Direct examination of Bettina Rasmussen

📄 Direct examination of Bettina Rasmussen — Friday, July 1, 1994

Address:

C:\DEPT103\PRELIMINARY\1994\JUL\1\DIRECT-EXAMINATION-OF-BETTINA-.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 2 of 6

◀ Redirect examination of Sukru Boztepe Cross-examination of Bettina Rasmussen ▶

Witness: Bettina Rasmussen
Examiner: Marcia Clark
Called by: Prosecution • Date: Friday, July 1, 1994 • Lines: 86

Bettina Rasmussen testified that while walking with her husband and an unfamiliar dog on June 12, 1994, the dog led them to the Bundy walkway where they discovered a woman's body. She described the area as very dark, said no one approached the path before police arrived, and explained that a photograph of the scene was taken from a different position than where she had stood.

# 1 MS. CLARK:

People call Bettina Rasmussen.

# 2 THE COURT:

Face the clerk and raise your right hand, please. THE COURT CLERK: You do solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give in the cause now pending before this Court, shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God.

# 3 BETTINA RASMUSSEN:

Yes. bettina rasmussen, CALLED AS A WITNESS ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE, WAS EXAMINED AND TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS: THE COURT CLERK: Thank you, be seated. State and spell your name for the record.

# 4 BETTINA RASMUSSEN:

Bettina Rasmussen, B-E-T-T-I-N-A, my surname is spelled, R-A-S-M-U-S-S-E-N.

# 5 THE COURT:

You may proceed.

# 6 MS. CLARK:

Thank you.

# 7

DIRECT EXAMINATION

# 8

BY MS. CLARK:

# 9 Q:

Miss Rasmussen, are you married to Sukru Boztepe?

# 10 A:

Yes.

# 11 Q:

Is that the man who just left this court as you came in?

# 12 A:

Yes.

# 13 Q:

Directing your attention to the night of June the 12th, 1994, did you go with him for a walk That night?

# 14 A:

Yes.

# 15 Q:

With a dog?

# 16 A:

Yes.

# 17 Q:

Was that a dog that you had not previously seen before that night?

# 18 A:

I never seen it before.

# 19 Q:

Pardon?

# 20 A:

I never seen it before.

# 21 Q:

Do you recall where the dog led you?

# 22 A:

It took us down Bundy, off left side from Montana. And suddenly, it drag -- it somehow wanted to go to the other side of the road, and we was following, and Sukru -- the other side it stopped and turned, and looked at the walkway. And my husband is turning the same way and he's saying to me, "there's a body, dead body," and I'm looking and turning around very fast again.

# 23 Q:

And you saw it as well?

# 24 A:

Yeah.

# 25 Q:

Did either of you walk up the path to where you saw the woman's body?

# 26 A:

No.

# 27 Q:

Did the dog do that?

# 28 A:

no.

# 29 Q:

I'm going to show you very briefly a photograph that's contained on People's 5, labeled B. I'd like you to tell me, if you could, if this is the scene you saw that night with your husband?

# 30 A:

I don't remember it that way.

# 31 Q:

What is different about this photograph that you remember?

# 32 A:

I feel was closer on the other side of the gate, and I could see her face. It's what I remember.

KEY QUOTE

# 33 Q:

This looks farther away to you?

# 34 A:

Yeah, but I didn't stand -- not this way, I was more on the right side.

# 35 Q:

You were standing off to an angle?

# 36 A:

Yeah.

# 37 Q:

So, if this photograph was taken from a different position than you saw, it would look different?

# 38 A:

Maybe.

# 39 MR. SHAPIRO:

Objection, calls for speculation.

# 40 THE COURT:

sustained as to the form of the question.

# 41

BY MS. CLARK:

# 42 Q:

You were not standing directly at the beginning of the path leading up to where you saw the woman?

# 43 A:

No. My husband and dog was standing there, and I came like a little bit -- I mean I came on the same side and moved behind, moved to right side.

KEY QUOTE

# 44 Q:

You were off to the right?

# 45 A:

Yeah.

# 46 Q:

But other than that, does this look like the scene that you saw?

# 47 A:

Yeah.

# 48 Q:

Between the time that you -- well, strike that. Did you and your husband attempt to get the police?

# 49 A:

I couldn't hear you.

# 50 Q:

Did you or your husband attempt to get the police?

# 51 A:

Yeah.

# 52 Q:

Did you see the police arrive?

# 53 A:

Yeah.

# 54 Q:

Between the time that you saw the woman and you saw the -- you saw the police arrive, did anyone approach up that path toward where she was?

# 55 A:

No.

# 56 Q:

That night, can you describe the lighting in the area where you saw the woman?

# 57 A:

It was very dark, except those street light was kind of yellow, and I guess it was on the other side of Bundy. So, it was like very dark, and like this yellow lighting, orange lighting. So, not very bright, it was very dark.

KEY QUOTE

# 58 Q:

Were there any lights on the building, the exterior of the building, that you saw her body next to?

# 59 A:

I don't know the building, but the walkway, I don't remember it was any light.

# 60 Q:

Very dark there?

# 61 A:

Very dark.

# 62 Q:

Did you see any other body lying on the ground besides the woman?

# 63 A:

No, I turned around very fast.

# 64 Q:

Now, since that night, have you driven by that location?

# 65 A:

A couple of times, yeah.

# 66 Q:

Did you notice what the lighting was like in the pathway, on those other nights, after you saw the woman's body?

# 67 A:

There's two lights now.

KEY QUOTE

# 68 Q:

There's two lights that you've seen since then?

# 69 A:

Yeah.

# 70 Q:

Where?

# 71 A:

One in the middle of the walkway, and one around the gate, where you open the gate.

# 72 Q:

When you say, "the gate," the gate by which you saw the woman's body?

# 73 A:

Yeah.

# 74 Q:

And are those lights bright?

# 75 A:

Not very bright. It's what's called dim or something, it's not very bright, it's -- I don't know what you call.

# 76 Q:

But you did not see those lights on the night that you saw the woman?

# 77 A:

no.

# 78 Q:

Had you ever gone by that location before that night?

# 79 A:

A couple of times, long time ago. Normally I'm not going that way.

# 80 Q:

I'm sorry?

# 81 A:

Normally I'm not walking that way, but couple of years ago, I've been passing by at nighttime.

# 82 Q:

Do you recall what the lighting was like on those nights, at that location?

# 83 A:

I never knew about the house, it was just walking there to get home.

# 84 Q:

So, you didn't pay attention for that night?

# 85 A:

No.

# 86 MS. CLARK:

I have nothing further.

Temperature

routine

Key Quotes (5)

Bettina Rasmussen

And my husband is turning the same way and he's saying to me, "there's a body, dead body," and I'm looking and turning around very fast again.

Rasmussen described the moment she and her husband discovered the woman's body after following the dog to the Bundy walkway.

Bettina Rasmussen

I feel was closer on the other side of the gate, and I could see her face. It's what I remember.

She explained why the photograph on People's 5 did not precisely match her memory of the scene and established that she saw the woman's face.

Bettina Rasmussen

It was very dark, except those street light was kind of yellow, and I guess it was on the other side of Bundy.

This established the poor lighting conditions under which Rasmussen observed the scene.

Bettina Rasmussen

No.

Rasmussen testified that nobody approached the path between her discovery of the woman and the arrival of police, helping establish that the scene remained undisturbed during that interval.

Bettina Rasmussen

There's two lights now.

She noted that two walkway or gate lights were visible on later visits but had not been illuminated when she discovered the body.

Evidence (1)

People's 5

A photograph labeled B depicting the Bundy walkway and the scene where Rasmussen saw the woman's body; she said the viewpoint differed from where she had stood but otherwise recognized the scene.

displayed and discussed

Notable Exchanges (3)

Marcia Clark•Bettina Rasmussen

Clark showed Rasmussen photograph B on People's 5. Rasmussen initially said she did not remember the scene that way because she had stood farther to the right and believed the body was closer to the other side of the gate; she ultimately agreed it otherwise looked like the scene.

revealing

Marcia Clark•Robert Shapiro•Kathleen Kennedy-Powell

Clark asked Rasmussen to agree that a photograph taken from another position would look different. Shapiro objected that the question called for speculation, and the court sustained the objection as to form.

procedural

Marcia Clark•Bettina Rasmussen

Rasmussen testified that the walkway was very dark on June 12, while two dim lights appeared near the walkway and gate on her later visits; she said she had not seen those lights on the night of the discovery.

revealing

Objections

1 objections (1 sustained, 0 overruled)

Proceeding 9095 • 86 lines • Prosecution witness

Preliminary Trial

Department 103