Cross-examination of Tom Lange (morning, part 2)

📄 Cross-examination of Tom Lange (morning, part 2) — Monday, March 6, 1995

Address:

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

TRIAL

▲ Day 31 of 167

◀ Sidebar: newspaper articles and coroner procedures Court reconvenes ▶

Witness: Det. Tom Lange
Examiner: Johnnie Cochran
Called by: Prosecution • Date: Monday, March 6, 1995 • Utterances: 62

Cochran continued cross-examining Detective Lange about two topics: the LAPD's alleged failure to promptly notify the Coroner's Office of deaths (focusing on whether Coroner official Juan Jimenez had ever complained about this practice), and Lange's handwritten crime scene notes from the morning of June 13, 1994. The session ended at a recess so Cochran and Lange could review the original notebook together.

# 1 (THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD IN OPEN COURT:)

# 2 THE COURT:

THANK YOU, COUNSEL. PROCEED.

# 3 MR. COCHRAN:

THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR.

# 4 Q:

DETECTIVE LANGE, DO YOU RECALL WHEN YOU WERE TESTIFYING BEFORE I ASKED YOU WHETHER OR NOT YOU WERE AWARE OF A CONTROVERSY BETWEEN LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE L.A. COUNTY CORONER'S OFFICE REGARDING LAPD'S FAILURE TO PROMPTLY REPORT THE DEATH OF INDIVIDUALS AT CRIME SCENES? DO YOU REMEMBER THOSE QUESTIONS?

# 5 A:

A CONTROVERSY?

# 6 Q:

YES.

# 7 A:

I DON'T RECALL A CONTROVERSY.

# 8 Q:

ALL RIGHT. I ASKED YOU -- I'M ASKING YOU DO YOU REMEMBER ME ASKING YOU THOSE SERIES OF QUESTIONS?

# 9 A:

I RECALL SOMETHING LIKE THAT, YES.

# 10 Q:

ALL RIGHT. AND YOU INDICATED TO US THAT YOU DIDN'T RECALL ANY PARTICULAR CONTROVERSY; IS THAT CORRECT?

# 11 A:

YES.

# 12 Q:

HAVE YOU EVER AT ANY TIME SPOKEN WITH A MR. JUAN J. JIMENEZ, ASSISTANT CHIEF OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY CORONER'S OPERATIONS BUREAU?

# 13 A:

I KNOW WHO MR. JIMENEZ IS. I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY CONVERSATIONS WITH HIM.

# 14 Q:

YOU HAVE TALKED TO HIM AT ALL?

# 15 A:

I -- IN PASSING, NOT ABOUT ANY SPECIFIC CASE.

# 16 Q:

ALL RIGHT. HAVE YOU TALKED TO HIM -- ARE YOU AWARE OF WHETHER OR NOT MR. JIMENEZ HAD ANY KIND OF OVERSIGHT RESPONSIBILITY ON THE SIMPSON CASE?

# 17 A:

NO, I'M NOT.

# 18 Q:

HAVE YOU EVER TALKED TO HIM ABOUT THE QUESTION OF TIME OF DEATH AS IT RELATES TO THE SIMPSON CASE?

# 19 A:

I DON'T RECALL TALKING TO MR. JIMENEZ. I RECALL TALKING TO DR. LAKSHMANAN AND DR. GOLDEN REGARDING THAT.

# 20 Q:

AND WAS JIMENEZ PRESENT AT THAT TIME, IF YOU RECALL?

# 21 A:

NO.

# 22 Q:

ALL RIGHT. SO THAT YOU HAVE TALKED TO HIM BUT PERHAPS NOT ABOUT THIS CASE?

# 23 A:

I MAY HAVE. I HAVE SPOKEN WITH DOZENS AND DOZENS OF PEOPLE REGARDING THIS CASE AND MANY AT THE CORONER'S OFFICE. I JUST DON'T HAVE AN INDEPENDENT RECOLLECTION SPEAKING WITH MR. JIMENEZ ABOUT THE CASE.

KEY QUOTE

# 24 Q:

AT ANY TIME WHEN YOU HAVE TALKED TO MR. JIMENEZ IN THE PAST HAS HE VOICED ANY COMPLAINT FROM THE CORONER'S DEPARTMENT ABOUT THE LAPD'S FAILURE TO REPORT OR TO CALL THE CORONER'S OFFICE PROMPTLY TO REPORT DEATHS OF INDIVIDUALS?

# 25 MS. CLARK:

OBJECTION, HEARSAY.

# 26 THE COURT:

OVERRULED.

# 27 DET. TOM LANGE:

I DON'T RECALL ANY COMPLAINTS FROM MR. JIMENEZ.

# 28 Q:

BY MR. COCHRAN: YOU DO NOT?

# 29 A:

NO.

# 30 Q:

DO YOU RECALL ANY COMPLAINTS FROM DR. LAKSHMANAN, THE CORONER OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY?

# 31 A:

NO. I WOULDN'T CALL IT COMPLAINTS.

KEY QUOTE

# 32 Q:

WELL, WHAT WOULD YOU CALL IT? WHAT DID HE SAY?

# 33 MS. CLARK:

OBJECTION, HEARSAY.

# 34 THE COURT:

HEARSAY, SUSTAINED.

# 35 Q:

BY MR. COCHRAN: WELL, HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE WHAT DR. LAKSHMANAN SAID TO YOU?

# 36 MS. CLARK:

CALLS FOR HEARSAY, YOUR HONOR, BASED ON --

# 37 THE COURT:

SUSTAINED.

# 38 Q:

BY MR. COCHRAN: HAS DR. LAKSHMANAN EVER COMPLAINED TO YOU ABOUT THE LAPD'S FAILURE TO NOTIFY THEM PROMPTLY?

# 39 A:

NO.

# 40 MS. CLARK:

OBJECTION. WITHDRAWN.

# 41 Q:

BY MR. COCHRAN: AND CAN YOU TELL US WHEN IT WAS -- WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SPOKE WITH MR. JUAN J. JIMENEZ, APPROXIMATELY?

# 42 A:

IT HASN'T BEEN RECENT AND I COULDN'T TELL YOU A DATE.

# 43 Q:

OKAY. NOW, DETECTIVE LANGE, WHEN LAST WE WERE HERE, WE TALKED ABOUT THE NOTEBOOKS THAT YOU HAD AND YOU WERE KIND ENOUGH TO GO AND LOOK THROUGH THESE NOTEBOOKS THAT YOU HAD. DO YOU RECALL THAT?

# 44 A:

YES.

# 45 Q:

AND ON ONE OF THE VIDEOS YOU ARE SEEN WRITING ON KIND OF A CLIPBOARD. DO YOU RECALL THAT?

# 46 A:

YES.

# 47 Q:

AND, UMM, WHAT WERE YOU DOING WHEN YOU WERE WRITING ON THAT CLIPBOARD AT THE BUNDY SCENE THERE?

# 48 A:

I WAS WRITING CRIME SCENE NOTES.

# 49 Q:

AND WERE THOSE NOTES -- DID THOSE NOTES BECOME ORIGINALS IN THOSE BOOKS THAT YOU HAD WHEN YOU WERE HERE LAST WEEK?

# 50 A:

YES.

# 51 Q:

IN OTHER WORDS, YOU WROTE SOMETHING DOWN AND YOU PUT THOSE DIRECTLY INTO THE HOMICIDE BOOK?

# 52 A:

THAT'S CORRECT.

# 53 Q:

DO YOU HAVE AN ORIGINAL COPY OF THE NOTES THAT YOU WERE WRITING ON THE MORNING --

# 54 THE COURT:

ORIGINAL COPY?

# 55 MR. COCHRAN:

STRIKE THAT.

# 56 Q:

DO YOU HAVE AN ORIGINAL OF THE NOTES -- THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR -- THE ORIGINAL OF THE NOTES THAT YOU WERE WRITING ON THE MORNING OF JUNE 13, 1994, THE ONES WHAT I SEE YOU WRITING IN THE VIDEO?

# 57 A:

YES, I DO.

# 58 Q:

AND CAN WE SEE THOSE?

# 59 A:

CERTAINLY.

# 60 MR. COCHRAN:

MAY I APPROACH, YOUR HONOR?

# 61 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. MR. COCHRAN, IT IS TIME FOR OUR BREAK AT THIS POINT, SO WE WILL TAKE A 15-MINUTE BREAK. YOU AND DETECTIVE LANGE CAN LOOK AT THE NOTES IN THE NOTEBOOK. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE REMEMBER MY ADMONITION TO YOU. PLEASE DON'T DISCUSS THE CASE AMONG YOURSELVES, DON'T FORM ANY OPINIONS ABOUT THE CASE, DON'T LET ANYBODY TALK TO YOU WITH REGARD TO THE CASE, DON'T PERFORM ANY DELIBERATIONS UNTIL THE MATTER HAS BEEN SUBMITTED TO YOU. ALL RIGHT. WE WILL SEE YOU BACK HERE IN ABOUT FIFTEEN MINUTES. SHORT RECESS. THANK YOU, COUNSEL.

# 62 (RECESS.)

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (3)

Tom Lange

I MAY HAVE. I HAVE SPOKEN WITH DOZENS AND DOZENS OF PEOPLE REGARDING THIS CASE AND MANY AT THE CORONER'S OFFICE. I JUST DON'T HAVE AN INDEPENDENT RECOLLECTION SPEAKING WITH MR. JIMENEZ ABOUT THE CASE.

Lange hedges on whether he spoke with Jimenez, undermining his earlier flat denial and suggesting either poor memory or evasiveness.

Tom Lange

NO. I WOULDN'T CALL IT COMPLAINTS.

Lange's word-splitting on 'complaints' vs. some other characterization opened a line of questioning that was then shut down by hearsay objections, leaving the jury with an unanswered implication.

Tom Lange

YES, I DO.

Lange confirms he still has the original crime scene notes from June 13, 1994 — a potentially significant document the defense had not yet seen.

Evidence (2)

Informal

Lange's handwritten crime scene notes on a clipboard, visible in video footage from Bundy scene

discussed, original requested for review during recess

Informal

Homicide notebooks containing Lange's crime scene notes from June 13, 1994

discussed, confirmed as originals transferred from clipboard notes

Notable Exchanges (2)

Johnnie Cochran•Tom Lange

Cochran pressed Lange on whether Coroner official Jimenez ever complained about LAPD's failure to promptly report deaths; Lange denied recalling any complaints, then softened to 'I wouldn't call it complaints' when asked about Dr. Lakshmanan — a distinction that invited follow-up but was blocked by sustained hearsay objections.

strategic

Lance A. Ito•Johnnie Cochran

Judge Ito corrected Cochran's self-contradictory phrasing 'original copy,' prompting Cochran to strike and rephrase.

procedural

Light Moments (1)

Lance A. Ito

Judge Ito interjected 'ORIGINAL COPY?' to flag Cochran's contradictory phrasing, prompting a quick self-correction.

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Tom Lange

prior inconsistent statement / evasiveness

Cochran highlighted that Lange initially denied recalling any controversy with the Coroner's Office, then slowly acknowledged speaking with many Coroner personnel while claiming no specific memory of Jimenez — suggesting selective or convenient recall.

Objections

5 objections (3 sustained, 1 overruled)

Proceeding 5171 • 62 utterances • Prosecution witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103