📄 Glove evidence examination out of jury presence — Friday, June 16, 1995
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C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\JUN\16\GLOVE-EVIDENCE-EXAMINATION-OUT.DOC
TRIAL
▲ Day 97 of 167

Glove evidence examination out of jury presence

Date: Friday, June 16, 1995 • Utterances: 106
Outside the jury's presence, Darden sought to reopen examination of glove expert Richard Rubin after discovering during recess that the lining of the left glove (exhibit 77) had been pushed out of the fingers, potentially explaining why Simpson couldn't fully insert his hand. Shapiro countered that Dr. Baden had turned the glove inside out the previous evening to examine the lining, causing the displacement — not any tampering. After Rubin struggled to reinsert the lining, Ito determined the glove now measured closer to a large than an extra-large. The proceeding also addressed scheduling disputes over upcoming DNA mixture statistics testimony.
1 (The following proceedings were held in open court, out of the presence of the jury:)
2 THE COURT:

All right. Back on the record. All parties are again present. Mr. Darden, is there something?

3 MR. DARDEN:

Yes, your Honor, there is something.

4 THE COURT:

What is that?

5 MR. DARDEN:

You know, I don't talk much, your Honor. I haven't asked a lot of questions over the last several weeks, but I need to reopen again, just ask a few more follow-up questions with Mr. Rubin.

6 THE COURT:

Again?

7 MR. DARDEN:

Again.

8 THE COURT:

What's your offer?

9 MR. DARDEN:

During the break, Mr. Rubin turned one of the gloves inside out, and it appears that the lining in the fingers were knotted and that that might have impeded--

10 THE COURT:

Knotted?

11 MR. DARDEN:

Knotted.

12 THE COURT:

May I see that, please?

13 MR. DARDEN:

In any event, the lining did not extend all the way through the fingers as they normally would, which might have provided an excuse or impediment for the Defendant not to be able to place his hand all the way into the glove.

14 THE COURT:

Well, you don't have to tell me what the significance is, but I would like to see what it looks like. Mr. Rubin, would you turn the glove inside out for me so I can see that?

15 MR. DARDEN:

Mr. Rubin has been--Mr. Rubin during the break turned the glove inside out and noticed it at that time. And I think--Mr. Rubin, did you--

16 THE COURT:

Which glove is this, Mr. Rubin?

17 MR. RUBIN:

The left.

18 MR. DARDEN:

77? Mr. Rubin, did you replace any of the lining into the fingers during the break?

19 MR. RUBIN:

No.

20 THE COURT:

Why don't you just put it on the bag there, and I can see.

21 (The witness complies.)
22 MR. RUBIN:

Basically, the fingers are not in the fingers to the point you can put this hand into the lining. So you couldn't get your hand in the glove all the way (Indicating).

23 THE COURT:

All right. It appears--Mr. Darden, you said it was knotted. It appears to me that it's merely--that the fingers--the lining portion of the fingers is merely out of the fingers themselves, not knotted.

24 MR. RUBIN:

That's correct.

25 MR. DARDEN:

Not knot situation, your Honor. Yes, the lining is out of the fingers.

26 THE COURT:

Well, knotting implies something significantly more sinister than merely the lining not being in the fingers.

KEY QUOTE
27 MR. DARDEN:

Not to me. But I understand the distinction, your Honor. In any event, the lining was out.

28 THE COURT:

So you're going to ask the question of Mr. Rubin: "Over the recess, did you have the opportunity to turn the glove inside out to see what if there's a problem with the lining? "Answer: Yes, I did. "Question: What was that? "The lining is pulled out of the fingers. "What problem does that create? "It makes it hard to get your hand in." Three questions, right?

29 MR. DARDEN:

Four. Let's make it five just to be safe.

30 THE COURT:

Five questions. Mr. Cochran.

31 MR. DARDEN:

Just five.

32 MR. COCHRAN:

May Mr. Shapiro address this, because he has some relevant questions, your Honor?

33 THE COURT:

Yes.

34 MR. SHAPIRO:

Your Honor, yesterday when Mr. Darden informed us before the break that he was going to ask Mr. Simpson to try on the gloves, he showed the gloves to myself and Mr. Cochran. He asked--he allowed us to look at them. He asked us to do that with rubber gloves on. I put the gloves on each hand. Mr. Cochran put it on. There was no obstruction. I put the glove on. After the Court broke last night, the Court allowed us an opportunity to further examine the gloves. We did that with Dr. Baden, myself and Mr. Simpson; and at that time, Dr. Baden took the glove, turned it inside out, took out the lining to make a visual comparison of the lining. So I can tell this Court as an Officer of the Court that when I put the glove on right before Mr. Simpson did, there was no obstruction. And if there is any obstruction now, it resulted from the glove being turned inside out and examined after the Court session yesterday which I told Mr. Rubin and Mr. Cochran. Is that correct, sir?

35 MR. RUBIN:

Yes.

36 MR. SHAPIRO:

Thank you, your Honor. Just one moment, please.

37 (Discussion held off the record between Defense counsel.)
38 MR. DARDEN:

Your Honor, we're not the ones that created an obstruction inside the glove if there was one created last night. At any event, the witness was before the jury and he was unable to place his hand through the glove to give us an assessment as to the size of the glove at this present time. So he ought to be allowed to do that.

39 MR. SHAPIRO:

Your Honor, I think clearly at this point in time, that the demonstration has been done and that clearly this glove has been subject to examination after the fact that has changed the condition of the glove and also stretched it out.

40 MR. DARDEN:

I'm not asking to have Mr. Simpson put the glove on today. We intend to secure an original pair and have him put those on at a later date. I just want the witness here to be able or allowed to tell the jury the size of the glove in its present state today.

41 THE COURT:

All right. Then all you want to do then is have Mr. Rubin replace the lining--

42 MR. RUBIN:

I can't get the lining back in without some instruments. It could take me some time. Maybe I'd get lucky. I'll try.

43 MR. SHAPIRO:

Your Honor, I think the record should indicate that Mr. Rubin did have these gloves on this morning.

44 THE COURT:

No.

45 MR. DARDEN:

I'm sorry.

46 THE COURT:

I agree this dislodging of the lining is not attributable to your client since it appears this glove has been handled several times since.

KEY QUOTE
47 MR. COCHRAN:

Can the jury be instructed regarding that, your Honor?

48 THE COURT:

No, because this obstruction has not been shown to the jury yet. But what we can do is have Mr. Rubin see if he can replace the lining appropriately and tell us what size this glove is. That he can do.

49 MR. COCHRAN:

I object again.

50 THE COURT:

Noted.

51 (Brief pause.)
52 THE COURT:

This is becoming part of my 1026 proceeding.

53 MR. COCHRAN:

Your Honor, there's another issue. May Mr. Thompson address the Court?

54 THE COURT:

Certainly.

55 MR. THOMPSON:

Your Honor, it appears we're at an impasse on the timing of the 402 hearing on the mixture statistics. The Prosecution has proposed that we do it next Wednesday. My proposal is that we do it a week from Monday. The reason that Wednesday is bad is, I have an appearance in another matter in another court on that morning, and also I don't feel that gives us enough time to prepare. The Prosecution has just provided us with a reference to the scientific authority on which Dr. Weir is preparing these reports. It's a rather lengthy book of over 200 pages full of dense statistical formulas. We apparently will be able to get that book only this weekend, perhaps tomorrow, but it's going to take some time for our experts to look through this book, to compare it with Dr. Weir's report, which we're not going to get until Monday evening apparently; and having a single day, Tuesday, to prepare for a 402 hearing is just not enough. So I'm asking for more time than that and preferably through the weekend until the next Monday.

56 THE COURT:

Well, excuse me. Let me finish this discussion. Mr. Harmon.

57 MR. HARMON:

Well, if you recall, your Honor, this was their request to force us to do these mixture calculations, and now they claim they want to contest the way that we've done them, which was the issue all along. We'd be happy to drop the whole mixture statistical calculation just so they don't have to prepare. But we are getting to the end of the case. That is merely one reference among many of the references that's in Dr. Weir's report or the initial draft report. So if we lose the hearing, then we don't calculate the frequency mixture or the mixture estimates. I just point that out as an observer in this event. So--we are running out of court days that the Prosecution case will take and we have tried to structure the last witnesses in a way that makes sense to conclude this case, your Honor.

58 THE COURT:

All right. Mr. Thompson, would you provide me with a copy of the--of Dr. Weir's draft report so I can have some feeling for what it is that we're talking about, and then I'm going to ask both sides to give me a list of the availability of the experts that they anticipate for the 402. I'll make my own assessment as to how difficult this is to understand and prepare for and take into consideration the availability of both sides' witnesses and I'll set the day.

59 MR. HARMON:

Okay. Dr. Weir will be available Tuesday and Wednesday and--

60 THE COURT:

Well, find out his extended availability.

61 MR. HARMON:

Okay.

62 THE COURT:

All right.

63 MR. HARMON:

Your Honor, the other related point is, Gary Sims will be back here in anticipation of testifying on wed--on Tuesday rather. The report that covers the results that he'll be presenting, I'll be delivering that to the Court Monday morning. Dr. Blake has already reviewed many of those results. I understand he has an appointment today or tomorrow to re-review them. So I just want to alert the Court. And we've talked to Mr. Neufeld about this, that the most substantive result is one that the Defense tried to elicit themselves on cross-examination about 117, and you sustained my objection at that point. So it would appear that these results are not something that they intend to challenge, and we'd like to proceed with Mr. Sims' testimony on Tuesday. I had been advised a couple days ago that Mr. Neufeld or Mr. Scheck might not be here Tuesday, and I just advise you that. We intend to proceed whether they're here or not because they're part of the team. So that's just a little heads up, your Honor.

64 THE COURT:

Mr. Cochran.

65 MR. COCHRAN:

May I be heard in that regard, your Honor?

66 THE COURT:

Yes.

67 MR. COCHRAN:

That's one of the problems I've been saying consistently. Mr. Harmon has been on vacation for a couple weeks now and perhaps he hasn't been down here. But I've been saying consistently, we have lawyers spread out around the country. Mr. Scheck and Neufeld, as far as I know, are both in New York. We need time for that. For him to tell us on Friday at 11:00 o'clock he's going to bring in a witness in on Tuesday that either one or both of them will be working together on, we need a little more time, your Honor. And we've said--I've been saying consistently to the Court I need to know this in advance. It violates our three-day rule among other things and so we can move right ahead, there would be no delays because you said you don't want a delay. So we need a little more time than that.

68 THE COURT:

Well, what is the availability of Mr. Scheck and Mr. Neufeld? And this is a case in progress. So this should take legal precedence over anything else, any other engagements that they have.

69 MR. COCHRAN:

It should, your Honor. But the Court is aware they live in New York and they've been out here for about six months off and on. And so I have to speak with them, your Honor. But we have a three-day rule and I'm hearing this now. It violates that rule. So we need a little more time. Obviously, we're going to try to accommodate the Court's schedule, but we need a little more time in that regard. They both are--

70 MR. HARMON:

Your Honor, that--perhaps Mr. Cochran was on vacation when Miss Clark announced on Tuesday morning what the next sequence of witnesses will be.

71 MR. COCHRAN:

I was not on vacation. It changes every day. The order changes every day.

72 MR. HARMON:

That hasn't changed.

73 THE COURT:

Wait. Counsel, only one of you gets to talk at a time.

74 MR. HARMON:

That hasn't changed. What I have just described is consistent with Miss Clark's--if the transcript will bear us out. And we haven't just announced this today. Mr. Neufeld was advised two days ago. So two plus two is four. And I think we're well in compliance with the three-day rule.

75 MR. COCHRAN:

Well, let me say this, your Honor. The Prosecution has changed their list of witnesses on a daily basis. In fact, they told us last week we'd see something else. We were going to have hair and trace next or Bodziak next. We're not clear what we're having. I have a list from Mr. Darden now. It doesn't have anything at all about Gary Sims on it. But at any rate, if we're given a chance to speak with Mr. Scheck and Neufeld, I'll report back to the Court. But I'm just saying that could be a problem, and that's why I wanted to bring it to the Court's attention.

76 THE COURT:

All right. I'm aware it may be a problem. All right.

77 MR. THOMPSON:

And, your Honor, I will need some time to contact experts and find the scheduling information, and perhaps I could notify the Court later this afternoon.

78 THE COURT:

That will be fine. And you have the Court's fax number?

79 MR. THOMPSON:

Yes.

80 THE COURT:

All right. Thank you. All right. Mr. Rubin.

81 MR. RUBIN:

I'm having some difficulty. Can you give me just one or two more minutes here?

82 THE COURT:

Sure. Does your current company make gloves as well?

83 MR. RUBIN:

Wallets.

84 THE COURT:

Wallets. Good.

85 (Brief pause.)
86 THE COURT:

That's doing it the hard way.

87 MR. RUBIN:

The lining is slightly torn away at the back. It was torn anyway. But the lining is now inserted into the glove.

88 THE COURT:

All right.

89 MR. COCHRAN:

Your Honor, may we have some indication--because he did in fact say something about, "I can't get this on," that I don't want it to be at our detriment. So I would ask the Court to have some clarifying questions or whatever in that regard. The Court can ask a clarifying question.

90 THE COURT:

All right. Do we want to stipulate that between the time that Mr. Simpson tried the glove on in front of the jury, that it was examined by Mr.--by counsel for the Defendant and by Dr. Baden?

91 MR. COCHRAN:

And it was further examined according to the clerk by Mr. Rubin this morning before court started.

92 MR. DARDEN:

Not true.

93 MR. COCHRAN:

Somebody looked at it from the Prosecution side. We can ask the clerk to come out.

94 MR. DARDEN:

Not true.

95 MR. COCHRAN:

May we ask Deirdre, your Honor? I would like the stipulation to include everybody who looked at the glove and examined it.

96 THE COURT:

And, Mr. Rubin, what size is that glove now?

97 MR. COCHRAN:

I object to that question, your Honor.

98 THE COURT:

We don't have a jury in front of us, do we?

99 MR. RUBIN:

Right now?

100 THE COURT:

Yes.

101 MR. RUBIN:

This is actually closer to a large than an extra large at this point.

KEY QUOTE
102 THE COURT:

Mrs. Robertson, this morning, with regards to the two evidentiary gloves, were they inspected by anybody?

103 THE CLERK:

The gloves?

104 THE COURT:

Yes.

105 THE CLERK:

They were just turned over when I got them out of the closet.

106 THE COURT:

All right. She indicates no. All right. Deputy Magnera, let's have the jurors, please. And, Mr. Rubin, why don't you just remain seated.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Richard Rubin
This is actually closer to a large than an extra large at this point.
After manipulation of the glove lining, the expert's size assessment changed — directly relevant to whether the glove fit Simpson.
Robert Shapiro
I can tell this Court as an Officer of the Court that when I put the glove on right before Mr. Simpson did, there was no obstruction. And if there is any obstruction now, it resulted from the glove being turned inside out and examined after the Court session yesterday.
Shapiro places the lining displacement squarely on post-session examination by the defense team itself, neutralizing Darden's implied suggestion of tampering.
Lance A. Ito
Well, knotting implies something significantly more sinister than merely the lining not being in the fingers.
Ito pushes back on Darden's loaded language, forcing a more precise description of the condition.
Lance A. Ito
I agree this dislodging of the lining is not attributable to your client since it appears this glove has been handled several times since.
The judge explicitly exonerates the defense from responsibility for the lining displacement, cutting off any prosecution narrative of deliberate interference.

Evidence (1)

People's 77
Left Aris leather glove; lining found displaced from fingers after recess handling
examined, lining condition disputed, size reassessed

Notable Exchanges (3)

Robert ShapiroChristopher Darden
Shapiro intervened to establish on the record that Dr. Baden had turned the glove inside out after the court session, causing the lining displacement — preempting any prosecution claim that the glove had been tampered with to aid the defense.
strategic
Lance A. ItoChristopher Darden
Ito corrected Darden's characterization of the lining as 'knotted,' noting the word implies something 'significantly more sinister' than what was actually observed.
corrective
Rockne HarmonJohnnie Cochran
Dispute over adequate notice for Gary Sims's upcoming DNA testimony, with Harmon claiming notice was given Tuesday and Cochran arguing the witness list changes daily.
heated

Light Moments (3)

Lance A. Ito
Ito asked Rubin if his current company makes gloves; Rubin replied 'Wallets.' Ito: 'Wallets. Good.'
Lance A. Ito
While Rubin struggled to reinsert the lining, Ito observed dryly: 'That's doing it the hard way.'
Christopher Darden
Darden agreed to limit follow-up to five questions, quipping 'Let's make it five just to be safe' when Ito summarized three.

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Christopher Darden
factual correction by opposing counsel
Shapiro corrected Darden's implication that the glove lining obstruction was suspicious, establishing on the record that the defense's own experts had handled and turned the glove inside out the prior evening.

Witness Demeanor

(The witness complies.) — Rubin places glove on bag for judge to inspect
(Brief pause.) — Rubin attempts to reinsert glove lining
(Discussion held off the record between Defense counsel.)

Objections

3 objections (0 sustained, 0 overruled)
Proceeding 6417 • 106 utterances
Criminal Trial
Department 103
⚖️ Start
📂 JUN 16, 1995 📄 Glove evidence examination out
JUN 16, 1995 KRT DvH TD