📄 Direct examination of William Pavelic — Monday, February 27, 1995
Address:
C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\FEB\27\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-WILLIAM-.DOC
TRIAL
▲ Day 26 of 167

Direct examination of William Pavelic

Witness: Bill Pavelic
Examiner: Marcia Clark
Called by: Prosecution • Date: Monday, February 27, 1995 • Utterances: 37
Judge Ito questioned defense investigator William Pavelic under oath about materials related to alibi witness Rosa Lopez. Pavelic disclosed that he had conducted two interviews, had a tape recording of the first, and may have handwritten notes — none of which had been turned over. Ito ordered Pavelic to produce all notes and recordings by 9:00 AM the next morning.
1 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. MR. SHULMAN, THANK YOU.

2 MS. CLARK:

YOUR HONOR, ARE WE CONFINED TO THE STATEMENT AND NOTES OF ROSA LOPEZ?

3 THE COURT:

WELL, THAT'S WHAT I'M MOST INTERESTED IN AT THIS POINT. LET'S JUST KEEP THE INQUIRY DOWN SPECIFICALLY TO WHAT OUR 1335 THAT WE'RE IN THE MIDST OF RIGHT NOW, AND WE CAN MOVE ON TO OTHER THINGS AT ANOTHER TIME. WE ONLY TRY TO DO 53 THINGS AT A TIME HERE.

4 MS. CLARK:

ONLY.

5 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. MR. PAVELIC, GOOD AFTERNOON, SIR. WOULD YOU COME FORWARD. MR. PAVELIC, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT YOU'VE BEEN THE INVESTIGATOR FOR THE DEFENSE FOR THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS, CORRECT?

6 MR. PAVELIC:

SINCE JUNE 14TH, YES, SIR.

7 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. ARE YOU AWARE OF ANY STATEMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE OR ANY REPORTS OR ANY NOTES REGARDING THIS WITNESS ROSA LOPEZ, OTHER THAN THE TWO STATEMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN TURNED OVER?

8 MR. PAVELIC:

OTHER THAN THE TWO STATEMENTS, NO.

9 MS. CLARK:

EXCUSE ME, YOUR HONOR. I WOULD ASK THESE STATEMENTS BE MADE UNDER OATH. HE'S NOT AN OFFICER OF THE COURT.

KEY QUOTE
10 THE COURT:

WELL, HE IS HERE MAKING REPRESENTATIONS TO ME. DO YOU HAVE A LICENSE AS A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR?

11 MR. PAVELIC:

I WORK UNDER A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR'S LICENSE.

12 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. THEN I'LL HAVE TO HAVE HIM PUT UNDER OATH THEN.

WILLIAM GEORGE PAVELIC, CALLED AS A WITNESS BY THE DEFENSE, WAS SWORN AND TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:

13 THE CLERK:

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?

14 MR. PAVELIC:

I DO.

15 THE CLERK:

PLEASE STATE AND SPELL YOUR FIRST AND LAST NAMES FOR THE RECORD.

16 THE COURT:

NO. YOU CAN STAY RIGHT THERE. MR. PAVELIC, YOU CAN JUST STAY RIGHT THERE.

17 MR. PAVELIC:

WILLIAM GEORGE PAVELIC, P AS IN PAUL A-V AS IN VICTOR E-L-I-C AS IN CHARLES.

18 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. WITH REGARDS TO THE WITNESS ROSA LOPEZ, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT YOU CONDUCTED TWO INTERVIEWS OF HER?

19 MR. PAVELIC:

YES, SIR.

20 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. AND WE NOW HAVE REPORTS THAT ARE DATED JULY 29TH AND WHAT IS IT, AUGUST THE 18TH?

21 MR. PAVELIC:

THAT'S ABOUT RIGHT. YES, SIR.

22 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. ARE THERE ANY OTHER NOTES WITH REGARDS TO INTERVIEWS OF ROSA LOPEZ?

23 MR. PAVELIC:

WHEN YOU SAY NOTES, I'M NOT SURE WHAT YOU MEAN.

24 THE COURT:

ANY ROUGH NOTES, ANYTHING YOU WROTE DOWN, ANYTHING HANDWRITTEN?

25 MR. PAVELIC:

I MAY POSSIBLY HAVE SOME NOTES IN REGARDS TO THE STATEMENT I TOOK.

26 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. DO YOU HAVE ANY TAPE-RECORDINGS OF ANY STATEMENTS?

27 MR. PAVELIC:

I TAPE-RECORDED THE FIRST STATEMENT, WHICH WAS THE JULY STATEMENT.

KEY QUOTE
28 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. MR. PAVELIC, WHERE ARE THESE NOTES AND TAPE RECORDINGS?

29 MR. PAVELIC:

I BELIEVE THAT IT'S EITHER IN THE OFFICE OR AT MY RESIDENCE.

30 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. TOMORROW MORNING, I'M GOING TO ORDER YOU TO COME TO COURT WITH THOSE ITEMS.

31 MR. PAVELIC:

I SHOULD DO MY BEST TO GET THOSE ITEMS.

32 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. NO. DON'T DO YOUR BEST. HAVE THEM HERE TOMORROW.

KEY QUOTE
33 MR. PAVELIC:

I SHALL HAVE THEM HERE TOMORROW, YOUR HONOR.

34 THE COURT:

THANK YOU.

35 MR. PAVELIC:

YOU'RE WELCOME.

36 THE COURT:

TOMORROW MORNING, 9:00 O'CLOCK. COUNSEL, WE WILL STAND IN RECESS. WE'LL TAKE THIS MATTER UP AT 9:00 O'CLOCK. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, ALL.

37 (AT 4:44 P.M., AN ADJOURNMENT WAS TAKEN UNTIL, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY, 1995, 9:00 A.M.)

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Lance A. Ito
WE ONLY TRY TO DO 53 THINGS AT A TIME HERE.
Rare moment of judicial levity amid a tense discovery dispute.
Lance A. Ito
NO. DON'T DO YOUR BEST. HAVE THEM HERE TOMORROW.
Ito firmly cutting off Pavelic's hedge, signaling zero tolerance for evasion on discovery compliance.
Bill Pavelic
I TAPE-RECORDED THE FIRST STATEMENT, WHICH WAS THE JULY STATEMENT.
Disclosure of an undisclosed tape recording of Rosa Lopez — a significant discovery issue.
Marcia Clark
EXCUSE ME, YOUR HONOR. I WOULD ASK THESE STATEMENTS BE MADE UNDER OATH. HE'S NOT AN OFFICER OF THE COURT.
Clark immediately moved to put Pavelic under oath, flagging that his representations needed the weight of sworn testimony.

Evidence (3)

Informal
Two written statements/reports regarding Rosa Lopez, dated July 29 and August 18
previously turned over, referenced as baseline for inquiry
Informal
Handwritten notes from Pavelic's Rosa Lopez interviews
disclosed as potentially existing; ordered produced
Informal
Tape recording of first (July) Rosa Lopez interview
disclosed as existing; ordered produced

Notable Exchanges (2)

Lance A. ItoBill Pavelic
Pavelic hedged when ordered to produce notes and recordings, saying he would 'do his best.' Ito immediately overruled the hedge and told him flatly to have the materials in court the next morning.
authoritative
Marcia ClarkLance A. Ito
Clark requested Pavelic be placed under oath before answering questions, which Ito granted after confirming Pavelic's PI license status.
strategic

Light Moments (2)

Lance A. Ito
Ito quipped 'WE ONLY TRY TO DO 53 THINGS AT A TIME HERE' when Clark asked whether they were confined to Rosa Lopez materials.
Bill Pavelic
After Ito thanked Pavelic, Pavelic replied 'YOU'RE WELCOME' — an unusually casual exchange for a witness being ordered to produce materials.

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Bill Pavelic
procedural challenge to unsworn representations
Clark moved to have Pavelic sworn before answering, implicitly questioning whether his unsworn statements to the court could be trusted.

Witness Demeanor

Pavelic answered questions cooperatively but attempted to hedge on the production order ('I should do my best'), which was immediately corrected by the judge.

Objections

1 objections (0 sustained, 0 overruled)
Proceeding 4994 • 37 utterances • Prosecution witness
Criminal Trial
Department 103
⚖️ Start
📂 FEB 27, 1995 📄 Direct examination of William
FEB 27, 1995 KRT DvH TD