Jury visibility

📄 Jury visibility — Wednesday, January 25, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\JAN\25\JURY-VISIBILITY.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 6 of 167

◀ Recess announcement Jury return (morning) ▶

Date: Wednesday, January 25, 1995 • Utterances: 11

Judge Ito addressed a report that jurors were visible in the reflection off the bailiff cubicle, as flagged by the public information office. He proposed using hairspray to eliminate the reflective surface rather than moving people around. The session also touched briefly on scheduling, with Cochran confirming he would finish his examination before the 3:30 departure time.

# 1 (THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD IN OPEN COURT, OUT OF THE PRESENCE OF THE JURY:)

# 2 THE COURT:

BACK ON THE RECORD IN THE SIMPSON MATTER. ALL PARTIES AND COUNSEL ARE AGAIN PRESENT. THE JURY IS NOT PRESENT. COUNSEL, WE WILL TAKE UP AT NOON -- APPARENTLY THE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE HAS RECEIVED SEVERAL COMMENTS THAT APPARENTLY JURORS ARE VISIBLE IN THE REFLECTION OFF OF THE BAILIFF CUBICLE THERE. I HAVE LOOKED AT THE VIDEOTAPE. IT DOES NOT APPEAR APPARENT TO ME, BUT I ONLY TOOK ABOUT THIRTY SECONDS TO LOOK AT IT. WE WILL LOOK INTO IT AT NOON.

# 3 MR. COCHRAN:

WE CAN PUT A CLOTH THERE BUT WE HAVE A SECURITY CONCERN.

KEY QUOTE

# 4 THE COURT:

NO. WHAT I'M GOING TO DO IS TAKE HAIRSPRAY SO THAT IT WON'T REFLECT IS WHAT I'M GOING TO DO, BUT RATHER THAN HAVE EVERYBODY MOVE WHILE I HAIRSPRAY IT -- ALL RIGHT. DEPUTY MAGNERA, LET'S HAVE THE JURORS. MR. COCHRAN, IF YOU WANT TO SLOP OVER A COUPLE OF MINUTES THERE, BUT CLOSE TO 12:00.

KEY QUOTE

# 5 THE COURT:

CONCLUDE YOUR THOUGHT.

# 6 MR. DARDEN:

WOULD YOU INQUIRE OF MR. COCHRAN AS TO HIS TIME ESTIMATE.

# 7 THE COURT:

MY GUESS IS --

# 8 MR. DARDEN:

I MEAN YOU KNOW --

# 9 THE COURT:

IF I HAD TO GUESS, THAT WAS THE INTRODUCTION.

# 10 MR. COCHRAN:

IT WILL BE THIS AFTERNOON. WE ARE WORRIED ABOUT WITNESSES? WE ARE LEAVING AT 3:30 TODAY, JUDGE? I WILL MAKE SURE I WILL FINISH BEFORE THEN.

# 11 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. HERE ARE THE JURORS.

Temperature

routine

Key Quotes (2)

Lance A. Ito

WHAT I'M GOING TO DO IS TAKE HAIRSPRAY SO THAT IT WON'T REFLECT IS WHAT I'M GOING TO DO

An unusually practical and improvised solution from the bench — hairspray as courtroom technology.

Johnnie Cochran

WE CAN PUT A CLOTH THERE BUT WE HAVE A SECURITY CONCERN.

Cochran raises a security objection to the simplest fix, prompting Ito's hairspray alternative.

Notable Exchanges (1)

Christopher Darden•Lance A. Ito

Darden asks the judge to inquire about Cochran's time estimate; the exchange is slightly awkward, with Darden cutting in as Ito begins to speculate.

procedural

Light Moments (1)

Lance A. Ito

Judge Ito announces his plan to hairspray the reflective bailiff cubicle to protect juror anonymity — an unexpectedly mundane fix in a high-profile murder trial.

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 4480 • 11 utterances

Criminal Trial

Department 103