📄 Closing argument — Christopher Darden — Friday, September 29, 1995
Address:
C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\SEP\29\CLOSING-ARGUMENT-CHRISTOPHER-D.DOC
TRIAL
▲ Day 164 of 167

Closing argument — Christopher Darden

Date: Friday, September 29, 1995 • Utterances: 10
Christopher Darden delivers the final portion of his closing argument, focusing primarily on Robert Heidstra's testimony to argue that the vehicle seen leaving Bundy that night was Simpson's white Bronco, and that there was sufficient time to drive from the crime scene to Rockingham by 10:52. He closes with an emotional appeal to the jury to be objective and fair, declaring himself 'the messenger' of the evidence that Simpson killed two innocent people.
1 (The following proceedings were held in open court, in the presence of the jury:)
2 THE COURT:

All right. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Please be seated. The record should reflect that we have been rejoined by all the members of our jury panel. I just want to make sure we are safe. Mr. Darden, you may continue.

3 MR. DARDEN:

Thank you, your Honor. Good morning again. I'm just about done. Just about done, because I'm very anxious to get this case to you so that you can resolve it, so that we can have some closure as it relates to this case. One of the things that was mentioned the other day was something about Robert Heidstra, and you remember Mr. Heidstra. He was the witness who had the laminated letter from F. Lee Bailey saying he was going to be an important witness for the Defense. And much to do was made about Mr. Heidstra and why we didn't call him, we, the Prosecution didn't call him, and I think it was suggested that we didn't call him because he didn't fit our timeline.

Well, they don't know what we are thinking. They can't read our minds. They called Robert Heidstra in the Defense case. They don't know whether or not we were going to call him in the rebuttal case. They don't know that. Robert Heidstra is a very important witness. They called him. Fine. As long you heard the testimony, that is all that mattered. He testified that he left his house around 10:15, right? Isn't that what he testified to? He said he saw the clock in his apartment, as I recall. He left with his dogs. He left on a walk. He walked around the block. Halfway around the block, and as he approached Bundy, he heard these dogs barking, and he told you that it was around 10:30. And I asked him some questions. I asked him did you look at your watch when you first heard those dogs barking? No. All he could do was give you an approximation as to what time he heard those dogs barking, and in his best estimate, his best guess, it was about 10:30. And so he says he heard Kato, the dog, bark around 10:30 and that he changed directions and walked down that alleyway. He walked down the alley on the opposite side of Bundy. That is the side opposite from Nicole's condo. He walks down the alley. And as he walks down the alley he heard someone yell, "Hey, hey, hey." And he stopped and he paused and he told you that "Hey, hey, hey" voice sounded to him to be the voice of a young man, and he also told you that he heard the voice of another man, an older man, perhaps with a heavier voice. Remember that? Remember that? And he continued to walk down that alleyway, and when he got down to Dorothy he looked west toward Bundy and what did he see? What did he tell you he saw? He saw a vehicle coming east from the direction, from the direction of the alleyway, the alleyway that ran up behind Nicole Brown's condo. It was his vehicle. It was the Defendant.

4 MR. COCHRAN:

Your Honor, I object. That misstates the evidence, your Honor.

5 THE COURT:

Overruled.

6 MR. DARDEN:

I asked Mr. Heidstra what color was that vehicle? He said it was white. Just like the Defendant's vehicle. I asked him if the vehicle had tinted windows? He said it did. You look at the pictures of the Defendant's Bronco. Tinted windows.

Yesterday someone stood up here and said to you Heidstra never said anything about Bronco. He said a Jeep or a van. I asked Mr. Heidstra about the vehicle he saw and he told you right here on the witness stand that the vehicle he saw was a Blazer or a Bronco. I asked him specifically. I asked him that specifically at pages 36339 and 36471. And at 36339 he told you--he testified. He was a Defense witness. He testified that the vehicle he saw could have been a Bronco. He didn't look at his watch. He didn't look to see what time it was when he first saw that Bronco. And what did that Bronco do?

7 MR. COCHRAN:

Your Honor, misstates the evidence again, your Honor.

8 THE COURT:

Counsel, ladies and gentlemen, you've heard all the evidence. As I indicated to you when we started these arguments, counsel may argue to you the evidence and draw reasonable inferences from that evidence; however, you are the exclusive judges as to what facts exist from the evidence in this case. Proceed, counsel.

9 MR. DARDEN:

Thank you, your Honor. And that is true. But this is their witness. This is Robert Heidstra. That is what he testified to here in the transcript. It could have been a Bronco. It could have been a Bronco. That is what he said. Chevy Blazer or a Bronco. Remember that? And I asked him a question. Okay. Well, you say Chevy Blazer or a Bronco. I asked him a question at page 36471. I asked Mr. Heidstra: "A Chevy Blazer and a Ford Bronco looks very much alike to you, doesn't it?"

And his answer was: "Yeah, they look alike. Certainly from a distance." I would suggest to you that the vehicle Heidstra saw leaving Bundy that night was a white Bronco. It is a white Bronco that has all that blood in it. It is the white Bronco that is parked askew at the Defendant's house. This is their witness. And I said it the other day and I will say it again today, I don't care what the time is. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all. He didn't look at his watch at the time that he saw that Bronco or that Blazer. And I asked him about that and I asked him if he looked at his watch and he told us he didn't look at his watch. And then I asked him how long it would take to get from Bundy to the Defendant's house, because as you recall, Mr. Heidstra washed cars, detailed cars for the Salingers, the people that lived directly next door to the Defendant's property. And I asked him at page 36413, counsel, at line 3, I asked him: "Mr. Heidstra, would they have enough time to drive to 360 north Rockingham at arrive by 10:52? " his answer:

"Yes, you could do it. Yes, sure." And I went on to ask him: "You could arrive there by 10:45, correct?" Line 14 page 36413, and at line 15 on that same page his answer was: "Right, yes." They want you to believe that Kato Kaelin heard the thumps at 10:45, and Miss Clark will explain to you how it is that we extrapolate some of the facts, some of the hard facts in this case, facts that can't be disputed and when you consider all the testimony and facts that help establish what time Kato Kaelin actually heard those thumps. But it doesn't matter. If Kaelin says 10:45 and that is his best estimate, Mr. Heidstra says, hey, there is enough time to drive that Bronco from this death scene, this scene of murder, to the Defendant's house. And finally we get to gloves. Finally we come around full circle once again to the issue of gloves. And I watched one of the Defense lawyers stand up here and pull a watch cap over their head and ask you what they looked like, if it changed their appearance. Well, you know, in a lighted courtroom at the intersection of Temple and Broadway it probably doesn't change his appearance at all, especially after somebody has been standing up in front of you for two or three hours. But the issue is would it change his appearance? Would it affect one's ability to recognize him if it was ten o'clock at night? How about 10:03? Will it affect your ability to recognize him in the dark? And what if he had on dark cotton sweats? And what if it was dark out there in front of that condo the way Officer Riske described? What if he had a big knife? These little demonstrations, what we saw, and then we saw one of the lawyers struggle with a pair of gloves. These are the gloves. These gloves are size small. The Defendant's gloves were extra large. We heard so much about the scriptures. I'm not even going to read it. Just read proverbs 6 one day when this is all over. Now, if I'm the messenger, you know I have delivered the message as best as I could, and the message is that he killed these two people and that is what the evidence dictates. They mess around with our science evidence and stuff and try to cause you to lose confidence in that evidence, but Marcia Clark will go back and go over some of the--some of the points we think you might be interested in hearing about, to sort of straighten that out. But I know that you are going to do a good job when you go into the jury room. All I could ever ask from you and all that I ask from you today is that you try and be as objective as you possibly can be, that you not allow any passion or emotion or any bias, any of that human feeling--these human feelings we all have to interfere with the decision you have to make. When I stood before you back in January I said there were many victims in this case. And there are many interests involved in this case. It is an important case to O.J. Simpson and it is an important case to the victims and their families. We just want you to be fair. I just want you to do the right thing. That means the right thing under the law.

We believe we have proven this case beyond a reasonable doubt. And it is unfortunate, it is unfortunate what jealousy does to you. It is unfortunate that obsession. It is unfortunate that obsession can do these things to you. It is unfortunate that two innocent people are dead because this got in this man's way. That is the message we wanted to deliver and I'm the messenger and I'm proud to have delivered it. I thank you for your verdict in advance, in the event I don't get a chance to talk to you then. All of us owe you a debt gratitude. God bless you.

10 THE COURT:

Miss Clark.

Temperature

emotional

Key Quotes (4)

Christopher Darden
I would suggest to you that the vehicle Heidstra saw leaving Bundy that night was a white Bronco. It is a white Bronco that has all that blood in it. It is the white Bronco that is parked askew at the Defendant's house. This is their witness.
Darden turns a Defense witness against the Defense, using Heidstra's own testimony to place Simpson's Bronco at the scene.
Christopher Darden
It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all. He didn't look at his watch at the time that he saw that Bronco or that Blazer.
Preemptively defuses the Defense's timeline attack by arguing the window of opportunity existed regardless of precise timing.
Christopher Darden
These gloves are size small. The Defendant's gloves were extra large.
A direct rebuttal to the Defense's glove demonstration, implying the courtroom theatrics used the wrong size gloves.
Christopher Darden
It is unfortunate that obsession can do these things to you. It is unfortunate that two innocent people are dead because this got in this man's way. That is the message we wanted to deliver and I'm the messenger and I'm proud to have delivered it.
Darden's closing emotional appeal — attributing the murders to jealousy and obsession, a rare moment of prosecutorial moral directness.

Evidence (5)

Informal
Robert Heidstra's trial testimony, specifically transcript pages 36339, 36471, and 36413, regarding the white vehicle he saw leaving Bundy
discussed, argued
Informal
Photographs of Simpson's white Ford Bronco showing tinted windows
referenced
Informal
Blood evidence inside Simpson's white Bronco
referenced
Informal
Gloves used in Defense's courtroom demonstration (described as size small, contrasted with Simpson's extra-large gloves)
challenged
Informal
Kato Kaelin's testimony about hearing thumps at approximately 10:45
referenced

Notable Exchanges (2)

Johnnie CochranLance A. Ito
Cochran objects twice — both times claiming Darden misstates the evidence regarding Heidstra's description of the vehicle. Ito overrules both but uses the second as an opportunity to instruct the jury that they are the exclusive judges of the facts.
strategic
Christopher DardenLance A. Ito
Ito gives Darden permission to continue after Cochran's second objection, and Darden thanks him and presses on, repeating the Bronco argument with added emphasis.
procedural

Light Moments (1)

Christopher Darden
Darden dismisses the Defense's watch-cap demonstration with dry skepticism: 'you know, in a lighted courtroom at the intersection of Temple and Broadway it probably doesn't change his appearance at all, especially after somebody has been standing up in front of you for two or three hours.'

Credibility Attacks (2)

⚔ Defense closing argument
factual rebuttal
Darden directly contradicts the Defense's claim that Heidstra said 'Jeep or van,' citing specific transcript page numbers where Heidstra said the vehicle 'could have been a Bronco' and agreed a Blazer and Bronco 'look alike.'
⚔ Defense glove demonstration
factual rebuttal
Darden notes the gloves used in the Defense's courtroom demonstration were size small, while Simpson's actual gloves were extra large, implying the demonstration was staged to be misleading.

Objections

2 objections (0 sustained, 2 overruled)
Proceeding 7880 • 10 utterances
Criminal Trial
Department 103
⚖️ Start
📂 SEP 29, 1995 📄 Closing argument — Christopher
SEP 29, 1995 KRT DvH TD