Sidebar: witness health and privacy

📄 Sidebar: witness health and privacy — Friday, March 31, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\MAR\31\SIDEBAR-WITNESS-HEALTH-AND-PRI.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 49 of 167

◀ Direct examination of Charles Cale Cross-examination of Charles Cale (part 1) ▶

Date: Friday, March 31, 1995 • Utterances: 24

Before cross-examination of witness Mr. Cale (an Olympics official who observed Simpson's Bronco in Brentwood), Darden asked the court to bar Shapiro from revealing Cale's home address, citing the witness's security concerns stemming from his Olympic Committee work. The judge granted that request but allowed Shapiro to establish Cale's general location in yards/meters. Darden also accused Shapiro of improperly threatening the ill witness by warning him cross-examination would be 'quite extensive' — a charge Shapiro denied and the judge dismissed.

# 1 MR. DARDEN:

YOUR HONOR, BEFORE WE BEGIN CROSS, MAY WE APPROACH WITH THE REPORTER FOR A MOMENT?

# 2 THE COURT:

WITH THE REPORTER?

# 3 MR. DARDEN:

YES.

# 4 (THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD AT THE BENCH:)

# 5 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. WE ARE OVER AT THE SIDEBAR. MR. DARDEN.

# 6 MR. DARDEN:

WELL, IT IS SORT OF A MOTION TO LIMIT CROSS-EXAMINATION TO USE MR. COCHRAN'S TERMS. I INVITED MR. SHAPIRO TO COME OVER AND SPEAK TO MR. CALE FOR A FEW MOMENTS, AND HE DID THAT. AND WHEN HE DID THAT, MR. CALE ADVISED HIM HE WAS ILL AND MR. CALE ALSO ADVISED MR. SHAPIRO THAT HE WOULD PREFER NOT TO HAVE HIS ADDRESS PUBLISHED. MR. CALE OBVIOUSLY HAD SOME INVOLVEMENT IN THE '84 OLYMPICS PLANNING AND THE LIKE, AND SO HE IS VERY, VERY CONCERNED ABOUT HIS SECURITY BECAUSE OF THAT AND FOR OTHER REASONS, ALL OF WHICH ARE VERY LEGITIMATE. MR. SHAPIRO HAS INDICATED THAT HE WILL PRESENT EVIDENCE AS TO WHERE EXACTLY MR. CALE LIVES, AND I OBJECT TO THAT BECAUSE I THINK IT'S IRRELEVANT AND UNNECESSARY. MR. COCHRAN CONSTANTLY REMINDS US WE ALL HAVE LIVES BEYOND THIS CASE AND SO DOES MR. CALE. I DON'T SEE ANY NEED OR ANY REASON WHY MR. SHAPIRO SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO PUT IN EVIDENCE OF MR. CALE'S SPECIFIC RESIDENCE LOCATION.

# 7 MR. SHAPIRO:

YOUR HONOR, FIRST, IN RESPONSE TO MR. DARDEN'S CHARACTERIZATION OF WHAT TOOK PLACE THIS MORNING, MY RECOLLECTION IS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT. THAT I WAS INVITED TO MEET MR. CALE. I SAID HELLO TO HIM, HE SAID HELLO TO ME. I SAID, "I UNDERSTAND YOU'RE NOT FEELING WELL." HE SAID, "YES." HE SAID, "THE REASON I DIDN'T TALK TO YOU IS BECAUSE I HAVE SOMETHING AKIN TO PNEUMONIA." I SAID, "IF THAT IS THE CASE, PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO PUT THIS OVER AND COME BACK ANOTHER DAY. WE HAVE NO OBJECTION TO THAT, THAT I ANTICIPATE MY EXAMINATION OF YOU IS GOING TO BE QUITE EXTENSIVE AND COULD BECOME LENGTHY." HE SAID, "MAY I TALK TO MR. DARDEN ALONE?" AND THAT'S THE LAST I TALKED TO HIM. I WAS NOT GIVEN ANY OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO MR. CALE. ALSO, MR. CALE THIS WEEK ON TWO OCCASIONS TOLD MR. MC KENNA HE WOULD MEET WITH HIM, BUT WOULD MEET WITH HIM LATER IN THE WEEK AND REFUSED TO MEET WITH HIM. MY OFFICE PUT IN THREE CALLS TO MR. CALE'S SECRETARY YESTERDAY AND I PUT IN A CALL TO A NEIGHBOR WHO CALLED HIM ON MY BEHALF.

# 8 THE COURT:

WELL, COUNSEL, LET ME JUST SORT OF JUMP AHEAD TO THE QUESTION THAT'S HERE. DO YOU NEED TO PUT IN HIS SPECIFIC ADDRESS?

# 9 MR. SHAPIRO:

NO. I ALREADY SAID THAT, BUT I THINK WE NEED TO KNOW THE LOCATION. I MEAN RIGHT NOW, THE JURY HAS THE IMPRESSION THAT THIS MAN OUT OF NOWHERE IS WALKING IN BRENTWOOD AND NINE -- SEVEN MONTHS LATER, TAKES NOTE OF WHERE MR. SIMPSON'S BRONCO IS. WE DON'T KNOW IF HE KNOWS MR. SIMPSON'S BRONCO FROM ANY OTHER BRONCO. I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE HE STARTED WALKING FROM AND WHAT OTHER CARS ARE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, WHAT OTHER NEIGHBORS' CARS HE KNOWS, WHERE THEY WERE PARKED.

# 10 THE COURT:

I'M GOING TO DIRECT YOU, HOWEVER, NOT TO ELICIT FROM HIM HIS ADDRESS.

# 11 MR. SHAPIRO:

THANK YOU.

# 12 MR. DARDEN:

ONE ADDITIONAL POINT. WOULD YOU ALSO DIRECT MR. SHAPIRO NOT TO ELICIT FROM HIM THE NUMBER OF HOUSES AWAY FROM THE DEFENDANT THAT HE LIVES? THE REPORT -- THERE'S INDICATION IN THE REPORT THAT MR. SHAPIRO ASKS -- HE HAS THAT INFORMATION AND WE ALL KNOW HE KNOWS.

# 13 THE COURT:

WE CAN DO THIS IN YARDS AND METERS.

KEY QUOTE

# 14 MR. DARDEN:

ONE ADDITIONAL THING. AFTER MR. CALE INDICATED HE WAS ILL, MR. SHAPIRO INDICATED THAT THE CROSS-EXAMINATION WOULD BE LENGTHY AND THAT HE WOULD CERTAINLY HAVE MR. CALE COME BACK ON MONDAY TO CONTINUE HIS TESTIMONY.

# 15 THE COURT:

WELL, LET'S SEE WHERE IT GOES. IT MAY NOT BE RELEVANT.

# 16 MR. DARDEN:

IT MAY NOT BE RELEVANT, BUT MY PERCEPTION OF THE COMMENT BY MR. SHAPIRO WAS, IT WAS SOME SORT OF THREAT TO THE WITNESS THAT IF HE DIDN'T RELENT AND CHANGE HIS MIND ABOUT TESTIFYING TODAY, HE WAS GOING TO KEEP HIM HERE.

# 17 THE COURT:

MR. DARDEN, THIS ISN'T AN IMPORTANT POINT.

# 18 MR. DARDEN:

I THINK IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT POINT. WITNESSES SHOULDN'T BE THREATENED AND MR. SHAPIRO IS TRYING TO DETER HIM FROM TESTIFYING.

# 19 THE COURT:

YOU SHOULD HAVE HEARD THE DISCUSSION WITH MR. HARMON AND MR. SCHECK YESTERDAY.

KEY QUOTE

# 20 MR. SHAPIRO:

YOUR HONOR, JUST FOR THE RECORD, THIS MAN IS A LAWYER. THIS MAN WAS HEAD OF THE OLYMPIC COMMITTEE. I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS AND IF HIS HEALTH REQUIRES HIM TO REST OVER THE WEEKEND AND HE WOULD FEEL BETTER, THAT WE DON'T HAVE ANY OBJECTION TO HIM COMING BACK, THAT I IN NO WAY THREATENED HIM OR ATTEMPTED TO --

# 21 MS. CLARK:

PERHAPS THE WITNESS CAN TELL YOU HOW HE TOOK THE COMMENT.

# 22 THE COURT:

COUNSEL, I'VE GIVEN YOU DIRECTION. THANK YOU.

# 23 THE COURT:

THANK YOU, COUNSEL. PROCEED.

# 24 MR. SHAPIRO:

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, YOUR HONOR. GOOD MORNING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Christopher Darden

MY PERCEPTION OF THE COMMENT BY MR. SHAPIRO WAS, IT WAS SOME SORT OF THREAT TO THE WITNESS THAT IF HE DIDN'T RELENT AND CHANGE HIS MIND ABOUT TESTIFYING TODAY, HE WAS GOING TO KEEP HIM HERE.

Darden escalates the sidebar into a witness-intimidation accusation against Shapiro, which the judge shuts down.

Robert Shapiro

RIGHT NOW, THE JURY HAS THE IMPRESSION THAT THIS MAN OUT OF NOWHERE IS WALKING IN BRENTWOOD AND NINE -- SEVEN MONTHS LATER, TAKES NOTE OF WHERE MR. SIMPSON'S BRONCO IS. WE DON'T KNOW IF HE KNOWS MR. SIMPSON'S BRONCO FROM ANY OTHER BRONCO.

Shapiro articulates the defense's core attack on Cale's credibility — that without knowing his proximity and familiarity with the neighborhood, his Bronco observation is meaningless.

Lance A. Ito

WE CAN DO THIS IN YARDS AND METERS.

Practical compromise ruling — allows geographic context for the jury without exposing the witness's specific address.

Lance A. Ito

YOU SHOULD HAVE HEARD THE DISCUSSION WITH MR. HARMON AND MR. SCHECK YESTERDAY.

Ito-style deflection — the judge implicitly tells Darden that attorney-witness friction is routine and not worth his outrage.

Notable Exchanges (2)

Christopher Darden•Robert Shapiro•Lance A. Ito

Darden accused Shapiro of warning a sick witness that cross would be 'quite extensive' as a coercive tactic to delay testimony. Shapiro denied any threat. Judge Ito dismissed the complaint as unimportant and moved on.

heated

Lance A. Ito•Robert Shapiro

Judge directed Shapiro not to elicit Cale's specific address but permitted him to establish the general location to give the jury context for the Bronco sighting.

procedural

Light Moments (1)

Lance A. Ito

Judge cuts off the address dispute with a dry practical suggestion: 'We can do this in yards and meters.'

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Mr. Cale

context/foundation challenge

Shapiro argued the jury could not evaluate Cale's Bronco observation without knowing where he lives, what route he walked, and whether he could distinguish Simpson's Bronco from neighbors' vehicles — framing the witness as a stranger to the neighborhood whose identification is unreliable.

Objections

1 objections (1 sustained, 0 overruled)

Proceeding 5528 • 24 utterances

Criminal Trial

Department 103