If it please the court, mindful as we are of the fact that the jury needs to conclude this case, we brought into town on Tuesday to have them at their ready two witnesses from the other side of the country relating to Mr. Fuhrman. The names have been listed. The notes of their interviews were turned over a long, long time ago. They are Natalie Singer. Natalie Singer in 1987 suffered a kidney stone attack, was taken to the hospital. While there, her roommate met two officers in the emergency room, Mark Fuhrman and Tom Vettraino, his then partner. Miss Hannak, the roommate, became friendly with Officer Vettraino who used to visit the apartment of Hannak and Singer with Mark Fuhrman. On the very first visit with Miss Singer present in the room--it is a very small apartment or was--Mark Fuhrman regaled his audience with tales of how he liked to take niggers into the alley and hit them with a baton and practice his kicks upon them until they twitched and how it relieved his tensions to have such an experience. He visited one or two more times to the disgust of this witness. And finally, on a third or fourth occasion, she was looking out her bathroom window when the pair arrived on duty, uniformed, but, of course, taking a little time off to socialize. As they started up the sidewalk, she yelled out the window, "Hello, Tom." Officer Fuhrman responded in vintage Fuhrman, "That fucking bitch," at which point, principally because of his revolting racial conduct, she ordered him never to come in the apartment again. He went back to the cruiser. Vettraino came in and visited. Vettraino was a witness to each of Fuhrman's utterances that I have described. This occurred in the fall of 1987. In late 1986, Mark Fuhrman made the acquaintance--I use that word sparingly--of Roderic Hodge, recently released from active duty in the Marine Corps, a member of the reserve, who was earning his room and board by supervising a certain small apartment building within Fuhrman's territory. Fuhrman had expressed an interest in Hodge's brother-in-law, Juan Sykes by name now deceased, and was querying Hodge on a regular basis as to whether he and Sykes were involved in some elicit activity. On January 10th, 1987, Hodge came out of a passageway in the building that he supervised and knocked down someone that he didn't recognize. The following day, officers came to arrest him, and Officer Fuhrman and Vettraino took him downtown in the cruiser. Vettraino was driving. Fuhrman was in the front seat. Officer Fuhrman turned around and said to Hodge, "I told you I'd get you, Nigger." He then learned and commented unfavorably on the fact that Mr. Hodge's mother is white and that the couple is racially mixed. At the police station, he told Mr. Hodge to undress and bend over, and while looking at his backside said, "You do all look alike, don't you?" Hodge was then prosecuted, not on the charge of assaulting Mark Fuhrman for which he was arrested, but on some kind of conspiracy charge having to do with drugs. He and his codefendant, I believe a man named earl gray, were tried in the superior court in West Los Angeles in Santa Monica and acquitted. Those are the two witnesses that we have available. Now, you had indicated earlier and I took a moment to reaffirm your Honor's ruling made many months ago that in order to cross-examine Mark Fuhrman on incidents such as this--and this ruling arose from the Cordoba confusion, as you remember--that it would be necessary that the witnesses testify and that you have some assurance that they would say what the offer of proof said that they would say.
And I believe it appropriate to put them on as well as Angela Terry and Kathleen Bell, Kathleen Bell having been introduced into this case by the Prosecution for the purpose of showing that she lied about even knowing Fuhrman and, therefore, a witness who I assume is not only permissible, but essential at this point. We will prove that she knew him far too well. They are scheduled for Tuesday first up once you have whatever legal matters are necessary out of the way. The remaining two witnesses are Fuhrman's partner Vettraino. We obviously have a foundation to ask him whether or not he was present at the several incidents I've described because the witnesses by that point will have said so and then he can decide how he will respond to whether or not he heard these words. And finally we have Dr. Goulston employed by the Prosecution apparently to condition and we think possibly medicate Mark Fuhrman for his performance on that stand who sat here when I pointed to him and asked Fuhrman if he knew him, he said he didn't, and the Prosecutor sat silent, knowing full well that he was a member of their team. Those are the people that we have in addition to Kathleen Bell and Angela Terry that we would like to put on. We are prepared to put Miss Singer and Mr. Hodge on this morning so that we don't waste the morning. Thank you.
You know, I think we're way beyond the point of what is ridiculous, but let me say this. The court ruled earlier that neither Hodge nor Singer would be allowed to testify in these proceedings unless and until the court had the opportunity to hear from Kathleen Bell and Angela Terry. There's a 352 issue as to Hodge and Singer. Cheri Lewis filed a motion with the court and argued that issue to the court, and the court issued its ruling. I don't know why they have Hodge and Terry here today. The court has not indicated that they will be allowed to testify in this proceeding. I haven't read the file completely on Hodge and Terry. However--
I'm sorry. Hodge and Singer. But in the event they do call Mr. Hodge at some point, then we'll have another little mini trial in this case, the mini trial of Mr. Hodge. At any point or any event, I'm not ready for that. The court shouldn't allow them to attempt to force us into hearing testimony from these two witnesses today. I will say this. Some of what I hear today from Mr. Bailey, I have never heard or read before. I think there may be a discovery issue on some of what Mr. Bailey said. At any event, we're not ready to go forward on Singer and Hodge. We have had no indication from the court that they'll be allowed to testify. I don't know why the Defense doesn't have witnesses here today, witnesses who are on the witness list and who have been approved by the court already as witnesses who have relevant and probative testimony to offer this jury. And what's going on here today? Are we going to allow the jury to sit another day and then three days over the weekend?
We should work tomorrow. We should work tonight. Let's get this thing on, Judge. If they want to call Andrea Terry or Kathleen Bell, they did not indicate that they would call them today. But I will prepare to cross-examine those witnesses, myself and Miss Clark. We will get ready this morning if they'd like. But Singer and Hodge, they should be off limits as they have been.
If it please the court, I also called Mr. Taylor Daniel who is inscripting or enrolling his daughter in college in Michigan. He had planned to spend the week there on Tuesday and said so as not to delay the court--we did not anticipate you would be two days making your ruling--that we needed to have him here with Miss Bell. Now, we have never spoken to Miss Bell and I don't think they have either. She's willing to testify and that's it. He came all the way back the following morning anticipating that he would be here with his client. When we found out the ruling would come down Friday morning, we anticipated the morning would be spent putting in the evidence that you would permit as to Laura hart McKinny. We didn't learn till last night that that would be much truncated. I had already committed to Mr. Taylor Daniel down in Torrance that he would be the first witness Monday, because I thought we could get rid of the two witnesses who are now asked to sit here the whole labor day weekend because Mr. Darden isn't ready. Mr. Darden is able to get ready quickly. He's known all about these people. These are the last witnesses in the case. And if he's not ready to confront them when they finish testifying, I recommend that he sit down because he knows, as the jury never will, that they're telling the absolute truth. I would like to put them on today and not put them up over the weekend. They would like to go home and the jury would like to hear some evidence.
Your Honor, Mr. Bailey scheduled witnesses in derogation of the court's own order. We had no duty to be ready on these witnesses, no responsibility whatsoever and we are not. And I'm sorry that that upsets Mr. Bailey. I'm sorry that he is upset with the court's ruling, but it's been three days now--
I might be able to get her here tomorrow, but I thought if we got to anyone today, I held them specifically that in the unlikelihood that you would be able to hear them today because we would be tied up with other matters on the chance they could go home, Miss Singer and Mr. Hodge. In addition, your Honor, Mr. Hodge is here with his lawyer who's been here since Wednesday, and we're bearing those expenses as we must. Now, to say that families can't spend the labor day weekend together because Mr. Darden isn't ready to cross-examine is pretty poor response with me.
We know we're missing cartoons tomorrow. We can work through the day. No big deal, your Honor. We can move along.
KEY QUOTEAll right. What else do you have besides Hodge and Singer available today? How about Miss McKinny?
Mark Fuhrman regaled his audience with tales of how he liked to take niggers into the alley and hit them with a baton and practice his kicks upon them until they twitched and how it relieved his tensions to have such an experience.
Officer Fuhrman turned around and said to Hodge, 'I told you I'd get you, Nigger.'
he knows, as the jury never will, that they're telling the absolute truth.
We know we're missing cartoons tomorrow. We can work through the day. No big deal, your Honor. We can move along.
I don't know why the Defense doesn't have witnesses here today, witnesses who are on the witness list and who have been approved by the court already as witnesses who have relevant and probative testimony to offer this jury.