Direct examination of Howard L. Bingham

📄 Direct examination of Howard L. Bingham — Thursday, July 13, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\JUL\13\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-HOWARD-L.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 114 of 167

◀ Redirect declined Cross-examination of Howard L. Bingham ▶

Witness: Howard Bingham
Examiner: Johnnie Cochran
Called by: Defense • Date: Thursday, July 13, 1995 • Utterances: 188

Howard Bingham, a celebrity photographer and close friend of Muhammad Ali, testified that he boarded a late-night flight from LAX to Chicago on June 12, 1994 and encountered OJ Simpson on that plane. He walked up to greet Simpson in first class and observed his hands and demeanor, testifying he saw no cuts, no blood, and that Simpson appeared relaxed and normal — the same as he always did.

# 1 THE COURT:

All right.

# 2 (Brief pause.)

# 3 THE COURT:

All right. Mr. Bingham, please stand at the podium there. Hold on just a second.

Howard L. Bingham, called as a witness by the Defendant, was sworn and testified as follows:

# 4 THE CLERK:

Please raise your right hand. You do solemnly swear that the testimony you may give in the cause now pending before this court, shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God.

# 5 MR. BINGHAM:

I do.

# 6 THE CLERK:

Please have a seat on the witness stand and state and spell your first and last names for the record.

# 7 MR. BINGHAM:

Howard Bingham. Howard, H-O-W-A-R-D, L. Bingham, B-I-N-G-H-A-M.

# 8 THE CLERK:

Thank you.

# 9 THE COURT:

All right. Mr. Bingham, would you just sit back and pull the microphone close to you, please.

# 10 (Witness complies.)

# 11 THE COURT:

Mr. Cochran.

# 12 MR. COCHRAN:

Thank you very kindly.

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. COCHRAN

# 13 MR. COCHRAN:

Good morning, Mr. Bingham.

# 14 MR. BINGHAM:

Hi ya, sir. How you doing?

# 15 MR. COCHRAN:

Mr. Bingham, sir, what is your occupation?

# 16 MR. BINGHAM:

I am a photographer.

# 17 MR. COCHRAN:

And are you a world renown photographer?

# 18 MR. BINGHAM:

The world's greatest.

KEY QUOTE

# 19 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. And just so we are clear about that, have you recently published a thirty-year journey of Howard Bingham, your own personal book?

# 20 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, I did.

# 21 MR. COCHRAN:

And do you have an acquaintance with a man by the name of Mohammed Ali?

# 22 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, I do.

# 23 MR. COCHRAN:

What about that acquaintance? How long have you been knowing him?

# 24 MR. BINGHAM:

I have been knowing Ali ever since 1962. I have been all over the world with him and some say he is my best friend. I talk to him all the time everyday. I just left him the night before last. I had to come here.

# 25 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. You have come here pursuant to subpoena to testify; is that correct?

# 26 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes. I was at the all-star game.

# 27 MR. COCHRAN:

And in addition to being a--the best photographer in the world, do you have any other occupation?

# 28 MR. BINGHAM:

Umm, yes. I am--I will be producing a movie with Sony and Sony home computers on Mohammed Ali's life which we just signed a few days ago.

# 29 MR. COCHRAN:

Are you nervous today?

# 30 MR. BINGHAM:

Very.

# 31 MR. COCHRAN:

Do you have a slight speech impediment?

# 32 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, but that is no hindrance. I am here.

# 33 MR. COCHRAN:

Thank you very much for coming. Sir, are you acquainted with the gentleman over here, Mr. OJ Simpson?

# 34 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, I am.

# 35 MR. COCHRAN:

About how long have you known Mr. Simpson?

# 36 MR. BINGHAM:

I have been seeing and knowing him ever since about 1968 when he was at sc.

# 37 MR. COCHRAN:

And so you came to know him there. Did you ever take pictures at that time?

# 38 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes. That is how I met him. I am a photographer and I was at the games and in the locker rooms and just taking pictures at the--at the game here and there.

# 39 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. And as such would you say that he is an acquaintance of yours, somebody you have known over the years?

# 40 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, sir.

# 41 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. Now, Mr. Bingham, sir, I want to direct your attention back to the date of Sunday evening, June 12th, 1994. Did you have occasion to be at Los Angeles International airport on that evening?

# 42 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, I did.

# 43 MR. COCHRAN:

Did you have occasion to leave Los Angeles to go someplace that evening?

# 44 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes.

# 45 MR. COCHRAN:

And where were you going?

# 46 MR. BINGHAM:

I was on the way to Chicago.

# 47 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. And why were you going to Chicago?

# 48 MR. BINGHAM:

I--I had a meeting that Monday morning with Mohammed Ali and a friend of mine, John J. Hooker.

# 49 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. So do you remember what time your flight was due to leave that evening?

# 50 MR. BINGHAM:

11:45.

# 51 MR. COCHRAN:

Do you remember about what time you got on the flight?

# 52 MR. BINGHAM:

I'm always late, so it was about 11:30. It--11:40 maybe, 11:35 or 40, around there sometime.

KEY QUOTE

# 53 MR. COCHRAN:

By the way, were you flying first class?

# 54 MR. BINGHAM:

No, I was not flying first class; coach.

# 55 MR. COCHRAN:

You were in coach?

# 56 MR. BINGHAM:

I was in coach, unfortunately.

# 57 MR. COCHRAN:

Let me ask you this: Have you provided me with a copy of a boarding pass you had that particular night?

# 58 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, I did.

# 59 MR. COCHRAN:

Your Honor, I would like to mark that as Defendant's next in order if the Court pleases.

# 60 THE COURT:

I'm sorry, which?

# 61 THE CLERK:

1244.

# 62 THE COURT:

1244.

# 63 (Deft's 1244 for id = boarding pass)

# 64 MR. COCHRAN:

May I approach, your Honor?

# 65 THE COURT:

You may.

# 66 MR. COCHRAN:

I have given counsel a copy and I would like to approach the witness.

# 67 MR. COCHRAN:

Mr. Bingham, I would like to show you

# 68 (Discussion held off the record between Deputy District Attorney and Defense counsel.)

# 69 MR. COCHRAN:

You have the original. Would you like to keep the original?

# 70 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, I would.

# 71 MR. COCHRAN:

Let me show you a copy.

# 72 MR. BINGHAM:

All right.

# 73 MR. COCHRAN:

I will place this before you. Is this a fair and accurate copy of the boarding pass that you provided us with for your taking that flight, flight, I believe, 668, Chicago, on June 12th, at 11:45 P.M.?

# 74 MR. BINGHAM:

It is.

# 75 MR. COCHRAN:

And as I understand it, it also has your seat number, if we can make that out, on that night?

# 76 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes.

# 77 MR. COCHRAN:

And what was your seat number?

# 78 MR. BINGHAM:

On here it says 21E.

# 79 MR. COCHRAN:

All right.

# 80 MR. BINGHAM:

I think. I don't have my glasses.

# 81 MR. COCHRAN:

I don't know if you need them. Your Honor, I'm going to show this quickly to counsel and then--

# 82 THE COURT:

I have think we have seen these before.

# 83 MR. BINGHAM:

Right, that's right.

# 84 MR. COCHRAN:

21E?

# 85 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes.

# 86 (Brief pause.)

# 87 MR. COCHRAN:

Have you ever seen this diagram before, Mr. Bingham?

# 88 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes.

# 89 MR. COCHRAN:

And I want you to look to your right there and there is an indication that you were back in row 21, and were you at the window seat?

# 90 MR. BINGHAM:

I was in the--I was in the middle because what happened was I had the whole row. I was going to sleep that night.

# 91 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. So you had--

# 92 MR. BINGHAM:

As a matter of fact, what happened was--okay. I'm sorry.

# 93 MR. COCHRAN:

That is okay. You had 21E as depicted here?

# 94 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes.

# 95 MR. COCHRAN:

Your Honor, may I mark this as our next exhibit?

# 96 THE COURT:

Yes, 1245.

# 97 MR. COCHRAN:

1245. I will put "1245" over here.

# 98 (Deft's 1245 for id = document)

# 99 MR. COCHRAN:

So you were about to tell us that you had 21E, the middle seat; is that correct?

# 100 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes.

# 101 MR. COCHRAN:

But you worked it out so that you could get all three seats and go to sleep?

# 102 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, I did.

# 103 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. So the area where we have depicted on here, "Howard Bingham" with 21F and next to it is e and d, that is the row that you occupied that night?

# 104 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, it was.

# 105 MR. COCHRAN:

Okay, sir. Now, after you got on this flight, as you have described for us, 11:30, 11:35, 11:40, did you have occasion to see someone else come on that flight?

# 106 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, I did.

# 107 MR. COCHRAN:

After that who was that person?

# 108 MR. BINGHAM:

It was Mr. OJ Simpson.

# 109 MR. COCHRAN:

And when you saw Mr. OJ Simpson, did you have any contact with him shortly thereafter?

# 110 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, I did.

# 111 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. Where was he in regard to where you were seated on the plane?

# 112 MR. BINGHAM:

He was--he had--he had just entered the airplane and I saw him get on and so I had got up out of my seat and walked up to just say hello to him.

# 113 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. So you walked up from row 21 up to the first class area; is that correct?

# 114 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes.

# 115 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. Now, there is an area on this diagram--can you see it from there--that shows the first class area just generally, the front part of the plane. Is this the area in which you went?

# 116 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes.

# 117 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. And when you walked up there, did you have occasion to have a conversation with Mr. OJ Simpson?

# 118 MR. BINGHAM:

I did.

# 119 MR. COCHRAN:

What did you say to him, if anything?

# 120 MR. BINGHAM:

I walked up there and I tapped him on the shoulder. He looked around at me and said, "Hey, Bingham, how you doing?"

# 121 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. Did you have any further conversation?

# 122 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, I did. I was asking him where was he going and so he asked me where was I going, so I like to mention that I was going to Chicago.

# 123 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. How long did your conversation last with Mr. Simpson?

# 124 MR. BINGHAM:

A minute or so. After that the hostess had asked me to go back to my seat because we was about to leave.

# 125 MR. COCHRAN:

The plane was about to take off?

# 126 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, the plane was about to take off.

# 127 MR. COCHRAN:

Now, during this conversation that you had with Mr. Simpson, did you have occasion to look at him and look at his demeanor, how he appeared?

# 128 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes.

# 129 MR. COCHRAN:

Can you describe for this Court and jury how Mr. Simpson appeared to you at that time? How did he seem?

# 130 MR. BINGHAM:

He had seemed like the old OJ that I always see here and there. I see him all over east coast, New York, Florida, all over all the time with Ali sometimes and sometimes on my own because I'm all over, football games.

KEY QUOTE

# 131 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. Did he seem relaxed to you?

# 132 MR. BINGHAM:

He did.

# 133 MR. COCHRAN:

While you were talking to him, did you have occasion to look at his hands at all?

# 134 MR. BINGHAM:

Umm, I remember when I had walked up there he was sitting in the--in the middle of the seats there putting money or something in his pocket or something.

# 135 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. He had some money in his pocket?

# 136 MR. BINGHAM:

Which he had in his hand or something.

# 137 MR. COCHRAN:

Let me see if I understand.

# 138 MR. BINGHAM:

I don't know if it was going from one hand to another.

# 139 MR. COCHRAN:

He had money in his hands?

# 140 MR. BINGHAM:

Some kind of thing.

# 141 MR. COCHRAN:

Something he was putting in his pocket?

# 142 MR. BINGHAM:

Yeah.

# 143 MR. COCHRAN:

Did you observe that?

# 144 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, I did.

# 145 MR. COCHRAN:

And when you saw that, could you see his hand? Let's say, first of all, could you see his left hand?

# 146 MR. BINGHAM:

I saw his--I saw his--I saw his left and right hand.

# 147 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. And did you notice anything unusual about either his left or right hand?

# 148 MR. BINGHAM:

I did not notice anything unusual.

KEY QUOTE

# 149 MR. COCHRAN:

Did you see any cuts on either his left or right hand?

# 150 MR. BINGHAM:

I don't think so, no.

# 151 MR. COCHRAN:

Did you see any blood on either his left or right hand?

# 152 MR. BINGHAM:

I did not.

# 153 MR. COCHRAN:

Did you see any blood on any of his clothing at that time?

# 154 MR. BINGHAM:

I did not.

# 155 MR. COCHRAN:

Now, after seeing him and talking to him briefly and when the stewardess told you that you had to return to your seat, did you return to your seat?

# 156 MR. BINGHAM:

I did.

# 157 MR. COCHRAN:

So that we are clear, you went back to the area of row 21; is that correct?

# 158 MR. BINGHAM:

I did.

# 159 MR. COCHRAN:

And then did you talk to Mr. Simpson at all during that flight any more?

# 160 MR. BINGHAM:

No, I did not.

# 161 MR. COCHRAN:

And you are both going to Chicago and when you got to Chicago did you have occasion to see him at all?

# 162 MR. BINGHAM:

I did.

# 163 MR. COCHRAN:

And where did you next see Mr. Simpson after the encounter you just told our jury about?

# 164 MR. BINGHAM:

I saw him--the next time it was in the baggage area at the Chicago airport downstairs.

# 165 MR. COCHRAN:

Was he met by some person, if you know?

# 166 MR. BINGHAM:

There was an individual--there was a--there was a plan with him at the time I saw him because--

# 167 MR. COCHRAN:

There was a man down there with him?

# 168 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes.

# 169 MR. COCHRAN:

And did you say anything to him when you saw him down there at all?

# 170 MR. BINGHAM:

I did.

# 171 MR. COCHRAN:

Without going into it, did you have occasion to stay around that airport for awhile before you left to go downtown to Chicago?

# 172 MR. BINGHAM:

I did.

# 173 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. And did Mr. Simpson leave before you left?

# 174 MR. BINGHAM:

He did, yes.

# 175 MR. COCHRAN:

And who did he leave in the company of, if anyone?

# 176 MR. BINGHAM:

With another guy. I don't know his name or anything.

# 177 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. Was that the same individual you just described before?

# 178 MR. BINGHAM:

Yes, yes.

# 179 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. And when you saw Mr. Simpson downstairs, was that in the baggage area at O'Hare?

# 180 MR. BINGHAM:

It was.

# 181 MR. COCHRAN:

Were you at O'Hare airport?

# 182 MR. BINGHAM:

O'Hare airport.

# 183 MR. COCHRAN:

And when you saw him there was his demeanor the same as it had been when you saw him--

# 184 MS. CLARK:

Objection, leading.

# 185 MR. COCHRAN:

Counsel is correct.

# 186 MR. COCHRAN:

How did Mr. Simpson appear to you when you saw him down in the baggage area before he left?

# 187 MR. BINGHAM:

It was the same as I always see him, you know.

# 188 MR. COCHRAN:

Thank you very, very much for coming today, Mr. Bingham. We appreciate it. Nothing further at this point.

Temperature

routine

Key Quotes (4)

Howard Bingham

He had seemed like the old OJ that I always see here and there.

Core defense testimony — establishing Simpson showed no signs of distress, guilt, or injury hours after the murders allegedly occurred.

Howard Bingham

I did not notice anything unusual.

Direct rebuttal to prosecution's theory that Simpson had a cut on his left hand from the crime scene — Bingham saw both hands and noticed nothing.

Howard Bingham

The world's greatest.

Bingham's self-description when Cochran asked if he was a 'world renown photographer' — establishes his confident, colorful personality and sets a warm tone for the examination.

Howard Bingham

I'm always late, so it was about 11:30. It--11:40 maybe, 11:35 or 40, around there sometime.

Corroborates the flight timeline and places both Bingham and Simpson on the same late-night Chicago flight departing LAX.

Evidence (2)

Defendant's 1244

Howard Bingham's boarding pass for American Airlines Flight 668 to Chicago, June 12, 1994, 11:45 PM

Introduced and authenticated by witness

Defendant's 1245

Seating diagram of the aircraft showing Bingham's seat (21E/F/D row) and the first class section

Introduced to illustrate Bingham's position relative to Simpson and his walk to the front of the plane

Notable Exchanges (2)

Johnnie Cochran•Howard Bingham

Cochran carefully walked Bingham through observing both of Simpson's hands while Simpson was handling money or something in his pocket — eliciting that Bingham saw no cuts or blood on either hand.

strategic

Johnnie Cochran•Howard Bingham

Bingham described seeing Simpson again at O'Hare baggage claim, where Simpson left with an unidentified man — corroborating Simpson's presence in Chicago as claimed.

procedural

Light Moments (4)

Howard Bingham

When Cochran asked if Bingham was a 'world renown photographer,' Bingham replied 'The world's greatest' without missing a beat.

Howard Bingham

Bingham noted he was flying coach, adding 'unfortunately,' getting a mild laugh from the courtroom.

Howard Bingham

Bingham greeted Cochran with 'Hi ya, sir. How you doing?' — an unusually casual opening for sworn testimony.

Howard Bingham

Bingham admitted he couldn't read his own boarding pass seat number because he didn't have his glasses.

Witness Demeanor

(Witness complies.) — adjusting microphone as instructed by Ito

Self-described as nervous and having a slight speech impediment, which Cochran acknowledged gently before proceeding

Warm, conversational, and candid — frequently trailing off mid-thought and self-correcting

Objections

1 objections (0 sustained, 0 overruled)

Proceeding 6808 • 188 utterances • Defense witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103