📄 Redirect examination of Louis Karpf (part 4) — Wednesday, February 8, 1995
📅 Feb 8 — Day 15
🏛️ Marcia Clark⚖️ Lance A. Ito🗣️ Louis Karpf🛡️ Johnnie Cochran
bloodtimeline
Address:
C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\FEB\8\REDIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-LOUIS-.DOC
TRIAL
▲ Day 15 of 167

Redirect examination of Louis Karpf (part 4)

Witness: Louis Karpf
Examiner: Marcia Clark
Called by: Prosecution • Date: Wednesday, February 8, 1995 • Utterances: 33
Marcia Clark conducted a brief redirect examination of Louis Karpf focusing on how well he could observe the Akita dog's legs and paws when he encountered it on the street. The questioning aimed to undercut the defense's implication that Karpf could reliably identify blood on the dog's legs, establishing instead that it was dark, he was frightened, and he only looked at the dog for about a minute to a minute and a half while it was moving and barking.
1 (THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD IN OPEN COURT:)
2 THE COURT:

THANK YOU, COUNSEL. MISS CLARK.

3 MS. CLARK:

MAY I HAVE ONE MOMENT, YOUR HONOR?

4 THE COURT:

CERTAINLY.

5 (DISCUSSION HELD OFF THE RECORD BETWEEN THE DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.)
6 Q:

BY MS. CLARK: SIR, WHAT WAS THE CLOSEST YOU EVER GOT TO THAT DOG THAT WAS IN THE STREET, THE AKITA?

7 MR. COCHRAN:

ASKED AND ANSWERED.

8 THE COURT:

SUSTAINED.

9 Q:

BY MS. CLARK: WERE YOU ABLE TO SEE THE DOG'S PAWS AND LEGS CLEARLY?

10 A:

I COULD SEE HIS LEGS CLEARLY. HIS PAWS I WASN'T LOOKING AT.

11 Q:

WAS IT DARK IN THE STREET WHERE THAT DOG WAS?

12 A:

IT WAS FAIRLY DARK, YES.

13 Q:

DID YOU EXAMINE HIS LEGS OR HIS PAWS CAREFULLY WHEN YOU LOOKED AT HIM?

14 MR. COCHRAN:

OBJECT, YOUR HONOR. IMPROPER REDIRECT. OBJECT TO THAT.

15 THE COURT:

THAT OBJECTION IS OVERRULED.

16 MR. COCHRAN:

ASKED AND ANSWERED.

17 THE COURT:

OVERRULED.

18 LOUIS KARPF:

NO, I DIDN'T LOOK AT HIS PAWS, OR DO YOU WANT TO REPHRASE THAT ONE MORE TIME?

19 Q:

BY MS. CLARK: WERE YOU EXAMINING ITS LEGS OR ITS PAWS VERY CAREFULLY WHEN YOU SAW IT OUT IN THE STREET THERE?

20 A:

NO, I WASN'T.

21 Q:

YOU WERE FRIGHTENED BY IT IN FACT?

22 A:

FRIGHTENED BY HIS BARKING.

KEY QUOTE
23 Q:

ABOUT HOW LONG DID YOU LOOK AT THAT DOG?

24 MR. COCHRAN:

ASKED AND ANSWERED.

25 THE COURT:

SUSTAINED. HE HAS TESTIFIED TO THIS ALREADY.

26 MS. CLARK:

I DIDN'T ASK HIM ABOUT THIS, YOUR HONOR. THIS IS IN RESPONSE TO COUNSEL'S QUESTIONING ABOUT WHETHER HE SAW BLOOD ON THE LEGS, AND I DON'T THINK I DID.

27 THE COURT:

WELL, IT IS A SIMPLE QUESTION AND ANSWER. IT WILL TAKE ME MORE TIME TO GO BACK THROUGH MY NOTES TO SEE, SO GO AHEAD AND ANSWER THE QUESTION.

28 MS. CLARK:

THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR.

29 THE COURT:

HOW LONG DID YOU LOOK AT THE DOG?

30 LOUIS KARPF:

I WOULD SAY I SAW THE DOG NO MORE THAN A MINUTE, BASICALLY, MAYBE A MINUTE AND A HALF.

KEY QUOTE
31 Q:

BY MS. CLARK: AND DURING WHICH TIME THE DOG WAS MOVING AROUND AND BARKING?

32 A:

THAT IS CORRECT.

33 MS. CLARK:

I HAVE NOTHING FURTHER.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (4)

Louis Karpf
NO, I WASN'T LOOKING AT HIS PAWS.
Undermines any inference that Karpf had a careful, reliable view of the dog's extremities where blood might have been visible.
Louis Karpf
FRIGHTENED BY HIS BARKING.
Establishes that Karpf's attention was on the dog's behavior, not on examining its physical condition.
Louis Karpf
I WOULD SAY I SAW THE DOG NO MORE THAN A MINUTE, BASICALLY, MAYBE A MINUTE AND A HALF.
Core fact Clark was after — a short, distracted observation undermines any confident testimony about blood on the dog.
Louis Karpf
DO YOU WANT TO REPHRASE THAT ONE MORE TIME?
Dry, slightly impatient witness pushback suggesting Clark was circling the same question repeatedly.

Evidence (1)

Informal
The Akita dog found wandering Bundy Drive with possible blood on its legs and paws
discussed — Clark probing the quality of Karpf's observation of the dog

Notable Exchanges (2)

Marcia ClarkLance A. Ito
Clark pushed back on a sustained objection, arguing she had not previously asked about how long Karpf looked at the dog. Ito acknowledged it would take more time to verify than to just allow the question, and let it proceed.
procedural, mildly testy
Marcia ClarkLouis Karpf
Karpf mildly needled Clark after a repetitive question — 'Or do you want to rephrase that one more time?' — showing slight impatience with the repeated questioning.
dry, slightly impatient

Light Moments (1)

Louis Karpf
Witness quipped 'Or do you want to rephrase that one more time?' after Clark asked essentially the same question about his paw observation a third time.

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Louis Karpf
prior testimony rehabilitation / scope limitation
Clark worked to clarify — and limit — the scope of what Karpf could credibly claim to have observed, countering any defense use of his testimony to suggest he saw (or didn't see) blood on the dog's legs.

Objections

4 objections (2 sustained, 2 overruled)
Proceeding 4732 • 33 utterances • Prosecution witness
Criminal Trial
Department 103
⚖️ Start
📂 FEB 8, 1995 📄 Redirect examination of Louis
FEB 8, 1995 KRT DvH TD