Lunch recess

📄 Lunch recess — Thursday, March 2, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\MAR\2\LUNCH-RECESS.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 29 of 167

◀ Cross-examination of Rosa Maria Lopez (part 3) Cross-examination of Rosa Maria Lopez (part 4) ▶

Date: Thursday, March 2, 1995 • Utterances: 35

The court breaks for lunch during Rosa Lopez's testimony, but first addresses an attorney-client privilege issue raised by Lopez's new attorney, Ms. Hamburger, who took over from Mr. Jones on short notice. The dispute centers on whether prior questioning about Lopez's fee arrangement constituted a waiver of privilege. After conferring with Jones over the lunch break, Hamburger returns to report Jones has no recollection of waiving privilege over his hourly rate, but raises no objection to questions about the general fee arrangement.

# 1 (DISCUSSION HELD OFF THE RECORD BETWEEN THE DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.)

# 2 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. WE ARE GOING TO TAKE OUR RECESS AS FAR AS MISS LOPEZ IS CONCERNED AT THIS TIME. WE DO NEED TO INQUIRE, HOWEVER, INTO ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE BEFORE WE BREAK FOR THE AFTERNOON. MISS LOPEZ, I'M GOING TO EXCUSE YOU AT THIS TIME. WE ARE NOT COMPLETED WITH OUR QUESTIONS, BUT WE ARE GOING TO TAKE A BREAK FOR LUNCH. I'M GOING TO ORDER YOU TO RETURN AT 1:30. AND MISS HAMBURGER, WOULD YOU ESCORT YOUR CLIENT -- WHY DON'T YOU WAIT FOR ONE MINUTE, BECAUSE WE NEED TO CHAT WITH YOU. MISS LOPEZ, YOU ARE ORDERED TO COME BACK AT 1:30.

# 3 THE WITNESS:

THANK YOU, SIR.

# 4 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. MISS HAMBURGER, DO YOU WANT TO APPROACH, PLEASE.

# 5 (ROSA LOPEZ EXITS THE COURTROOM.)

# 6 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. MISS HAMBURGER, DO YOU WANT TO ADDRESS THE COURT ON THE ISSUE OF WHETHER OR NOT THERE IS AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE HERE?

# 7 MS. HAMBURGER:

I DO, YOUR HONOR. I, OF COURSE, TOOK OVER ON SHORT NOTICE FROM MR. JONES AND I HAVE NOT CONFERRED WITH HIM ON THIS OSTENSIBLE WAIVER.

KEY QUOTE

# 8 THE COURT:

ISSUE.

# 9 MS. HAMBURGER:

AND THEREFORE I BEG ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE UNTIL I ASCERTAIN OTHERWISE, IF THERE IS AN OTHERWISE.

# 10 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. WHY DON'T YOU THEN TAKE THE NOON HOUR TO CONTACT MR. JONES, CONFER WITH HIM; HOWEVER, WE DID VISIT THIS ISSUE DURING THE COURSE OF THE HEARING WHETHER OR NOT TO CONDUCT A 1335. MR. JONES WAS PRESENT HERE IN THE COURTROOM. THERE WERE SIMILAR QUESTIONS ASKED WITHOUT OBJECTION, SO THAT IS THE HISTORY OF THE CASE.

# 11 MR. COCHRAN:

I RECALL THAT THERE WAS NOT A QUESTION OF THE AMOUNT OF THE FEE, THOUGH.

KEY QUOTE

# 12 THE COURT:

THERE WAS NOT A QUESTION AS TO THE HOURLY RATE.

# 13 MR. COCHRAN:

THAT'S RIGHT.

# 14 THE COURT:

THERE WAS A QUESTION REGARDING THE FEE ARRANGEMENT.

# 15 MR. COCHRAN:

BUT NOT THE AMOUNT, AND THAT IS -- I THOUGHT THAT HE SHOULD CERTAINLY HAVE A RIGHT --

# 16 MS. HAMBURGER:

YOUR HONOR, I SAID NOTHING ABOUT THE FEE ARRANGEMENT. THAT IS WHY I WILL CONFER WITH MR. JONES.

# 17 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. WHY DON'T YOU CONFER WITH MR. JONES AND SEE IF THE PRIVILEGE IS GOING TO BE ASSERTED AND WE WILL COME BACK AT 1:30.

# 18 MS. CLARK:

YES, YOUR HONOR. I WOULD LIKE LEAVE OF THE COURT TO POINT OUT THE PORTIONS IN THE TRANSCRIPT WHERE THIS WAS ALREADY BROUGHT OUT. THERE HAS BEEN A WAIVER OF THIS ARGUMENT COMPLETELY.

KEY QUOTE

# 19 THE COURT:

WE WILL SEE AFTER MISS HAMBURGER COMES BACK. SHE MAY AGREE THAT IT IS AN ISSUE THAT THEY DON'T WISH TO CONTEST, WHO KNOWS, BUT I WILL HEAR THE ARGUMENT AT 1:30.

# 20 MS. CLARK:

OKAY. THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR.

# 21 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. WE WILL STAND IN RECESS UNTIL 1:30.

# 22 MS. HAMBURGER:

THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR.

# 23 (AT 12:00 P.M. THE NOON RECESS WAS TAKEN UNTIL 1:30 P.M. OF THE SAME DAY.)

# 24 (JANET M. MOXHAM, CSR NO. 4855, OFFICIAL REPORTER.)

# 25 (CHRISTINE OLSON, CSR NO. 2378, OFFICIAL REPORTER.)

# 26 (THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD IN OPEN COURT, OUT OF THE PRESENCE OF THE JURY:)

# 27 THE COURT:

BACK ON THE RECORD IN THE SIMPSON MATTER. ALL THE PARTIES ARE AGAIN PRESENT. I THINK WE'RE MISSING MISS CLARK. IS SHE AVAILABLE?

# 28 MS. LEWIS:

SHE WILL BE DOWN A LITTLE BIT LATER, YOUR HONOR.

# 29 THE COURT:

MR. DARDEN, ARE YOU PREPARED TO PROCEED WITHOUT MISS CLARK?

# 30 MR. DARDEN:

YES, YOUR HONOR.

# 31 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. LET'S HAVE IT QUIET IN THE COURTROOM, PLEASE. ALL RIGHT. MISS HAMBURGER, DID YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS THE MATTERS WITH YOUR COCOUNSEL, MR. JONES?

# 32 MS. HAMBURGER:

YES, YOUR HONOR. I DID EXACTLY AS YOU SAID. MR. JONES HAS NO RECOLLECTION OF A WAIVER OF A PARTICULAR HOURLY CHARGE. HOWEVER, HE HAS NO OBJECTIONS ABOUT ANY ARRANGEMENT THAT HE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE MADE WITH MISS LOPEZ.

# 33 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, COUNSEL. AND IF YOU CAN REMAIN IN THE COURTROOM IN CASE THERE'S ANY OTHER ISSUE THAT COMES UP OR ANY OTHER OBJECTION YOU WISH TO MAKE ON BEHALF OF MISS LOPEZ.

# 34 MS. HAMBURGER:

THANK YOU.

# 35 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, COUNSEL. ALL RIGHT. GOOD AFTERNOON AGAIN, MISS LOPEZ. THANK YOU FOR COMING BACK. RECORD SHOULD REFLECT THAT ALL PARTIES ARE PRESENT.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (4)

Ms. Hamburger

I, OF COURSE, TOOK OVER ON SHORT NOTICE FROM MR. JONES AND I HAVE NOT CONFERRED WITH HIM ON THIS OSTENSIBLE WAIVER. AND THEREFORE I BEG ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE UNTIL I ASCERTAIN OTHERWISE, IF THERE IS AN OTHERWISE.

Hamburger formally invokes privilege while acknowledging she lacks full context, buying time to consult prior counsel.

Johnnie Cochran

I RECALL THAT THERE WAS NOT A QUESTION OF THE AMOUNT OF THE FEE, THOUGH.

Cochran draws a distinction between the fee arrangement (discussed previously without objection) and the specific hourly rate — the latter being the contested privileged detail.

Marcia Clark

I WOULD LIKE LEAVE OF THE COURT TO POINT OUT THE PORTIONS IN THE TRANSCRIPT WHERE THIS WAS ALREADY BROUGHT OUT. THERE HAS BEEN A WAIVER OF THIS ARGUMENT COMPLETELY.

Clark aggressively argues the privilege was already waived by prior testimony, seeking to expose the financial relationship between Lopez and the defense.

Ms. Hamburger

MR. JONES HAS NO RECOLLECTION OF A WAIVER OF A PARTICULAR HOURLY CHARGE. HOWEVER, HE HAS NO OBJECTIONS ABOUT ANY ARRANGEMENT THAT HE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE MADE WITH MISS LOPEZ.

The post-lunch resolution: privilege is preserved only over the specific dollar amount, while the general fee arrangement remains open to questioning.

Notable Exchanges (1)

Lance A. Ito•Ms. Hamburger•Johnnie Cochran•Marcia Clark

The court navigates a privilege dispute over Lopez's fee arrangement with her attorney, with Clark pushing for a finding of waiver based on prior testimony during the Section 1335 hearing, and Cochran supporting the privilege claim as to the specific hourly rate.

strategic

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Rosa Lopez

bias — financial relationship with defense

The prosecution sought to expose the specific fee paid by the defense to Lopez's attorney as evidence that Lopez was a bought witness, not an independent alibi witness. The privilege dispute was essentially a proxy battle over this line of attack.

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 5106 • 35 utterances

Criminal Trial

Department 103