Recross-examination of Ellen Aaronson

📄 Recross-examination of Ellen Aaronson — Tuesday, July 11, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\JUL\11\RECROSS-EXAMINATION-OF-ELLEN-A.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 112 of 167

◀ Redirect examination of Ellen Aaronson (part 1) Redirect examination of Ellen Aaronson (part 2) ▶

Witness: Ellen Aaronson
Examiner: Marcia Clark
Called by: Defense • Date: Tuesday, July 11, 1995 • Utterances: 57

Marcia Clark re-crosses Ellen Aaronson to undermine the defense's implication that Aaronson had told police about seeing a couple walking a dog near the crime scene. Clark establishes that neither of Aaronson's two early statements to Detective Kilcoyne mentioned the dog couple, and that detail only appeared months later in a September statement to Detective Vannatter. Clark also locks in the timeline: Aaronson passed the crime scene at 11:00 pm (after checking her watch at 10-to-11 at the restaurant), and her roommate arrived home at approximately 11:25-11:30.

# 1 THE COURT:

Miss Clark, anything else?

# 2 MS. CLARK:

Yes.

RECROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. CLARK

# 3 MS. CLARK:

Miss Aaronson, very briefly. Did you--is it your testimony that you told Detective Kilcoyne about seeing a couple walking a dog on Darlington?

# 4 MR. COCHRAN:

I object, your Honor. Beyond the scope of redirect examination.

# 5 THE COURT:

Overruled. It was in the statement.

# 6 MS. AARONSON:

I'm getting so confused.

KEY QUOTE

# 7 MS. CLARK:

Do you remember the question?

# 8 MS. AARONSON:

Yes, I do remember the question. And I also know that I--I said to you that I do think that I said something to him. I don't recall when I said something about the dog.

# 9 MS. CLARK:

Okay. You reviewed--

# 10 MS. AARONSON:

I haven't read everything to tell you the truth to remember everything that I wrote down--said.

# 11 MS. CLARK:

You reviewed the statement you gave to Detective Kilcoyne on July the 8th, correct?

# 12 MS. AARONSON:

Yes. Very briefly. I just did.

# 13 MS. CLARK:

And the statement you're looking at now that's up on the elmo, it's Defense--

# 14 THE COURT:

1236.

# 15 MR. COCHRAN:

1236 I believe.

# 16 MS. CLARK:

--1236, that was not a statement given to Detective Kilcoyne, was it?

# 17 MS. AARONSON:

No.

# 18 MR. COCHRAN:

Objection to the form--object to the from of the question.

# 19 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 20 MR. COCHRAN:

Objection to the form of the question.

# 21 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 22 MS. CLARK:

This was a statement that you gave to Detective Vannatter in my presence, correct?

# 23 MS. AARONSON:

Correct.

# 24 MS. CLARK:

And you reviewed the statement you gave to Detective Kilcoyne on June the 15th; have you not?

# 25 MS. AARONSON:

Very briefly, yes, I have.

# 26 MS. CLARK:

Again, People's 495, that statement, correct?

# 27 MS. AARONSON:

Right.

# 28 MS. CLARK:

That statement makes no mention of having seen a couple walking a dog, correct?

# 29 MS. AARONSON:

Correct.

# 30 MS. CLARK:

And the July 8th statement also that you gave to Detective Kilcoyne makes no statement of having seen a couple walking a dog?

# 31 MS. AARONSON:

Correct.

# 32 MS. CLARK:

So would it be fair to say that you--the first time you mentioned to a police officer seeing a couple walking a dog on Darlington was in September when you spoke to Detective Vannatter?

# 33 MR. COCHRAN:

Object to the form of that question, your Honor.

# 34 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 35 MR. COCHRAN:

It's a fact not in evidence.

# 36 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 37 MS. AARONSON:

It's fair.

# 38 MS. CLARK:

And the statement you see now before you of June the 15th that you gave to Detective Kilcoyne, can you tell us--first of all, based on what you told him, was it an accurate representation of what you said where he wrote: "Witness and her date walked to her apartment passing the crime scene location at 11:00 o'clock or 2300 hours"?

# 39 MR. COCHRAN:

Asked and answered, your Honor.

# 40 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 41 MS. AARONSON:

Can you repeat the question? I'm sorry.

# 42 MS. CLARK:

Based on what you told Detective Kilcoyne on June the 15th, is the statement that where he puts, quote: "Witness and her date walked to her apartment passing the crime scene location at 11:00 o'clock or 2300 hours," is that a fair statement, representation of what you told him?

# 43 MS. AARONSON:

It is a fair statement of representation of what I told him on the 15th.

KEY QUOTE

# 44 MS. CLARK:

And that you knew the time because you looked at your wristwatch and you were surprised at the hour. You did tell him that also?

# 45 MS. AARONSON:

There's a sentence in there missing.

KEY QUOTE

# 46 MS. CLARK:

That that was at 10 to 11:00, correct?

# 47 MS. AARONSON:

That--yes. That I looked at my watch at the restaurant at 10 to 11:00.

# 48 MS. CLARK:

All right. Nevertheless, you did tell him that you looked at your watch and you were surprised at the hour, correct?

# 49 MS. AARONSON:

Correct. That it was 10 to.

# 50 MS. CLARK:

And it is also correct and accurate then when he states that at 11:25 to 11:30, your roommate Jennifer Yow came home from Manhattan Beach and remarked about the time. You did tell him that?

# 51 MR. COCHRAN:

Asked and answered.

# 52 MS. AARONSON:

I don't recall telling him the time 11:25, 11:30, but that's what's written down there. So I--I understand why he wrote it.

# 53 MS. CLARK:

And he wrote it because you estimated that about a half hour after you got home, your roommate arrived?

# 54 MS. AARONSON:

Right.

# 55 MS. CLARK:

So that would be a fair and accurate representation of what you told him?

# 56 MS. AARONSON:

Yes, it is.

# 57 MS. CLARK:

I have nothing further.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Ellen Aaronson

I'm getting so confused.

The witness's visible confusion after multiple rounds of examination weakens her credibility and undercuts the defense's use of her testimony.

Ellen Aaronson

It's fair.

Aaronson concedes Clark's central point — that the dog-couple detail was never mentioned to police until September, effectively neutralizing a defense timeline argument.

Ellen Aaronson

It is a fair statement of representation of what I told him on the 15th.

Aaronson validates the Kilcoyne statement placing her at the crime scene location at 11:00 pm, reinforcing the prosecution's timeline.

Ellen Aaronson

There's a sentence in there missing.

A small moment of pushback from the witness, clarifying that she looked at her watch at 10-to-11 at the restaurant, not at the crime scene — a nuance Clark quickly absorbs without damage.

Evidence (3)

Defense 1236

Statement given by Aaronson to Detective Vannatter in the presence of Marcia Clark (September)

discussed, distinguished from earlier Kilcoyne statements

People's 495

Statement given by Aaronson to Detective Kilcoyne on June 15th

discussed; confirmed to contain no mention of couple walking a dog

Informal

Statement given by Aaronson to Detective Kilcoyne on July 8th

discussed; confirmed to contain no mention of couple walking a dog

Notable Exchanges (2)

Marcia Clark•Ellen Aaronson

Clark systematically walks through all three of Aaronson's statements to establish that the dog-couple detail appeared only in the latest one, and Aaronson ultimately agrees it is 'fair' to say the September Vannatter statement was the first time she mentioned it to police.

strategic

Johnnie Cochran•Lance A. Ito

Cochran lodges seven objections across the short examination — including scope, form, asked-and-answered, and facts not in evidence — and is overruled on every single one.

defensive

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Ellen Aaronson

prior inconsistent statement / late-emerging detail

Clark demonstrates that Aaronson's account of seeing a couple walking a dog on Darlington — a detail potentially useful to the defense timeline — never appeared in her June 15 or July 8 statements to Detective Kilcoyne, only surfacing in September when she spoke to Detective Vannatter. Aaronson concedes this is a fair characterization.

Witness Demeanor

Confused and flustered ('I'm getting so confused')

Apologetic and uncertain about details ('I don't recall telling him the time 11:25, 11:30')

Ultimately cooperative and concessive to Clark's framing

Objections

7 objections (0 sustained, 7 overruled)

Proceeding 6753 • 57 utterances • Defense witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103