony.

Objections

2 objections (0 sustained, 1 overruled)
Proceeding 4558 • 22 utterances • Prosecution witness
Criminal Trial
Department 103
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📂 FEB 1, 1995 📄 Cross-examination of Ron Shipp
FEB 1, 1995 KRT DvH TD