Recross-examination of Tia Gavin

📄 Recross-examination of Tia Gavin — Tuesday, February 7, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\FEB\7\RECROSS-EXAMINATION-OF-TIA-GAV.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 14 of 167

◀ Redirect examination of Tia Gavin Witness excusal and swearing in ▶

Witness: Tia Gavin
Examiner: Robert Shapiro
Called by: Prosecution • Date: Tuesday, February 7, 1995 • Utterances: 41

Robert Shapiro conducted a brief recross-examination of Tia Gavin, a Mezzaluna employee, focused on pinning down her knowledge of when Ron Goldman left the restaurant on June 12, 1994. Shapiro successfully established that Gavin never actually witnessed Goldman leave — she only inferred he had gone because she didn't see him during her time there. The examination introduced Defense Exhibit 1004, Gavin's witness statement.

# 1 THE COURT:

RECROSS?

# 2 MR. SHAPIRO:

YES, YOUR HONOR. YOUR HONOR, MAY WE MARK THE WITNESS' STATEMENT FORM AS DEFENDANT'S I BELIEVE IT'S 1004?

# 3 (DEFT'S 1004 FOR ID = WITNESS TG STATEMENT)

# 4 MR. SHAPIRO:

MAY I APPROACH THE WITNESS, YOUR HONOR?

# 5 THE COURT:

YOU MAY.

# 6

RECROSS-EXAMINATION

# 7

BY MR. SHAPIRO:

# 8 Q:

DOES THE LAST --

# 9 MS. CLARK:

EXCUSE ME. CAN I SEE WHAT COUNSEL IS SHOWING?

# 10 MR. SHAPIRO:

I'M SORRY.

# 11 THE COURT:

DO YOU HAVE AN UNMARKED COPY OF THAT, MISS CLARK?

# 12 MS. CLARK:

I DO. I'M GIVING IT TO COUNSEL RIGHT NOW.

# 13 THE COURT:

LET ME HAVE MRS. ROBERTSON RUN BACK AND MAKE A PHOTOCOPY SO YOU DON'T LOSE YOUR COPY. MRS. ROBERTSON.

# 14 MS. CLARK:

THERE'S ACTUALLY TWO STATEMENTS.

# 15 MR. SHAPIRO:

I ONLY NEED THE LATTER ONE FOR A VERY SIMPLE QUESTION. YOUR HONOR, I CAN CONTINUE WITHOUT SHOWING HER THE REPORT.

# 16 Q:

BY MR. SHAPIRO: IN READING THE REPORT, DID I ACCURATELY READ TO YOU THOSE STATEMENTS THAT YOU READ TO YOURSELF?

# 17 A:

WELL, I THOUGHT I HEARD YOU SAY, "WHEN YOU LEFT, DID YOU SEE RON GOLDMAN?"

# 18 Q:

PERHAPS I MISSPOKE MYSELF THEN. OTHER THAN THAT, DID I ACCURATELY READ THAT?

# 19 A:

I BELIEVE SO, YES.

# 20 Q:

SO THERE'S NO CONFUSION, DO YOU HAVE AN INDEPENDENT KNOWLEDGE AS TO WHEN RON GOLDMAN LEFT MEZZALUNA ON JUNE THE 12TH?

# 21 A:

I -- HE LEFT BEFORE I DID, AND THAT'S AS MUCH AS -- AS SPECIFIC AS I CAN BE. THAT I AM SURE OF. EXACTLY WHAT TIME BEFORE ME, I HAVE NO IDEA.

KEY QUOTE

# 22 Q:

BUT YOU DID SEE HIM LEAVE THE RESTAURANT?

# 23 A:

NO, I DIDN'T SEE HIM LEAVE.

KEY QUOTE

# 24 Q:

WELL, HOW DO YOU KNOW HE LEFT BEFORE YOU?

# 25 A:

BECAUSE I WAS IN THE RESTAURANT FOR A GOOD -- THERE'S AT LEAST -- I HAVE MEMORY OF BEING AROUND THE RESTAURANT DOING MY DUTIES, WHATNOT, FOR AT LEAST 20 MINUTES, SPEAKING WITH PEOPLE. IT'S NOT THAT BIG A RESTAURANT. AND I DIDN'T SEE HIM UNLESS HE WAS HIDING SOMEWHERE.

# 26 Q:

ARE THERE ANY REST ROOMS IN THE RESTAURANT?

# 27 A:

YES.

# 28 Q:

I TAKE IT YOU DIDN'T CHECK TO SEE IF HE WAS IN THE REST ROOM?

# 29 A:

NO, I DIDN'T.

# 30 Q:

WHAT ABOUT THE KITCHEN AREA OR ANY BACK EMPLOYEE AREAS?

# 31 A:

THERE'S A KITCHEN, A SMALL KITCHEN.

# 32 Q:

DID YOU CHECK THERE?

# 33 A:

I DIDN'T -- I WASN'T CHECKING FOR HIM. I WASN'T --

KEY QUOTE

# 34 Q:

SO YOU ARE SURMISING, ARE YOU NOT --

# 35 A:

YEAH.

# 36 Q:

-- THAT HE --

# 37 A:

BUT OVER THE COURSE OF THE HALF HOUR THAT I WAS THERE AND I DIDN'T SEE HIM, THAT HE WASN'T THERE.

# 38 Q:

BUT YOU DON'T HAVE ANY INDEPENDENT RECOLLECTION OF ACTUALLY SEEING HIM LEAVING THE RESTAURANT?

# 39 A:

NO.

# 40 Q:

THANK YOU.

# 41 MR. SHAPIRO:

NOTHING FURTHER.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (4)

Tia Gavin

I DIDN'T SEE HIM LEAVE.

Directly undermines any implication that Gavin could place Goldman's departure time with certainty.

Tia Gavin

I WASN'T CHECKING FOR HIM. I WASN'T --

Shapiro cuts her off mid-sentence to land the concession that her belief Goldman had left was an inference, not an observation.

Tia Gavin

YEAH.

Concedes that her conclusion Goldman had left was surmise, the key point Shapiro was driving toward.

Tia Gavin

HE LEFT BEFORE I DID, AND THAT'S AS MUCH AS -- AS SPECIFIC AS I CAN BE. THAT I AM SURE OF. EXACTLY WHAT TIME BEFORE ME, I HAVE NO IDEA.

Establishes the limits of her knowledge on Goldman's timeline — certainty of sequence but no knowledge of timing.

Evidence (1)

Defense 1004

Tia Gavin's witness statement (marked for identification during this examination)

introduced and shown to witness

Notable Exchanges (2)

Robert Shapiro•Tia Gavin

Shapiro methodically walked through every area of Mezzaluna — restrooms, kitchen, back areas — where Goldman could have been, forcing Gavin to admit she checked none of them and was only inferring he had left.

strategic

Marcia Clark•Robert Shapiro•Lance A. Ito

Brief procedural dispute as Clark asked to see what Shapiro was showing the witness before the examination began; resolved quickly with Ito offering to have a copy made.

procedural

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Tia Gavin

prior inconsistent statement / precision challenge

Shapiro used Gavin's own written statement (Defense 1004) to highlight a possible misquotation, then drilled into the gap between her confident assertion that Goldman left before her and her admission that she never actually saw him leave and did not search the restaurant.

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 4654 • 41 utterances • Prosecution witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103