Recross-examination of Danny Mandel

📄 Recross-examination of Danny Mandel — Tuesday, July 11, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\JUL\11\RECROSS-EXAMINATION-OF-DANNY-M.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 112 of 167

◀ Redirect examination of Danny Mandel Witness excused ▶

Witness: Danny Mandel
Examiner: Marcia Clark
Called by: Defense • Date: Tuesday, July 11, 1995 • Utterances: 75

Marcia Clark recrosses Danny Mandel, a witness who walked past 875 South Bundy around 10:25 PM on June 12 while on a blind date. Clark attacks the reliability of his time estimate — his receipt was time-stamped 8:55 but he believes the clock was an hour off — and forces him to concede he cannot be certain of the exact offset. She also pins down that he neither saw nor heard a dog, while making clear other witnesses did, and ends by raising the possibility that he may have been walking on Westgate rather than Bundy, which would explain why another witness saw no one on Bundy at that time.

# 1 THE COURT:

Miss Clark.

RECROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. CLARK

# 2 MS. CLARK:

Mr. Mandel, you are certain there was no dog in the area?

# 3 MR. MANDEL:

I'm certain that I don't have a recollection of a dog wailing.

KEY QUOTE

# 4 MS. CLARK:

You are certain you not did not see a dog in the area; isn't that right?

# 5 MR. MANDEL:

That's correct.

# 6 MS. CLARK:

You are certain you do not recall hearing a dog in the area; isn't that right?

# 7 MR. MANDEL:

That's correct.

# 8 MS. CLARK:

If other witnesses did hear a dog in the area, does that mean they are all wrong, Mr. Mandel?

# 9 MR. SHAPIRO:

Objection, calls for speculation, argumentative.

# 10 THE COURT:

Argumentative.

# 11 MS. CLARK:

You are certain of what you recall; isn't that right, sir?

# 12 MR. MANDEL:

Yes.

# 13 MS. CLARK:

You cannot sit here and tell this jury that there was no dog in the neighborhood at that time, can you?

# 14 MR. SHAPIRO:

Objection, argumentative.

# 15 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 16 MR. SHAPIRO:

That it wasn't his testimony.

# 17 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 18 MR. MANDEL:

Just that I didn't see one.

# 19 MS. CLARK:

That is all you can say; isn't that right?

# 20 MR. MANDEL:

That's correct.

# 21 MS. CLARK:

When you were on a blind date walking down a dark street with Miss Aaronson on the night of June the 12th, correct?

# 22 MR. MANDEL:

Correct.

# 23 MS. CLARK:

And you said that you were walking on the west side of Bundy. You are sure of that?

# 24 MR. MANDEL:

I'm positive.

# 25 MS. CLARK:

Positive of that?

# 26 MR. MANDEL:

Yes.

# 27 MS. CLARK:

Now, Miss Aaronson had to lead you to the Mezzaluna, correct?

# 28 MR. MANDEL:

Correct.

# 29 MS. CLARK:

Because you didn't know how to get there?

# 30 MR. MANDEL:

I knew where it was. She lived in the area so we--we were walking together. It wasn't--she was basically leading the way.

# 31 MS. CLARK:

She lived in the area; you did not, correct?

# 32 MR. MANDEL:

Correct.

# 33 MS. CLARK:

And so she led the way to the Mezzaluna, correct?

# 34 MR. MANDEL:

Correct.

# 35 MS. CLARK:

And she led the way back also; isn't that right?

# 36 MR. MANDEL:

Yes, that is right.

# 37 MS. CLARK:

And when you--if--you were walking westbound on Bundy, crossing the area of 875 south Bundy, passed that location, at about 10:25, between 10:20, 10:25, correct?

# 38 THE COURT:

Excuse me, counsel. Do you want to rephrase that.

# 39 MR. SHAPIRO:

Your Honor, that misstates the evidence.

# 40 THE COURT:

That is what I was about to point out.

# 41 MS. CLARK:

Let me back up for a minute, sir.

# 42 THE COURT:

Rephrase the question.

# 43 MS. CLARK:

You got your receipt and it said on the receipt that you paid your bill at the Mezzaluna at 8:50--8:55? Is that your testimony?

# 44 (No audible response.)

# 45 MS. CLARK:

Is that right?

# 46 MR. MANDEL:

It is stamped 8:55, but I believe it was 9:55.

KEY QUOTE

# 47 MS. CLARK:

And you are basing your estimate of when you left the restaurant on the information you received that that time clock was an hour off?

# 48 MR. MANDEL:

That's correct.

# 49 MS. CLARK:

Because you did not look at your watch when you left?

# 50 MR. MANDEL:

That's correct.

# 51 MS. CLARK:

And if the clock is actually an hour and ten minutes off, you wouldn't know--your time estimate about when you walked past about 875 south Bundy would also be incorrect, wouldn't it?

# 52 MR. SHAPIRO:

Objection, your Honor, assumes a fact not in evidence.

# 53 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 54 MR. MANDEL:

My best time reference is for when I looked at my watch on Darlington.

# 55 MS. CLARK:

And you do not know whether that clock--the time stamp on your receipt is exactly an hour off or 50 minutes off or an hour and ten minutes off, do you?

# 56 MR. MANDEL:

I couldn't be certain, no.

KEY QUOTE

# 57 MS. CLARK:

Now, tell us, is it your testimony, sir, that you walked past 875 south Bundy sometime between 10:20 and 10:30?

# 58 MR. MANDEL:

I would say approximately 10:25.

# 59 MS. CLARK:

Or between 10:25 and 10:30?

# 60 MR. MANDEL:

I would say it is probably closer to 10:25 than 10:30.

# 61 MS. CLARK:

So if you were walking down Bundy, passing 875 south Bundy at about 10:25, that means that you would have gone--you would have crossed Dorothy at what, at about 10:26?

# 62 MR. MANDEL:

Dorothy, correct.

# 63 MS. CLARK:

That means that would have been just above 875 at about 10:23?

# 64 MR. MANDEL:

Sounds reasonable.

# 65 MS. CLARK:

And if someone was in their home just south of Dorothy looking north on Bundy, he should have been able to see you; isn't that right, walking south on Bundy?

# 66 MR. SHAPIRO:

Objection, calls for speculation.

# 67 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 68 MS. CLARK:

To your knowledge, sir, are you aware that someone testified that they looked out their window from that location I just pointed to south of Dorothy, looking north on Bundy, and saw no one walking down south Bundy at approximately 10:25?

# 69 MR. SHAPIRO:

Objection, irrelevant, improper.

# 70 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 71 MR. MANDEL:

I hadn't heard that, no.

# 72 MS. CLARK:

But of course if you were walking down Westgate they wouldn't have seen you on Bundy, would they?

KEY QUOTE

# 73 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 74 MR. SHAPIRO:

Objection.

# 75 MS. CLARK:

I have nothing further.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Danny Mandel

I'm certain that I don't have a recollection of a dog wailing.

Careful phrasing — he doesn't deny the dog existed, only that he doesn't recall it, which Clark uses to hem him in without letting him claim others are wrong.

Danny Mandel

I couldn't be certain, no.

Mandel concedes he cannot confirm whether the clock was exactly an hour off, undermining the precision of his 10:25 time estimate.

Marcia Clark

But of course if you were walking down Westgate they wouldn't have seen you on Bundy, would they?

Clark's final shot — suggesting Mandel may have been on the wrong street entirely, which would nullify his alibi-window testimony. Sustained by the judge but the jury heard it.

Danny Mandel

It is stamped 8:55, but I believe it was 9:55.

Reveals that Mandel's entire timeline rests on his assumption that the Mezzaluna time clock was exactly one hour off — an assumption Clark then attacks.

Evidence (1)

Informal

Mezzaluna restaurant receipt time-stamped 8:55 PM, which Mandel believes reflects a clock running one hour slow

discussed, reliability challenged

Notable Exchanges (3)

Marcia Clark•Danny Mandel

Clark methodically forces Mandel to admit he cannot know whether the clock was off by 50 minutes, one hour, or an hour and ten minutes — leaving his 10:25 estimate floating without an anchor.

strategic

Marcia Clark•Lance A. Ito

Judge Ito interrupts Clark mid-question to ask her to rephrase because her question misstated the evidence on timing — Shapiro piles on with the same objection.

corrective

Marcia Clark•Danny Mandel

Clark walks Mandel through the geometry of Bundy, calculating that at 10:25 he'd be at 875 Bundy, at 10:23 just above it — then pivots to another witness who looked north on Bundy from just south of Dorothy and saw no one, implying Mandel wasn't where he said he was.

revealing

Credibility Attacks (2)

⚔ Danny Mandel

undermining foundational assumption

Clark attacks the single pillar of Mandel's timing — the assumption that the Mezzaluna clock was exactly one hour off — forcing him to admit he has no independent verification of the offset amount.

⚔ Danny Mandel

route uncertainty / implicit contradiction

Clark ends by insinuating Mandel may have been on Westgate rather than Bundy, which would explain why a neighbor testified they saw no pedestrians on Bundy at the same time — though the question is sustained before Mandel can answer.

Witness Demeanor

(No audible response) — Mandel hesitates or is silent when first asked to confirm the receipt timestamp

Objections

8 objections (3 sustained, 3 overruled)

Proceeding 6731 • 75 utterances • Defense witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103