A brief pre-jury session in the civil trial where counsel reviewed late-arriving photographic exhibits of the Akita dog and its collar before the jury was brought in. The court also resolved an outstanding question about how to present an envelope and its contents to the jury, with Ito opting to use the ELMO projector for now and defer physical presentation. The proceeding ended with the jury being called back in and witness Mrs. Crawford set to take the stand.
# 1 THE COURT: OKAY. BACK ON THE RECORD IN THE SIMPSON MATTER. ALL PARTIES ARE AGAIN PRESENT. COUNSEL, HAVE YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS THESE LATE ARRIVING DOCUMENTS?
# 2 MR. COCHRAN: YES, WE HAVE, YOUR HONOR, AND I THINK THAT MR. DOUGLAS HAS HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK WITH THE WITNESS. WE HAVE NOW HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK WITH THE WITNESS. THERE IS A BOARD OF PICTURES OF THE AKITA, HOWEVER, THAT WE WOULD HAVE A PROBLEM WITH, AND I WANT TO TALK TO THE COURT BEFORE MISS CLARK USES THOSE PICTURES.
# 3 THE COURT: WHICH PICTURES ARE THESE?
# 4 MS. CLARK: WE HAVE PICTURES OF THE AKITA. THE PICTURES WERE TURNED OVER TO COUNSEL AND THEY ARE PRESENTLY ON A BOARD.
# 5 THE COURT: ALL RIGHT. MAY I SEE THE BOARD, PLEASE.
# 6 MS. CLARK: HIGHLY PREJUDICIAL MATTER. PICTURES OF A DOG.
KEY QUOTE # 7 THE COURT: WHAT IS THE --
# 8 MS. CLARK: LAST ONE IS THE COLLAR.
# 9 THE COURT: COLLAR. WHAT IS THE DOG STANDING ON THERE? LOOKS LIKE A PAD OF SOME SORT.
# 10 MS. CLARK: WHAT IS IT SITTING ON? A DOGGIE BED.
# 11 THE COURT: I CAN'T SEE DIRECTLY WHAT IT IS.
# 12 MR. COCHRAN: IT IS A TOWEL.
# 13 MS. CLARK: IT IS A TOWEL.
# 14 THE COURT: ALL RIGHT. WHEN WERE THESE PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN?
# 15 MS. CLARK: I'M SORRY?
# 16 THE COURT: COUNSEL, WHEN WERE THESE PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN?
# 17 MS. CLARK: UMM, ABOUT A WEEK OR TWO AGO AND THEY WERE -- COUNSEL HAS THE PICTURES. THEY WERE TURNED OVER TO THEM.
# 18 MR. COCHRAN: WE SAW THEM WITHIN THE LAST WEEK.
# 20 MS. CLARK: COUNSEL GOT THEM AS SOON AS WE DID.
# 21 MR. COCHRAN: THERE IS NO WAY WE WILL EVER KNOW THAT FOR SURE. WE JUST SAW THEM ON THIS BOARD TODAY AND WE JUST CALLED IT TO YOUR ATTENTION.
KEY QUOTE # 22 THE COURT: ALL RIGHT.
# 23 MR. COCHRAN: JUST LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE WE HAVE SEEN TODAY. WE HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW ABOUT THIS.
# 24 MS. CLARK: THE BOARDS JUST GOT MADE, COUNSEL. IT WAS JUST DELIVERED TO ME THIS MORNING. IT JUST GOT MADE. I'M SHOWING IT TO YOU AS SOON AS I GOT IT.
# 25 THE COURT: HERE IT IS.
# 26 MS. CLARK: AND THE COURT INDICATED THAT IT WANTED US TO DO THE SHOW AND TELL PRIOR TO THE JURY SEEING IT. I HAVE OTHER BOARDS THAT WERE MADE UP THAT WILL NOT COME UP FOR QUITE SOME TIME THAT HAVE ALSO BEEN SHOWN TO COUNSEL. AS SOON AS THESE THINGS WERE MADE --
# 28 MS. CLARK: -- I SHOWED THEM.
# 29 THE COURT: ALL RIGHT. I TAKE IT YOU HAVE SEEN IT AND YOU HAVE NO OBJECTION?
# 30 MR. COCHRAN: I HAVE SEEN IT NOW. I HAVE NOTED FOR THE RECORD, YOUR HONOR, WE GOT THE PHOTOGRAPHS WITHIN THE LAST WEEK. I'LL SUBMIT IT.
# 31 THE COURT: ALL RIGHT. ALL RIGHT. ANYTHING ELSE BEFORE WE ASK OUR JURORS TO JOIN US?
# 32 MS. CLARK: DOES MR. DOUGLAS WANT TO TALK TO MRS. CRAWFORD ANY FURTHER?
# 33 (DISCUSSION HELD OFF THE RECORD BETWEEN DEFENSE COUNSEL.) # 34 MS. CLARK: WE WILL BE OFFERING THESE TWO ITEMS INTO EVIDENCE.
# 35 THE COURT: ALL RIGHT.
# 36 MR. COCHRAN: THERE MAY BE SOME FOUNDATIONAL QUESTIONS. WE HAVE TALKED TO HER BUT WE ARE NOT NECESSARILY WAIVING ANY FOUNDATION.
# 37 THE COURT: I UNDERSTAND.
# 39 THE COURT: ALL RIGHT. IF WE COULD, COULD WE MOVE OUR BOX HERE TO NOT BLOCK THE JURY.
# 40 MS. CLARK: YES. WE WILL MOVE EVERYTHING, YOUR HONOR.
# 41 THE COURT: ALL RIGHT.
# 42 MS. CLARK: HAVE WE RESOLVED THE ISSUE OF THE ENVELOPE?
# 43 THE COURT: YES. I WILL ALLOW THE WITNESS TO BE SHOWN THE ENVELOPE AND ITS CONTENTS.
# 44 MR. COCHRAN: ON THE ELMO?
# 45 THE COURT: WE WILL USE THE ELMO FOR IT. ITS ACTUAL PRESENTATION TO THE JURY IN ITS PRESENT CONDITION, I WILL HOLD OFF.
# 46 MS. CLARK: I'M SORRY, THERE IS TOO MUCH NOISE. I COULDN'T HEAR YOU, YOUR HONOR.
# 47 THE COURT: THE ACTUAL PRESENTATION OF THE ENVELOPE AND IT CONTENTS TO THE JURY I WILL TAKE UP LATER TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY PHOTOGRAPHS THAT ACCURATELY SHOW WHAT IS DEPICTED THERE.
# 48 MR. COCHRAN: THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR.
# 49 THE COURT: BUT FOR TODAY'S PURPOSE, WE CAN USE THE ACTUAL EXHIBIT ITSELF.
# 50 MS. CLARK: THANK YOU.
# 51 THE COURT: AND I HAVE ONE OF THE LAW CLERKS DOWN AT SAV-ON BUYING ZIPPER-LOCK BAGS RIGHT NOW, MISS CLARK.
KEY QUOTE # 52 MS. CLARK: THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR.
# 53 THE COURT: SHOULD BE FORTHCOMING.
# 54 MS. CLARK: I SAW HER ON HER WAY OUT.
# 55 THE COURT: OKAY. ARE WE READY?
# 56 MS. CLARK: YES, YOUR HONOR.
# 57 THE COURT: ARE WE SURE? ALL RIGHT. LET'S HAVE THE JURY, PLEASE. ALL RIGHT. MISS CRAWFORD IS OUR NEXT WITNESS, MISS CLARK?
# 58 MS. CLARK: I'M SORRY?
# 59 THE COURT: MISS CRAWFORD IS OUR NEXT WITNESS?
# 60 MS. CLARK: MISS CRAWFORD IS MY NEXT WITNESS, YES.
# 61 THE COURT: ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. PLEASE BE SEATED. ALL RIGHT. LET THE RECORD REFLECT WE HAVE NOW BEEN REJOINED BY ALL THE MEMBERS OF OUR JURY PANEL. AND MISS CLARK, YOU MAY CALL YOUR NEXT WITNESS.