Noon recess

📄 Noon recess — Tuesday, January 31, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\JAN\31\NOON-RECESS.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 9 of 167

◀ Cross-examination of John Edwards (part 1) Jury instruction: limited admissibility of prior incident ▶

Date: Tuesday, January 31, 1995 • Utterances: 14

Standard noon recess proceeding. Judge Ito dismissed the jury at 12:05 PM with the standard admonition, then held a brief out-of-jury session where Cochran requested that the court give the jury a limiting instruction before resuming. Ito acknowledged he had forgotten to do so and agreed to give it, then asked counsel and court staff to reposition so investigating officers weren't seated too close to the alternate jurors.

# 1 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE ARE GOING TO TAKE OUR RECESS FOR THE NOON HOUR. PLEASE REMEMBER MY ADMONITION TO YOU; DO NOT DISCUSS THE CASE AMONGST YOURSELVES, FORM ANY OPINIONS ABOUT THE CASE, DON'T ALLOW ANYBODY TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE CASE, DON'T PERFORM ANY DELIBERATIONS UNTIL THE MATTER HAS BEEN SUBMITTED TO YOU. AND WE WILL RESUME BACK HERE AT 1:30. ALL RIGHT. DETECTIVE EDWARDS, YOU ARE EXCUSED UNTIL 1:30. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, SIR.

# 2 (AT 12:05 P.M., THE NOON RECESS WAS TAKEN UNTIL 1:30 P.M. OF THE SAME DAY.)

# 3 (JANET M. MOXHAM, CSR NO. 4855, OFFICIAL REPORTER.)

# 4 (CHRISTINE M. OLSON, CSR NO. 2378, OFFICIAL REPORTER.)

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

# 6 THE COURT:

BACK ON THE RECORD IN THE SIMPSON MATTER. MR. SIMPSON IS AGAIN PRESENT BEFORE THE COURT WITH HIS COUNSEL, MR. SHAPIRO, MR. DOUGLAS, MR. BAILEY, MR. COCHRAN. THE PEOPLE ARE REPRESENTED BY MISS CLARK, MR. DARDEN, MR. GORDON. AND MR. COCHRAN, YOU SEEM TO BE STANDING AT THE PODIUM POISED TO SAY SOMETHING.

# 7 MR. COCHRAN:

YES, YOUR HONOR. I WOULD LIKE TO ASK THE COURT TO GIVE THE JURY A LIMITING INSTRUCTION.

KEY QUOTE

# 8 THE COURT:

I HAD NEGLECTED TO REMIND THEM OF THAT.

# 9 MR. COCHRAN:

THANK YOU. WOULD THE COURT DO THAT BEFORE WE RESUME THIS AFTERNOON?

# 10 THE COURT:

I WILL.

# 11 MR. COCHRAN:

THANK YOU VERY KINDLY.

# 12 THE COURT:

ALSO, COUNSEL, I'M A LITTLE CONCERNED ABOUT THE PROXIMITY OF OUR INVESTIGATING OFFICERS WITH THE ALTERNATE JURORS THERE, IF YOU COULD JUST ASK THEM TO SORT OF SCOOCH OVER SOME, AND WE CAN GET OUR ELMO OPERATOR AND EVERYBODY TO JUST SORT OF SCOOCH OVER JUST FOR APPEARANCES, I THINK IT LOOKS BETTER. ALL RIGHT. DEPUTY MAGNERA, LET'S HAVE THE JURORS, PLEASE.

KEY QUOTE

# 13 (BRIEF PAUSE.)

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

Temperature

routine

Key Quotes (3)

Lance A. Ito

MR. COCHRAN, YOU SEEM TO BE STANDING AT THE PODIUM POISED TO SAY SOMETHING.

Casual, observational tone from the bench — captures the informal atmosphere of the brief out-of-jury session.

Lance A. Ito

I'M A LITTLE CONCERNED ABOUT THE PROXIMITY OF OUR INVESTIGATING OFFICERS WITH THE ALTERNATE JURORS THERE, IF YOU COULD JUST ASK THEM TO SORT OF SCOOCH OVER SOME

Judge proactively flags a juror-integrity concern about seating proximity — 'scooch over' is notably casual language for a courtroom directive.

Johnnie Cochran

I WOULD LIKE TO ASK THE COURT TO GIVE THE JURY A LIMITING INSTRUCTION.

Cochran uses the brief out-of-jury window to secure a commitment from the judge on an instruction before the afternoon session resumes.

Notable Exchanges (1)

Lance A. Ito•Johnnie Cochran

Cochran requests a limiting instruction for the jury; Ito admits he forgot to give it and commits to doing so before the afternoon session.

cooperative

Light Moments (1)

Lance A. Ito

Judge Ito uses the word 'scooch' twice in a formal court directive about officer-juror seating proximity.

Witness Demeanor

(AT 12:05 P.M., THE NOON RECESS WAS TAKEN UNTIL 1:30 P.M. OF THE SAME DAY.)

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

(BRIEF PAUSE.)

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

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 4549 • 14 utterances

Criminal Trial

Department 103