Direct examination of Adalberto Luper

📄 Direct examination of Adalberto Luper — Thursday, July 20, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\JUL\20\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-ADALBERT.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 119 of 167

◀ Return to open court Cross-examination of Adalberto Luper (part 1) ▶

Witness: Det. Bert Luper
Examiner: Johnnie Cochran
Called by: Defense • Date: Thursday, July 20, 1995 • Utterances: 175

Defense Detective Luper testified about his actions at the Simpson residence on June 13, 1994, revealing that a brown glove he found in a bedroom chest of drawers was inadvertently left on a table downstairs before being photographed by Willie Ford and later returned to its original location. He also described his June 15-17 trip to Chicago with partner Cliff Lefall, during which he retrieved physical evidence items — including a broken glass, bedding, and towels — from the Chicago Police Department lab and booked them at Piper Tech, items he has not personally examined since.

# 1 MR. COCHRAN:

The Defense will next call Detective Luper.

# 2 THE CLERK:

Raise your right hand, please.

Adalberto Luper, called as a witness by the Defendant, was sworn and testified as follows:

# 3 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?

# 4 DET. LUPER:

I do.

# 5 THE CLERK:

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

# 6 DET. LUPER:

Yes, ma'am. My first name is Adalberto, A-D-A-L-B-E-R-T-O, last name's Luper, L-U-P-E-R.

# 7 THE CLERK:

Thank you.

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. COCHRAN

# 8 MR. COCHRAN:

Good afternoon, Detective Luper.

# 9 DET. LUPER:

Good afternoon, sir.

# 10 MR. COCHRAN:

Nice tie.

# 11 DET. LUPER:

Thank you, sir.

# 12 MR. COCHRAN:

Now, Detective Luper, you're a member of the Los Angeles Police Department, are you?

# 13 DET. LUPER:

I am, yes, sir.

# 14 MR. COCHRAN:

And how long have you been so employed, sir?

# 15 DET. LUPER:

23 years, sir.

# 16 MR. COCHRAN:

And you're presently assigned to the robbery/homicide division?

# 17 DET. LUPER:

That's correct. Yes, sir.

# 18 MR. COCHRAN:

And, Detective Luper, are you one of the investigators assigned to the case?

# 19 DET. LUPER:

That's correct. Yes, sir.

# 20 MR. COCHRAN:

And when were you first assigned to this case?

# 21 DET. LUPER:

I was assigned on January 13th, probably around 8:00 o'clock in the morning.

# 22 MR. COCHRAN:

Is that January 13th or June 13th?

# 23 DET. LUPER:

June 13th. I apologize.

# 24 MR. COCHRAN:

Is that June 13th of 1994?

# 25 DET. LUPER:

That's correct, yes, sir.

# 26 MR. COCHRAN:

And do you work--have you worked on this case basically since that time along with Detectives Lange, who is in court with us, and Vannatter?

# 27 DET. LUPER:

Yes, sir.

# 28 MR. COCHRAN:

All right, sir. I just want to ask you just questions on four quick areas, and we'll be in and out hopefully. We saw a video taken by Mr. Willie Ford earlier today in which a glove, apparently a brown glove was on a table in the Simpson residence. Have you ever seen that?

# 29 DET. LUPER:

Yes, I have, sir.

# 30 MR. COCHRAN:

And can you tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury how that brown glove got on that table?

# 31 DET. LUPER:

That brown glove got on the table when--right after I had arrived and Detective Vannatter had left the scene and left me in charge of the scene, I went upstairs, and during the course of my search of Mr. Simpson's bedroom and his master closet, the big walk-in closet, I located a singular glove that was located in a chest of drawers. I secured it and kept it with me and it was inadvertently put on a stand downstairs I believe and it was in the living room area.

# 32 MR. COCHRAN:

And so inadvertently, you put it on the table and it was left there; is that correct?

# 33 DET. LUPER:

That's correct, yes.

# 34 MR. COCHRAN:

And then Mr. Ford came along and just photographed it; is that right?

# 35 DET. LUPER:

Yes. Later on in the afternoon.

# 36 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. And you've seen that. So we were talking about the same glove, downstairs, right?

# 37 DET. LUPER:

That's correct, yes, sir.

# 38 MR. COCHRAN:

All right, sir. Now, in the course of your duties in this case, sir--and you told us about June 13th--you had occasion to search through Mr. Simpson's premises and at some point go into the bedroom; is that correct?

# 39 DET. LUPER:

That's correct, yes.

# 40 MR. COCHRAN:

And did you at some point have occasion to go into the bathroom?

# 41 DET. LUPER:

I did, yes, sir.

# 42 MR. COCHRAN:

And in the bathroom area, did you have occasion to look inside a hamper that's located in Mr. Simpson's bathroom there?

# 43 DET. LUPER:

I did, yes, sir.

# 44 MR. COCHRAN:

And did you have occasion to take some clothes out of that hamper?

# 45 DET. LUPER:

I did, yes, sir.

# 46 MR. COCHRAN:

And did you have occasion to look at those clothes?

# 47 DET. LUPER:

That's correct. Yes, sir.

# 48 MR. COCHRAN:

And in fact, the clothes were taken out of the hamper and they were kind of like put on the bathtub area; is that correct?

# 49 DET. LUPER:

Somewhere. Yes, sir.

# 50 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. They had been in the hamper and per your instructions, you had them taken out of the hamper; is that correct?

# 51 DET. LUPER:

No, not per my instructions. I removed them myself.

# 52 MR. COCHRAN:

Okay. So you removed the clothes yourself?

# 53 DET. LUPER:

That's correct. Yes, sir.

# 54 MR. COCHRAN:

You took them and you looked through the hamper and took them all out, did you?

# 55 DET. LUPER:

That's correct. Yes, sir.

# 56 MR. COCHRAN:

And after you took these clothes out of the hamper, you had some photographs taken of them?

# 57 DET. LUPER:

That's correct. Yes, sir.

# 58 MR. COCHRAN:

So the photographs we've seen are of the clothes after they were taken out of the hamper; is that correct?

# 59 DET. LUPER:

Yes, sir.

# 60 MR. COCHRAN:

Were any of those clothes that were in that hamper seized at all?

# 61 DET. LUPER:

No, sir.

# 62 MR. COCHRAN:

Did you have occasion to also look into Mr. Simpson's closet, the main closet off the bedroom?

# 63 DET. LUPER:

That's correct. Yes, sir.

# 64 MR. COCHRAN:

And did you look--you looked through the clothes and Mr. Simpson's clothes that were located therein, did you?

# 65 DET. LUPER:

Yes, sir.

# 66 MR. COCHRAN:

And were any of those clothes seized at all?

# 67 DET. LUPER:

No, sir.

# 68 MR. COCHRAN:

Do you recall that at some point, Detective Lange had a pair of tennis shoes, Reebok tennis shoes? Were you there when that happened?

# 69 DET. LUPER:

No, sir, I was not.

# 70 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. So at least the time that--you left before Lange left; is that correct?

# 71 DET. LUPER:

Yes, sir.

# 72 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. So what time did you leave that day? Do you recall?

# 73 DET. LUPER:

I left around 6:30, 6:35 in the evening.

# 74 MR. COCHRAN:

Before Detective Lange left?

# 75 DET. LUPER:

Yes, sir.

# 76 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. And at least when you left, you had not seized any of the clothes located inside the Simpson residence, right?

# 77 DET. LUPER:

The only item that was seized at my direction were the socks.

KEY QUOTE

# 78 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. Now, with regard--other than that, you hadn't seized anything else?

# 79 DET. LUPER:

No, sir.

# 80 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. So you didn't seize any clothes taken out of the hamper?

# 81 DET. LUPER:

That's correct, sir.

# 82 MR. COCHRAN:

You didn't seize any clothes from the closets?

# 83 DET. LUPER:

That's correct, sir.

# 84 MR. COCHRAN:

And the brown glove that you had on the table that you had inadvertently left on the table downstairs, did you do anything regarding the brown glove?

# 85 DET. LUPER:

Yes, sir. That particular item, after a conversation I had with Detective Lange and Vannatter, was returned to the location I had recovered it from.

KEY QUOTE

# 86 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. In other words, what you did with it, you took it back upstairs; is that right?

# 87 DET. LUPER:

That's correct.

# 88 MR. COCHRAN:

Okay, sir. Now, what time did you arrive at the location that day, detective?

# 89 DET. LUPER:

It was about 12:10, 12:15 in the afternoon, sir.

# 90 MR. COCHRAN:

Now, in connection with your investigation of this case, did you have occasion to go to Chicago, Illinois?

# 91 DET. LUPER:

Yes, sir.

# 92 MR. COCHRAN:

And when did you go to Chicago?

# 93 DET. LUPER:

I went--

# 94 MR. COCHRAN:

Well, let me ask you this. Did you go to Chicago on more than one occasion?

# 95 DET. LUPER:

Yes, sir.

# 96 MR. COCHRAN:

Okay. Let's talk about the first time you went to Chicago.

# 97 DET. LUPER:

All right. You want to know when I--

# 98 MR. COCHRAN:

Yeah. When was that, sir?

# 99 DET. LUPER:

I left I believe it was June--June 15th and returned June 17th of 1994.

# 100 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. So you left on Wednesday and you came back around that Friday; is that correct?

# 101 DET. LUPER:

Friday evening. Yes, sir.

# 102 MR. COCHRAN:

And were you accompanied by any other police officers, Los Angeles police officers when you went there?

# 103 DET. LUPER:

My partner, Cliff Lefall.

# 104 MR. COCHRAN:

Cliff Lefall?

# 105 DET. LUPER:

Yeah. L-e-f-a double l.

# 106 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. And in the course of the time you spent in Chicago, you were investigating on this case also; were you not?

# 107 DET. LUPER:

That's correct, yes, sir.

# 108 MR. COCHRAN:

And on or about June 17th, did you have occasion to go to Chicago Police Department laboratory?

# 109 DET. LUPER:

That's correct. Yes, sir.

# 110 MR. COCHRAN:

And did you at that point take custody of some items that were in the possession of the Chicago Police Department?

# 111 DET. LUPER:

Yes, sir.

# 112 MR. COCHRAN:

And among those items, did you take custody of a broken glass?

# 113 DET. LUPER:

I did. Yes, sir.

# 114 MR. COCHRAN:

And did you take custody of some bedding?

# 115 DET. LUPER:

Yes, sir.

# 116 MR. COCHRAN:

Did you take custody of a towel?

# 117 DET. LUPER:

Yes, sir.

# 118 MR. COCHRAN:

Did you see some red spots on that towel?

# 119 MR. DARDEN:

Objection.

# 120 MR. COCHRAN:

Red spots.

# 121 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 122 MR. COCHRAN:

Did you see red spots on the towel?

# 123 DET. LUPER:

I never personally examined the items that were recovered. No, sir.

# 124 MR. COCHRAN:

Did you--you've seen photographs of those items, have you?

# 125 DET. LUPER:

I did. Yes, sir.

# 126 MR. COCHRAN:

And you've seen the items themselves, haven't you?

# 127 DET. LUPER:

I have not seen the items at all other than the photographs.

# 128 MR. COCHRAN:

Now, in looking at the photographs, you saw there was some red substance on the towels; did you not?

# 129 MR. DARDEN:

Objection.

# 130 THE COURT:

Sustained.

# 131 MR. COCHRAN:

Well, now, with regards to these items that were picked up in Chicago, tell us what else you picked up in Chicago at that time regarding to this case? Well, strike that. Let me ask you this. You picked up towels?

# 132 DET. LUPER:

Yes, sir.

# 133 MR. COCHRAN:

You picked up a broken glass?

# 134 DET. LUPER:

That's correct, sir.

# 135 MR. COCHRAN:

Picked up some bedding?

# 136 DET. LUPER:

That's correct, sir.

# 137 MR. COCHRAN:

And there have been photographs taken of those various items, have there?

# 138 DET. LUPER:

That's correct. Yes, sir.

# 139 MR. COCHRAN:

And have you--these items are all kept in a box now somewhere at SID or LAPD?

# 140 DET. LUPER:

I believe so, yes, sir.

# 141 MR. COCHRAN:

Have you seen these items in the recent past at all?

# 142 DET. LUPER:

No, sir.

# 143 MR. COCHRAN:

When's the last time you saw those items that you brought back on June 17th?

# 144 MR. DARDEN:

Objection. Assumes a fact not in evidence.

# 145 THE COURT:

Sustained. Rephrase the question.

# 146 MR. COCHRAN:

Have you ever seen those items since you brought them back on June 17?

# 147 MR. DARDEN:

Objection.

# 148 THE COURT:

Overruled.

# 149 DET. LUPER:

No, sir, I have not.

# 150 MR. COCHRAN:

Okay. Well, then tell us what you did. You picked them up in Chicago Police Department, the laboratory, right?

# 151 DET. LUPER:

That's correct. Yes.

# 152 MR. COCHRAN:

And what did you do with them at that point?

# 153 DET. LUPER:

Hand-carried them back to Los Angeles and booked them into the crime lab property room at piper tech.

# 154 MR. COCHRAN:

The piper tech here downtown Los Angeles?

# 155 DET. LUPER:

That's correct. Yes, sir.

# 156 MR. COCHRAN:

And have you seen them since that time?

# 157 DET. LUPER:

No, sir.

# 158 MR. COCHRAN:

So what day did you book them into piper tech?

# 159 DET. LUPER:

That would have been the 17th or the 18th of June of 1994.

# 160 MR. COCHRAN:

After you got back here?

# 161 DET. LUPER:

That's correct. Yes, sir.

# 162 MR. COCHRAN:

Okay. Any other items in that box that you haven't told us about in our questioning here?

# 163 DET. LUPER:

I don't believe--I believe you've covered most of the items. Yes, sir. But as to specific items other than what you just mentioned, no, I don't have a recollection of.

# 164 MR. COCHRAN:

And those items as far as you know today are still over at piper tech?

# 165 DET. LUPER:

I believe that Detective Lange picked them up for your purposes I believe.

# 166 MR. COCHRAN:

Well, he did bring them a couple days ago for us to take a look at them?

# 167 DET. LUPER:

I believe so. Yes, sir.

# 168 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. Are they still here or are they back over there? Do you know?

# 169 DET. LUPER:

I believe they're still here, sir.

# 170 MR. COCHRAN:

All right. May I have just a moment, your Honor?

# 171 THE COURT:

Certainly.

# 172 (Discussion held off the record between Defense counsel.)

# 173 MR. COCHRAN:

May we have just a second, your Honor?

# 174 (Discussion held off the record between Defense counsel.)

# 175 MR. COCHRAN:

Nothing further of this witness at this point.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (4)

Johnnie Cochran

Nice tie.

Classic Cochran charm — disarms the witness immediately and sets a cooperative, low-tension tone for the examination.

Det. Bert Luper

I secured it and kept it with me and it was inadvertently put on a stand downstairs I believe and it was in the living room area.

Key admission explaining how the brown glove ended up on the table in the Willie Ford video — the defense used this to suggest casual, potentially compromising evidence handling.

Det. Bert Luper

The only item that was seized at my direction were the socks.

Establishes that despite extensive searching of hamper and closets, only the socks were seized — relevant to defense arguments about selective evidence collection.

Det. Bert Luper

That particular item, after a conversation I had with Detective Lange and Vannatter, was returned to the location I had recovered it from.

The brown glove was moved from its original location, left on a table, photographed, and then physically returned upstairs — raising chain-of-custody concerns.

Evidence (6)

Informal

Willie Ford video showing a brown glove on a table in the Simpson residence

discussed — used to prompt Luper's explanation of how the glove got there

Informal

Singular brown glove found in a chest of drawers in Simpson's master closet area

discussed — inadvertently placed on downstairs table, later returned to original location

Informal

Clothes from bathroom hamper in Simpson's master bathroom

discussed — removed by Luper, photographed, not seized

Informal

Clothes in Simpson's main bedroom closet

discussed — searched, not seized

Informal

Socks from Simpson residence

seized at Luper's direction

Informal

Broken glass, bedding, and towels retrieved from Chicago Police Department lab

retrieved by Luper and partner on June 17, hand-carried to Los Angeles, booked into Piper Tech crime lab property room

Notable Exchanges (2)

Johnnie Cochran•Det. Bert Luper

Cochran methodically walked Luper through the movement of the brown glove — found in a drawer, 'inadvertently' placed on a table, photographed by Ford, and eventually returned upstairs — building a picture of casual evidence handling without pressing it aggressively.

strategic

Johnnie Cochran•Christopher Darden

Darden successfully blocked Cochran's attempts to get Luper to confirm visual observations about red spots on the Chicago towels, since Luper had only seen photographs and never personally examined the items.

procedural skirmish

Light Moments (2)

Johnnie Cochran

Cochran opened with 'Nice tie,' to which Luper responded 'Thank you, sir' — an instantly disarming exchange that set the cooperative tone of the entire examination.

Det. Bert Luper

Luper mistakenly said he was assigned on 'January 13th' before Cochran gently corrected him to June 13th.

Objections

4 objections (2 sustained, 2 overruled)

Proceeding 6953 • 175 utterances • Defense witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103