Direct examination of Ron Phillips (part 3)

📄 Direct examination of Ron Phillips (part 3) — Thursday, February 16, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\FEB\16\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-RON-PHIL.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 20 of 167

◀ Sidebar (2) Sidebar: hearsay objection (1) ▶

Witness: Det. Ronald Phillips
Examiner: Johnnie Cochran
Called by: Prosecution • Date: Thursday, February 16, 1995 • Utterances: 34

Detective Phillips recounts the June 13 phone call to OJ Simpson in Chicago informing him that Nicole had been killed. The prosecution then draws out that Simpson never asked when or how Nicole died — a strategically damning omission. The segment opens with a stipulation about the call's timing and ends with a sidebar after Cochran objects to the line of questioning about Simpson's non-questions.

# 1 (THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD IN OPEN COURT:)

# 2 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, COUNSEL. MISS CLARK, WHY DON'T YOU HAVE ONE OF YOUR ASSISTANTS TAKE THE BOARD DOWN AT THIS POINT.

# 3 (BRIEF PAUSE.)

# 4 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. IS THERE A STIPULATION THAT YOU CARE TO OFFER?

# 5 MS. CLARK:

YES, YOUR HONOR. RATHER THAN AIR THE PHONE NUMBERS OF EVERYONE ELSE ON THE BILL, WE WILL STIPULATE THAT THE DEFENDANT CALLED -- EXCUSE ME. THAT THE DETECTIVE -- DETECTIVE PHILLIPS, CALLED THE DEFENDANT IN CHICAGO ON JUNE 13 AT 6:05 A.M. -- NO, NO, NO, TAKE IT DOWN -- AT 6:05 A.M. AND THE CALL LASTED FOR FIVE MINUTES.

# 6 MR. COCHRAN:

I WOULD STIPULATE THAT DETECTIVE PHILLIPS CALLED MR. SIMPSON AT 6:05 A.M.

# 7 MS. CLARK:

IN CHICAGO ON JUNE 13?

# 8 MR. COCHRAN:

YES.

# 9 THE COURT:

AND THE CALL LASTED FIVE MINUTES AND THE CALL EMANATED SOMEWHERE FROM THE DEFENDANT'S RESIDENCE.

# 10 MR. COCHRAN:

SO STIPULATED, YES, YOUR HONOR.

# 11 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AS I TOLD YOU, A STIPULATION IS AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ATTORNEYS AS TO THE FACTS OF THE CASE. YOU ARE TO ACCEPT THE STIPULATION AS EVIDENCE. THE REASON WE ARE DOING THIS IS THE PHONE BILL HAS OTHER PERSON'S PHONE NUMBERS ON IT THAT WE JUST DON'T WANT TO SUBJECT TO ANY UNDUE HARASSMENT BECAUSE OF THIS CASE, AND THERE IS NO DISPUTE AS TO THE PHONE NUMBER. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, COUNSEL. I APPRECIATE THAT.

# 12 MR. COCHRAN:

CERTAINLY, YOUR HONOR.

# 13 MS. CLARK:

THANK YOU.

# 14 THE COURT:

MISS CLARK.

# 15 MS. CLARK:

THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR.

# 16 Q:

AND THEN YOU SPOKE TO SOMEONE WHO ACKNOWLEDGED THAT HE WAS MR. SIMPSON?

# 17 A:

YES.

# 18 Q:

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

# 19 A:

I TOLD HIM WHO I WAS, I WAS DETECTIVE RON PHILLIPS FROM THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THAT I HAD SOME BAD NEWS FOR HIM AND HE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT, "WHAT'S THAT?" AND I SAYS, "WELL, I GOT SOME BAD NEWS. YOUR EX-WIFE, NICOLE SIMPSON, HAS BEEN KILLED."

# 20 Q:

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

# 21 A:

HE -- I THINK THE FIRST WORDS OUT OF HIS MOUTH WERE SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT. "OH, MY GOD. NICOLE IS KILLED? AND OH, MY GOD, SHE IS DEAD?" AND THEN HE GOT VERY UPSET ON THE TELEPHONE.

# 22 Q:

AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED?

# 23 A:

I KEPT TRYING TO CALM HIM DOWN AND HE CONTINUED TO BE UPSET, WHICH I EXPECTED, AND HE CONTINUED TO BE UPSET AND I FINALLY SAID, "MR. SIMPSON, PLEASE TRY TO GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF. I HAVE YOUR CHILDREN AT THE WEST LOS ANGELES POLICE STATION. I NEED TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THAT." AND HE SAID -- AND HE SAID, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE MY CHILDREN AT THE POLICE STATION? WHY ARE MY KIDS AT THE POLICE STATION?" AND I SAID, "BECAUSE WE HAD NO PLACE ELSE TO TAKE THEM. THEY ARE THERE FOR SAFEKEEPING. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR CHILDREN." AND AT THAT TIME HE SAID, "WELL, I'M GOING TO BE LEAVING OUT OF CHICAGO ON THE FIRST AVAILABLE FLIGHT. I WILL COME BACK TO LOS ANGELES. IS ARNELLE THERE?" AND I SAID, "YES, SHE IS." AND HE SAID, "LET ME TALK TO ARNELLE" WHICH I GAVE THE PHONE BACK TO ARNELLE.

# 24 Q:

NOW, DURING -- DID HE ASK YOU WHEN THE MURDER OCCURRED?

# 25 A:

I DIDN'T TELL HIM THAT SHE HAD BEEN MURDERED. I TOLD HIM SHE HAD BEEN KILLED.

KEY QUOTE

# 26 Q:

DID HE ASK YOU WHEN THAT HAD HAPPENED?

# 27 A:

NO.

# 28 Q:

DID HE ASK YOU HOW THAT HAPPENED?

# 29 MR. COCHRAN:

OBJECT TO THIS, YOUR HONOR. I OBJECT TO THIS FORM OF THE QUESTION, YOUR HONOR. THIS IS A MAN WHO JUST --

# 30 MS. CLARK:

OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR.

# 31 THE COURT:

WAIT.

# 32 MR. COCHRAN:

YES. I OBJECT AND I WOULD LIKE TO OBJECT AT THE SIDE BAR.

# 33 THE COURT:

YES, WITH THE REPORTER.

# 34 MR. COCHRAN:

YES.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Ron Phillips

I got some bad news. Your ex-wife, Nicole Simpson, has been killed.

The exact words Phillips used — notably 'killed' not 'murdered' — which becomes relevant moments later.

Ron Phillips

Oh, my God. Nicole is killed? And oh, my God, she is dead?

Phillips quotes Simpson's immediate reaction — shock but no follow-up questions about circumstances.

Ron Phillips

I didn't tell him that she had been murdered. I told him she had been killed.

Precise distinction Phillips draws, setting up the prosecution's implicit argument that Simpson already knew how she died.

Ron Phillips

No.

Simpson never asked when Nicole was killed. One-word answer lands like a hammer in the prosecution's narrative.

Evidence (1)

Informal

Phone bill showing Simpson's Chicago hotel phone line — stipulated rather than entered to protect other parties' numbers

Stipulated: Phillips called Simpson at 6:05 AM on June 13, call lasted five minutes, originated from defendant's residence

Notable Exchanges (2)

Marcia Clark•Johnnie Cochran•Lance A. Ito

Both sides cooperate on a privacy-protecting stipulation about the phone bill, with Ito explicitly thanking counsel for the courtesy to third parties whose numbers appear on the bill.

cooperative

Marcia Clark•Ron Phillips

Clark walks Phillips through whether Simpson asked when or how Nicole died. Phillips confirms: no to both. Cochran objects before Phillips can answer the 'how' question and demands a sidebar.

strategic/devastating

Objections

2 objections (0 sustained, 0 overruled)

Proceeding 5033 • 34 utterances • Prosecution witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103