📄 Closing argument — Marcia Clark (part 4) — Friday, September 29, 1995
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Closing argument — Marcia Clark (part 4)

Date: Friday, September 29, 1995 • Utterances: 28
Marcia Clark continues her closing argument, addressing witness credibility issues (Partridge, Arronson), the crescent moon/lighting conditions at Bundy on the night of the murders, the absence of dirt/mud at Rockingham, and blood evidence including EAP typing and DNA results on blood found under Nicole's fingernails and on the Bundy rear gate.
1 THE COURT:

All right. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Please be seated. And let the record reflect that we've been rejoined by all the members of our jury panel. Good afternoon again, ladies and gentlemen.

THE JURY: Good afternoon.

2 THE COURT:

And, Miss Clark, you may continue with your concluding summation.

3 MS. CLARK:

Thank you very much, your Honor. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

THE JURY: Good afternoon.

4 MS. CLARK:

I forget where I left off, so I'm just going to pick up with something else. There were some remarks made about the treatment given to some of the witnesses, and I confess that there are probably some I could have been nicer to. Mark Partridge came in to testify to the Defendant's demeanor when he came back from Chicago, and this kind of--it's a really good example of what I'm talking about. He made notes, detailed notes the next day, you might remember, of everything that the Defendant said to him and everything that he said to Mr. Simpson, and he copyrighted them. He copyrighted them. What does that mean? That means you have a proprietary interest in the material. The very next day after he speaks to him, he's going to sell these notes. He's going to make some money off of this.

5 MR. COCHRAN:

Your Honor, objection.

6 THE COURT:

Overruled.

7 MS. CLARK:

He's got some proprietary interest in this. Now, what kind of a man is that? What kind of a person is that? And it's very indicative. It's very, very consistent. You heard from Ellen Arronson. She came up to testify. She was the one, she said she called in to the police to say--she initially said that she heard the dogs barking at 11:30. Then she saw the preliminary and she realized, "I'd better call back again and change the time so I can make myself a witness," you know, a groupie. And, yeah, I don't like that kind of person. That doesn't belong in a criminal trial.

8 MR. COCHRAN:

Objection.

9 THE COURT:

Sustained. Sustained. Counsel, rephrase that, please.

10 MS. CLARK:

Okay. That's the kind of person that will offer any testimony they can to get their 15 minutes of fame. That's not the kind of testimony you can trust. At the end of the trial or end of the People's case, we had--or maybe it was the whole trial--we had the Judge take judicial notice of something, and I'm sure you were wondering what did that relate to. And the judicial notice that he took was that the moon on the night of June the 12th was a crescent moon, 12 percent illuminated. You may recall that. That's very important for two reasons. The first and most important reason is, it tells you what the lighting conditions were like that night. It was not a full moon. It was a dark night. Witnesses--their testimony has been referred to by Mr. Darden--have confirmed that it was dark. Officer Riske made it very clear it was dark. Sukru Boztepe, who was walking with the dog, said, "I would not have looked up there. I wouldn't have seen the body if the dog had not stopped and look at the pathway." That's important. So you have that judicial notice taken. That means it's an undisputed fact. You are to accept a 12 percent crescent moon.

When I cross-examined Miss Arronson and I asked her what was the moon like, "Oh, it was a full moon." "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm very sure." It's in the record. Have it read back. She was very sure. She was very wrong too. She also testified that she was very sure that she called the police officer to give her statement to him the first time on June the 14th. I showed her the police report. It said June the 15th. "Are you sure?" "I'm very sure." She's very sure about a lot of things, but one thing she really didn't know was when she was walking down the street. And you know how else you know she wasn't down that street when she said she was? Because Mark Storfer said he looked out his window at 10:23. I read it and I reviewed it. Now, I'm so tired I can't remember exactly. You can have it read back because I think what he said was 10:23.

11 MR. COCHRAN:

Objection.

12 MS. CLARK:

In any case--

13 THE COURT:

Excuse me, counsel. When there's an objection, please stop.

14 MS. CLARK:

I'm sorry. I didn't hear.

15 MR. COCHRAN:

Misstatement.

16 THE COURT:

Remember, you're the Judge of the facts. You're the sole Judge of the facts. Thank you, counsel. Proceed.

17 MS. CLARK:

Yes. And, you know, if you have a doubt about something I'm saying, please have it read back to you or look at your notes, okay, because I'm not trying to play fast and loose here. But it was within two minutes of when she passed Bundy that he looked out his window. If she's walking down Bundy in that light colored outfit that she said she was wearing on that night, he should have seen her when he looked north on Bundy because he said he looked out the window, looked north and he saw no one walking there, which is kind of--which is actually consistent with the other witnesses who don't say they saw anybody either. All the witnesses that were called by the Defense somehow were in the same place, none of them saw each other. Very weird. Defense has raised the issue about there being--why wasn't there dirt, why wasn't there mud at Rockingham tracked in the--tracked in the house on that light carpet. There wouldn't be--there was--

You saw the bloody shoeprints, and they faded out halfway down the Bundy walk to the point where there were no visible bloody shoeprints on that walk at the end of the walkway. Then you saw the imprint in the Bronco, so that whatever blood was left on the shoe was picked up by the soft tufts of the carpet. By the time he gets back to Rockingham, there isn't much left there. Whatever blood, whatever mud, whatever dirt he's got on his shoes, he's tracked off. This is common experience, you know. Either blood or mud, whatever you get on your shoes doesn't stay there forever. You walk, it comes off, and as you walk, more comes off. By the time he gets home, there's not a lot of excess there. Maybe there's some trace amount, but you're not going to notice that on a carpet. And so that in itself says nothing, and the testimony of their expert, Mr. MacDonell, I think even Dr. Lee does not dispute that.

18 MR. COCHRAN:

Objection. Misstatement, your Honor.

19 THE COURT:

Overruled.

20 MS. CLARK:

Of greater importance and I think actually--yes. Dr. Lee even testified--he was asked specifically if somebody walked through dirt, walked through berries, would you necessarily see it, and his answer was you might see it and you might not. The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, and that's what their witnesses have said. Now, there was an issue raised with respect to EAP. That's a conventional blood marker, okay. And you may recall there was testimony that Nicole Brown had an EAP type of BA. The blood under her fingernails was typed and came back with an EAP of B. We had testimony from Greg Matheson to indicate to you that that was degraded--that the BA degraded to a B. In order to confirm that it was her blood and not the blood of someone else, they did DNA testing on that blood, and the DNA confirmed that it was hers, it was her blood, and that it had degraded and it had degraded because, no. 1, the EAP marker degrades very rapidly, no. 2, her hand was in wet blood and blood in a wet state degrades quickly, more quickly than it will on a dried gate, for example, or in a dried condition. Now, there's more to that. First of all, Gary agreed--Gary Sims agreed with Greg Matheson in his conclusion that the blood under her fingernails was hers and not that of another perpetrator.

21 MR. SCHECK:

Objection. Misstates the evidence.

22 THE COURT:

Overruled. Counsel, you need not make that objection any further. I have instructed the jury that they are the sole judges of what the facts are in this case; and if counsel chooses to argue a line of argument that is in contradiction to what these jurors find to be the fact, they do so at their own peril. The objection is made. Thank you. Miss Clark.

23 MS. CLARK:

Thank you. Moreover, Dr. Lee, who was called by the Defense to testify, never contradicted that and he agreed that Greg Matheson was a good scientist. There was some testimony I think from Dr. Baden that you can get somehow the blood of someone under your nails without getting the skin under your nails. I don't see how that can possibly happen, but--

24 MR. SCHECK:

Objection. Objection.

25 THE COURT:

Overruled. Overruled, counsel.

26 MS. CLARK:

What is interesting is that the Defendant's EAP type is also a BA also. Now, the blood on the rear gate, the blood that came back to the RFLP testing, making the Defendant 1 in 57 billion or something, obviously, it's an identification. That's his blood. There's not even any dispute that that's his blood on the rear gate. That blood also had an EAP that was a BA degraded to a B.

27 MR. SCHECK:

Objection. That's not in the record.

28 THE COURT:

Hold on. Counsel, with the court reporter, please.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Marcia Clark
She was very sure about a lot of things, but one thing she really didn't know was when she was walking down the street.
Clark systematically dismantles Ellen Arronson's credibility by contrasting her confident certainty with factual errors about the moon phase and police report dates.
Marcia Clark
He copyrighted them. What does that mean? That means you have a proprietary interest in the material. The very next day after he speaks to him, he's going to sell these notes.
Clark attacks Mark Partridge's motive, framing him as a profiteer rather than a credible witness.
Marcia Clark
The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, and that's what their witnesses have said.
Clark reframes the lack of mud/dirt at Rockingham as meaningless, using the defense's own expert (Dr. Lee) against the defense's argument.
Lance A. Ito
if counsel chooses to argue a line of argument that is in contradiction to what these jurors find to be the fact, they do so at their own peril.
Ito shuts down repeated 'misstatement' objections by Scheck, reminding the jury they are the sole fact-finders — effectively protecting Clark's ability to argue her interpretation.

Evidence (6)

Informal
Judicial notice: crescent moon, 12% illuminated on night of June 12
discussed to establish dark lighting conditions at Bundy
Informal
Bloody shoeprints fading along Bundy walkway
discussed to explain absence of mud/blood tracked into Rockingham
Informal
Blood under Nicole Brown's fingernails — EAP type BA degraded to B, DNA confirmed as Nicole's
discussed to rebut defense suggestion of unknown perpetrator
Informal
Blood on rear gate — RFLP result 1 in 57 billion match to defendant, EAP BA degraded to B
discussed; Scheck objects that EAP result not in record
Informal
Bronco carpet imprint showing blood transfer
discussed to explain blood transfer from shoe to carpet
Informal
Ellen Arronson police report dated June 15 (not June 14 as she testified)
used to impeach Arronson's credibility

Notable Exchanges (2)

Lance A. ItoBarry Scheck
After multiple 'misstatement' objections from Scheck, Ito issues a pointed warning that counsel who argues contrary to the jury's factual findings 'do so at their own peril,' effectively telling Scheck to stop interrupting.
judicial rebuke
Lance A. ItoMarcia Clark
Clark admits she can't remember a specific time (Mark Storfer's 10:23 window observation), tells the jury to have it read back, and Ito reminds her to stop when there's an objection.
candid/slightly chaotic

Light Moments (2)

Marcia Clark
Clark openly admits 'I'm so tired I can't remember exactly' while trying to recall Mark Storfer's timeline testimony, then tells the jury to check the record themselves.
Marcia Clark
Clark confesses 'I forget where I left off, so I'm just going to pick up with something else' at the opening of her continued argument.

Credibility Attacks (2)

⚔ Mark Partridge
bias/motive
Clark argues Partridge copyrighted his notes the day after speaking with Simpson, showing he intended to profit from the testimony — undermining his reliability as a disinterested witness.
⚔ Ellen Arronson
prior inconsistent statement
Clark highlights Arronson's false certainty about the full moon (contradicted by judicial notice of 12% crescent), wrong date of her police statement (June 14 vs. June 15 on the report), and unverified claim of walking down Bundy (contradicted by Storfer seeing no one on the street at the same time).

Objections

8 objections (1 sustained, 5 overruled)
Proceeding 7889 • 28 utterances
Criminal Trial
Department 103
⚖️ Start
📂 SEP 29, 1995 📄 Closing argument — Marcia Clar
SEP 29, 1995 KRT DvH TD