And prior to your writing it and co-hosting it, did you have occasion to go out and meet with or talk with OJ Simpson about his role in this particular exercise video?
Correct. They saw me in--on July 4 of 1993, I had a cable exercise TV show, and they happened to see me and had me in and talked about the idea and the concept and they hired me then. We actually made the contract in early 1994.
Not a fitness expert. I'm a fitness instructor. In my opinion, an expert is somebody who is an Md. Or Ph.D. in the exercise field. And I happen to just be a fitness instructor. I've been doing that for 16 years. I've done a number of video projects, TV shows and so forth. But on the video projects and TV shows that we--that I'm involved with, we always make sure we hire an expert who is either an Md. Or Ph.D., and he critiques every move I do and every word I say, and those are the experts.
All right. Now, so that when you--you met with OJ Simpson regarding this particular project; is that correct?
Did you become aware in meeting with Mr. Simpson of any physical limitations that he had?
How--in the course of your meeting with Mr. OJ Simpson, did you have occasion to talk with him about any physical limitations that he had? You can answer that yes or no.
And did you have occasion--in writing this video, did you have to write it in such a way that there were things to be performed that he could do in that video?
In writing the video, did you have to take into account Mr. OJ Simpson's physical limitations, if any?
Well, when we began, the first time I met him, we discussed his situation, his injuries.
When you first met him, did you have occasion to learn about some injuries that he had?
Okay. And were these injuries that he had, were they restricted to any particular part of his body? Can you answer that yes or no?
And can you describe for the jury what you observed regarding Mr. Simpson's body and/or injuries?
Excuse me. Umm, well, he was sitting when I met him, and then he was a little concerned about the type of--
Overruled. You can answer the question. What kind of injuries did you become aware of?
Okay. You can kind of save some time and tell us all the things you became aware of.
Okay. I became aware eventually of his knee, his back, his lower back in particular, his shoulder. He also spoke of some ankle problems.
Did--at any point, did you ever notice any other parts that you actually noticed of his body?
All right. Now, after you had this initial contact over a period of time with Mr. Simpson, did you have any doubt as to whether or not he was the right candidate for this video?
Was there any question in your mind about whether OJ Simpson was the candidate for this, proper candidate?
Because I knew the type of tape that I was making needed, you know, not somebody real, real physically fit, but it needed someone who had the ability to at least be mobile laterally, forward and back up, using upper body muscle groups and so forth.
Did you notice anything about Mr. Simpson's ability to move laterally or from side to side?
Now, was there--now, at some point, despite your reservations about Mr. Simpson's abilities here, did you proceed with the project with him?
And this particular video that we've seen or seen parts of, that was shot during the month of May of 1994?
Correct. The actual shooting day of the--most of the video that you've seen has been on May 27th of--excuse me--May 25th, 1994. We tried to shoot the exercise segment in one day.
All right. And any particular reason why you tried to shoot the exercise segment in one day?
Tried to shoot in one day because through the course of preparing for the video, we didn't know if, one, if he would make it, and, two, if he did make it, would he be available to work the next day. Can I continue on about rehearsals?
All right. Did you want to prescribe any kind of rehearsals so you would have a practice day one day and then do it the next day?
I had rehearsal schedules for the group behind me, there were four people behind OJ and I, and then rehearsal schedules--OJ and I got together once or twice.
Okay. Now, did OJ ever come dressed and participate in any rehearsals regarding this video?
Well, let me ask it this way. Did--did you ever request Mr. Simpson to come for a dress rehearsal as it were?
You did? And did the subject matter of that concern his physical limitations if any?
All right. What--describe for this jury what you saw when you saw OJ show up for the dress rehearsal.
All right. And at any rate, did Mr. Simpson participate in the dress rehearsal on May 24th or whatever date it was?
He watched a little bit. He tried on the clothes that he was going to wear the next day. He kind of moved a little bit, but that was about it. I mean, very--almost to the point of not really. Hardly at all.
All right. Now, on May 25th or thereabouts, did you then come back and assemble the group to shoot the particular video?
All right. And with regard to that, do you do something unusual when you--before you start a workout and before you're going to be on camera? Do you do something unusual for yourself?
Well, if you can tell us, and I guess everybody will know soon. What do you do before you start?
Okay. Usually when I'm about to do a video project or a TV project and the outfit usually is a tank top or a leotard of some type, if you've ever been on a TV set or a video set or a movie set, there's these big lights and there's these reflector boards, and holding these reflector boards and lights down are big sandbags. And I always walk over to the sandbags right before I'm about to shoot, and I grab a couple of them and I start lifting like this (Indicating), and it gives you kind of a false size of your arms. It makes the arms a little bit bigger, makes the veins come out so that when we go out on the set and begin filming, you look a little bit--as the word would be--pumped up.
All right. So when you were making a motion with your hands, as though you were doing curls with these bags?
All right. And while you were doing the curls on this particular date of May 25th, did OJ Simpson come over to where you were?
Well, he first asked what I was doing, and I told him, "This is a secret. You don't tell anybody this. This is my own secret." And so he grabbed a couple of the bags, and I told him about how it makes the arms look bigger. And he was standing with no back support, and I was doing curls and, you know, I'm not a strong man, but the bags probably weighed anywhere from 20 to 30 pounds, and I was doing a good amount of repetitions. And he's putting his hand--and much to my surprise, he couldn't even lift it. He couldn't do one bicep curl.
And how many curls were you doing with these--when you talk about reps, "Reps" stands for repetitions; is that correct?
Excuse me. Mr. Walsh, if you would, would you allow Mr. Cochran to finish asking you the question before you start to answer. The reason is, the court reporter tries to take down the testimony and can only take one person at a time. All right. So take a breath, let him finish answering the question. That way, we don't have to do too many reps.
I didn't see him do any. He got about halfway up and then he needed a little assistance.
All right. Now, in the course of your preparing or shooting the video that day, did you ever have occasion to either touch or bump into Mr. Simpson at all?
There was one situation. It was at a break, whether they're relighting or redoing cameras or whatever it was, and they asked us to stay on the floor, stay in our spots because, as you saw the videotape, each person has a spot and--
Okay. So everybody has a spot. And so you kind of stay right there. And all of a sudden, I looked at OJ, and he was kind of coming at me like he was carrying a football, kind of like this (Indicating), which is kind of just moving slow. And as he got near me like he--I just kind of took my elbow like a football player would and kind of hit him, but very, very lightly.
He started literally flying. I mean not flying in the air, but he started jumping around and hobbling and he started screaming, "My knee, my knee."
KEY QUOTEAll right. At that point--this happened during a break on the set that day; is that correct?
All right. And did he--as you observed Mr. Simpson, did he seem to be kidding at that point with you?
He was kidding up to that point, and then as I gave him a little elbow bump, he was no longer kidding. This is--
All right. Now, with regard to this video, we saw some video here in court over the course of the last couple of days. And were there times between the video when there were breaks while you reset up and started over various things?
And do you recall what, if anything, Mr. Simpson would do during these breaks, during the times when the camera wasn't on? Do you recall, was there a chair for him or anything of that nature?
Okay. When the chair came out, we kind of were on a set, might have been lifted, I don't know, 12, 14 inches off the ground. It was a hardwood floor. So gives you the feeling of being inside a gym or inside a fitness studio. And when we would take a break toward the end of the day, because it was somewhere around a 12- or 14-, maybe even a 15-hour day of doing this, they would put a chair right up there so he wouldn't even have to walk down, and, you know, they would slap some ice bags on him.
Yes. Definitely the knee, and I think they had one that they were even rubbing on his shoulder, his arm or something.
This would be--right. As we were--we would do things, a run-through. And as you saw on the video, any time it came to push-ups, we did three rounds. And so when you got to the push-ups, that was end of round 1. And you'd do round 1 two or three or four times; and when you work with me, you do it as many times as you possibly can because we shoot it with three cameras, and I think we might even have used a fourth camera in some shots. And the more footage you have, it makes editing a little more difficult, but gives you an opportunity to have better production, better quality video in case you missed a shot.
Now, during the course of this day that you've described where you're trying to shoot all in one day, was there a period of time where you could not do anything for an hour or two period of time?
We had one problem. I'd rather not get into that, the actual nature of the problem. But there was a situation where we had to take about a two-hour break.
Well, with regard to Mr. Simpson's physical abilities, did you notice any difference in him after a two-your cool down period of time? Can you tell us about--you can answer that.
All right. Describe for us the difference between when you stopped and when you started some two hours later in your own words.
All right. Would you describe for us in your own words what you observed with Mr. Simpson after you started up after this two hours.
Okay. In the beginning, prior to the two hours, he was a little bit more mobile. You know, not near as mobile as, you know, like a lot of the people who are in the video. But after the two-hour break, he was very, very tight.
Sometimes when muscles are warm and loose when you're exercising, you sit for a while, like sometimes even if you get off an airplane or out of your car after a long ride and you get up, you're very stiff and very tight. And that was what I observed.
All right. Now, you didn't see Mr. Simpson the day after he shot this video, did you, the day after the 26th of May, did you?
All right. Now, at the end of the day, at the end of the time you finished this particular shoot, can you describe for us again your observations of him and his appearance at that time and how he appeared to you?
Relieved. I mean, exhausted and relieved. I think everybody was pretty tired at the end of that day.
All right. Now, with regard to this video, you of course have seen the finished product that was merchandised; is that correct?
--out-takes; is that correct? And in that connection, I would like you--prior to your coming to the stand today, I asked you to show us or to look at a particular portion of the video which I don't think we've seen this part. I don't want to spend much time for the jury, but is there a particular portion where you are doing some stretching exercises?
Your Honor, I think--I'm going to find out if this has been marked. This is part of the exhibit 124 I believe, your Honor.
All right. I'm going to ask you and the jury to take a look at a particular portion of exhibit 521, which is one of the People's exhibits, and I'm going to ask you some questions about it.
All right. Now, what, if anything, happened when he tried to do this particular exercise we're demonstrating now?
He has an inability to stretch this position. What we're doing is extending the--as you can see from the people behind him, we're extending the left hamstring with the heel on the floor and the toe up as we prepare to do the activity so we can loosen the hamstring, loosen the lower back and avoid pulled muscles. He cannot seem to bend either the left or right knee. And part of writing this, I used some of his injuries and wrote alternative ways of working out. If you think about the people in the world, everybody may have a shoulder problem, an elbow problem, a knee problem. It doesn't exclude them from exercising. There should be alternative ways of exercising. That's something I try to bring to the forefront in this video.
All right. So you were aware of these limitations and tried to write that into it; is that correct?
Right. This was a hamstring stretch from a standing position that we're going to put him in.
All right. Your Honor, so the record is clear, we're at 15:51:43 at this point where we've stopped it.
And you tell us how much further this should go, this goes on, this particular stretch aspect.
Well, no. Maybe--I don't think the Judge and jury would like that. So we'll go just as long as it's relevant.
There's a lady who seems to be in very good shape right behind Mr. Simpson. Is she doing it the way you would want a particular participant to do it?
I think that's the end of the stretching portion. Yeah. We're going into push-ups here.
All right. Now, there are I presume other stretching scenes which are pretty illustrative of what we just saw; is that right?
All right. Well, I don't want to bore the jury. So I'm going to skip down to something else. Is that all right with you?
I knew you'd say that. (At 2:25 P.M., the playing of the videotape was concluded.)
I want to now--in addition to this video, and we've seen a lot of this particular video in the aerobics part of it, was there also a part where Mr. Simpson sits behind a desk and talks about kind of sedentary exercises and things like that?
Right. There's a scene from an office, a simulated office where part of the tape, the first half hour of the tape or 30 minutes, whatever it was, was aerobic activity, and the second half hour of the tape was little segments of things you can do to stay loose or physically fit a little bit while you're in the office or on an airplane or a hotel room or so forth.
And we're going to ask Mr. Harris to cue up--first of all, I think the airplane scene, your Honor, I'm not sure, your Honor, this has been marked yet. This is not marked. So I'd like to mark this as the Defendant's next in order if the Court pleases.
I think this is part of the commercial video, yes, your Honor. The next two will be.
And I'm going to ask you to take a look at 1255, this particular portion of the video and tell us what is taking place.
You wrote the exercises? And when you talked to Mr. Simpson about his participation in the video, did he want to participate in this kind of video as opposed to the aerobics kind?
And Mr.--I'll ask him to find that. All right. He's going to try to get the last segment, your Honor.
With regard--you mentioned earlier there was a scene in a simulated office; is that correct?
I recall he did a bunch of exercises that you can do. Most of them are from stretching positions that you could do if you were in a coat and tie in the office where you wouldn't really perspire a lot. And sometimes sitting for extended periods of time, again, makes you feel tired and groggy. And if you implement a few of these exercises when you're in your office, you tend to be a little bit more awake and have a little bit more life about you.
That one, if I remember, I think that might have been the longest of all. It might have been four minutes.
All right. Now, with regard to other anecdotal information, did you have any other particular anecdotes or any other things that occurred during the course of this day with Mr. Simpson? We've talked about the chair, sitting on the chairs and the ice.
All right. Did anything else happen with regard to Mr. Simpson that you observed and his physical limitations on that day?
The--with regard to the other people who participated in this video, there were some ladies in the background?
The women were in pretty good shape as were the men. But due to the nature of the concept of the video, which was, we were going to target the men's market--and one study that I saw indicated that as many as 50 percent of the men in America are sedentary. So we didn't want to come back with a real hard-hitting video nor did we want to come in with a video where everybody was in great shape. And so the men were kind of what we called an every-day man.
And the women--may be a sensitive subject. What was the general age of the women in that video?
All right. And with regard to you, you were kind of the leader of that video, right?
All right. So you were just under 40. All right. And the other men who were in the video, they were approximately--
All right. Now, with regard to the other men in the video, approximately how old were they?
All right. I think Mr. Harris has this now. And would you take a look at this and tell us what we're looking at.
Now, with regard to this particular--did you again write this--write the exercises for Mr. Simpson?
Yes. Once again, I kind of routined the exercise program with the doctor's sale of approval, always.
On every one of that--I'll repeat it every time if you need me to. But just so you know, that the expert did approve everything I wrote, and there were many changes.
On the plane situation, again, the travel situation, did Mr. Simpson participate in helping to write that because he traveled so much?
Sure. And maybe put in a little bit of it. I did the actual exercises, and where the dialogue came from may have been put in by him, may have been put in by another writer.
All right. Now, you have come here to testify today pursuant to subpoena, is that correct, or request from the Defense?
I don't remember the date, but I remember Kato Kaelin was on the stand, because we were watching that from my house.
Very well. Thank you very kindly. I have nothing further at this point, your Honor.
He got about halfway up and then he needed a little assistance.
He started literally flying. I mean not flying in the air, but he started jumping around and hobbling and he started screaming, 'My knee, my knee.'
I thought he was too physically limited to be the co-host with me.
After the two-hour break, he was very, very tight... Sometimes when muscles are warm and loose when you're exercising, you sit for a while... you're very stiff and very tight. And that was what I observed.
That way, we don't have to do too many reps.