📄 Recross-examination of Mark Storfer — Monday, March 6, 1995
Address:
C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\MAR\6\RECROSS-EXAMINATION-OF-MARK-ST.DOC
TRIAL
▲ Day 31 of 167

Recross-examination of Mark Storfer

Witness: Mark Storfer
Examiner: Johnnie Cochran
Called by: Prosecution • Date: Monday, March 6, 1995 • Utterances: 70
Cochran recrossed neighbor witness Mark Storfer to lock in the limitations of his clock observations — establishing he only looked up the alley once, and that his 10:28 clock reading (and subsequent 12:15 sighting of the dog and police tape) could be off by several minutes in either direction. Clark followed with redirect to clarify that Storfer only clearly remembered checking the clock the first time, and that later times were approximations.
1

RECROSS-EXAMINATION

2

BY MR. COCHRAN:

3 Q:

YOU DESCRIBED IN LOOKING AT -- MAY WE HAVE 38-D BACK UP, PLEASE?

4 (BRIEF PAUSE.)
5 THE COURT:

MR. COCHRAN.

6 MR. COCHRAN:

THANK YOU VERY KINDLY.

7 Q:

AND, UMM, MR. STORFER, YOU HAVE SHARED WITH US AND HELPED US BY PLACING AN ARROW HOW FAR YOU COULD SEE UP THAT ALLEYWAY. AND MY QUESTION IS ON HOW MANY OCCASIONS, IF ANY, AFTER THE FIRST TIME YOU LOOKED UP THE ALLEY THAT NIGHT AT ABOUT AFTER TEN -- THE CLOCK HAD SAID 10:28 OR THEREABOUTS --

8 MS. CLARK:

OBJECTION, MISSTATES THE TESTIMONY.

9 MR. COCHRAN:

THE CLOCK SAID 10:28.

10 MS. CLARK:

THE WITNESS TESTIFIED THE TIME WAS 10:20, 10:23.

11 THE COURT:

THE CLOCK SAID. OVERRULED.

12 MR. COCHRAN:

THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR.

13 Q:

WITH REGARD TO THAT, HOW MANY TIMES AFTER THE CLOCK SAID 10:28 DID YOU LOOK UP AT THAT LITTLE ARROW AS DEPICTED THERE ON PEOPLE'S 38-D?

14 A:

NONE UNTIL ABOUT -- NONE BEYOND THAT TIME.

KEY QUOTE
15 Q:

ALL RIGHT. SO DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION? I'M ASKING YOU HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU LOOK UP THE ALLEY AFTER YOU LOOKED THIS FIRST TIME THAT EVENING?

16 A:

NONE.

17 Q:

OKAY. SO YOU ONLY LOOKED ONE TIME?

18 A:

THAT'S CORRECT.

19 Q:

ALL RIGHT. HOW MANY TIMES ALTOGETHER THAT EVENING DID YOU LOOK UP BUNDY, NORTH ON BUNDY?

20 A:

THREE OR FOUR, INCLUDING THE EARLY MORNING.

21 Q:

ALL RIGHT. AND HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU LOOK EAST AND WEST ON DOROTHY?

22 A:

PROBABLY ABOUT FOUR TIMES.

23 Q:

AND YOU DESCRIBED FOR US THAT -- AGAIN THAT YOU SAW THE DOG WAS TIED AT THE POST AT ABOUT 12:15. DO YOU RECALL THAT?

24 A:

THAT'S CORRECT.

25 Q:

AND DID YOU LOOK AT YOUR CLOCK AGAIN AT THAT POINT?

26 A:

YES.

27 Q:

SO ACTUALLY THAT WOULD BE ABOUT 12:10 THEN, WOULDN'T, IT IF YOUR CLOCK WAS APPROXIMATELY FIVE MINUTES FAST?

28 A:

APPROXIMATELY, YES.

29 Q:

THESE POLICE CARS THAT YOU SAW OUT THERE, THEY WOULD ALSO BE AT ABOUT 12:10; IS THAT RIGHT?

30 A:

APPROXIMATELY.

31 Q:

WITH REGARD TO THIS CLOCK, YOU HAD LAST SET THIS CLOCK IN APRIL OF 1994?

32 MS. CLARK:

OBJECTION, ASKED AND ANSWERED.

33 THE COURT:

OVERRULED.

34 Q:

BY MR. COCHRAN: YOU LAST SET THAT CLOCK IN APRIL OF 1994; IS THAT CORRECT?

35 A:

THAT IS THE LAST TIME I REMEMBER SETTING IT.

KEY QUOTE
36 Q:

YOU DON'T KNOW WHETHER YOUR WIFE HAD RESET IT OR YOU HAD ANY KIND OF POWER OUTAGES BETWEEN APRIL AND JUNE OF 1994 TO CHECK THE ACCURACY?

37 A:

NO, I DO NOT.

38 Q:

SO YOU ARE GIVING US YOUR BEST ESTIMATE; IS THAT CORRECT, SIR?

39 A:

THAT'S CORRECT.

40 Q:

AND WITH REGARD TO THIS YELLOW TAPE THAT YOU SAW AGAIN AT ABOUT 12:15, IF YOUR CLOCK WAS FAST IT WOULD BE 12:10, IF IT WAS SLOW IT WOULD BE EVEN LATER; IS THAT RIGHT?

41 MS. CLARK:

OBJECTION, THAT CALLS FOR SPECULATION.

42 THE COURT:

OVERRULED.

43 MARK STORFER:

THAT WOULD BE CORRECT.

44 MR. COCHRAN:

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. STORFER. THANK YOU.

45 THE COURT:

MR. STORFER, WHEN YOU SAW THE DOG TIED ACROSS THE STREET TO THE STREET SIGN, DID IT CONTINUE TO BARK?

46 MARK STORFER:

YES, IT DID.

47 THE COURT:

ANYTHING ELSE?

FURTHER REDIRECT EXAMINATION

48

BY MS. CLARK:

49 Q:

MR. STORFER, YOU INDICATED THE FIRST TIME YOU LOOKED AT THE CLOCK. WHEN, IF EVER, DID YOU LOOK AT THE CLOCK AGAIN?

50 A:

I MUST HAVE LOOKED EACH TIME THAT I GOT UP TO LOOK OUT THE WINDOW.

51 Q:

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC MEMORY OF DOING THAT?

52 A:

NO, I DON'T.

53 Q:

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC MEMORY OF LOOKING AT THE CLOCK THE FIRST TIME THAT YOU -- WHEN YOU FIRST CAME UPSTAIRS TO YOUR BEDROOM?

54 A:

VERY MUCH SO, YES.

55 Q:

OKAY. THE TIME AFTER THAT, WHEN YOU GOT UP TO LOOK OUT THE WINDOW, DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC MEMORY OF LOOKING AT YOUR CLOCK?

56 A:

NOT SPECIFICALLY, NO.

KEY QUOTE
57 Q:

SO WITH RESPECT TO THE TIMES THAT YOU ARE GIVING US AFTER THE FIRST TIME YOU LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW WHEN YOU FIRST GOT BACK TO YOUR BEDROOM, ARE THOSE TIMES APPROXIMATELY?

58 MR. COCHRAN:

LEADING AND SUGGESTIVE.

59 MARK STORFER:

YES, THEY ARE.

60 THE COURT:

OVERRULED.

61 MS. CLARK:

I HAVE NOTHING FURTHER.

FURTHER RECROSS-EXAMINATION

62

BY MR. COCHRAN:

63 Q:

BUT AGAIN, MR. STORFER, YOU ARE TRYING TO BE AS ACCURATE AS YOU CAN IN GIVING US THESE TIMES?

64 A:

THAT'S CORRECT.

65 Q:

YOU BELIEVE YOU DID LOOK AT THE CLOCK OTHER TIMES THAT EVENING WHEN YOU GOT UP; IS THAT CORRECT?

66 A:

THAT'S CORRECT.

67 MR. COCHRAN:

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, SIR.

68 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. MR. STORFER, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR COMING IN. YOU ARE NOW EXCUSED.

69 MARK STORFER:

THANK YOU.

70 (BRIEF PAUSE.)

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (3)

Mark Storfer
THAT IS THE LAST TIME I REMEMBER SETTING IT.
Admits uncertainty about clock accuracy — hadn't set it since April 1994, leaving open the possibility of drift, power outages, or a spouse resetting it.
Mark Storfer
NONE UNTIL ABOUT -- NONE BEYOND THAT TIME.
Confirms he only looked up the alley once that evening, limiting the evidentiary value of his observation.
Mark Storfer
NOT SPECIFICALLY, NO.
Admits no specific memory of checking the clock after the first time, undermining the precision of his later time estimates.

Evidence (1)

People's 38-D
Photograph of the alleyway with an arrow marking how far Storfer could see
discussed

Notable Exchanges (2)

Johnnie CochranMarcia ClarkJudge Ito
Clark objected that Cochran misstated the testimony on the clock time (10:28 vs. 10:20-10:23); Ito overruled, accepting Cochran's framing that the clock itself read 10:28.
strategic
Judge ItoMark Storfer
Ito personally asked whether the dog continued to bark after Storfer saw it tied to the post — an unprompted clarifying question from the bench.
procedural

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Mark Storfer
reliability of clock
Cochran established the clock had not been set since April 1994, that Storfer didn't know if it had been reset or affected by power outages, and that all times after the first clock check were approximate — undermining the precision of his 10:28 observation.

Objections

4 objections (0 sustained, 4 overruled)
Proceeding 5167 • 70 utterances • Prosecution witness
Criminal Trial
Department 103
⚖️ Start
📂 MAR 6, 1995 📄 Recross-examination of Mark St
MAR 6, 1995 KRT DvH TD