Redirect examination of William Thompson (part 2)

📄 Redirect examination of William Thompson (part 2) — Tuesday, July 18, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\JUL\18\REDIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-WILLIA.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 117 of 167

◀ Recross-examination of William Thompson William Thompson's testimony concluded ▶

Witness: William Thompson
Examiner: Johnnie Cochran
Called by: Defense • Date: Tuesday, July 18, 1995 • Utterances: 37

Cochran conducts a brief redirect of Officer Thompson, repeatedly frustrated by sustained objections. He attempts three lines of inquiry: a hypothetical about OJ's sleep deprivation after flying from Chicago, whether Weitzman and Detective Vannatter appeared to be whispering privately near the press, and whether a cooperative suspect offering a voluntary statement would typically be transported by police. The judge sustains most of Cochran's questions, cutting the examination short.

# 1 OFCR. THOMPSON:

You're welcome, sir.

FURTHER REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. COCHRAN

# 2 MR. COCHRAN:

I want you to assume hypothetically, officer, that a man is in--an individual is in Chicago, Illinois, where he's flown and got less than two hours of sleep and he's notified--

# 3 MR. DARDEN:

Object to the form of the question.

# 4 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 5 MR. COCHRAN:

I can pose a hypothetical. He's an officer.

# 6 THE COURT:

Sustained. Assumes facts not in evidence.

# 7 MR. COCHRAN:

Well, let me pose it--let me add some additional facts.

# 8 MR. DARDEN:

He is not an expert.

# 9 MR. COCHRAN:

He doesn't have to be an expert either.

# 10 THE COURT:

Okay. I'm going to sustain sustained the objection to this question, counsel. The jury is familiar with the timing.

# 11 MR. COCHRAN:

Very well. Well, I want to ask one other question. Thank you, your Honor.

# 12 THE COURT:

All right.

# 13 MR. COCHRAN:

If Mr. Simpson--strike that. Did you notice that when Mr. Weitzman and Detective Vannatter had their hands on each other, they appeared to be close to each other as though they were whispering. Did you notice that?

# 14 MR. DARDEN:

Objection. Calls for speculation.

# 15 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 16 MR. COCHRAN:

Did you notice that?

# 17 OFCR. THOMPSON:

They could have been whispering, but I'm not sure if they were or not.

KEY QUOTE

# 18 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. I'm sure you're not sure. But they could have been. And did you notice there was the press very, very close to them at the time that they were touching each other? Did you notice that?

# 19 OFCR. THOMPSON:

I did see a few people near them. I don't know if it was press or not.

# 20 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. And you've looked at the video. We won't take the time to do it now. If you wanted to say something privately and the press was right behind you, you would move close to somebody; isn't that correct?

# 21 MR. DARDEN:

Objection.

# 22 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 23 MR. COCHRAN:

Isn't that correct?

# 24 OFCR. THOMPSON:

Yes.

# 25 MR. COCHRAN:

And the last question I want to ask you, as a police officer with some seven years of experience, if you had a situation where an individual wanted to go down to West Los Angeles Station with you to make a complete statement to you and you put him in the back of the car, you wouldn't have one of those--

# 26 MR. DARDEN:

Objection. Assumes facts not in evidence.

# 27 MR. COCHRAN:

May I finish the question, your Honor?

# 28 MR. DARDEN:

Objection to the question.

# 29 THE COURT:

Hold on. Sustained.

# 30 MR. COCHRAN:

Let me see if I can rephrase that, your Honor.

# 31 MR. COCHRAN:

In your experience as a police officer, have you had a case where you had a situation where you talked to someone and they wanted to make a statement about a particular case and you gave them a ride--

# 32 MR. DARDEN:

Objection.

# 33 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 34 MR. COCHRAN:

--down--

# 35 MR. COCHRAN:

May I seek to rephrase it?

# 36 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 37 MR. COCHRAN:

Very well. Thank you very much for coming.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (3)

Lance A. Ito

I'm going to sustain the objection to this question, counsel. The jury is familiar with the timing.

Judge shuts down Cochran's Chicago/sleep-deprivation hypothetical entirely, signaling the line of questioning is going nowhere.

Donald Thompson

They could have been whispering, but I'm not sure if they were or not.

Cochran gets partial traction — Thompson acknowledges the possibility of a private communication between Weitzman and Vannatter, which is all Cochran needed.

Johnnie Cochran

If you wanted to say something privately and the press was right behind you, you would move close to somebody; isn't that correct?

Cochran plants the inference that Weitzman and Vannatter had a covert exchange near reporters — suggesting improper coordination early in the investigation.

Notable Exchanges (2)

Johnnie Cochran•Lance A. Ito

Cochran attempts to rephrase his voluntary-statement question three times after repeated sustains, finally giving up and ending the examination.

frustrated/procedural

Johnnie Cochran•Christopher Darden

Darden interrupts Cochran mid-sentence with an objection; Cochran asks to finish the question, but the judge sustains anyway.

adversarial

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Phil Vannatter

implication of improper communication

Cochran uses Thompson to suggest Vannatter and defense attorney Howard Weitzman were whispering privately near the press during the early investigation — implying coordination or improper contact.

Objections

7 objections (5 sustained, 2 overruled)

Proceeding 6897 • 37 utterances • Defense witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103