F. Lee Bailey cross-examined Sam Poser, a Bloomingdale's shoe salesman, focusing on the absence of any sales record linking O.J. Simpson to Lorenzo Bruno Magli shoes. Bailey elicited that Poser told LAPD Detective Antonio he did not recall selling Simpson the Lorenzo boot and would not have recommended it for the harsh Buffalo weather conditions Simpson cited as his reason for purchasing boots. The examination concluded with Bailey having Poser examine Simpson's Reeboks (People's 384) and confirm the size as US 12 / European 46.5.
# 1 THE COURT: Mr. Bailey.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. BAILEY
# 2 MR. BAILEY: Mr. Poser, how many times have you been questioned about this same subject matter prior to today?
# 3 MR. Poser: About five, I guess.
# 4 MR. BAILEY: Five times. By whom?
# 5 MR. Poser: By some detectives.
# 6 MR. BAILEY: From the LAPD?
# 7 MR. Poser: From the LAPD, somebody from the FBI and from the Defense.
# 8 MR. BAILEY: All right. And has the subject matter always been the Lorenzo Bruno Magli shoes?
# 10 MR. BAILEY: All right. Any other kind of shoes been sought, if you know?
# 11 MR. GOLDBERG: Not relevant.
# 12 THE COURT: Overruled.
# 13 MR. Poser: Not--not--not at the beginning, not specifically.
# 14 MR. BAILEY: Okay. What kind of records does Bloomingdales keep when customers who charge on credit cards purchase boots?
# 15 MR. Poser: Umm, we have a journal on the register that shows what--who sold what to whom, to what credit card.
# 17 MR. Poser: As well as the receipt, a copy of the receipt that the customer signs.
# 18 MR. BAILEY: Do you have a salesman's code so that a salesman will get credit?
# 20 MR. BAILEY: And if you sold shoes to Mr. Simpson, would you assign a code to a salesman rather than yourself?
# 21 MR. Poser: Normally I was working in conjunction with a salesperson so that salesperson I was working with would get credit for the sale.
# 22 MR. BAILEY: Their code would be on the slip; not yours?
# 23 MR. Poser: Yes, correct.
# 24 MR. BAILEY: What other information was recorded?
# 25 MR. Poser: The date, the amount of each shoe, any discount that may have been taken.
# 26 MR. BAILEY: I'm sorry?
# 27 MR. Poser: The amount--the retail cost of each shoe and any discount that may have been taken, the tax, the total purchase--what the total purchase is and the signature of the person in a charge transaction.
# 28 MR. BAILEY: Is there a code on the slip that will describe the item purchased?
# 29 MR. Poser: This is a--yes, there is--there are two--there are two types of codes. There is a UPC code, which is--
# 31 MR. Poser: Universal products code.
# 33 MR. Poser: Which was used at that time sometimes and there was a department, class, vendor and mark style code that described what the merchandise was as well.
# 34 MR. BAILEY: All right. Now, did you, in cooperation with the detectives, search the records of Bloomingdales looking for any evidence of a sale such as you have been asked?
# 35 MR. Poser: Personally I did no searching.
# 36 MR. BAILEY: Have you seen any records that were retrieved?
# 38 MR. BAILEY: As a result of that?
# 40 MR. BAILEY: Have you examined them?
# 42 MR. BAILEY: And have you found various purchases of shoes?
# 44 MR. BAILEY: None of which were a Lorenzo Bruno Maglis, right?
# 45 MR. Poser: Honestly I didn't know the numbers off the top of my head.
# 47 MR. Poser: So I couldn't say to the specifics of that.
# 48 MR. BAILEY: Have you ever been questioned about a sales slip that showed the code for this particular shoe or seen one?
KEY QUOTE # 50 MR. GOLDBERG: Not relevant, calling for hearsay.
# 51 MR. Poser: That I know of.
# 52 THE COURT: Overruled.
# 53 MR. BAILEY: Over what period of time was this search made, do you know?
# 54 MR. Poser: I was--I was called about--I guess about six months ago I got my first call, about, so from there to present, regarding this case.
# 55 MR. BAILEY: On one occasion were you questioned about the sale of the boots to Mr. Simpson in connection with his duties in buffalo?
# 56 MR. Poser: I guess when I was first asked I mentioned that that was the one thing that I remembered specifically.
# 57 MR. BAILEY: Right, that he had some job in buffalo and he was purchasing some boots because he would be working outdoors, right?
# 59 MR. BAILEY: Have you ever been to buffalo?
KEY QUOTE # 60 MR. Poser: Umm, no, but I know it is cold.
# 61 MR. BAILEY: In the wintertime?
# 63 MR. BAILEY: Have you--okay.
# 64 MR. Poser: No, I have not.
# 65 MR. BAILEY: But did you understand that the climatic conditions were expected to be adverse when he bought these boots?
# 66 MR. Poser: Yes, I did.
# 67 MR. BAILEY: Were you shown a Lorenzo Bruno Magli black in color by Detective Antonio of the LAPD?
# 68 MR. Poser: Yes, I was.
# 69 MR. BAILEY: And did he ask you whether or not that was similar in type to what you had sold Mr. Simpson?
# 70 MR. Poser: Did he ask me that?
# 72 MR. Poser: Yes, he did.
# 73 MR. BAILEY: And did you not tell him that it was not?
# 74 MR. GOLDBERG: Well, it calls for hearsay and it is not--
# 75 THE COURT: Sustained. Rephrase the question. Without the statement you can ask him whether or not he sold that boot.
# 76 MR. BAILEY: All right.
# 77 MR. BAILEY: Did he ask you whether or not the boot that you had told him about was similar to the shoe he was showing you?
# 78 MR. Poser: Yes, he did.
# 79 MR. BAILEY: Okay. And did you tell him, no, it was not?
# 80 MR. Poser: I said I did not--
# 81 MR. GOLDBERG: Still calls for hearsay.
# 82 THE COURT: Overruled.
# 83 MR. Poser: I told him that I did not recall selling the Lorenzo boot to Mr. Simpson. I also said that for the use in buffalo, I probably would not have sold Mr. Simpson the Lorenzo boot for the climatic conditions that were there.
KEY QUOTE # 84 MR. BAILEY: Exactly. It would not do well in slush, snow and mud, would it?
KEY QUOTE # 86 MR. BAILEY: Now, you mentioned the size of Mr. Simpson's shoes. Do you know if he always bought the same size or whether it varied from manufacturer to manufacturer?
# 87 MR. Poser: As far as I know he bought the same--he bought the same size. I remember it to be a 12.
# 88 MR. BAILEY: On how many different occasions did you fit him with new shoes?
# 89 MR. Poser: About four or five as he came in.
# 90 MR. BAILEY: All right. May I have a minute?
# 91 (Discussion held off the record between Defense counsel.) # 92 (Discussion held off the record between Defense counsel and the Defendant.) # 93 MR. BAILEY: May I approach the witness, your Honor?
# 95 MR. BAILEY: Mr. Poser, would you examine these tennis shoes, please, and assume that they are shoes belonging to Mr. O.J. Simpson.
# 96 THE COURT: All right. Mr. Bailey, this is People's exhibit which?
# 97 MR. BAILEY: 384 it looks like from the tag, your Honor.
# 98 THE COURT: All right. These are the Reeboks?
# 99 MR. BAILEY: These are Reeboks, your Honor.
# 100 THE COURT: All right.
# 101 MR. BAILEY: Can you tell me what size those shoes are?
# 102 MR. Poser: Those are size 12, U.S.
# 103 MR. BAILEY: 12 and a half perhaps?
# 104 MR. Poser: It says size 12 USA.
# 105 MR. BAILEY: And European size?
# 106 MR. Poser: European size 46 and a half.
# 107 MR. BAILEY: Do you see anything about the width?
# 108 MR. Poser: Not--no.
# 109 MR. BAILEY: Okay. You can set those down.
# 110 (Witness complies.) # 111 (Discussion held off the record between Defense counsel.) # 112 (Discussion held off the record between Defense counsel and the Defendant.) # 113 MR. BAILEY: No further questions, your Honor.