Sidebar: match terminology in testimony

📄 Sidebar: match terminology in testimony — Friday, June 30, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\JUN\30\SIDEBAR-MATCH-TERMINOLOGY-IN-T.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 107 of 167

◀ Direct examination of Douglas Deedrick (part 1) Direct examination of Douglas Deedrick (part 2) ▶

Date: Friday, June 30, 1995 • Utterances: 6

Marcia Clark accidentally used a prohibited word — 'match' — during testimony, triggering an immediate bench conference. Judge Ito warned her sharply, threatening that anyone who used the word again would spend the weekend in jail.

# 1 (The following proceedings were held at the bench:)

# 2 MS. CLARK:

I didn't mean to say it. I just realized when I looked at the screen.

# 3 THE COURT:

Miss Clark, you're flirting with contempt.

KEY QUOTE

# 4 MS. CLARK:

Not intentionally, your Honor. I did not mean to say it.

KEY QUOTE

# 5 THE COURT:

You're warned. Consider yourself warned. If I hear that word again, it's going to be--somebody is going to be in jail over the weekend.

KEY QUOTE

# 6 (The following proceedings were held in open court:)

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (3)

Lance A. Ito

You're warned. Consider yourself warned. If I hear that word again, it's going to be--somebody is going to be in jail over the weekend.

Unusually blunt threat from the bench, underscoring how seriously the court was enforcing the ban on the word 'match' in DNA/forensic testimony.

Lance A. Ito

Miss Clark, you're flirting with contempt.

Direct rebuke of the lead prosecutor by name, a rare and pointed moment of judicial discipline.

Marcia Clark

Not intentionally, your Honor. I did not mean to say it.

Clark's immediate and repeated insistence that the slip was accidental, suggesting she understood the severity of the violation.

Notable Exchanges (1)

Lance A. Ito•Marcia Clark

Ito confronted Clark at the bench for using the word 'match,' threatened contempt, and issued a formal warning with a jail threat for any future violation.

heated

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 6618 • 6 utterances

Criminal Trial

Department 103