📄 Sidebar — Wednesday, September 6, 1995
Address:
C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\SEP\6\SIDEBAR.DOC
TRIAL
▲ Day 148 of 167

Sidebar

Date: Wednesday, September 6, 1995 • Utterances: 12
A sidebar erupts over whether Cochran can ask questions about 'cover-ups' referenced in the Fuhrman tapes. Darden argues the witness (presumably Laura McKinny) volunteered the cover-up reference unprompted during his cross, leaving him no choice but to address it. The sidebar ends abruptly and memorably when Judge Ito's impatient tone prompts Cochran to push back sharply: 'I'm a man just like you are, your Honor.'
1 THE COURT:

Side bar.

2 (The following proceedings were held at the bench:)
3 THE COURT:

All right. We are over at the side Mr. Cochran.

4 MR. COCHRAN:

Your Honor--

5 THE COURT:

What is your intended question?

6 MR. COCHRAN:

Well, my intended question was that he talked with--Mr. Fuhrman in the course of these tapes talked about cover-ups, Men Against Women or how women reacted. He opened the door, your Honor. He talked about cover-ups and he tried to limit it to Miss Clark or Miss Lewis asking the question. There are many other cover-ups that took place and we have a right to bring that up. I didn't bring that up. You limited us and I didn't do it. I sat down.

7 THE COURT:

Mr. Darden, why did you write that up.

8 MR. DARDEN:

I didn't bring that up. She unloaded on me, okay, and mentioned the word cover-up and I went back to it to clarify the fact that what she was talking about was I asked about recognition by the LAPD, that they recognized that female officers don't perform well in the field and that--and that--and that in Fuhrman's view the department covered that problem up. She unloaded that on me. That wasn't in direct response to a question. She unloaded that on me in front of the jury. She is their witness. It is obvious she is biased for the Defense. What am I to do? We have this highly inflammatory and volatile issue here in front of the jury. I'm trying to do my cross. She unloaded me. I tried to repair some of the damage. I did not go into the issue of cover-ups.

9 THE COURT:

So what are you going to ask in response to this, Mr. Cochran?

10 MR. COCHRAN:

I have the right, it seems to me, to ask the question.

11 THE COURT:

That is not what I asked. I asked you what are you going to ask?

12 MR. COCHRAN:

Your Honor, I resent that tone. I'm a man just like you are, your Honor. I resent that tone, your Honor. I resent that tone, your Honor.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (3)

Johnnie Cochran
I'm a man just like you are, your Honor. I resent that tone, your Honor. I resent that tone, your Honor.
A striking moment of direct personal confrontation with the judge — Cochran refuses to be spoken to dismissively and says so on the record, three times.
Christopher Darden
She unloaded that on me in front of the jury. She is their witness. It is obvious she is biased for the Defense. What am I to do?
Darden openly calls out McKinny as a biased defense witness and frames his follow-up questioning as damage control, not door-opening.
Johnnie Cochran
He opened the door, your Honor. He talked about cover-ups and he tried to limit it to Miss Clark or Miss Lewis asking the question. There are many other cover-ups that took place and we have a right to bring that up.
Cochran's legal argument — that Darden's redirect opened the door to broader cover-up inquiry beyond what the prosecution wanted to limit.

Evidence (1)

Informal
The Fuhrman tapes — specifically statements about cover-ups and 'Men Against Women' / female officers in the field
discussed

Notable Exchanges (2)

Lance A. ItoJohnnie Cochran
Ito impatiently cuts off Cochran's legal argument and demands to know specifically what question he intends to ask. Cochran responds to the tone rather than the question, openly rebuking the judge on the record.
heated
Lance A. ItoChristopher Darden
Ito challenges Darden on why he raised the cover-up topic during cross. Darden defends himself by arguing the witness volunteered the term unprompted.
tense

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Laura McKinny
bias
Darden explicitly tells the judge the witness 'is obviously biased for the Defense' to explain why her volunteered testimony about cover-ups was prejudicial and why he had to address it on cross.

Objections

None recorded
Proceeding 7524 • 12 utterances
Criminal Trial
Department 103
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📂 SEP 6, 1995 📄 Sidebar
SEP 6, 1995 KRT DvH TD