Cross-examination of Tom Lange (afternoon, part 1)

📄 Cross-examination of Tom Lange (afternoon, part 1) — Monday, March 6, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\MAR\6\CROSS-EXAMINATION-OF-TOM-LANGE.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 31 of 167

Witness: Det. Tom Lange
Examiner: Johnnie Cochran
Called by: Prosecution • Date: Monday, March 6, 1995 • Utterances: 44

Cochran continues his cross-examination of Detective Lange, focusing on the liver temperatures recorded for Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman at the Bundy crime scene and the order in which they appeared in Lange's notes. The session is brief and methodical, also touching on the roles of the coroner's investigators and ending mid-dispute over Cochran's characterization of prior testimony about an envelope containing a lens.

# 1 THE COURT:

THANK YOU, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. PLEASE BE SEATED. ALL RIGHT. THE RECORD SHOULD REFLECT THAT DETECTIVE TOM LANGE IS STILL ON THE WITNESS STAND. GOOD MORNING AGAIN, DETECTIVE. YOU ARE REMINDED YOU ARE STILL UNDER OATH. MR. COCHRAN, YOU MAY CONTINUE WITH YOUR CROSS-EXAMINATION.

# 2 MR. COCHRAN:

THANK YOU. GOOD MORNING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, DETECTIVE LANGE.

# 3 Q:

BY MR. COCHRAN: JUST WHEN WE TOOK THE BREAK, WE WERE LOOKING -- WE HAD AN OCCASION DURING THE BREAK TO LOOK AT YOUR NOTES AND WITH REGARD TO THE BUNDY CRIME SCENE; IS THAT CORRECT?

# 4 A:

YES.

# 5 Q:

AND WITH REGARD TO THE NOTES, WHAT'S CONTAINED IN THE BOOK BEFORE YOU ARE YOUR ORIGINAL NOTES THAT WERE WRITTEN AT OR ABOUT THE TIME OF YOUR OBSERVATIONS AT THE SCENE; IS THAT CORRECT?

# 6 A:

YES.

# 7 Q:

AND YOU SHARED THOSE WITH ME, AND BY AND LARGE, I HAVE COPIES OF THOSE; IS THAT CORRECT?

# 8 A:

YES.

# 9 Q:

NOW, FOR INSTANCE -- I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU. WITH REGARD TO THE QUESTION OF THE LIVER TEMPERATURE ON NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON, FROM A CHRONOLOGICAL STANDPOINT, I BELIEVE YOU TOLD US THAT HER LIVER TEMPERATURE WAS TAKEN AFTER MR. GOLDMAN'S TEMPERATURE; IS THAT CORRECT?

# 10 A:

THAT'S MY RECOLLECTION.

# 11 Q:

BECAUSE HIS WAS TAKEN AT THE SCENE IS YOUR RECOLLECTION AND THEN HERS WAS TAKEN LATER IN THE CORONER'S VAN; IS THAT CORRECT?

# 12 A:

YES.

# 13 Q:

AND SO -- NOW, CHRONOLOGICALLY, LOOKING AT YOUR NOTES, AT THE BOTTOM OF 0548, YOU HAVE HER LIVER TEMPERATURE. WOULD THAT HAVE BEEN PUT IN THERE AFTER YOU DISCOVERED THAT INFORMATION? LOOK AT THE BOTTOM OF 0548.

# 14 A:

THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN PUT IN THERE AT THE TIME THAT I RECEIVED THE INFORMATION, YES.

# 15 Q:

ALL RIGHT. SO THAT THE FACT IT MAY COME BEFORE GOLDMAN, YOU KEPT IT IN ORDER UNDER NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON; IS THAT CORRECT?

# 16 A:

THE FACT THAT IT CAME BEFORE GOLDMAN? I BELIEVE IT WAS SUBSEQUENT TO GOLDMAN.

# 17 Q:

WELL, THE FACT THAT IN YOUR NOTES, IT APPEARS AT A TIME BEFORE WE TALK ABOUT MR. GOLDMAN IS OF NO PARTICULAR CONSEQUENCE; IS THAT CORRECT?

# 18 A:

OTHER THAN THAT'S THE TIME THAT THE TEMPERATURE WAS TAKEN.

# 19 Q:

AND IS IT YOUR RECOLLECTION THAT WITH REGARD TO THE LIVER TEMPERATURES OF BOTH INDIVIDUALS, THAT THEY BOTH HAVE THE SAME LIVER TEMPERATURE?

# 20 A:

YES.

# 21 Q:

AND IT'S YOUR RECOLLECTION AGAIN THAT YOU SAW THE LIVER TEMPERATURE OF GOLDMAN BEING TAKEN THERE AT THE SCENE, RIGHT?

# 22 A:

I BELIEVE I DID, YES.

# 23 Q:

AND FROM LOOKING -- REMEMBERING THAT VIDEO, BOTH BODIES WERE BASICALLY MOVED TO ABOUT THE SAME PLACE BEFORE THEY WERE PLACED ON THE CORONER'S GURNEYS; IS THAT CORRECT?

# 24 MS. CLARK:

OBJECTION. VAGUE.

# 25 THE COURT:

SUSTAINED. REPHRASE THE QUESTION.

# 26 MR. COCHRAN:

ALL RIGHT.

# 27 Q:

BY MR. COCHRAN: YOU REMEMBER SEEING THE VIDEO, DO YOU NOT, WITH REGARD TO THE REMOVAL OF THE BODY OF NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON?

# 28 A:

YES.

# 29 Q:

AND THEREAFTER, MR. GOLDMAN'S BODY WAS BROUGHT OVER TO THAT SAME GENERAL AREA ON THE WALKWAY BEFORE IT WAS PLACED ON THE GURNEY; ISN'T THAT CORRECT?

# 30 A:

YES.

# 31 Q:

AND WERE BOTH BODIES REMOVED BY THIS CORONER'S INVESTIGATOR BY THE NAME OF JACOBO?

# 32 A:

WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF RATCLIFFE, YES.

# 33 Q:

ALL RIGHT. WHAT IS -- IF YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN THEIR TWO PARTICULAR FUNCTIONS WITH THE CORONER'S OFFICE, THE LADY, MISS RATCLIFFE AND THE GENTLEMAN WHO WAS WEARING THE BLUE -- BLUE JUMPSUIT?

# 34 A:

MISS RATCLIFFE IS A CORONER'S INVESTIGATOR AND THE OTHER GENTLEMAN IS A CORONER'S DRIVER AND ASSISTANT.

# 35 Q:

AND HAVE YOU WORKED OR MET -- WORKED WITH THOSE TWO INDIVIDUALS BEFORE ON OTHER OCCASIONS?

# 36 A:

I DON'T RECALL IF I HAVE OR NOT.

# 37 Q:

ALL RIGHT. NOW, LAST WEEK, I HAD ASKED YOU SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ENVELOPE THAT CONTAINS THE ONE LENS THERE. DO YOU RECALL THAT?

# 38 A:

YES.

# 39 Q:

NOW, THE FIRST TIME THAT YOU HAD OCCASION TO LOOK INSIDE THAT --

# 40 MS. CLARK:

WELL, OBJECTION. MISSTATES THE TESTIMONY, CALLS FOR SPECULATION.

# 41 THE COURT:

OVERRULED.

# 42 MS. CLARK:

DETECTIVE LANGE NEVER SO TESTIFIED. HE COULDN'T TELL.

KEY QUOTE

# 43 THE COURT:

HE JUST SAID YES.

# 44 MS. CLARK:

NO. COUNSEL ASSERTED --

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (2)

Tom Lange

YES. [both bodies had the same liver temperature]

Confirms both victims registered identical liver temperatures, a fact relevant to establishing time of death and Cochran's effort to challenge the prosecution's timeline.

Marcia Clark

DETECTIVE LANGE NEVER SO TESTIFIED. HE COULDN'T TELL.

Clark argues directly with the judge after an overruled objection, pushing back on Cochran's framing of prior testimony about the lens envelope — an unusual moment of open courtroom friction.

Evidence (3)

Informal

Lange's original handwritten notes (page 0548) from the Bundy crime scene, recording liver temperatures

discussed — Cochran examines the order entries appear to reconcile sequence of temperature readings

Informal

Envelope containing one lens, previously discussed in prior session

referenced — Cochran begins a question about first looking inside it; cut off by objection

Informal

Video footage of body removal at Bundy crime scene

discussed — Cochran uses it to establish that both bodies were moved to the same walkway area before being placed on gurneys

Notable Exchanges (2)

Johnnie Cochran•Tom Lange

Cochran works through the sequencing of liver temperature recordings in Lange's notes, establishing that Nicole's temperature appearing first in the notes does not mean it was taken first — it was recorded under her section when the information became available.

strategic

Marcia Clark•Lance A. Ito

After an objection is overruled, Clark continues arguing that Cochran's question misstated Lange's prior testimony about the lens envelope. Ito responds simply 'He just said yes,' and Clark presses further — transcript cuts off mid-argument.

heated

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Tom Lange

inconsistency in notes

Cochran probes whether the order of entries in Lange's notes accurately reflects the sequence of events, suggesting the note-taking sequence could mislead about when Nicole's liver temperature was actually taken relative to Goldman's.

Objections

2 objections (1 sustained, 1 overruled)

Proceeding 5148 • 44 utterances • Prosecution witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103