Sidebar: 1977 incidents

📄 Sidebar: 1977 incidents — Friday, February 3, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\FEB\3\SIDEBAR-1977-INCIDENTS.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 12 of 167

◀ Direct examination of Denise Brown (part 1) Direct examination of Denise Brown (part 2) ▶

Date: Friday, February 3, 1995 • Utterances: 14

Defense attorney Robert Shapiro requested an offer of proof regarding the relevance of 1977 incidents, suspecting Darden was trying to establish that OJ was dating Nicole while still married. Darden insisted he was simply laying foundational questions to develop the timeline of OJ and Nicole's relationship. Judge Ito overruled the objection and allowed the questioning to continue.

# 1 MR. SHAPIRO:

EXCUSE ME, YOUR HONOR. MAY WE APPROACH WITH THE REPORTER?

# 2 THE COURT:

CERTAINLY. WITH THE REPORTER, PLEASE.

# 3 (THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD AT THE BENCH:)

# 4 THE COURT:

WE ARE AT THE SIDEBAR. MR. SHAPIRO.

# 5 MR. SHAPIRO:

YES, YOUR HONOR. I WOULD LIKE THE COURT TO ASK FOR AN OFFER OF PROOF AS TO WHAT BEARING THIS HAS ON RELATIONSHIPS IN 1977, WATCHING FOOTBALL GAMES. IF THEY WANT TO GET INTO THIS, MAYBE WE WILL HAVE TO GET INTO THE FACT OF GOING BACK TO HIS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL CAREER, WHAT GAMES HE PLAYED.

# 6 MR. DARDEN:

THESE ARE FOUNDATIONAL QUESTIONS, YOUR HONOR. I'M JUST TRYING TO DEVELOP A RELATIONSHIP.

# 7 MR. SHAPIRO:

NO, YOUR HONOR. THAT'S DISHONEST. WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO DO IS TO SHOW THAT HE WAS DATING NICOLE AT THE TIME HE WAS MARRIED. AND IF HE TRIES TO SAY OTHERWISE, EITHER HE IS NAIVE OR MISSED THE POINT.

# 8 MR. DARDEN:

HOW ABOUT THIS? HOW ABOUT I'M JUST HONEST AND TRUTHFUL? I WASN'T GOING TO ASK HIM ANYTHING ABOUT ALL OF THAT. I'M JUST TRYING TO DEVELOP THE RELATIONSHIP, AND SO THREE OR FOUR MORE QUESTIONS IN THE '70'S AND I'LL BE IN THE '80'S.

KEY QUOTE

# 9 THE COURT:

WHERE ARE WE GOING? WHAT ELSE DO WE GOT LEFT IN THE '70'S?

# 10 MR. DARDEN:

PARDON ME?

# 11 THE COURT:

WHAT ELSE DO WE HAVE IN THE '70'S?

# 12 MR. DARDEN:

WE HAVE FRIENDS OF HIS, OF DEFENDANT THAT THEY MET, FRIENDS' NAMES WHO I BELIEVE MR. COCHRAN HAS MENTIONED. I'M JUST TRYING TO DEVELOP A RELATIONSHIP.

# 13 THE COURT:

AT THIS POINT, I'M GOING TO OVERRULE THE OBJECTION.

# 14 MR. SHAPIRO:

THANK YOU, JUDGE

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (3)

Robert Shapiro

WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO DO IS TO SHOW THAT HE WAS DATING NICOLE AT THE TIME HE WAS MARRIED. AND IF HE TRIES TO SAY OTHERWISE, EITHER HE IS NAIVE OR MISSED THE POINT.

Shapiro cuts to the real concern — that Darden is subtly implying marital infidelity as part of a domestic violence narrative.

Christopher Darden

HOW ABOUT THIS? HOW ABOUT I'M JUST HONEST AND TRUTHFUL? I WASN'T GOING TO ASK HIM ANYTHING ABOUT ALL OF THAT.

Darden pushes back sharply against Shapiro's characterization of his motives.

Robert Shapiro

MAYBE WE WILL HAVE TO GET INTO THE FACT OF GOING BACK TO HIS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL CAREER, WHAT GAMES HE PLAYED.

A rhetorical threat — if the prosecution opens the door to 1977, Shapiro implies the defense will flood the record with irrelevant 1970s background.

Notable Exchanges (1)

Robert Shapiro•Christopher Darden

Shapiro accused Darden of being disingenuous about his intent, claiming the 1977 questions were designed to imply OJ was cheating on his first wife with Nicole. Darden denied it sharply and said he was simply building a relationship timeline.

heated

Objections

1 objections (0 sustained, 1 overruled)

Proceeding 4668 • 14 utterances

Criminal Trial

Department 103