Cross-examination of Tom Lange (part 2)

📄 Cross-examination of Tom Lange (part 2) — Thursday, March 9, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\MAR\9\CROSS-EXAMINATION-OF-TOM-LANGE.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 34 of 167

◀ Sidebar: objection and foundation Redirect examination of Tom Lange (part 1) ▶

Witness: Det. Tom Lange
Examiner: Johnnie Cochran
Called by: Prosecution • Date: Thursday, March 9, 1995 • Utterances: 54

Cochran cross-examines Detective Lange using principles from a forensic pathology publication (Lemoyne Snyder) to establish that stomach contents are a significant factor in determining time of death. Lange repeatedly hedges, calling it 'one general factor of many,' but ultimately concedes each principle Cochran reads aloud, and agrees that forensic pathologists — not detectives — are the proper interpreters of such evidence.

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

# 2 THE COURT:

THANK YOU, COUNSEL. MR. COCHRAN.

# 3 MR. COCHRAN:

THANK YOU VERY KINDLY, YOUR HONOR.

# 4 Q:

DETECTIVE LANGE, WITH REGARD TO THE PARAGRAPH THAT I ASKED YOU TO READ ON THE EXAMINATION OF STOMACH CONTENTS, I BELIEVE YOU INDICATED TO US THAT THAT PARAGRAPH APPEARS SIMILAR TO A PARAGRAPH YOU MAY HAVE READ IN SOME LATER EDITION. IS THAT A FAIR STATEMENT?

# 5 A:

I WOULD SAY IN A GENERAL SENSE, YES.

# 6 Q:

RIGHT. AND IN THE COURSE OF FORMING THE OPINIONS THAT YOU SHARED WITH US YESTERDAY, YOU RELIED UPON THE CONTENTS OF THE LEMOYNE SNYDER PUBLICATION THAT YOU READ; IS THAT CORRECT?

# 7 A:

RELIED UPON IT FOR WHAT PURPOSE?

# 8 Q:

WELL, RELIED UPON IT FROM THE STANDPOINT OF HELPING TO FORM YOUR OPINION, OPINIONS YOU SHARED, AS THIS WAS A PUBLICATION WHICH YOU TOLD US ABOUT YESTERDAY. DO YOU RECALL?

# 9 A:

YES, IT IS ONE PUBLICATION I HAVE READ. IT IS NOT THE ONLY THING I HAVE RELIED UPON.

# 10 Q:

I UNDERSTAND YOU RELIED UPON OTHER THINGS, YOU HAD OTHER EXPERIENCE, BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU HAD READ AND HAD RELIED UPON; ISN'T THAT CORRECT?

# 11 A:

IN A GENERAL SENSE I SUPPOSE ONE COULD SAY THAT.

# 12 Q:

BASED UPON THAT, WITH THE COURT'S PERMISSION, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK JUST A FEW QUESTIONS WITH REGARD TO THIS PARTICULAR PARAGRAPH.

# 13 Q:

AND YOU AGREE WITH CERTAIN ASPECTS REGARDING THE IMPORTANCE OF STOMACH CONTENTS?

# 14 THE COURT:

PROCEED.

# 15 MR. COCHRAN:

THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR.

# 16 Q:

DO YOU AGREE THAT IF STOMACH CONTENTS ARE PRESENT IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THE PATHOLOGIST TO TELL WITH REASONABLE ACCURACY OF WHAT THE LAST MEAL CONSISTED? DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT PRINCIPLE.

# 17 MS. CLARK:

OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR. THIS CALLS FOR SPECULATION. THIS IS BEYOND THIS WITNESS' FIELD OF EXPERTISE.

# 18 THE COURT:

OVERRULED.

# 19 Q:

BY MR. COCHRAN: CAN YOU ANSWER THAT?

# 20 A:

I DIDN'T SEE WHERE YOU WERE READING.

# 21 MR. COCHRAN:

I'M SORRY, SIR.

# 22 THE COURT:

SECOND SENTENCE.

# 23 Q:

SECOND SENTENCE. "IF STOMACH CONTENTS ARE PRESENT" -- DO YOU SEE THAT?

# 24 A:

YES.

# 25 Q:

-- "IT POSSIBLE FOR A PATHOLOGIST OR A DOCTOR TO TELL WITH REASONABLE ACCURACY WHAT THE LAST MEAL CONSISTED OF."

# 26 A:

THAT IS WHAT IT SAYS.

# 27 Q:

DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT?

# 28 A:

I SUPPOSE IT IS POSSIBLE.

# 29 Q:

ALL RIGHT. DO YOU AGREE ALSO THAT: "THE STOMACH WILL USUALLY BE EMPTY FROM FOUR TO SIX HOURS AFTER A MEAL HAS BEEN EATEN"? DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT PRINCIPLE?

# 30 A:

IF THE DIGESTION PROCESS HAS TAKEN PLACE, YES.

# 31 Q:

AND IF THE STOMACH IS FOUND TO BE WELL-FILLED WITH FOOD AND DIGESTION OF THE CONTENTS -- STRIKE I THAT. "IF THE STOMACH IS FOUND TO BE WELL-FILLED WITH FOOD, AND DIGESTION OF THE CONTENTS IS NOT EXTENSIVE, IT IS FAIR TO ASSUME THAT DEATH FOLLOWED SHORTLY AFTER THE MEAL." WOULD YOU AGREE WITH THAT GENERAL PRINCIPLE?

# 32 A:

GENERALLY, YES.

# 33 Q:

WOULD YOU AGREE THAT THIS ENTIRE PROCEDURE, WHICH IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE IN FIXING THE TIME OF DEATH, IS THE EXAMINATION OF THE STOMACH CONTENTS?

# 34 A:

IT IS ONE GENERAL FACTOR THAT COULD BE USED, YES.

# 35 Q:

WELL, DO YOU FEEL, AS I HAVE INDICATED AND ASKED YOU, DO YOU FEEL THAT IN ADDITION TO A GENERAL FACTOR, IT IS A FACTOR OF GREAT IMPORTANCE IN FIXING THE TIME OF DEATH, THE EXAMINATION OF THE STOMACH CONTENTS?

# 36 A:

I WOULD NOT RELY ENTIRELY ON IT. AGAIN IT IS ONE GENERAL FACTOR OF MANY.

KEY QUOTE

# 37 Q:

BUT YOU WOULD RELY UPON IT. ALL RIGHT. CONTINUING ON --

# 38 MS. CLARK:

WAS THAT A QUESTION? I DIDN'T HEAR AN ANSWER.

# 39 MR. COCHRAN:

I SAID DID YOU RELY UPON IT?

# 40 Q:

YOU WOULD RELY UPON IT ALONG WITH OTHER FACTORS; IS THAT RIGHT?

# 41 A:

ALONG WITH OTHER THINGS. I WOULDN'T SPECIFICALLY RELY UPON IT.

# 42 Q:

ALL RIGHT, SIR. "IF THE STOMACH IS ENTIRELY EMPTY, DEATH PROBABLY TOOK PLACE AT LEAST FOUR TO SIX HOURS AFTER THE LAST MEAL." DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT?

# 43 A:

AS A GENERAL STATEMENT, YES.

# 44 Q:

ALL RIGHT. "AND IN ADDITION, IF THE SMALL INTESTINE IS ALSO EMPTY, THE PROBABILITY IS THAT DEATH TOOK PLACE TWELVE OR MORE HOURS AFTER FOOD WAS LAST EATEN." DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT?

# 45 A:

THESE STATEMENTS DO NOT ADDRESS THE DIGESTION PROCESS CEASING AT THE TIME OF DEATH, SO I AM HAVING A BIT OF A PROBLEM WITH THEM.

KEY QUOTE

# 46 Q:

LET'S GO BACK AND I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT THIS STATEMENT; NOT WHAT YOU JUST INDICATED, SIR. IF THE SMALL INTESTINE IS ALSO EMPTY, WOULD YOU AGREE WITH THE STATEMENT THAT THE PROBABILITY IS THAT DEATH TOOK PLACE TWELVE OR MORE HOURS AFTER FOOD WAS LAST EATEN? DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT? IS THAT A PRINCIPLE WITH WHICH YOU AGREE?

# 47 A:

GENERALLY, YES.

# 48 Q:

DO YOU AGREE, FINALLY: "THAT THE INTERPRETATION OF THE VARIATIONS BETWEEN THESE EXTREMES MUST BE LEFT TO THE DOCTOR MAKING THE EXAMINATION"; IS THAT CORRECT?

# 49 A:

THAT'S CORRECT.

# 50 Q:

THIS WHOLE AREA IS AN AREA WHERE WE HAVE DOCTORS WHO ARE TRAINED TO LOOK AT THESE THINGS, THE STOMACH CONTENTS AND MAKE A JUDGMENT; IS THAT CORRECT, SIR?

# 51 A:

THAT IS DEFINITELY CORRECT, YES.

KEY QUOTE

# 52 Q:

AND YOU RELY UPON A FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST AS A MEMBER OF THE TEAM IN YOUR CASES THROUGHOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE; ISN'T THAT CORRECT, SIR?

# 53 A:

I DO.

# 54 MR. COCHRAN:

VERY WELL. THANK YOU VERY KINDLY, DETECTIVE LANGE. NOTHING FURTHER AT THIS POINT, YOUR HONOR.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (3)

Witness (Lange)

I WOULD NOT RELY ENTIRELY ON IT. AGAIN IT IS ONE GENERAL FACTOR OF MANY.

Lange's consistent hedging throughout — designed to minimize the importance of stomach content analysis to the prosecution's timeline.

Witness (Lange)

THESE STATEMENTS DO NOT ADDRESS THE DIGESTION PROCESS CEASING AT THE TIME OF DEATH, SO I AM HAVING A BIT OF A PROBLEM WITH THEM.

Lange's most substantive pushback, attempting to introduce a caveat not present in the published text Cochran is reading from.

Witness (Lange)

THAT IS DEFINITELY CORRECT, YES.

Lange concedes that forensic pathologists — not detectives — are the trained experts on stomach content interpretation, undercutting his own authority on the subject.

Evidence (1)

Informal

Lemoyne Snyder forensic pathology publication — specific paragraph on stomach contents and time of death

read aloud and used to elicit agreement from witness on foundational principles

Notable Exchanges (2)

Johnnie Cochran•Marcia Clark

Clark interrupts to note Cochran made a statement rather than asking a question ('But you would rely upon it') — Cochran rephrases as a proper question.

procedural, mildly adversarial

Johnnie Cochran•Witness (Lange)

Cochran reads each principle from the Snyder publication sequentially, forcing Lange to either agree or explain why the published science is wrong. Lange concedes each point only in 'general' terms.

strategic, methodical

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Lange

expertise limitation

Cochran gets Lange to affirm that forensic pathologists — not detectives — are the proper experts on stomach content analysis, implicitly undermining Lange's earlier testimony on time of death.

Objections

1 objections (0 sustained, 1 overruled)

Proceeding 5223 • 54 utterances • Prosecution witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103