LIVE: Robert Durst testifies at his murder trial in Los Angeles — Transcript
Full transcript
- 0:00for persons who might have difficulty
- 0:02wearing masks when when speaking
- 0:05and so
- 0:06i i have allowed that
- 0:09but we do need to be as careful as we
- 0:11can and even those persons are required
- 0:13to put their masks back back on as uh
- 0:16when when you're not speaking dr loftus
- 0:19thank you
- 0:20so um let me see are we ready
- 0:23not yet
- 0:24i'll give you a minute we won't
- 0:27want that to work
- 0:39yes good morning mr chestnut
- 0:41goodness good morning
- 0:46[Applause]
- 1:05so
- 1:23down
- 1:32so
- 1:49uh
- 2:06thank you
- 2:09all good
- 2:14all right this um
- 2:15moment of tranquility was uh i hope you
- 2:18enjoyed that that moment
- 2:21now back to the adversarial process
- 2:24and we will
- 2:27all right so uh dr loftus as i mentioned
- 2:30has uh has returned to the witness stand
- 2:31i'll remind you that you
- 2:33remain under oath yes and uh mr lewin
- 2:37you may
- 2:38continue with your cross-examination of
- 2:40the witness
- 2:42doc laughs i promise we're almost three
- 2:45quarters done
- 2:46i'm just kidding i promise we'll be done
- 2:48before the lunch hour objection
- 2:54i can go on longer sure
- 2:56so when we left off last thursday we
- 2:59left off very suddenly kind of in the
- 3:01middle of something and i just want to
- 3:02make sure that
- 3:03where we are you had just given your
- 3:05answer i'd asked you a hypothetical
- 3:08about the six to eight witnesses most of
- 3:10whom did not know each other
- 3:11all of whom had said they never
- 3:13discussed anything with each other and
- 3:15all of whom
- 3:16had said that either they had no outside
- 3:19information
- 3:20or they had an extremely strong memory
- 3:22of the actual statements from the close
- 3:24friend
- 3:25about her participation in helping to
- 3:28cover up a murder and that they were not
- 3:30influenced in any way by any outside
- 3:33statements or outside information do you
- 3:34remember that hypothetical
- 3:37something like that yes and
- 3:40i asked you then the question was would
- 3:42you read it in such a scenario
- 3:45if that were true that the witness
- 3:47memories would they absolutely
- 3:48corroborate each other and you responded
- 3:50quote if that had happened and there was
- 3:52no suggestion and you had multiple
- 3:54people versus a single person you could
- 3:56call it cooperation and it would produce
- 3:59a tendency of wanting to think the gist
- 4:01was accurate do you recall saying that
- 4:03something like that
- 4:05and then i asked you if in that scenario
- 4:09would
- 4:10such
- 4:11uh if each of those hypothetical facts
- 4:13were true
- 4:14be consistent or inconsistent with the
- 4:16implantation of false memory to those
- 4:19six to eight people and you responded in
- 4:21that hypothetical i would say there was
- 4:23no evidence of any implantation
- 4:25do you recall saying that something like
- 4:27that and that still that still reflects
- 4:29both of those your opinions correct yes
- 4:33and then i asked you and this is where
- 4:34we were
- 4:35i asked you
- 4:37i would assume that the reason you did
- 4:39not give a qualifier
- 4:42in those two answers
- 4:44is because you agree that no qualifier
- 4:46was necessary would that be correct
- 4:52i was comfortable with the answer i gave
- 4:56okay so so again doctor if you can i'm
- 4:57going to ask my question again
- 4:59you would agree
- 5:01in what i just read you your answers
- 5:03were there was no qualifier correct
- 5:08i didn't i didn't hear one no okay so i
- 5:11want you to assume that those were the
- 5:13answers that you gave you previously
- 5:15testified you are extremely careful in
- 5:17all of your answers which is why you
- 5:19have given qualifiers including when i
- 5:22asked you whether the earth was round
- 5:24and you responded probably do you recall
- 5:26that testimony
- 5:29well something like that i you'd have to
- 5:31read it back to me
- 5:33well this was just from last week so i'm
- 5:35not talking about the exact words would
- 5:37you agree doctor
- 5:38that when i pressed you
- 5:40on the idea that you seemed to give
- 5:42qualifiers for nearly every opinion i
- 5:45asked
- 5:46you responded that as a scientist that
- 5:48you needed to be very careful in essence
- 5:51in the answers you gave is that a fair
- 5:53statement
- 5:55yes
- 5:56so my question is i would assume then
- 5:59that the reason you gave no qualifier at
- 6:02all
- 6:03to those two hypotheticals that i just
- 6:05went through
- 6:06is because you decided
- 6:09based on the information in the
- 6:11hypothetical that no qualifier was
- 6:13necessary would you agree
- 6:20yes
- 6:21all right i want to i had a follow-up
- 6:23question regarding your work on the case
- 6:25i want to know how many of the
- 6:27approximately 73 to 77 hours that you
- 6:30build on this case were spent watching
- 6:33actual video of witnesses and not simply
- 6:36going through transcripts
- 6:37i i don't know
- 6:39well can you give an estimate doctor did
- 6:41you was it half your work was it a small
- 6:44amount uh it was a large amount so
- 6:47doctor you would agree that in going
- 6:50through the witnesses you listed and
- 6:52again we're not talking about i want to
- 6:53be clear i don't want your opinion about
- 6:55any of the witnesses we're not going to
- 6:56talk about names i'm just talking about
- 6:58as a group
- 6:59you indicated that you went through you
- 7:02were given 41 different witnesses of
- 7:06statements to go through would you agree
- 7:13either part or all of
- 7:15some number i don't remember if it was
- 7:1741. well i want you to assume for a
- 7:19moment that mr chesnov
- 7:21has indicated in the discovery that you
- 7:24were given
- 7:26statements to review of 41 witnesses
- 7:29does that sound
- 7:32about right
- 7:34i
- 7:34got information on perhaps that many
- 7:37people yes so my question you would be
- 7:40you would agree doctor and again i don't
- 7:41want you to name any particular witness
- 7:43there were certain witnesses
- 7:45who had
- 7:47almost that many hours worth of video
- 7:50one witness to watch would you agree
- 7:53i don't know well so doctor the question
- 7:55would be then that if you're saying that
- 7:57you primarily reviewed video and if some
- 8:00of these witnesses that we're talking
- 8:01about themselves
- 8:03occupied three
- 8:05four days of video
- 8:07how would you have had the time to have
- 8:09actually seen video of these witnesses
- 8:12did you just look at little snippets
- 8:14i might
- 8:15project on the relevancy since
- 8:21i might not have watched all the videos
- 8:23i probably didn't well when you say
- 8:26probably didn't doctor that's a
- 8:27qualifier you would agree
- 8:29and again you are aware now that there
- 8:31are witnesses in this case where there
- 8:34would be just in court testimony
- 8:38just in court testimony
- 8:4015 20 25 hours of video to watch correct
- 8:46i don't know the number but i did not
- 8:48watch all the trial no
- 8:51doctor you didn't even watch all of the
- 8:53conditional examinations or videotaped
- 8:55interviews leading up to the trial did
- 8:56you
- 8:59i doubt it well when you say you doubt
- 9:01it at 73 hours doctor
- 9:04wouldn't it be rather than doubt it it
- 9:06would be a physical impossibility
- 9:07correct
- 9:13perhaps
- 9:14maybe
- 9:15i know you won't like that but maybe
- 9:18okay that was
- 9:21reconsidering the objection thank you
- 9:25doctor
- 9:26i'm going to take one more shot here
- 9:30if it's your testimony
- 9:32that you spent 73 to 77
- 9:34hours is it a fair response on your part
- 9:38to only say probably or maybe
- 9:41that i didn't go through
- 9:43the majority of videotaped testimony on
- 9:46this case or would a more accurate and
- 9:48fair answer be simply
- 9:50no i didn't do that
- 9:54i doubt that i reviewed all the material
- 9:57but i spent many more than those 77
- 9:59hours
- 10:01and doctor you would agree
- 10:03that to properly assess
- 10:07and to give a complete
- 10:09opinion on what's going on you need to
- 10:11look at all of the available statements
- 10:14of the witness correct objection
- 10:15irrelevant yeah sustain
- 10:18you're on on relevance grounds yes
- 10:21352 352. okay
- 10:25all right i want to talk for a moment uh
- 10:27one question about your work on harvey
- 10:29weinstein in re-listening to your
- 10:31testimony
- 10:32i really listened to all of it i noticed
- 10:34that when you were asked about your fees
- 10:35you said that you quote
- 10:37settled on a fee of 14 000
- 10:40but i didn't ask you what had your fees
- 10:42been before you quote settled
- 10:47at the time i quoted six hundred dollars
- 10:49an hour
- 10:51and
- 10:52they
- 10:55the office
- 10:57people i was interacting with said that
- 10:59there were
- 11:00all kinds of financial problems
- 11:03and asked me if i would agree
- 11:06four days in new york and we didn't know
- 11:08it would be four days
- 11:10for fourteen thousand dollars and i
- 11:12agreed to that figure but hadn't you
- 11:14already spent time going over materials
- 11:16before that
- 11:22that was not part of that case so that
- 11:25case was simply without going reviewing
- 11:27anything you're just coming to court and
- 11:29testifying
- 11:31for the fourteen thousand dollars no
- 11:33prep work i was a teaching expert in
- 11:35that case
- 11:36no specifics about the people the
- 11:40specific people were
- 11:42permitted or offered okay i want to go
- 11:45back doctor
- 11:46to
- 11:47my questions regarding rule 306
- 11:50last week
- 11:52i asked you a question about ethics and
- 11:53you said if you recall you needed more
- 11:56time to think about it
- 11:57the question involved whether or not you
- 11:59would agree that would be an ethical
- 12:00violation a conflict of interest for you
- 12:03to take on a case as an expert witness
- 12:06for the defense where a family member of
- 12:08yours was the name victim last week when
- 12:10i asked you you said you needed more
- 12:12time to think about the issue whether it
- 12:14would be a conflict or an ethical
- 12:15violation and as you recall at the time
- 12:18i said you know what i'm going to return
- 12:20to this near the end of my questioning
- 12:22when you've had time to think about it
- 12:23so now that you've had that time
- 12:25can you tell me what your answer would
- 12:26be
- 12:29i read the two sentences in that
- 12:34guideline from the
- 12:36psychology organization
- 12:38and
- 12:39i agree that if you
- 12:41if there is
- 12:43a question that you might not be as
- 12:46competent or objective or effective
- 12:50uh you should refrain from participating
- 12:53that makes sense to me so doctor you've
- 12:55now explained the rules so now applying
- 12:57the rule to that situation would you
- 12:59agree then
- 13:00that certainly
- 13:01you could not be objective
- 13:04in testifying as an expert witness where
- 13:07a family member was the name victim
- 13:09would you agree i disagree with that
- 13:13okay
- 13:14um
- 13:16i want to move on
- 13:17to a couple of my last areas here
- 13:21would you agree doctor that in
- 13:22evaluating the accuracy and or
- 13:25credibility
- 13:26of any witness any witness
- 13:30when they are repeating a statement
- 13:33by somebody else so you have a group of
- 13:35witnesses who allege they heard a
- 13:37statement from somebody else from the
- 13:39same person following my my question so
- 13:42far
- 13:43yes okay
- 13:45would you agree
- 13:46that there really are only kind of three
- 13:48choices either the testifying witness
- 13:51themselves is lying
- 13:53knowingly
- 13:55number two the testifying witness is not
- 13:57lying but they're mistaken about the
- 14:00substance of the original memory
- 14:03or that three
- 14:05the testifying witness is neither lying
- 14:07nor mistaken about the original memory
- 14:10of what the close friend told them
- 14:13that in actuality the issue would be
- 14:16that the close friend was lying when
- 14:19they said it would you agree that those
- 14:21three possibilities
- 14:22would cover the situation in terms of
- 14:26you looking at
- 14:28the
- 14:29memories of witnesses reporting prior
- 14:32conversations with a witness would you
- 14:33agree
- 14:35i agree those are three alternative
- 14:37possibilities right yes and
- 14:39would you agree doctor
- 14:41that in terms of those possibilities
- 14:43that as an expert on memory
- 14:46that the only one of those three
- 14:48that you're qualified to discuss you're
- 14:50not qualified to say whether the
- 14:52witnesses are lying you would agree
- 14:54that's up to the jury right
- 14:56that's
- 14:57yes okay you would agree you're not
- 14:59qualified to say whether or not the
- 15:01original source of the information was
- 15:03lying
- 15:04that's again up to the jury correct
- 15:07the only
- 15:08of those three possibilities the only
- 15:11area where you would be able to render
- 15:13an expert opinion would be
- 15:16if in fact the theory is
- 15:18these witnesses are not lying they are
- 15:21simply mistaken
- 15:23in their memories would you agree
- 15:28that that's exactly
- 15:30what i study when people
- 15:32say things that are
- 15:34not authentic but they are not
- 15:37deliberately lying that's that's the
- 15:39only
- 15:40expertise i have right and you would
- 15:42agree there is a fourth possibility
- 15:44though correct and that would be
- 15:47that the witnesses
- 15:49are not lying
- 15:51and they're not inaccurate repeating
- 15:53what was told to them and
- 15:55that the source of the information was
- 15:57not lying when they said it you would
- 15:59agree that's a fourth possibility
- 16:01correct yes and you would agree that in
- 16:03deciding those possibilities that's the
- 16:06jury's job is that right absolutely
- 16:09and
- 16:10finally you would agree that as an
- 16:11expert your appropriate role is simply
- 16:14to explain to the jury
- 16:16your belief in your experience of how
- 16:18memory works right
- 16:20yes and you would agree that in
- 16:22testifying as an expert witness
- 16:25you're not in any way suggesting that
- 16:27any memory in this case was implanted
- 16:30you're just saying here's how memories
- 16:32can be implanted in jury you need to
- 16:33figure out if it happened in this case
- 16:35is that right yes
- 16:37um you would also agree that the jury
- 16:39who has heard all the evidence of the
- 16:41case they're in the best decision
- 16:43position to decide which of these
- 16:45scenarios is correct would you agree
- 16:48yes okay
- 16:50i'm gonna go to my last area right now
- 16:53you have previously related in your
- 16:56prior testimony
- 16:57in profile pieces and in fact you
- 16:59testified about it during this case
- 17:02that you have kind of difficulty
- 17:04acknowledging or discussing your
- 17:06accomplishments kind of acknowledging
- 17:09your ego is that correct
- 17:12well
- 17:13i i would prefer that other people
- 17:15mention the accomplishments rather than
- 17:19i do it yes
- 17:20in fact
- 17:21you were asked this exact question i
- 17:23asked this to you during the jackson
- 17:24case in 2012 at page 148 lines 4-6 where
- 17:29i asked you ma'am you don't have a
- 17:31problem acknowledging your ego correct
- 17:33and you responded i disagree with that i
- 17:36do have a problem
- 17:37does that
- 17:38encompass your belief in this area
- 17:43i'm not sure i i believe that i may have
- 17:47said that 13 years ago but
- 17:50i'm not going to disagree with it now
- 17:52okay and
- 17:53in your 1996 book the diva of disclosure
- 17:57you stated on page two of that book
- 17:59quote i keep thinking of oscar schindler
- 18:02circling the lake with thousands of
- 18:04people if i could save one more person
- 18:07can you indicate since you've compared
- 18:09yourself to oscar schindler who's oscar
- 18:11schindler
- 18:12i didn't there are falsehoods in your
- 18:15assumption in your question so i can't
- 18:18answer the question well
- 18:20doctor
- 18:21have you not
- 18:22in the diva of disclosure
- 18:24on page two of your book did you not say
- 18:27i keep thinking of oscar schindler
- 18:29circling lake with thousands of people
- 18:31if i could save one more person i never
- 18:33wrote a book by that title you'll have
- 18:35to show me what you're talking about
- 18:37are you familiar with a with a an
- 18:40article or a book called the diva of
- 18:41disclosure
- 18:43uh there was a
- 18:45an article in the 90s
- 18:49that
- 18:50written by somebody else that
- 18:53not written by me
- 18:55there was a title something like that
- 18:56did you give that quote
- 18:59we've never seen this
- 19:02wait what
- 19:03he says yeah he says he hasn't
- 19:06hasn't seen it that's okay that's not uh
- 19:08wait wait if he if you're going to
- 19:10present it to the witness show it
- 19:12otherwise you
- 19:17let's put it up
- 19:19okay i'll put it up you want her you
- 19:21know what to do
- 19:23to the council
- 20:03thank you
- 20:04doctor did you do an interview let me
- 20:07correct myself a lot of sources to keep
- 20:09track of this was not a book this was an
- 20:12article called
- 20:14the debuff disclosure
- 20:15once you put it up mr williams
- 20:18put up the title page please
- 20:25this was an article in psychology of
- 20:27today
- 20:29on you by jim nymark does that
- 20:33refresh your recollection all jill jill
- 20:359-1 thank you sorry yes okay
- 20:38so
- 20:38i want to go
- 20:43and i want you to read
- 20:45starting with but act 5 out loud please
- 20:51but act 5
- 20:53is yet to come and may never end
- 20:56for how do these innocently accused
- 20:58individuals put their lives back
- 21:00together
- 21:02it is the theme
- 21:04that haunts elizabeth loftus
- 21:07quote i keep thinking of oscar schindler
- 21:09circling the lake with thousands of
- 21:11people she says without a trace of irony
- 21:14though she adds that she realizes people
- 21:17may misinterpret the statement
- 21:19as one of hubris if i could save one
- 21:22more person
- 21:25doctor he accused have been shot at
- 21:28ostracized imprisoned interrogated lost
- 21:31jobs
- 21:32homes and forced to fight lawsuits
- 21:35that have sometimes bankrupt them in
- 21:38some cases the charges seem entirely
- 21:41false
- 21:42as wall street journal writer dorothy
- 21:44rabinowitz writes of the notorious
- 21:46emerald case where three members of a
- 21:49family were accused of molesting the
- 21:51children in their model day care center
- 21:54quote no reasonable person who looked at
- 21:56the trial transcript could doubt that
- 21:59three innocent
- 22:00citizens were sent to prison on the
- 22:02basis of some of the most fantastic
- 22:05claims
- 22:06ever presented to an american
- 22:08jury so end quote so doctor
- 22:11are you telling me that you literally
- 22:13forgot until you read this that you
- 22:15compared yourself to oscar schindler
- 22:18that doesn't say that i'm sorry
- 22:21objection mischaracterizes
- 22:24what was
- 22:25what's in the article
- 22:28okay let's have our first sidebar of the
- 22:30day
- 28:26all right let's uh
- 28:28matt continue on yes yes okay doctor so
- 28:31the question i have for you is
- 28:33you would agree that
- 28:35the quote
- 28:37bring up oscar schindler that was you
- 28:39bringing up oscar schindler correct
- 28:42it said i was thinking about
- 28:44him
- 28:45right but i'm just saying it's not the
- 28:46reporter i asked you about oscar
- 28:48schindler
- 28:49you interjected oscar schindler into
- 28:51this correct
- 28:52yes and my question to you is doctor do
- 28:55you really think
- 28:56it is a fair comparison
- 28:59to equate yourself
- 29:01as an expert witness
- 29:02charging 700 per hour to a man who
- 29:06helped the jews avoid execution
- 29:09in the holocaust
- 29:10is that a fair comparison
- 29:13i wasn't comparing myself to him
- 29:16he is somebody who said i wish i had
- 29:19more time to save one more person and
- 29:22that's exactly how i feel i wish i had
- 29:24more time
- 29:26to save one innocent person like tim
- 29:29hennis
- 29:31objection your honor beyond the
- 29:33agreement
- 29:34she responded question that's why like
- 29:37tim hennis correct
- 29:38352. i'll sustain the objection thank
- 29:41you
- 29:45redirect yes thank you
- 29:48try to get it out of here before lunch
- 29:51okay
- 29:52if not that you take the time you need
- 29:53thank you
- 29:54first question doctor are you related
- 29:57to bob
- 29:59no okay related to any of us no okay so
- 30:02this case has nothing to do with who
- 30:04you're related to or the ethics of that
- 30:06correct correct
- 30:08i'm going to show you
- 30:10uh the chart
- 30:11which we previously worked with your and
- 30:14i've marked it as next in order which is
- 30:16defense g g
- 30:19ready g exactly i like that
- 30:22um your honor i would move for its
- 30:24admission along with the cv which was f
- 30:27which we previously introduced all right
- 30:29we will discuss that thank you
- 30:34please tell us again how acquisition is
- 30:38defined
- 30:40acquisition acquisition is is a period
- 30:43of time
- 30:44a phase where
- 30:46some event occurs it could be a visual
- 30:48event it could be a conversation it
- 30:50could be any kind of event and some
- 30:53information then
- 30:54might enter a person's memory at that
- 30:57time
- 30:58and then again explaining retention
- 31:02once that event is over
- 31:04and time is passing that's the retention
- 31:07phase
- 31:08uh and
- 31:09then new
- 31:11factors come into play that can affect
- 31:13memory
- 31:15at the retention phase and then the
- 31:17retrieval phase
- 31:19retrieval is when somebody tries to
- 31:22remember what happened tries to answer
- 31:24questions
- 31:25testify in court
- 31:27uh that
- 31:28these are all acts of retrieval and
- 31:30there of course can be
- 31:32many occasions where somebody is trying
- 31:34to retrieve information
- 31:37you spent 77 hours reviewing materials
- 31:40that were provided to you
- 31:42by mr durst lawyers correct yes
- 31:45and you did that yourself correct
- 31:48well some of those hours were spent in
- 31:50in in um
- 31:52having conversations about the material
- 31:55correct but not you didn't have like a
- 31:56graduate assistant reading it or an
- 31:58associate read it you did it all
- 32:00yourself no i did everything myself yes
- 32:04and
- 32:05we didn't ask you to look at everything
- 32:09because your testimony was going to be
- 32:11limited
- 32:13to teaching the jury about how memory
- 32:16works
- 32:17not about the particular witnesses in
- 32:19this case correct that's correct
- 32:22did i ever ask you or did mr dagara
- 32:25never ask you to give an opinion on mr
- 32:28dirk's guilt or innocence no
- 32:31in fact have you ever even met mr durst
- 32:35no i i've not met him actually
- 32:38personally no have you ever talked to
- 32:40him i i believe i
- 32:43waved to him once
- 32:45in court in court yeah i've never talked
- 32:47to him though and he went back
- 32:49i think he weighed back or he he maybe
- 32:52waved first i'm not sure so please tell
- 32:55the jury
- 32:56what you understood
- 32:58you were hired for
- 33:01to
- 33:02communicate information about the nature
- 33:04of memory
- 33:06uh the kinds of things that can affect
- 33:08memory the malleability of memory
- 33:11when people
- 33:12do
- 33:14develop
- 33:16false memories or exaggerated memories
- 33:19or change memories what their
- 33:21characteristics are that they can be
- 33:23detailed and confident and even
- 33:25emotional about false memories
- 33:28the nature of memory
- 33:35how do leading questions affect
- 33:37witnesses memories
- 33:39leaning questions can come into play
- 33:43at the retrieval phase and can
- 33:47contaminate what a person remembers
- 33:50and and then can also act like
- 33:53post-event information and affect what
- 33:55people remember
- 33:57subsequently when they try to retrieve
- 34:00at a later time
- 34:02can be interviewed
- 34:04where there are multiple people present
- 34:07multiple law enforcement people present
- 34:10impact memories based on the studies
- 34:14uh i'm
- 34:15i'm not sure i
- 34:17can point to a study where if there's a
- 34:20single law enforcement versus multiple
- 34:23whether
- 34:26whether that would affect the accuracy i
- 34:28i as i said here i can't think of a
- 34:30study that
- 34:32would really allow me to answer that one
- 34:35way or another are there studies that
- 34:37can explain to the jury how being
- 34:39interviewed
- 34:40with hypotheticals can impact memory
- 34:44yes there are studies that show if you
- 34:45give people kind of a hypothetical
- 34:47situation
- 34:50sometimes people will remember that
- 34:52hypothetical as if it
- 34:54were something that happened or
- 34:55something they experienced
- 34:57that can be a form of post-event
- 35:00suggestion
- 35:01can leading questions
- 35:03cause the same issues yes
- 35:06repeated leading questions
- 35:08if you repeat the post event suggestion
- 35:11it maximizes its
- 35:14suggestive effect
- 35:16it increases it's sorry i'm sorry
- 35:19what what impact would
- 35:21persistent
- 35:23interrupting questions
- 35:25have on a witness
- 35:29from my own experience here in court
- 35:31it's kind of stressful
- 35:34and what does stress do in terms of
- 35:37people's memory oh it's well stress is
- 35:39not not particularly good for for for
- 35:41memory can you explain to the jury why
- 35:45well sometimes it leads to distracting
- 35:47thoughts and you can lose your focus
- 35:50can it also lead to
- 35:53having information imparted that you
- 35:55really didn't remember
- 36:04there is evidence that if you uh if
- 36:08people are sometimes aroused they can be
- 36:10more
- 36:11susceptible to contamination
- 36:14how about if a person has a false memory
- 36:18can that person still be convinced that
- 36:20they remember that which is untrue
- 36:24in other words you have a false memory
- 36:27you really don't know that it's false
- 36:29in some instances correct
- 36:32that's that's that's true and
- 36:34in all of these studies when people
- 36:36succumb to the suggestion
- 36:38uh that they're exposed to they they
- 36:41don't
- 36:42realize that their
- 36:43their recollections have been distorted
- 36:45or contaminated it feels like a
- 36:48recollection to them
- 36:50now in the course of
- 36:52your
- 36:53years of work
- 36:55have you
- 36:56lectured to lawyers and continuing
- 37:00legal education settings
- 37:02many times yes and can you explain to
- 37:04the jury the purpose of your
- 37:06lectures objection relevance to outside
- 37:09the scope across
- 37:12oh
- 37:16well i
- 37:17have done
- 37:19lots of lecturing to different members
- 37:22of the legal profession to
- 37:24lawyers
- 37:26many defense attorneys also groups of
- 37:28prosecutors
- 37:30particularly back in 1983
- 37:34to the
- 37:34arizona prosecutors after a um
- 37:39well maybe this is saying too much but
- 37:41um
- 37:44after a conviction was overturned when
- 37:46my testimony was excluded
- 37:48uh and so the prosecutors invited me to
- 37:51lecture to their group
- 37:54then all kinds of law enforcement
- 37:56agencies
- 37:57some of which i mentioned
- 37:59earlier in this testimony
- 38:01the secret service the fbi the cia and
- 38:04other groups
- 38:06do you vary your lecture
- 38:09on the science of memory when you're
- 38:12talking to different groups or do you
- 38:14tell people
- 38:16your science how does that work i i tell
- 38:19them about the science and and
- 38:23and about what
- 38:25i and and many other scientists have
- 38:27learned about the nature of memory and
- 38:30and the whole
- 38:32effects of interviewing and
- 38:35and other things that are relevant to
- 38:36the legal profession
- 38:39have you
- 38:41provided scientific information that has
- 38:44caused
- 38:45law enforcement in
- 38:48the photo lineup situation to change
- 38:51their practices
- 38:53well it's not just my work but the the
- 38:55work of of me
- 38:57and many others have it have changed the
- 39:00way law enforcement
- 39:02agencies actually conduct their
- 39:04interviews and their testing yes
- 39:07and that's based on the studies and the
- 39:09work that you've done and that you've
- 39:10studied correct well i don't want to
- 39:13take full credit for it but but some of
- 39:15the work that i've done but also many
- 39:17other scientists who've worked in the
- 39:18same field and who
- 39:20have communicated these scientific
- 39:22findings to law enforcement to affect
- 39:25those
- 39:26changes in the way things are being done
- 39:28so the law enforcement people have taken
- 39:31what you and other people like you in
- 39:33your field
- 39:35have said about memory and modified the
- 39:37way they do things so that it's more
- 39:40consistent with getting a true memory
- 39:42that's fair
- 39:44it also is going to call for hearsay
- 39:47there's also a lack of foundation and
- 39:49it's also 352 and irrelevant both
- 39:53that's
- 39:54everything let's see if i hit four out
- 39:57of five i'll be in the hall of fame okay
- 39:59hold on
- 40:23that objection was so long that i forgot
- 40:25the question would you like it right
- 40:26back yes please
- 40:54question so the law enforcement people
- 40:56have taken what you and other people
- 40:58like you in your field have said about
- 41:00memory and modified the way they do
- 41:02things so that it's more consistent with
- 41:05getting a true memory is that correct
- 41:08yes it is i could give an example if it
- 41:11would help please
- 41:13so
- 41:16one kind of thing that law enforcement
- 41:19typically or frequently might do is
- 41:22take a witness to a crime and show them
- 41:25a lineup
- 41:29the long-standing question is who
- 41:32should
- 41:32conduct that lineup should it be the
- 41:35investigating officer or should it be
- 41:37somebody who does not know who the
- 41:40suspect is you're an objection relevant
- 41:42three to two within the context of this
- 41:44case well no it's
- 41:47it's overruled it's it's
- 41:50all right
- 41:50it's overall that's fine
- 41:55and in the past
- 41:57many law enforcement agencies would have
- 42:00the investigating detective conduct the
- 42:02lineup
- 42:03but now after considerable research that
- 42:06shows that it is far better
- 42:09to have
- 42:10a person conduct the lineup who does not
- 42:12know who the suspect is
- 42:14many agencies are changing the way they
- 42:17do things so that they do what is called
- 42:20blind testing a person who conducts the
- 42:23lineup who doesn't know
- 42:25who the suspect is so they cannot
- 42:27inadvertently cue the witness to try to
- 42:31pick number five and they cannot give
- 42:33feedback to the witness
- 42:36after an identification is made and
- 42:39thereby artificially inflate or deflate
- 42:42their confidence
- 42:44so your science has assisted law
- 42:46enforcement in those instances
- 42:48we think so yes
- 42:51mr lewin asked you about the 350 people
- 42:55that have been exonerated
- 42:57you didn't exonerate them did you don't
- 43:00didn't a judge or a court do that
- 43:03that's correct the this is the innocence
- 43:05project in new york
- 43:07in new york
- 43:08um and
- 43:10they have um provided information about
- 43:14350 cases i you know i may have worked
- 43:17on a couple of those cases but i'm not
- 43:19the person who does the exoneration they
- 43:21have
- 43:22found uh
- 43:24evidence that that proved um
- 43:28to a court that these individuals were
- 43:30actually innocent i i did one of these
- 43:33cases and so my question is this
- 43:36there are people who are exonerated by a
- 43:38court do i need an objection your honor
- 43:40or
- 43:42it's an inappropriate question the way
- 43:43it starts i suppose
- 43:46rephrase it okay
- 43:48experienced lawyers volunteer just like
- 43:51you sometimes volunteer to help in these
- 43:54exoneration cases correct
- 43:56yes okay and when the person
- 43:59is exonerated it is done by a court
- 44:03correct
- 44:05yes sometimes the district attorneys
- 44:07join in the request correct in some
- 44:10cases yes and those people who sat in
- 44:13jail that were not guilty of what they
- 44:16were put in jail for
- 44:18are victims in your mind are they not
- 44:23they're suffering victims but so are
- 44:25their extended family members and so
- 44:28when you were answering mr lewin just
- 44:30now
- 44:31about your desire to be able to do this
- 44:34for as many people as possible it's
- 44:36because you have experienced
- 44:39people who are victims of having been
- 44:41falsely convicted correct
- 44:43yes
- 44:47[Applause]
- 44:50mr lewin asked you about people who
- 44:52don't know each other having a similar
- 44:54memory
- 44:56if the different people are questioned
- 44:58by the same person
- 45:01who ask leading questions
- 45:03presents hypotheticals
- 45:05with other people on his team present
- 45:09is it possible this is an inappropriate
- 45:11hypothetical that does not reflect the
- 45:13evidence we can go sidebar okay okay
- 45:16let him finish him thank you
- 45:19if the
- 45:20if different people are questioned by
- 45:22the same person
- 45:23who asked leading questions
- 45:26who presents hypotheticals
- 45:28with other people on his team present
- 45:31can that impact them having a similar
- 45:34memory
- 45:35all right i do think it does call for uh
- 45:39i'll sustain the objection hopefully we
- 45:41can talk sidebar if you like or not okay
- 45:43i'll withdraw it right
- 45:47how about if the different people with
- 45:48similar memories
- 45:50all were exposed to news accounts movies
- 45:53books
- 45:54gossip
- 45:55things like that can that impact
- 45:58their memory improper hypothetical based
- 46:00on the evidence
- 46:04those would be other examples of
- 46:06post-event suggestion that can
- 46:09could contaminate the memory of people
- 46:11even if they didn't talk with each other
- 46:13so people who don't know each other
- 46:15who tell the same story
- 46:18can have a false memory impacted by
- 46:21post-event suggestion correct that can
- 46:23happen yes
- 46:28can one's opinion of the truthfulness
- 46:32of the person telling the story
- 46:35affect the acquisition process
- 46:39it could
- 46:41if you are hearing a story from somebody
- 46:43you don't think is particularly truthful
- 46:45you might not pay as much attention to
- 46:47it and that would be one way
- 46:49in which
- 46:50the
- 46:52credibility of the speaker could affect
- 46:54acquisition so if the person is known as
- 46:57a liar
- 46:59a storyteller
- 47:01an exaggerator
- 47:03a drama queen
- 47:04that could have impact on the memory
- 47:06correct it could
- 47:14what scientific effect does post event
- 47:17information have on memory
- 47:22well i i thought i've already testified
- 47:24about that so i'll just be brief that
- 47:26post-event information
- 47:28can supplement memory can contaminate
- 47:31memory can distort
- 47:33memory and distort your memory for the
- 47:36details of an event that actually did
- 47:38happen and it can even
- 47:40plant entirely false memories in the
- 47:42mind of someone
- 47:44for something that didn't happen
- 47:46um
- 47:48i probably did ask this if i did i
- 47:50apologize to everybody but would you
- 47:52remind us what confidence inflation is
- 47:55uh yes um when somebody gives you a
- 47:58memory report
- 48:00and they say um and they express a level
- 48:02of confidence
- 48:03they might say you know i think that's
- 48:06true or
- 48:07uh
- 48:08they give up maybe a low confidence
- 48:10number
- 48:1130 sure
- 48:1350 sure
- 48:14or they in words indicate kind of a lack
- 48:17of confidence my memory is foggy if you
- 48:20give them feedback
- 48:22if you give them post-event information
- 48:25that
- 48:26for example other people are saying the
- 48:28same thing or some kind of information
- 48:32that reinforces this memory you can
- 48:34inflate their confidence they're not
- 48:36more accurate but they become more
- 48:39confident because of that post-event
- 48:42feedback
- 48:44couple more questions
- 48:47does the notoriety of the defendant
- 48:49affect the science of memory
- 48:51as far as you're concerned no
- 48:55you know lawyers will take unpopular
- 48:57cases because of the constitution and
- 48:59doctors have the hippocratic oath you
- 49:02tell the jury why it is
- 49:04that you testify
- 49:06on behalf of citizens that are accused
- 49:08of crime that have not been convicted
- 49:13because we are
- 49:15living in a
- 49:17democratic society where
- 49:20even everyone has a right to
- 49:24be presumed innocent and and even
- 49:26unpopular people
- 49:28have a right to to a trial and
- 49:31thank goodness there are people who are
- 49:33willing to step in and
- 49:37make sure these rights are protected
- 49:41is it easier for you to help the
- 49:44indigent when you do
- 49:46because you get paid by people
- 49:48in other cases that can afford your your
- 49:51hourly rate
- 49:54well
- 49:55i i don't know if it's easier i i mean i
- 49:58you know i can work on cases where i can
- 50:00be
- 50:01paid well but i also throughout my
- 50:04career i've worked for many poor people
- 50:06who couldn't
- 50:07really afford much of anything and
- 50:10even
- 50:12you know would stay at the
- 50:14home of a
- 50:16a lawyer or someone to save the indigent
- 50:18defendant from having to spend money on
- 50:21a hotel room
- 50:23as a scientist doctor do you judge the
- 50:26defendant or do you leave that to the
- 50:28jury
- 50:29that's absolutely the jury's job
- 50:32courts and dollars
- 50:48no further questions
- 50:50all right
- 50:51okay let's come back at 1 30. all right
- 50:54so ladies and gentlemen we'll return
- 50:56writing 130 do not converse among
- 50:58yourselves or with anyone else on any
- 51:00subject
- 1:00:55thank you
- 1:00:56okay
- 1:00:58additional compensation
- 1:01:00okay you can cross-examine on that point
- 1:01:02and anything else you just might yeah mr
- 1:01:05lewis
- 1:01:06i would think he'd be better than subway
- 1:01:08but and i'll remind you that you are
- 1:01:11under oath
- 1:01:15we'll try to get you out of before that
- 1:01:17whatever subway makes or sandwiches out
- 1:01:19of goes through your
- 1:01:23to hurry system
- 1:01:24doctor
- 1:01:26you were asked some questions
- 1:01:27on redirect by
- 1:01:29uh mr chesnaught regarding
- 1:01:32the confidence of witnesses in their
- 1:01:34memories did you recall
- 1:01:36a couple of questions that he asked you
- 1:01:38would you agree
- 1:01:39that there is a correlation in the
- 1:01:41studies between the confidence of a
- 1:01:45witness's memory
- 1:01:47and the accuracy
- 1:01:49under many conditions there is yes
- 1:01:54i also want to ask you you were asked a
- 1:01:56series of questions
- 1:01:58by mr chesnov regarding
- 1:02:01how your work has been applied
- 1:02:03to lineups do you recall those questions
- 1:02:09oh i answered about lineups yes yes yep
- 1:02:12you would agree doctor there's no lineup
- 1:02:14issue whatsoever in this case right
- 1:02:17correct
- 1:02:19and would you agree that any testimony
- 1:02:21you're giving about
- 1:02:23either eyewitness identification
- 1:02:25any statements you've made about any
- 1:02:27statements about lineups
- 1:02:29they are completely irrelevant to any of
- 1:02:32the issues presented here right
- 1:02:35there is no line up in this issue but
- 1:02:37they're memory issues
- 1:02:39and they sometimes apply to all kinds of
- 1:02:42memory for different kinds of material
- 1:02:44right so let me again please listen to
- 1:02:46my question is there in any way an
- 1:02:49eyewitness identification issue in this
- 1:02:50case that you're aware of
- 1:02:56well there may be a voice identification
- 1:02:59issue
- 1:03:02you were asked questions and you've
- 1:03:04talked about
- 1:03:06in your research in your testimony
- 1:03:08regarding some of the problems with
- 1:03:10eyewitness identification correct
- 1:03:13yes is let me ask again are you aware
- 1:03:16doctor of an eyewitness identification
- 1:03:18issue in this case
- 1:03:20no i'm not
- 1:03:22are you aware
- 1:03:24of an issue involving a lineup in this
- 1:03:26case
- 1:03:28no
- 1:03:29by the way
- 1:03:30did the defense in going over
- 1:03:33when they retain you
- 1:03:35did they ever say to you
- 1:03:37hey doctor
- 1:03:38our position in this case
- 1:03:41is
- 1:03:42either
- 1:03:43a
- 1:03:44the witnesses
- 1:03:46are lying or b
- 1:03:49the witnesses are honest but mistaken or
- 1:03:52see the witnesses are neither lying nor
- 1:03:55mistaken but that the original declarant
- 1:03:58was lying did they ever
- 1:04:00discuss with you or clarify with you hey
- 1:04:03what is their position
- 1:04:06no i don't recall
- 1:04:09that kind of discussion
- 1:04:11as you sit here today
- 1:04:13then
- 1:04:14you really don't have any idea
- 1:04:16with respect to this case
- 1:04:20which of the
- 1:04:21positions they're even going with in
- 1:04:23other words
- 1:04:24whether it's witnesses are lying whether
- 1:04:27it's the witnesses are being honest but
- 1:04:29they're mistaken
- 1:04:31or whether it's no you know what they're
- 1:04:32not lying or mistaken it was the
- 1:04:35original source that was lying you don't
- 1:04:37know which of those three is even
- 1:04:40their position is that right
- 1:04:43well i could
- 1:04:44make an educated speculation about that
- 1:04:47that that there's at least some concern
- 1:04:49that there may be a
- 1:04:51false memory or false belief in this
- 1:04:53case otherwise because that's what my
- 1:04:55work
- 1:04:56is really all about but that's kind of
- 1:04:58another way of saying that unless their
- 1:05:00position is number two
- 1:05:02that the witnesses are
- 1:05:05mistaken but not lying that's the only
- 1:05:08one of those possibilities that you're
- 1:05:10really
- 1:05:11equipped to testify about objection
- 1:05:13you're in there the first relevance
- 1:05:15oh that's wrong
- 1:05:17it's also
- 1:05:20yeah i'll sustain it
- 1:05:26doctor
- 1:05:27you were asked some hypotheticals by mr
- 1:05:30chesnov
- 1:05:31is that correct
- 1:05:33last week
- 1:05:35last week and today during your redirect
- 1:05:37you were asked in hypothesis by mr
- 1:05:38chestnut do you recall that yes
- 1:05:41as you sit here is it fair to say
- 1:05:43that rather than assessing whether or
- 1:05:45not those hypotheticals
- 1:05:48actually relate to what happened in this
- 1:05:50case you are assuming that the
- 1:05:52hypotheticals that he is giving you
- 1:05:56that they are supported by facts and
- 1:05:58then you are simply answering assuming
- 1:06:00those facts are true is that right
- 1:06:02yes i'm answering assuming they're
- 1:06:05assuming that the hypothetical is what
- 1:06:07i'm responding to yes and you would
- 1:06:09agree that if it turns out that the
- 1:06:11hypothetical facts
- 1:06:13that mr chesnop is giving you if those
- 1:06:14hypothetical facts are inaccurate
- 1:06:17then that certainly affects
- 1:06:19any conclusion that you draw mr chesnov
- 1:06:22is nodding
- 1:06:23no as i'm asking my question and that is
- 1:06:26uh i apologize
- 1:06:29well
- 1:06:30i'm sorry i'm not sure if he's coaching
- 1:06:32the witness or reacting to your question
- 1:06:34well
- 1:06:35but i'm not worried about number one
- 1:06:37okay i think at this point in time
- 1:06:39you're honored to suggest
- 1:06:40that i would coach
- 1:06:42dr lofus please be seated it's no
- 1:06:44argument here it's it's uh it doesn't
- 1:06:46matter don't don't shake don't shake
- 1:06:48your head it seems inadvertent yeah so
- 1:06:50you go back to your question please
- 1:06:52doctor if you can so let me again so
- 1:06:54what i'm asking you is would you agree
- 1:06:56that if in
- 1:06:58fact the facts that mr chesnov gave you
- 1:07:02to assume to be true
- 1:07:04if those facts are not true you would
- 1:07:06agree
- 1:07:07that your conclusions
- 1:07:09based on those facts
- 1:07:11would have far
- 1:07:13less relevance
- 1:07:14than if the facts were true
- 1:07:17my response was to the hypothetical and
- 1:07:19it assumes they're true period
- 1:07:22okay so so now if you can if you can
- 1:07:24answer the question i just asked let me
- 1:07:25say it again
- 1:07:26given that what you've just said you
- 1:07:28would agree then that if the facts
- 1:07:30aren't true then your answers that
- 1:07:32assume the facts to be true
- 1:07:35would have less value
- 1:07:37than if the facts he were giving you
- 1:07:39were true correct
- 1:07:43i responded based on what the science
- 1:07:45would say about the hypothetical
- 1:07:48if you want to change the hypothetical
- 1:07:51maybe the science
- 1:07:53would not apply to it
- 1:07:55doctor so listen to my question again
- 1:07:57please what i'm asking you is
- 1:07:59trying to make it as simple as i can
- 1:08:02mr chesnov asks you to assume certain
- 1:08:04facts to be true you've said you
- 1:08:06understand that correct yes
- 1:08:08you then gave opinions based on those
- 1:08:10facts being true correct yes
- 1:08:13if those facts were not true were not
- 1:08:16supported by the evidence you would have
- 1:08:18to agree that your conclusions your
- 1:08:21response
- 1:08:23to those facts which are not true would
- 1:08:25have less value
- 1:08:27if any than if those facts were true
- 1:08:29agreed well i wouldn't put it that way
- 1:08:32but i possibly i would agree with it
- 1:08:34well okay how would you put it you won't
- 1:08:36let me put it the way i want to put it
- 1:08:38i'm asking please put i want you to
- 1:08:40explain how possibly that might be true
- 1:08:44i responded with what the science would
- 1:08:46say about a hypothetical that was
- 1:08:48presented to me
- 1:08:51if the jury wants to decide that the
- 1:08:52hypothetical
- 1:08:54doesn't fit
- 1:08:55then they can
- 1:08:57they can ignore the application of the
- 1:08:59science to it but my science still
- 1:09:02applies to that hypothetical so dr again
- 1:09:05though and
- 1:09:07please listen to my question right
- 1:09:09question answered no it's not asked an
- 1:09:12answer no
- 1:09:13try again doctor so please listen to my
- 1:09:16question i really need an answer your
- 1:09:17honor if you can strike but please
- 1:09:19listen to my question part i mean
- 1:09:21yeah yes it's it's uh it's not it's not
- 1:09:24necessary you're on the nominee and i
- 1:09:26would ask the court to instruct the
- 1:09:27witness what else can i do
- 1:09:28ask the question if you don't get the
- 1:09:30answer move to strike it or that it's
- 1:09:32non-responsive ask another question you
- 1:09:34may ask you may
- 1:09:36communicate the idea you don't think the
- 1:09:38witness is answering the question by
- 1:09:40asking it again and again but i will uh
- 1:09:42you don't need to tell the witness
- 1:09:44anything doctor
- 1:09:47if
- 1:09:48you are giving a response
- 1:09:51and you are assuming assuming that the
- 1:09:53facts that you are using to give that
- 1:09:56response are true
- 1:09:58and those facts turn out not to be true
- 1:10:01will you concede
- 1:10:03that your response
- 1:10:05would have less value
- 1:10:08because you are considering in your
- 1:10:10response that the facts are true yes
- 1:10:14thank you doctor
- 1:10:18you were asked
- 1:10:20you discussed excuse me you mentioned
- 1:10:22that you've given lectures and you
- 1:10:23mentioned a 1983
- 1:10:26lecture in arizona to prosecutors is
- 1:10:28that correct it might have been 84 right
- 1:10:31it was after 83. right it's almost 40
- 1:10:33years ago correct
- 1:10:37well you do the math
- 1:10:41okay uh i guess i'd be 37 years ago
- 1:10:44would you agree
- 1:10:49yes
- 1:10:50my question to you would be doctor you
- 1:10:51would agree that
- 1:10:54your lecturing career much like your
- 1:10:57testifying career
- 1:10:58is in no way even close to equal you
- 1:11:01primarily
- 1:11:03testify almost exclusively for the
- 1:11:04defense and you primarily lecture
- 1:11:08not to the prosecution but to the
- 1:11:09defense agreed
- 1:11:12certainly i would say more lectures to
- 1:11:15defense groups yes
- 1:11:17and more lectures defense groups by an
- 1:11:19overwhelming
- 1:11:20margin correct
- 1:11:24i i would have to go
- 1:11:27check
- 1:11:28well you have your resume if you would
- 1:11:29like a moment to review it to refresh
- 1:11:31your recollection go ahead
- 1:11:49i would say more
- 1:11:50certainly more often to defense they're
- 1:11:53there are a number of situations where
- 1:11:55i've talked to prosecutors
- 1:11:57and defense attorneys
- 1:11:59together at northwestern university year
- 1:12:03after year after year but it may still
- 1:12:06not add up to the number of times that
- 1:12:09i've talked to
- 1:12:11or been invited to lecture to defense
- 1:12:14groups or public public defenders for
- 1:12:16example in that northwestern lecture
- 1:12:18series that's related to their innocence
- 1:12:20project correct
- 1:12:23no i was
- 1:12:26every year for many years a program for
- 1:12:29prosecutors and defense attorneys
- 1:12:32doctor
- 1:12:33you testified
- 1:12:35that mr chesnov asked you and you
- 1:12:37mentioned the innocence project you
- 1:12:39talked about 350 cases you talked about
- 1:12:42this in your original direct you talked
- 1:12:45about it in your redirect do you recall
- 1:12:46that testimony yes and you would agree
- 1:12:49doctor
- 1:12:50that the
- 1:12:52extreme high majority of those cases
- 1:12:56the way that the innocence was
- 1:12:58demonstrated
- 1:13:00was through dna correct
- 1:13:03i believe in that project they're all
- 1:13:06maybe virtually all dna exonerations yes
- 1:13:08and i want to make sure you didn't do
- 1:13:10any of the testing yourself the dna in
- 1:13:12those cases right correct
- 1:13:15so my question to you is do you recall
- 1:13:17when i was asking you questions about
- 1:13:20tim hennis and the dna in his case
- 1:13:22and you were very skeptical you
- 1:13:24mentioned it could have been
- 1:13:25contaminated you mentioned i didn't see
- 1:13:28the results my question is doctor
- 1:13:31how come you are so skeptical
- 1:13:33about the dna and tim hennis but yet
- 1:13:36when you had no involvement in any of
- 1:13:38these 350 dna exonerations you treat it
- 1:13:41as if it is fact
- 1:13:43why is that
- 1:13:45i have read a fair amount of scholarship
- 1:13:47on the dna exonerations in the innocence
- 1:13:50project cases
- 1:13:53in the case of tim hennis
- 1:13:55i had people
- 1:13:57writing to me concerned about the
- 1:13:59prospect of contamination that's all
- 1:14:02i know there are concerns amongst people
- 1:14:05who were involved and doctor considering
- 1:14:07your knowledge of dna which you just
- 1:14:09indicated that you've read up and you're
- 1:14:11aware of those exonerations
- 1:14:13doctor are you aware
- 1:14:15of how it is that a person's semen which
- 1:14:18would have to come from the person
- 1:14:20can turn up
- 1:14:22how does semen get created out of
- 1:14:25nothing objection your honor i'm going
- 1:14:27to sustain it that's that's misleading
- 1:14:31doctor this is my last area you
- 1:14:33mentioned that everyone has a right to
- 1:14:36be
- 1:14:36presumed innocent you talked about being
- 1:14:39willing to step in do you recall that
- 1:14:40testimony today a few minutes ago
- 1:14:42without your work
- 1:14:45doctor
- 1:14:47mr chestnut also asked you well is the
- 1:14:49work that you do
- 1:14:51getting paid your 700 an hour 600 no
- 1:14:54it's now seven mr chestnut we paid six
- 1:14:58uh doesn't sound like an objection your
- 1:15:00honor no i know please no happily
- 1:15:03your current rate today is 700 an hour
- 1:15:05correct doctor
- 1:15:07yes okay so not not in this case
- 1:15:10it was 600 now it's 700
- 1:15:13correct not not in this case
- 1:15:16i understand going forward when you do
- 1:15:18work it is 700 an hour is that right
- 1:15:21yes so
- 1:15:23you're also making you said somewhere in
- 1:15:26the area of
- 1:15:27260 270 000 a year from your
- 1:15:30professorship in irvine is that correct
- 1:15:33i gained a number that was approximately
- 1:15:35that but not that go ahead
- 1:15:37you so you're okay but is it
- 1:15:39approximately that yes and would you
- 1:15:42agree doctor
- 1:15:43that
- 1:15:44the idea
- 1:15:46that
- 1:15:47you need to charge
- 1:15:49700 an hour
- 1:15:52in order to
- 1:15:54be able to work
- 1:15:56with indigent defendants
- 1:15:58is that is that your testimony i no
- 1:16:00that's not my testimony in fact doctor
- 1:16:03when you're charging 700 an hour to
- 1:16:05harvey weinstein or bill cosby
- 1:16:08or robert durst
- 1:16:10you're still getting your salary from uc
- 1:16:12irvine is facts not in the avenue
- 1:16:14assistant
- 1:16:16you know the subscribe yes do you want
- 1:16:18me to cover fit she's already testified
- 1:16:19i i sustain the energy mr lewin i'll
- 1:16:23cover it doctor isn't it true that you
- 1:16:24were paid your your fee was
- 1:16:26approximately six to seven hundred
- 1:16:28dollars an hour with bill cosby
- 1:16:32died i believe it i was charging 600 an
- 1:16:37hour when i consulted on that case
- 1:16:40and you testified previously in the
- 1:16:42weinstein
- 1:16:43case that you were receiving 600 per
- 1:16:45hour is that correct
- 1:16:47well that was the fee that i quoted but
- 1:16:49i made the arrangement that i discussed
- 1:16:51for the new york case and you've said
- 1:16:53that you're receiving 600 per hour in
- 1:16:56this case correct
- 1:16:58well i think uh given your
- 1:17:00antics it's probably down to 450 dollars
- 1:17:04an hour now
- 1:17:05gosh i hope you'll be able to get by
- 1:17:07i'll try move to strike
- 1:17:10never mind that's okay so doctor let it
- 1:17:13stay
- 1:17:15the antics i'd like stricken as well
- 1:17:17your honor i'm striking the whole
- 1:17:19dialogue okay so doctor
- 1:17:22let's just start over my question is
- 1:17:24this
- 1:17:26if you are making six to seven hundred
- 1:17:28dollars an hour
- 1:17:30testifying
- 1:17:31or working on cases for people like mr
- 1:17:34durst and mr weinstein and mr cosby is
- 1:17:38it really your testimony that you need
- 1:17:40to charge that
- 1:17:42to be able to work on cases involving
- 1:17:45the indigent i never i never said that
- 1:17:47that's not my testimony in fact doctor
- 1:17:50you're charging that money because as
- 1:17:52you've said
- 1:17:54that's what witnesses get
- 1:17:56in your area at least on the high end
- 1:17:59and that you believe that
- 1:18:01in the end that's what you're worth
- 1:18:03right
- 1:18:05what i testified about is that i have
- 1:18:08discovered that many experts who are
- 1:18:11younger than me and much less
- 1:18:13experienced are charging quite a bit
- 1:18:16more even one recently charging fifteen
- 1:18:19hundred dollars an hour
- 1:18:21so doctor the question though is i just
- 1:18:23wanna make sure that
- 1:18:26we're getting the facts out here it's
- 1:18:28not your position
- 1:18:30as mr just now suggest and redirect that
- 1:18:32you have to take these high paying cases
- 1:18:36to supplement the other work you do is
- 1:18:39that correct
- 1:18:42that that is not my testimony
- 1:18:45in the end
- 1:18:46doctor
- 1:18:48you're collecting your salaries from uci
- 1:18:50and you're collecting your expert
- 1:18:51witness fees because
- 1:18:53this is america
- 1:18:54and we're a capitalist country and you
- 1:18:57can charge what you want and people will
- 1:18:59pay it that's what you get correct
- 1:19:03yes
- 1:19:04no further questions
- 1:19:06anything else i do but i'm not letting
- 1:19:08them get up again so no
- 1:19:10well
- 1:19:11so
- 1:19:13there's got to be a consistency of rules
- 1:19:15here i mean if
- 1:19:16i don't mind seated okay it's uh
- 1:19:20let's jump off i have no further
- 1:19:22questions thank you
- 1:19:26may this witness be excused
- 1:19:29i should say
- 1:19:30yes but your honor um dr loftus has
- 1:19:33asked if she could remain
- 1:19:36okay i hope it's off the clock but i
- 1:19:38don't have a i don't have an issue
- 1:19:44i'm probably not as much your client yes
- 1:19:46but she may be
- 1:19:47excused from test further testimony we
- 1:19:49don't have any issue with her remaining
- 1:19:51okay so you are excused you may remain
- 1:19:53in the courtroom if you lie thank you
- 1:19:55your honor thank you dr law
- 1:20:03next witness
- 1:20:06your honor i think i
- 1:20:08need to take a brief break uh before it
- 1:20:12depends who the next witness is yes
- 1:20:14oh okay well the next witness will be mr
- 1:20:16durst your honor
- 1:20:18all right um
- 1:20:21you believe we need a break we only need
- 1:20:23to change the seating is there something
- 1:20:25else i need to do
- 1:20:27the seating
- 1:20:29and some additional issues with that
- 1:20:31just to make sure that
- 1:20:33yes that's right logistics right we've
- 1:20:35got to get the um
- 1:20:37set up a desk with the uh couple
- 1:20:40logistical things in the room so we're
- 1:20:42going to take our take a break i think
- 1:20:45we can do 10 minutes for right now i
- 1:20:47think that's enough
- 1:20:4815.
- 1:20:50all right deputy washington advisors 15
- 1:20:53and i follow empty what then suggestions
- 1:20:56so the
- 1:20:5715-minute break ladies and gentlemen
- 1:21:00if you're not converse among yourselves
- 1:21:02or with anyone else on any subject
- 1:21:03connected with this case do not form or
- 1:21:05express any opinion
- 1:22:02all right
- 1:22:04you can hold it it comes off of a stand
- 1:22:06so you want this hold it loose
- 1:22:11i can't
- 1:22:13there's some concern about mr dirks
- 1:22:14being audible so uh we'll
- 1:22:17he'll be able to use that amplifier
- 1:22:19amplified microphone can the court
- 1:22:22inquire of the jury if they've been thus
- 1:22:24far able to hear them
- 1:22:25uh they're all they're nodding except
- 1:22:27the farthest juror away
- 1:22:29is having some trouble hearing so we'll
- 1:22:32have uh we will have him use the
- 1:22:34microphone
- 1:22:44following your mother's death
- 1:22:48did you blame your father
- 1:22:50yes
- 1:22:52did you have
- 1:22:54um
- 1:22:55therapy and treatment objection
- 1:22:57relevance sustained prior motion sustain
- 1:23:01did you start running away
- 1:23:04same objection your honor yeah overall
- 1:23:07seven-year-old bobby doers
- 1:23:10knew
- 1:23:11that it was my father's fault
- 1:23:14bobby durst did not know how or why or
- 1:23:18anything like that
- 1:23:20but bobby burns knew
- 1:23:23that his father had killed his mother
- 1:23:27i started running away
- 1:23:30every couple of weeks
- 1:23:32oh the neighborhood we lived in
- 1:23:35there was nothing that was not a book
- 1:23:37mansion
- 1:23:39giant houses
- 1:23:41all had outdoor garages
- 1:23:44i quickly learned
- 1:23:47which houses
- 1:23:48left their garage doors open
- 1:23:52i would go into a garage
- 1:23:55notion this strike at this point as
- 1:23:57non-responsive
- 1:24:02we'll stop there i don't want a whole
- 1:24:04narrative about this question and
- 1:24:06answers so that each question may be
- 1:24:07evaluated
- 1:24:09um
- 1:24:10perhaps mr durst can hold that
- 1:24:12microphone uh any grout no okay you
- 1:24:16can't hold the mic from perhaps we can
- 1:24:18make it a little closer to him or mr
- 1:24:20durst if you will talk right into that
- 1:24:22microphone the most important thing is
- 1:24:24that everybody hear you how about i take
- 1:24:26off her mask
- 1:24:30let's see
- 1:24:32let's try let's try to try the
- 1:24:33microphone try talking into the
- 1:24:35microphone and if necessary
- 1:24:39he said try talking into the microphone
- 1:24:42first and if that doesn't work you can
- 1:24:44take off the mask
- 1:24:47maybe maybe
- 1:24:49okay
- 1:24:51am i answering a question
- 1:24:53no not yet
- 1:24:55next question you mentioned that you
- 1:24:57started running
- 1:24:59why don't you let john tell you what
- 1:25:01questions he wants me to answer
- 1:25:05i'd rather not
- 1:25:09i'm available to
- 1:25:10talk you'll have your chance
- 1:25:14you mentioned you started running away
- 1:25:18what were you running away from
- 1:25:21the house i hated the house
- 1:25:24tommy durst testified
- 1:25:26how much i hated the house
- 1:25:29and how i kept begging my father
- 1:25:32to move
- 1:25:35and he never sold the house where his
- 1:25:37wife died
- 1:25:43all right overruled uh you may must
- 1:25:46object contemporaneously for me to
- 1:25:48sustain it your honor does the court
- 1:25:50want me to interrupt him i'm trying to
- 1:25:52you may listen to the question if the
- 1:25:54question is objectionable you may pose
- 1:25:56an objection i won't rule on the
- 1:25:57objection we'll proceed in that way you
- 1:25:59know what does the court want me to do
- 1:26:01when mr garrett asks a non-objectionable
- 1:26:03question but then it just
- 1:26:05continues and goes into something else
- 1:26:07i'm trying to give the witness the
- 1:26:08respect we may object to a narrative
- 1:26:11okay
- 1:26:13[Music]
- 1:26:17so bob
- 1:26:18what that means is
- 1:26:20let me ask questions
- 1:26:22don't go into a long narrative
- 1:26:25and i'll try to interrupt it with
- 1:26:26questions you understand
- 1:26:34hard to
- 1:26:38you may listen to the question and you
- 1:26:40may answer only the question
- 1:26:45you may proceed mr deguera
- 1:26:50you mentioned that you ran away you
- 1:26:51mentioned that uh there were many houses
- 1:26:54that had garages that you knew
- 1:26:57you could hide in
- 1:26:58what were you running away
- 1:27:01from my house my mother
- 1:27:08the answer may stand
- 1:27:10i'm not sure that uh it was
- 1:27:12heard your honor maybe he said his
- 1:27:14mother died
- 1:27:18no next question
- 1:27:25i'm sorry
- 1:27:32did you run away from camp
- 1:27:35just your relatives overall
- 1:27:39i ran away from everything
- 1:27:42my father kept sending me to see
- 1:27:44psychiatrists
- 1:27:47and all the same kind
- 1:27:50most of strike is not responsible i'll
- 1:27:51strike the party about psychiatrists did
- 1:27:54you go to see psychiatrists
- 1:27:57motion to strike is irrelevant
- 1:28:06yes i saw many psychiatrists i said okay
- 1:28:10let's pause pause for a second so a
- 1:28:13couple things if i sustain an objection
- 1:28:16you may not answer mr durst in that case
- 1:28:18i did sustain the objection that means
- 1:28:20you could not answer the juries to
- 1:28:22disregard the answer and disregard the
- 1:28:24question a juror raised his hand has to
- 1:28:27do with hearing or seeing here can you
- 1:28:29make sure
- 1:28:30it doesn't sound like it
- 1:28:32all right um
- 1:28:34let's let's check that
- 1:28:36it's not ah when you press the top queen
- 1:28:41that's the on button a green light will
- 1:28:45illuminate
- 1:28:47excellent
- 1:28:51let's try again with
- 1:28:54a mic that has been turned on
- 1:28:57gold star for number two
- 1:28:59thank you
- 1:29:06did you run away from school
- 1:29:12i ran away from school
- 1:29:15i ran away from every place they took me
- 1:29:19eventually
- 1:29:21oh
- 1:29:22right yes i ran away from school
- 1:29:31where did you go to school
- 1:29:34i went this far as you know
- 1:29:37elementary fox
- 1:29:39fox meadow elementary school
- 1:29:42and scoresdale high school did you
- 1:29:45graduate from high school
- 1:29:47yes i
- 1:29:50barely graduated from high school
- 1:29:53because i never spent any time there
- 1:30:01did you go to
- 1:30:04college went to lehigh university
- 1:30:08l e h i g h
- 1:30:11where is lehigh university
- 1:30:13located there from pennsylvania
- 1:30:16let me finish my question in bethlehem
- 1:30:19pennsylvania
- 1:30:21yes
- 1:30:22is that near where you were arrested
- 1:30:25after morris black died
- 1:30:31exactly where i was arrested i was
- 1:30:34arrested in bethlehem pennsylvania
- 1:30:38we'll get to that
- 1:30:41not yet
- 1:30:47how did you do in lehi did you graduate
- 1:30:51i managed to graduate yes
- 1:30:55after uh
- 1:30:57lehigh
- 1:31:00what was going on in in the country was
- 1:31:03that during the time of the v of the
- 1:31:05vietnam war
- 1:31:07yes
- 1:31:10and
- 1:31:11were you draft eligible
- 1:31:22i was available but for whatever the
- 1:31:24reason is
- 1:31:27probably because i had seen so many
- 1:31:29tires objection relevance draft porn
- 1:31:32never calls me
- 1:31:34all right the draft board never called
- 1:31:36you
- 1:31:37most distracted i'll strike it
- 1:31:38non-responsive did the draft board ever
- 1:31:40call you no
- 1:31:41ejection relevance
- 1:31:43sustain
- 1:31:45well did you go into the service
- 1:31:48objection relevant sustain well this is
- 1:31:50his background your honor yes
- 1:31:56what did you do
- 1:31:59i don't know what the question is what
- 1:32:01did you do after lehigh did you go into
- 1:32:03the service did you go into no i went to
- 1:32:06ucla
- 1:32:08how did you get into ucla
- 1:32:14i applied to
- 1:32:17i
- 1:32:18i applied to half a dozen graduate
- 1:32:20schools
- 1:32:22and i was accepted and some of them
- 1:32:25one of them was ucla
- 1:32:28what sort of graduate courses were were
- 1:32:31you looking to take objection relevance
- 1:32:34i was in the phd economics program
- 1:32:38it is economics
- 1:32:40something that was of interest to you at
- 1:32:42the time
- 1:32:49sort of i guess
- 1:32:51so why did you choose ucla
- 1:32:57it seemed like it should
- 1:33:00los angeles hollywood movies it sounded
- 1:33:04like fun
- 1:33:06and was it fun yes
- 1:33:14tell the jury about how you met susan
- 1:33:17berman
- 1:33:20well
- 1:33:21after my first year at ucla
- 1:33:241966.
- 1:33:28friends of mine from new york
- 1:33:31stuart altman and his younger brother
- 1:33:33eric
- 1:33:35came out and visited me
- 1:33:39the beta theta pi fraternity house
- 1:33:43in westwood
- 1:33:45had a big sign out front
- 1:33:48that said rooms for rent
- 1:33:52so the three of us rented a big room for
- 1:33:55the summer
- 1:33:58this
- 1:34:00were you a member of beta theta pie or
- 1:34:02was did you just rent a room from them
- 1:34:05i had nothing to do with betta santa pie
- 1:34:08just rented the room
- 1:34:13okay go ahead how did you meet susan
- 1:34:15berman
- 1:34:19so one night
- 1:34:22what we did all summer long
- 1:34:26was to hang out the dykstra pool
- 1:34:28[Music]
- 1:34:30just west of ucla's main campus
- 1:34:35south of sunset
- 1:34:38i guess everybody knows that
- 1:34:40there are a bunch of dormitories
- 1:34:43at a big recreation center
- 1:34:47first storm that was built
- 1:34:49was called dykstra
- 1:34:52d-y-k
- 1:34:54s-t-r-a
- 1:34:57and we spent the summer by the pool
- 1:35:01trying to pick up girls
- 1:35:04one night i got back to the fraternity
- 1:35:07house
- 1:35:09around nine or ten
- 1:35:12and stored allman introduced me
- 1:35:15to the girl that he had picked up that
- 1:35:18afternoon
- 1:35:20her name was susan berman
- 1:35:24i readily found out
- 1:35:27that both her parents were dead
- 1:35:30and that her father
- 1:35:33had owned hotels
- 1:35:35in las vegas
- 1:35:38and had something to do with the mob
- 1:35:43they stop you
- 1:35:47when you first met susan berman
- 1:35:51did you and she hit it off
- 1:35:57yes
- 1:35:59explain that to the jury
- 1:36:02oh
- 1:36:04the only thing stuart orton was
- 1:36:06interested in
- 1:36:08was the fact that susan barman
- 1:36:12had decided
- 1:36:14that she was going to keep it
- 1:36:16until she got married
- 1:36:19so steward wandered off someplace
- 1:36:23and susan and i
- 1:36:25stayed up all night and talked
- 1:36:29steven silverman
- 1:36:31who testified
- 1:36:33said that when you have a conversation
- 1:36:36with susan berman
- 1:36:38you listened
- 1:36:40or whatever it was
- 1:36:43that night
- 1:36:44i was relatively talkative
- 1:36:48and we spent the whole night talking
- 1:36:52so what did you
- 1:36:55uh what did you find in common
- 1:36:58with you and susan
- 1:36:59well both of us were raised
- 1:37:02by other
- 1:37:04others than our parents
- 1:37:07her parents were both dead
- 1:37:09her father died when she was seven
- 1:37:13her mother died when she was 12.
- 1:37:16my father
- 1:37:18my mother died when i was seven
- 1:37:22my father couldn't handle me
- 1:37:25and i kept running away
- 1:37:28and he kept sending me to see
- 1:37:29psychiatrists
- 1:37:32a psychiatrist objection motion to
- 1:37:34strike is non-responsive also it's a
- 1:37:36narrative
- 1:37:37all right we are at a narrative and
- 1:37:40let's see just a moment
- 1:37:43the psychiatrist stuff i'm asking to be
- 1:37:45stricken well i will i'm looking at
- 1:37:48anything else no i don't think so we'll
- 1:37:50strike really the psychiatrist part
- 1:37:52arrest may stand your honor could mr
- 1:37:54durst be instructed not to bring up
- 1:37:56anything about psychiatrists unless he's
- 1:37:58specifically asked because it's coming
- 1:38:01up frequently
- 1:38:02yeah listen to the question answer only
- 1:38:04the question
- 1:38:07was was there a period of time
- 1:38:09uh in your youth where you were sent to
- 1:38:12see psychiatrists on a regular basis
- 1:38:15to sustain
- 1:38:18[Music]
- 1:38:20sustained mr mcgarrin
- 1:38:24i sustain this objection i just stopped
- 1:38:26him your honor i know but you asked the
- 1:38:28same question and only to stop him don't
- 1:38:30do that please ask questions don't ask
- 1:38:33questions to which an injection will be
- 1:38:35sustained and i've already made clear
- 1:38:37what will be sustained
- 1:38:44was your father an absentee father
- 1:38:48objection relevance sustained
- 1:38:56our
- 1:38:58if i sustain an objection do not answer
- 1:39:00the question
- 1:39:02next question please
- 1:39:07so
- 1:39:10how did you feel that you and susan had
- 1:39:12things in common
- 1:39:16we were both rich
- 1:39:18susan had a trust fund
- 1:39:21to pay her twenty five hundred dollars a
- 1:39:24month
- 1:39:26susan had a mercedes-benz sl
- 1:39:31that first night we met
- 1:39:34and it got to me mourning
- 1:39:36she took me out to her car
- 1:39:39and we drove to ship's restaurant
- 1:39:43on westwood
- 1:39:45in westwood
- 1:39:48and we pretty much talked
- 1:39:51until it was lunchtime
- 1:39:55all right so
- 1:39:56you meet susan berman
- 1:39:59you hit it off with her immediately
- 1:40:01you stay up all night talking you go to
- 1:40:03ship's restaurant
- 1:40:06the next day did your friendship with
- 1:40:09susan continue
- 1:40:15yes we stayed friends
- 1:40:18the next year
- 1:40:20i applied
- 1:40:22to claremont graduate school
- 1:40:25all right now where is claremont
- 1:40:27graduate school
- 1:40:28it's in claremont california it's about
- 1:40:32an hour and 15 minutes
- 1:40:34east of los angeles
- 1:40:38now was this
- 1:40:40during your
- 1:40:43school at ucla did you interrupt your
- 1:40:46school at ucla
- 1:40:48i just left ucla
- 1:40:51for the one year i went to claremont
- 1:40:53graduate school
- 1:40:55and i went back to ucla
- 1:40:58in the meantime what did susan do
- 1:41:02susan rise awaited from ucla
- 1:41:05and she applied to
- 1:41:08berkeley's graduate school in journalism
- 1:41:12where she was accepted
- 1:41:15at the time
- 1:41:16i believe
- 1:41:18berkeley's journalism program
- 1:41:22was considered the best in the west
- 1:41:25i think it still is
- 1:41:28at least
- 1:41:29all right so
- 1:41:30susan went to berkeley
- 1:41:33in northern california right
- 1:41:35right and you went to claremont graduate
- 1:41:38school
- 1:41:40and then i went back to ucla all right
- 1:41:43so
- 1:41:44after
- 1:41:45susan moved to
- 1:41:48northern california to attend berkeley
- 1:41:51what did you do
- 1:41:53we visited each other frequently
- 1:41:58bob were you and susan ever lovers no no
- 1:42:03[Music]
- 1:42:04how would you
- 1:42:05characterize your friendship
- 1:42:07as friends
- 1:42:14all right in the next few years what
- 1:42:16happened as
- 1:42:18far as you and susan
- 1:42:20in 1968
- 1:42:23i applied to become a vista
- 1:42:26a volunteer and service to america
- 1:42:31let me stop you there
- 1:42:32what gave you the idea to
- 1:42:35become a vista volunteer
- 1:42:39they had a
- 1:42:40table at ucla
- 1:42:46with information about this film
- 1:42:49i walked by and i liked it
- 1:42:53and i applied to become a visitor
- 1:42:56and
- 1:42:59where was
- 1:43:00susan berman
- 1:43:02at that time
- 1:43:03susan
- 1:43:05had become
- 1:43:08his first she graduated
- 1:43:13from
- 1:43:14journalism school
- 1:43:17about the same time as i went into this
- 1:43:19stuff
- 1:43:22she got a job with the san francisco
- 1:43:24chronicle
- 1:43:28and after one year
- 1:43:31she went to work
- 1:43:33for something that was called
- 1:43:35city magazine
- 1:43:38is that a local publication in san
- 1:43:40francisco yes
- 1:43:43it was very popular but it did not last
- 1:43:46very long
- 1:43:48but susan
- 1:43:50became a star
- 1:43:52she wrote an article
- 1:43:54a cover article
- 1:43:57called
- 1:43:58why i can't get laid in san francisco
- 1:44:04and this made the front page of the
- 1:44:07magazine
- 1:44:09and the new san francisco chronicle
- 1:44:13picked it up on their front page too
- 1:44:16with a big picture of susan
- 1:44:20were you proud of her success
- 1:44:23well
- 1:44:25i sort of thought
- 1:44:27it was the wrong thing for her career
- 1:44:31but she liked it and she got lots of job
- 1:44:33opportunities from it
- 1:44:36in the meantime what were you doing
- 1:44:39as a vista volunteer
- 1:44:43well being a vista volunteer was
- 1:44:45interesting
- 1:44:47they did they sent me the watts
- 1:44:51and i lived in watts
- 1:44:54and i worked for an agency
- 1:44:58i get some water
- 1:45:00yes
- 1:45:17i've got one
- 1:45:20[Music]
- 1:45:43you
- 1:46:07you mentioned
- 1:46:09you mentioned they sent you to watts
- 1:46:13what year was this
- 1:46:151969.
- 1:46:18was this
- 1:46:21what was the situation
- 1:46:23in watts during that time projection
- 1:46:26relevance mistake
- 1:46:29what was vista uh doing there objection
- 1:46:32relevance what did you do
- 1:46:34objection relevance
- 1:46:36overall
- 1:46:44they set up
- 1:46:46my program
- 1:46:47all of us were in some way related to
- 1:46:50business
- 1:46:52and we were supposed to help
- 1:46:55the people in business in watts
- 1:46:59mostly if you're getting bank loans
- 1:47:01[Music]
- 1:47:03small business administration 352 as
- 1:47:06well
- 1:47:09overall
- 1:47:10move on though
- 1:47:12you're on over here yes so i'm not sure
- 1:47:14that jury heard the answer because he
- 1:47:16was speaking over him
- 1:47:17[Music]
- 1:47:19everybody hear the answer
- 1:47:21they're nodding i heard it everybody
- 1:47:23heard it thank you
- 1:47:24go ahead is was
- 1:47:27vista more or less a domestic peace
- 1:47:30corps
- 1:47:35yes
- 1:47:37and so how long were you associated with
- 1:47:39vista and then what
- 1:47:42for a year
- 1:47:45what did you physically do
- 1:47:47as a vista volunteer
- 1:47:50i met with small business people in
- 1:47:53watts
- 1:47:55and i helped them fill out
- 1:47:57small business administration
- 1:47:59applications
- 1:48:02in some cases
- 1:48:04i co-signed loans objection relevance
- 1:48:08rule
- 1:48:10you might continue
- 1:48:14please no
- 1:48:15but the
- 1:48:17narrative ends next question
- 1:48:20so
- 1:48:22helping
- 1:48:24small businesses
- 1:48:26get loans for business i presume is that
- 1:48:29right
- 1:48:34yeah
- 1:48:35and what else did you do
- 1:48:38that's what i did
- 1:48:40all right
- 1:48:41how long were you in that program
- 1:48:44a year
- 1:48:45and then what did you do
- 1:48:48well i read this that at the time
- 1:48:51there was something called
- 1:48:54a whole earth review
- 1:48:57hello a
- 1:48:59hippie book
- 1:49:01magazine
- 1:49:04have i read about
- 1:49:07an article
- 1:49:09about people
- 1:49:11opening health food stores
- 1:49:15mostly in new england
- 1:49:19so i got the idea
- 1:49:22that i would go to new england
- 1:49:25and open a health food store
- 1:49:29really a health food
- 1:49:31general store
- 1:49:33all right i'll ask you about that in a
- 1:49:35moment
- 1:49:36but did you
- 1:49:38return to ucla before you went to new
- 1:49:40england no i just left so you did not
- 1:49:44graduate from did not get a degree no
- 1:49:47okay
- 1:49:50all right um
- 1:49:51so you got the idea that you wanted to
- 1:49:54have a health food store but more or
- 1:49:57less a general store
- 1:49:59in new england
- 1:50:01is that right yeah
- 1:50:03what did you do
- 1:50:04in order to accomplish that
- 1:50:07well my father
- 1:50:10owned a big house
- 1:50:13an hour and a half north of new york
- 1:50:16city
- 1:50:18it was a typical rich person's house
- 1:50:21on 11 acres
- 1:50:24a glass house on top of a hill
- 1:50:28with a pool
- 1:50:30and a tennis court
- 1:50:34so i called up dad
- 1:50:36and asked him
- 1:50:38it was alright
- 1:50:40if i moved into the cortona house
- 1:50:44k-a-t-o-n-a-h
- 1:50:48they had had bought it
- 1:50:50because everybody
- 1:50:53felt
- 1:50:54he should not have to stay
- 1:50:57in the city during the weekends
- 1:51:00the thing what it was
- 1:51:02is that dad loved the city
- 1:51:06and having this house
- 1:51:09was more of a problem
- 1:51:11than a solution
- 1:51:14so
- 1:51:16what was your plan about the katona
- 1:51:18house that your father owned and was not
- 1:51:21using
- 1:51:23i just moved into it
- 1:51:26dad wanted me to go into the
- 1:51:29family business
- 1:51:32which is called the durst organization
- 1:51:35and at that time
- 1:51:38was one of probably your top 10
- 1:51:41owners of office space
- 1:51:44in manhattan
- 1:51:47did you want to go into the durst
- 1:51:49organization business no
- 1:51:53uh i want to ask a little bit about the
- 1:51:55history
- 1:51:56of the durst organization there's been
- 1:52:01some evidence that
- 1:52:03it was uh
- 1:52:06a tradition for the oldest member
- 1:52:09of the family to take over the business
- 1:52:12how many
- 1:52:14um
- 1:52:17siblings did seymour durst have
- 1:52:26seen what their
- 1:52:28tours had four siblings
- 1:52:32who started the durst organization my
- 1:52:35grandfather joseph durst
- 1:52:38joseph and rose durst
- 1:52:41had five
- 1:52:42children from oldest to youngest
- 1:52:46they were edwin nursed
- 1:52:50almaders askin
- 1:52:53seymour durst my father
- 1:52:57durst
- 1:52:58and david durst
- 1:53:02so
- 1:53:03was
- 1:53:05if it had been
- 1:53:07the tradition for the oldest sibling to
- 1:53:11take over
- 1:53:12that would not have been seymour was was
- 1:53:15it
- 1:53:16no
- 1:53:17it was never like that
- 1:53:19what was it like
- 1:53:22well edwin thorns just didn't like it
- 1:53:26so i wasn't there but
- 1:53:29seemingly from the very beginning
- 1:53:31he did not like new york city
- 1:53:35and he did not like the real estate
- 1:53:37business
- 1:53:40my grandfather
- 1:53:42gave up trying to get edwin durst
- 1:53:46from the business
- 1:53:48so the next oldest one was my father
- 1:53:52seymour's
- 1:53:54did seymour run the business after your
- 1:53:56grandfather
- 1:53:58gave it up
- 1:53:59yes all right
- 1:54:01and basically what
- 1:54:04wasn't is
- 1:54:05this
- 1:54:06durst organization business in new york
- 1:54:10in new york city
- 1:54:13particularly in manhattan
- 1:54:15all the properties are very small
- 1:54:19so if you're going to build a big
- 1:54:21building
- 1:54:22you have to buy up a whole bunch of
- 1:54:24little properties
- 1:54:27and get the tenants out
- 1:54:29new york city has very strong rent
- 1:54:32control laws
- 1:54:35i think a lot stronger than out here
- 1:54:39once a tenant
- 1:54:40is in a residential facility
- 1:54:43they can stay there
- 1:54:46until they die
- 1:54:48as long as they pay the rent
- 1:54:52so the business was buying small
- 1:54:55buildings
- 1:54:58removing the tenants
- 1:55:01demolishing the small buildings
- 1:55:05using the land for parking
- 1:55:08until you got enough little buildings
- 1:55:11together
- 1:55:12to build a big building
- 1:55:15so was that more or less the business
- 1:55:17plan of the durst organization
- 1:55:20that was it
- 1:55:22did you have any interest in doing that
- 1:55:26well that summer
- 1:55:28when i was 69.
- 1:55:32i spent you just said that summer when i
- 1:55:36was 69.
- 1:55:37are you talking about the year 1969
- 1:55:44i'm sorry
- 1:55:45i meant to say 1969.
- 1:55:48okay that summer go ahead
- 1:55:51i spent a lot of time driving around new
- 1:55:54england
- 1:55:55and looking at little towns
- 1:55:59trying to find a place
- 1:56:01where i would be comfortable
- 1:56:04living and running a store
- 1:56:08were you living at the katona house by
- 1:56:10then
- 1:56:11yes
- 1:56:12and dad kept leaning on me
- 1:56:16to come into the business
- 1:56:20so he could show me the business
- 1:56:22did you want to do that
- 1:56:25no what did you want to do
- 1:56:28i wanted to go open my store someplace
- 1:56:31and that was the idea that you had
- 1:56:34come across when you were a vista
- 1:56:36volunteer and you were in
- 1:56:39school in california
- 1:56:51when i finished i visited program
- 1:56:55i left los angeles
- 1:56:58and moved to new york
- 1:57:01vista was the past
- 1:57:04and so
- 1:57:06uh when you were driving you just
- 1:57:07testified you were driving around
- 1:57:10new england looking for a place
- 1:57:12for it to
- 1:57:14start a store was that the plan that you
- 1:57:16had from california
- 1:57:25um
- 1:57:27all right did you
- 1:57:30did you find a place
- 1:57:32that you thought would be good
- 1:57:33for your plan to have a health food
- 1:57:36store or a general store in new england
- 1:57:39yes middlebury vermont
- 1:57:42it's a small town
- 1:57:44with a very selective college
- 1:57:47middlebury college
- 1:57:50is one of the most selective small
- 1:57:52colleges
- 1:57:54in the country
- 1:57:58so describe
- 1:58:00if you will what you thought was
- 1:58:03uh ideal
- 1:58:04for your plan to have a health food
- 1:58:07store in a general store
- 1:58:12actually relevant to 352. well
- 1:58:23oh yes the answer the question is yes
- 1:58:27that's not no that wouldn't be an
- 1:58:29appropriate answer here let me repeat my
- 1:58:31question
- 1:58:33did you
- 1:58:34find that
- 1:58:36middlebury connecticut middlebury uh
- 1:58:39vermont
- 1:58:40was an ideal place
- 1:58:43for your plan for a
- 1:58:46health food store and
- 1:58:49general store
- 1:58:55the answer is yes
- 1:58:57what was it about
- 1:58:59that place that
- 1:59:01caused you to make that decision
- 1:59:03it was quaint i i really don't know
- 1:59:06there was no competition
- 1:59:08there were lots of towns that would have
- 1:59:10been great but somebody already gotten
- 1:59:13there
- 1:59:15okay so what did you find
- 1:59:18what were you able to do
- 1:59:21i leased space
- 1:59:254 000 square feet
- 1:59:28and nobody vermont
- 1:59:32signed a lease
- 1:59:34to open the store
- 1:59:37and did you have a place to live there
- 1:59:39objection 352 your honor i rented the
- 1:59:42downstairs of my house
- 1:59:46oh go ahead
- 1:59:47three
- 1:59:49three dollars a month
- 1:59:51eighty eight oh
- 1:59:54eight
- 1:59:55did you say eighty dollars a month
- 2:00:00the store rent was a hundred and thirty
- 2:00:02dollars a month
- 2:00:04the arm and rent was eighty dollars a
- 2:00:07month
- 2:00:09did you have
- 2:00:10sufficient income
- 2:00:13to pay that rent
- 2:00:15yes from the time i was 18
- 2:00:18there were family trusts
- 2:00:21that paid me an income
- 2:00:24that's what
- 2:00:26i answered before one of the things
- 2:00:29susan berman and i both had in common
- 2:00:33is that we both had trust funds
- 2:00:36set up by our parents
- 2:00:40okay when you find
- 2:00:42this uh
- 2:00:43store
- 2:00:44to rent or
- 2:00:46and you find a house to rent a home to
- 2:00:49rent
- 2:00:50in middlebury
- 2:00:52was it your plan to live in kentona or
- 2:00:55to live in middlebury
- 2:01:07[Music]
- 2:01:11you had been living at the katana house
- 2:01:14right
- 2:01:15yes and i left things in one of the
- 2:01:17bedrooms
- 2:01:19i would periodically
- 2:01:21go to new york
- 2:01:23and stay at the katona house
- 2:01:26and i went along with dad's desire
- 2:01:30to hire and visit the business
- 2:01:33i can't say i worked there i would just
- 2:01:36go and
- 2:01:38go to some meetings and things
- 2:01:40objectionary your dad wanted me to know
- 2:01:43okay
- 2:01:45uh we'll pause
- 2:01:47yes it's becoming a narrative do we have
- 2:01:51ordinarily one lawyer not to object are
- 2:01:53you passing the torch to mr bailey and
- 2:01:56mr lewin
- 2:01:57no oh
- 2:02:01yeah more than
- 2:02:06one attorney to perform a task at a time
- 2:02:08otherwise i got tinny doing it and uh
- 2:02:11yeah well that's right um
- 2:02:22all right
- 2:02:23enough fun back to work next question
- 2:02:28who else lived at the katona house
- 2:02:30when you were there
- 2:02:35when i got there there was nobody there
- 2:02:38but sometime
- 2:02:40that fall
- 2:02:43my brother douglas
- 2:02:47decided
- 2:02:49that he wanted to work in a family
- 2:02:51business
- 2:02:53and he moved into the
- 2:02:55same house in katana new york
- 2:02:59his wife
- 2:03:00had his two children
- 2:03:03what was the relationship between you
- 2:03:05and douglas durst
- 2:03:07at that time we never liked one another
- 2:03:11fortunately the house was very big
- 2:03:14and he could have his hands on it
- 2:03:17and i could have my end of it
- 2:03:20and i was hardly there anyway
- 2:03:23so where were you spending your time
- 2:03:29i was spending my time in middlebury
- 2:03:35just as an aside
- 2:03:37where was susan berman and what was she
- 2:03:39doing while this was going on while you
- 2:03:41were starting your store in middlebury
- 2:03:46susan had this great success
- 2:03:49with her cover article about not being
- 2:03:52able to get laid
- 2:03:54but she had stayed with city magazine
- 2:03:59and at some point
- 2:04:03around
- 2:04:041969 or 1970
- 2:04:08susan decided
- 2:04:10that she wanted to write a book
- 2:04:13about her life story
- 2:04:16of growing up in las vegas
- 2:04:20her father's name
- 2:04:22was davey berman
- 2:04:24who was a well-known associate
- 2:04:28of buzzy seagull
- 2:04:31bugsy siegel's right-hand man
- 2:04:34he was called
- 2:04:36all right
- 2:04:37so he wanted to i think we'll take a
- 2:04:39little uh uh break now
- 2:04:41we had a sort of a long break earlier
- 2:04:44longer than i planned but i think a
- 2:04:45short break for everyone in case you
- 2:04:47need
- 2:04:48just uh to rearrange ourselves so let's
- 2:04:50uh let's take it
- 2:04:52let's take 10 minutes
- 2:04:5415 minutes let's go to 3 45.
- 2:04:57do not converse among yourselves or with
- 2:04:59anyone else on any subject make it with
- 2:05:01this
- 2:06:06it's quite a
- 2:06:08narrative of kind of a poor little rich
- 2:06:10boy and then interposed things like and
- 2:06:13maybe the court didn't hear my objection
- 2:06:16i objected when mr durst volunteered
- 2:06:19that in addition to arranging loans he
- 2:06:22said sometimes he would give them the
- 2:06:24loans himself which is which which is
- 2:06:26clearly
- 2:06:28an attempt by mr durst to
- 2:06:31try and appear to this jury
- 2:06:34as if he has certain attributes that are
- 2:06:37clearly relevant so my issue honor and i
- 2:06:39want to respect the court's position
- 2:06:42if the court believes that all this is
- 2:06:43relevant and this isn't briefly true
- 2:06:45that i'm not going to object but
- 2:06:47i'm trying to understand
- 2:06:49how
- 2:06:50questions about what rent he paid
- 2:06:54in all good things in the late 60s how
- 2:06:58that's not relevant to anything that we
- 2:06:59put on it's not relevant to any defense
- 2:07:01they have and i'm concerned i'm
- 2:07:03secondarily concerned with the idea it
- 2:07:05hasn't happened for a while and mr durst
- 2:07:07wants to bring up his treatment by
- 2:07:09psychiatrists as court's aware the
- 2:07:11defense had ample opportunity in fact
- 2:07:13they said they were going to do it to
- 2:07:14call a mental health expert to testify
- 2:07:17to these things i don't know if the
- 2:07:18court is aware of it but in the
- 2:07:20galveston trial the reason that they
- 2:07:22later said they did not call
- 2:07:24an expert in galveston was because they
- 2:07:27were able to get mr durst to testify
- 2:07:30about this information without objection
- 2:07:33so my concern is that what we got here
- 2:07:35is we've got an attempt to kind of sneak
- 2:07:37in this information by mr durst without
- 2:07:40any cross-examination so those are the
- 2:07:42issues and i'm hoping the court can
- 2:07:43provide some guidance and also sure to
- 2:07:45mention to mr durst that he is not to
- 2:07:48mention anything the word psychiatrist
- 2:07:50should not come out of his mouth mr
- 2:07:52lewin first of all you're not correct
- 2:07:54that mr nurse testified that he gave
- 2:07:57loans he did say he
- 2:07:59co-signed vista loans i'm not sure what
- 2:08:02that means it does not mean personally
- 2:08:04giving a loan
- 2:08:06he did mention psychiatrists i've
- 2:08:07stricken that at every occasion and each
- 2:08:09occasion it's non-responsive had there
- 2:08:12been a question about psychiatry or
- 2:08:14psychological treatment i would have
- 2:08:16sustained your objection the jury should
- 2:08:18not hear about
- 2:08:19psychiatry not only that it doesn't
- 2:08:22amount to a defense i'm not instructing
- 2:08:24on any psychiatric defense unless
- 2:08:26there's some evidence of it none has
- 2:08:28been
- 2:08:29presented so i have given you enormous
- 2:08:33leeway in giving context to your
- 2:08:36presentation i'm giving some leeway to
- 2:08:39the defense on the idea
- 2:08:41that that mr de garan is going to tie
- 2:08:44this into relevant evidence however the
- 2:08:48entirety of a person's experience is
- 2:08:51that that may be relevant to the case is
- 2:08:53not simply the facts and circumstances
- 2:08:55of the commission of crimes therefore
- 2:08:58i'm going to let the defense have some
- 2:09:00leeway to present a story in a coherent
- 2:09:04way that that includes hopefully
- 2:09:08the the the uh specifics behind his
- 2:09:10initial denial of responsibility this is
- 2:09:13why your honor i support the where i was
- 2:09:15not objecting much i am concerned first
- 2:09:18right when he says though that he's
- 2:09:19co-signing
- 2:09:21in the end um whether he's giving the
- 2:09:23loan or cosign alone that is still an
- 2:09:25irrelevant issue that is certainly
- 2:09:28injected as a means of making look at it
- 2:09:30as if mr durst is a certain kind of
- 2:09:33individual
- 2:09:34people people try to make themselves
- 2:09:36look good with adding a word or two to
- 2:09:39their uh to their answers if that
- 2:09:41specific word isn't responsive the
- 2:09:43balance of the answer was responsive i
- 2:09:45wasn't going to strike his answer
- 2:09:46because he volunteered a word or two
- 2:09:49that made him look
- 2:09:51good if you want to cross-examine him
- 2:09:53about his co-signing of of loans for
- 2:09:56people uh who he was helping through the
- 2:09:59vista program that's fine it seemed to
- 2:10:01me that you explored the circumstances
- 2:10:04of his development of a friendship with
- 2:10:06susan berman this is the other side of
- 2:10:09that he's describing how their lives
- 2:10:13intersected and when they did not why
- 2:10:15they did not so i'm giving the defense
- 2:10:17as i said a little bit of leeway to make
- 2:10:20a coherent presentation that is a reason
- 2:10:22why i've overruled some of your
- 2:10:24objections and that is the spirit with
- 2:10:27which i will rule on on future
- 2:10:29objections no problem your honor thank
- 2:10:31you recess
- 2:23:36all right welcome back ladies and
- 2:23:37gentlemen
- 2:23:38jurors and ultimates all have returned
- 2:23:40people versus doris mr george to terry
- 2:23:42mr degarin and mr chasnoth we have mr
- 2:23:47millius mr lewin mr bailey and mr
- 2:23:49henderson mr miata also
- 2:23:51you may resume your examination of the
- 2:23:54witness mr mccarron
- 2:23:58[Music]
- 2:24:00bob i started to ask you about
- 2:24:04where susan was and what she was doing
- 2:24:06while you were
- 2:24:08working on
- 2:24:09opening your store in middlebury vermont
- 2:24:12what was susan
- 2:24:14doing
- 2:24:15then
- 2:24:20so this is like 1969
- 2:24:231970.
- 2:24:26susan was working for city magazine
- 2:24:29and she had decided
- 2:24:31that she wanted to write a book
- 2:24:34about the story of her life
- 2:24:37i think i said before and write
- 2:24:40that her father was a well-known
- 2:24:43lobster type
- 2:24:45davey barman was buzzy seagulls
- 2:24:49right hand man
- 2:24:51susan had photographs
- 2:24:53of
- 2:24:55at her birthday parties
- 2:24:58when she was young
- 2:25:00with liberace
- 2:25:03performing for her and her friends
- 2:25:11and she felt in order to get the book
- 2:25:14published
- 2:25:16she should move to new york
- 2:25:18which is where the publishers were
- 2:25:22let's get the uh this microphone a
- 2:25:24little bit closer to him or maybe you
- 2:25:26could um speak directly into it it seems
- 2:25:30to me his voice has dropped off a little
- 2:25:32bit and it might not be quite as audible
- 2:25:35as just before the break
- 2:25:46that that looks better thank you mr
- 2:25:48pagar
- 2:25:58so did susan
- 2:26:00move to new york
- 2:26:06i need a little background here
- 2:26:09i i
- 2:26:11from shortly after
- 2:26:13i got back to new york
- 2:26:16i had taken a floor
- 2:26:18in one of my family's town houses
- 2:26:23and in the city
- 2:26:25and i was using that as a
- 2:26:27when i stayed in the city
- 2:26:30i told susan
- 2:26:33if she wanted to
- 2:26:35she could move into my second bedroom
- 2:26:39so susan moved to new york
- 2:26:42and moved into the second bedroom
- 2:26:46in the broad town
- 2:26:48new yorkers call them brownstones
- 2:26:52out here they're called
- 2:26:54town houses
- 2:26:56so susan moved in
- 2:26:58to the second bedroom
- 2:27:00on the one floor
- 2:27:03of a town house
- 2:27:05that i was using
- 2:27:08she stayed there for about
- 2:27:11six months
- 2:27:13when she rented an apartment
- 2:27:17on a well-known
- 2:27:19area
- 2:27:21called beefland craze
- 2:27:24okay
- 2:27:28during this time susan moves to new york
- 2:27:31stays in your
- 2:27:33spare bedroom
- 2:27:34and then gets her own place six months
- 2:27:36later
- 2:27:37what were you doing were you working in
- 2:27:40new york or were you
- 2:27:42working to open your store or were you
- 2:27:44doing both
- 2:27:47i was spending very little time in the
- 2:27:50city
- 2:27:51most of my time i was in middlebury
- 2:27:53vermont
- 2:27:56but
- 2:27:58i still had friends from high school and
- 2:28:01college
- 2:28:02in the city
- 2:28:05the man who introduced me to susan
- 2:28:10stewart allman
- 2:28:13had graduated
- 2:28:16from brooklyn law school
- 2:28:22and had just gotten divorced
- 2:28:27he needed a place to stay
- 2:28:31so i had all my comfort
- 2:28:34oh residential leasing agent
- 2:28:38show him apartments in the city
- 2:28:44um
- 2:28:46he moved into
- 2:28:49a building
- 2:28:51one block from where i was living all
- 2:28:54right i'm going to stop you there so i
- 2:28:56can ask you another question about that
- 2:28:58we've the jury has seen stuart altman
- 2:29:02we
- 2:29:05we know that he was
- 2:29:06he also introduced you to susan
- 2:29:09uh in when you were going to ucla
- 2:29:13what role does stewart altman then play
- 2:29:17in your meeting
- 2:29:18kathy
- 2:29:20mccormick who later became your wife
- 2:29:25so one weekend
- 2:29:28stewart called me up
- 2:29:31and said the two cute girls
- 2:29:34had just moved into the building
- 2:29:37where he was renting an apartment
- 2:29:42he brought them over to my apartment
- 2:29:45and we went out to dinner
- 2:29:48one of them
- 2:29:49was kathy mccormick
- 2:29:53kathy mccormick
- 2:29:55and i got along
- 2:29:57very very well
- 2:30:00so tell us
- 2:30:01uh from that very first moment what was
- 2:30:04your impression
- 2:30:06of kathy
- 2:30:10she was pre
- 2:30:15and she was
- 2:30:17interesting
- 2:30:19we could talk for a long time
- 2:30:22we stayed up most of the night
- 2:30:25just talking to one another
- 2:30:28she had just gotten out of high school
- 2:30:32and spent a year
- 2:30:34working for a reception at the
- 2:30:36receptionist
- 2:30:39in a dental clinic
- 2:30:42she did not have no er
- 2:30:45kathy did not have any
- 2:30:47dental training
- 2:30:49she could not clean teeth
- 2:30:52or anything like that
- 2:30:54her role
- 2:30:55was mostly
- 2:30:58to take this patient
- 2:31:00for patients
- 2:31:03from the reception area
- 2:31:06into the dental rooms
- 2:31:10okay
- 2:31:11let me stop you there and ask another
- 2:31:13question
- 2:31:17i'd ask you what your impression was of
- 2:31:19kathy
- 2:31:20that you and she
- 2:31:24hit it off well
- 2:31:28we hit it off real well
- 2:31:31we went out a couple more times in new
- 2:31:33york
- 2:31:34and when i went up to middlebury vermont
- 2:31:38she came with me
- 2:31:41and stayed for three or four days
- 2:31:44had you already
- 2:31:46had you already opened your store in
- 2:31:48vermont no
- 2:31:50the store was still a work in progress
- 2:31:54we were buying lumber for shelves
- 2:31:59and bookcases
- 2:32:02and cabinets
- 2:32:04and we were doing a lot of the work
- 2:32:06ourselves
- 2:32:08cutting two by fours
- 2:32:10and cutting plywood
- 2:32:15so um
- 2:32:17to clarify
- 2:32:18was the store open
- 2:32:20when you and cathy when you took kathy
- 2:32:23up to
- 2:32:24vermont with you or not
- 2:32:27when kathy first meeted me
- 2:32:30the store was not open
- 2:32:32it took another couple of months
- 2:32:35i was hiring students
- 2:32:38from middlebury college
- 2:32:41at the time
- 2:32:43the minimum wage
- 2:32:45in vermont
- 2:32:47was a dollar sixty an hour
- 2:32:51so it was very inexpensive
- 2:32:53for me to hire students
- 2:32:56to help me build the store
- 2:33:00taxi must have visited me
- 2:33:03probably once every three weeks
- 2:33:07for four or five months
- 2:33:09each time she would stay a little longer
- 2:33:14then she went and quit her job with the
- 2:33:16dentist's office
- 2:33:18and moved in with me and vermont
- 2:33:21so
- 2:33:22from the period of time
- 2:33:25when you first
- 2:33:27met kathy
- 2:33:29until she came to spend time with you
- 2:33:31and
- 2:33:33uh vermont until the time that you
- 2:33:37she actually moved in
- 2:33:38with you in vermont
- 2:33:40tell the jury
- 2:33:41how your relationship with kathy
- 2:33:43progressed
- 2:33:49well i progressed the usual way
- 2:33:55did you fall in love
- 2:33:58yeah we were both in love
- 2:34:01we both like to be each other
- 2:34:04littleberry vermont
- 2:34:06was very quaint
- 2:34:09easy to live in
- 2:34:12you had to do not much in the way of
- 2:34:14entertainment
- 2:34:16you had to entertain yourselves
- 2:34:22well
- 2:34:23what was your business plan
- 2:34:27about the store
- 2:34:31well when a new store opens in a small
- 2:34:34town
- 2:34:35the wholesalers
- 2:34:38are all very interested
- 2:34:40in getting you to stock your shelves
- 2:34:44with their products
- 2:34:46in vermont
- 2:34:48there were a lot of farms
- 2:34:51a lot of people
- 2:34:54grew vegetables and fruit
- 2:34:57and things
- 2:35:00where they had no place to sell
- 2:35:03so we were able
- 2:35:05to very quickly
- 2:35:07go into business
- 2:35:11and we could stock the shelves
- 2:35:15with everything we needed
- 2:35:19we would not have to make a payment
- 2:35:22for six months or a year
- 2:35:25and if whatever one
- 2:35:28that we had bought into the store
- 2:35:31did not sell
- 2:35:33the wholesalers
- 2:35:35would take it back
- 2:35:38so it was pretty easy
- 2:35:41to start the business
- 2:35:43from scratch
- 2:35:46a typical day
- 2:35:48cassie and i would walk
- 2:35:50from our
- 2:35:51the downstairs of this house we invented
- 2:35:55to this store
- 2:35:57it was about half a mile
- 2:36:00work in the store all day
- 2:36:03and walk home
- 2:36:05part of the house that we rented used
- 2:36:08wood for heat
- 2:36:11so we learned about how to
- 2:36:14cut up logs
- 2:36:17using a bow saw
- 2:36:22and
- 2:36:23using a log square
- 2:36:26so that we had heat in the whole house
- 2:36:29and we would cook these elaborate meals
- 2:36:33the store saw a whole bunch of
- 2:36:37hippie type books
- 2:36:40things on how to bake bread
- 2:36:43lots of recipe books
- 2:36:47and things about living off awesome land
- 2:36:51let me stop you and ask another question
- 2:36:55um the the store had been your idea
- 2:36:58in the beginning
- 2:37:00and then you met kathy
- 2:37:02and kathy started spending more time
- 2:37:04until she actually moved in with you
- 2:37:06in vermont
- 2:37:08tell the jury
- 2:37:10um how kathy
- 2:37:12took to
- 2:37:15the store and the idea of living in a
- 2:37:18small community
- 2:37:26well kathy
- 2:37:28is from new york city
- 2:37:31just outside of new york city
- 2:37:34so she was
- 2:37:36everything was brand new to her
- 2:37:39in terms of a small town
- 2:37:42and what you did in a small town
- 2:37:46like bingo night was a great big deal
- 2:37:51everybody would go to bingo night
- 2:37:55because there wasn't much else there
- 2:37:58there was one small movie theater
- 2:38:02periodically
- 2:38:05if you went to the nine o'clock show
- 2:38:08there'd be a sign up on the door
- 2:38:12that nobody had showed up to seven
- 2:38:14o'clock
- 2:38:16and the guy had cancelled the nine
- 2:38:18o'clock
- 2:38:19there were a few restaurants
- 2:38:22living in a small town
- 2:38:25was as new to her as it was to me
- 2:38:29everybody knew everybody
- 2:38:32the postman lived upstairs
- 2:38:35did you like it
- 2:38:37did you like it
- 2:38:39we both like it and i was gonna ask you
- 2:38:42if kathy took to it also
- 2:38:53we both fight
- 2:38:58what role did kathy play in running the
- 2:39:02store
- 2:39:04same as me
- 2:39:06we both did the
- 2:39:09work on building shelves
- 2:39:12and cabinets
- 2:39:13and we both worked with cash register
- 2:39:18and we both worked on
- 2:39:21the opening of the boxes that the stuff
- 2:39:24came in
- 2:39:27so you were excited on the shelves
- 2:39:30and putting prices on it
- 2:39:35so you work side by side yeah
- 2:39:40did you enjoy that
- 2:39:42yeah
- 2:39:46what was the situation with the durst
- 2:39:48organization and your father
- 2:39:51in new york during that time well my dad
- 2:39:55visited us
- 2:39:57probably once every couple of months
- 2:40:01and stayed overnight
- 2:40:03at the middleware and
- 2:40:06and dan was very interested
- 2:40:09in convincing me
- 2:40:12that i should come back to new york
- 2:40:15because obviously
- 2:40:17the store
- 2:40:18was never going to make me rich
- 2:40:22he was right
- 2:40:24it was never going to make me rich
- 2:40:27did that matter to you
- 2:40:29it didn't bother me at all why not i was
- 2:40:32making so much money
- 2:40:34from the trust income
- 2:40:37more money
- 2:40:39came in every month
- 2:40:41that i could possibly spend
- 2:40:44my biggest expense
- 2:40:47was paying income tax
- 2:40:49on my income
- 2:40:52i spotted on that
- 2:40:54i spent very little money
- 2:40:57well did you
- 2:40:59did you see
- 2:41:01the store
- 2:41:03as being a huge success
- 2:41:06or not
- 2:41:11it was a success to me
- 2:41:14it made a little bit of money
- 2:41:17well i didn't really care that much
- 2:41:20sometimes
- 2:41:22when we looked over what we were doing
- 2:41:25we would realize
- 2:41:27that we were selling stuff for the rest
- 2:41:30and what we had bought it for
- 2:41:33well i mean it was never something where
- 2:41:36we needed
- 2:41:38the money
- 2:41:40because we had money
- 2:41:43what did you call the store
- 2:41:45all good things
- 2:41:47how did you land on that night
- 2:41:53it's a
- 2:41:54it comes from
- 2:41:56something or other
- 2:42:00which i can't remember right now
- 2:42:07so what did the store sell other than
- 2:42:10natural foods you said it was sold a
- 2:42:12little bit of everything
- 2:42:14a little bit of hardware
- 2:42:17if you wanted a hammer we had a hammer
- 2:42:20if you wanted nails we had some nails
- 2:42:24if you wanted a screwdriver we had a
- 2:42:26screwdriver and some screws
- 2:42:30we sold some toiletries
- 2:42:33our joke was
- 2:42:35you could have any kind of toothpaste
- 2:42:37you wanted
- 2:42:39as long as it was colgate
- 2:42:42we sold toothbrushes
- 2:42:44we sold combs
- 2:42:47we stole a bunch of different soaps
- 2:42:50but there was one of everything
- 2:42:54did you sell food also
- 2:42:56oh it was mostly food what kind of food
- 2:43:00health food
- 2:43:03how did you know
- 2:43:04i'm sorry
- 2:43:06granola was granola invented back then
- 2:43:12352.
- 2:43:15right
- 2:43:16there's an exception for humor
- 2:43:18it was a night hero female
- 2:43:22thanks for keeping it light now let's
- 2:43:23move to
- 2:43:25the next area all right
- 2:43:28so
- 2:43:30bob when you went into the city
- 2:43:33did you actually go to the durst
- 2:43:35organization from time to time to work
- 2:43:37i did not work
- 2:43:40sometimes
- 2:43:42dad would tell me
- 2:43:45that there was such and such meeting
- 2:43:48and would you please come
- 2:43:50and sit in the room during the meeting
- 2:43:54and periodically i would do that
- 2:43:58but i would do it
- 2:44:00sort of my way
- 2:44:03i in little very vermont
- 2:44:06i would wear jeans and a work shirt
- 2:44:11they had convinced me
- 2:44:14actually
- 2:44:16one
- 2:44:16day
- 2:44:18when we were walking to dinner
- 2:44:21he stopped at brooks brothers
- 2:44:24brooks brothers
- 2:44:26was known
- 2:44:28as the store
- 2:44:30for executives
- 2:44:32it's not like it is now
- 2:44:35where there are brooks brothers
- 2:44:37and lots of shopping centers
- 2:44:40then there was one brooks brother
- 2:44:44there was a manhattan
- 2:44:46in midtown
- 2:44:49was there a more or less a uniform
- 2:44:52for working at uh
- 2:44:54the durst organization that was it
- 2:44:57what
- 2:44:59so i bought a suit
- 2:45:02and periodically
- 2:45:04i would go into the business
- 2:45:07and sit in on a meeting
- 2:45:12i felt bad
- 2:45:15about
- 2:45:17rejecting
- 2:45:20seymour my dad
- 2:45:22felt that i was rejecting
- 2:45:25this
- 2:45:26business which he had spent his lifetime
- 2:45:31creating for me
- 2:45:36if i did not feel like it was for me
- 2:45:39i felt he was doing
- 2:45:42what he loved doing
- 2:45:46period and did you want to do that
- 2:45:50i felt like i should do something
- 2:45:54so that he did not feel
- 2:45:57like i was being spiteful
- 2:45:59to him
- 2:46:02on the other hand
- 2:46:04what was your work uniform
- 2:46:06in middlebury vermont
- 2:46:11jeans i don't work sure
- 2:46:15how were you more comfortable
- 2:46:20and you know
- 2:46:22i was never comfortable in my suit
- 2:46:29kathy
- 2:46:31was living with you by then
- 2:46:34in vermont and running the store
- 2:46:36how did she feel about your trips to new
- 2:46:39york to work for the durst organization
- 2:46:45whenever i told kathy
- 2:46:48that i was involved in new york for
- 2:46:50several days
- 2:46:53she would
- 2:46:55start to get sort of upset
- 2:46:58i think she guessed
- 2:47:01what was going to happen in the future
- 2:47:04which was i was eventually
- 2:47:07going to give in
- 2:47:09and go to work in the nurse organization
- 2:47:14so
- 2:47:18again did you want to do that did you
- 2:47:21want to go
- 2:47:22give up what you had in vermont
- 2:47:26i wanted to stay in vermont
- 2:47:30but i convinced myself
- 2:47:34i should
- 2:47:36go work in the nurse organization
- 2:47:39for a couple of years
- 2:47:42and then dad would see
- 2:47:45that i did not like it and when i was
- 2:47:48not good at it
- 2:47:50i was okay with him
- 2:47:53if i
- 2:47:54did not work in the durst organization
- 2:47:59by 19
- 2:48:06kathy and i
- 2:48:08had decided
- 2:48:10to get married
- 2:48:12all right
- 2:48:13so
- 2:48:15uh my next question was going to be how
- 2:48:17long
- 2:48:18you and kathy had the store
- 2:48:21in vermont
- 2:48:24probably a year and a half
- 2:48:26that gets us to
- 2:48:281971.
- 2:48:32in 1971
- 2:48:36we decided
- 2:48:38we would get married
- 2:48:41my initial reaction
- 2:48:44i wanted to make sure kathy was aware
- 2:48:48that i did not want to have children
- 2:48:52i'm going to get to that in just a
- 2:48:53moment
- 2:48:55but first i want
- 2:48:57there was a photograph that was
- 2:48:59uh it's been the jury's already seen it
- 2:49:01but i'd like to put it up again and ask
- 2:49:03you about it
- 2:49:05it's our number
- 2:49:06uh it hasn't been marked yet as ours but
- 2:49:09it's uh
- 2:49:11uh our number eight
- 2:49:14people's exhibit number
- 2:49:20i'm not sure what number it was it's
- 2:49:22people's exhibit can we have it mark
- 2:49:24desires
- 2:49:32it could be defense age
- 2:49:34oh yeah this screen is not working so
- 2:49:37the jury will have to
- 2:49:38take a look at this other screen i think
- 2:49:40the tv just needs to be turned on
- 2:49:42no no no no
- 2:49:44it's our problem
- 2:49:45thank you can look at this today we'll
- 2:49:48have it restored in the morning
- 2:49:50so bob um
- 2:49:52what's the number
- 2:49:53what's the the exhibit you're on earth
- 2:49:55people 63
- 2:49:57people 63
- 2:49:59defense your honor says we mark it as
- 2:50:01ours also why don't we i think it's
- 2:50:03going to be get confusing if we double
- 2:50:05mark exhibits yeah
- 2:50:0863.
- 2:50:10so bob what are we looking at
- 2:50:13can you see it
- 2:50:19and
- 2:50:19[Music]
- 2:50:20it's me in my hippie uniform
- 2:50:24and cassie on our wedding day
- 2:50:28what
- 2:50:29what day was that
- 2:50:33we did it on my 30th birthday
- 2:50:36april 12
- 2:50:391973.
- 2:50:42where in the world did you get that tie
- 2:50:48that didn't come from brooks brothers
- 2:50:50did it he hadn't met chip lewis yet
- 2:50:53he had not
- 2:50:57you don't have to answer that
- 2:51:04bob um
- 2:51:07tell us about that
- 2:51:17well day it was
- 2:51:20kathy's father
- 2:51:22died
- 2:51:23when she was 12
- 2:51:26from colon cancer
- 2:51:29it was a terrible thing that she went
- 2:51:33through
- 2:51:34and that her father went through
- 2:51:37in those days
- 2:51:39if you let colon can't well maybe it's
- 2:51:42the same way today
- 2:51:44but when her father went through
- 2:51:47was having an inch
- 2:51:49an incision in his side
- 2:51:52and a band attached to it
- 2:51:55kind of like the bag that i buy here
- 2:51:59for my urine
- 2:52:01but this is for me
- 2:52:03to your honor and you have special clues
- 2:52:05made
- 2:52:08what's right
- 2:52:13you go ahead
- 2:52:16and you have special suits made
- 2:52:19with a pocket
- 2:52:21that holds
- 2:52:24basically
- 2:52:25a day's worth of poop
- 2:52:29and you've got to clean the thing out of
- 2:52:31course
- 2:52:33seemingly
- 2:52:35he lives for about nine months like that
- 2:52:38and then he died
- 2:52:41and i can get back to our wedding day
- 2:52:44since kathy had no father
- 2:52:47and i had no mother
- 2:52:49and neither of us
- 2:52:51was interested
- 2:52:53in having a big party
- 2:52:56what we did
- 2:52:59was we found this grave
- 2:53:02about 10 minutes from the house in
- 2:53:04katana
- 2:53:07we
- 2:53:09told nobody
- 2:53:10we were getting married
- 2:53:13except i told my dad
- 2:53:16and kathy told her mother
- 2:53:19we went downtown
- 2:53:22new york to this municipal building
- 2:53:27and we got our marriage license
- 2:53:30marriage license
- 2:53:34we invited a priest and a rabbi
- 2:53:38kathy was catholic
- 2:53:41i am jewish
- 2:53:43but neither of us
- 2:53:46did much of the
- 2:53:48partaking of our religion
- 2:54:05um but let's uh it is a narrative and
- 2:54:08you need to know this is a
- 2:54:11do you understand bob i need to break it
- 2:54:13up in question and answer yeah
- 2:54:16so
- 2:54:19you and kathy were married by both a
- 2:54:21priest and a rabbi
- 2:54:25that's a question
- 2:54:31i i i don't know what the question is
- 2:54:34okay
- 2:54:35is there a delay
- 2:54:37on the screen
- 2:54:42never mind very delay on the screen
- 2:54:46minimal okay whenever i ask a question
- 2:54:49let me ask a question
- 2:54:53you were married by both a priest and a
- 2:54:55rabbi on your birthday is that right
- 2:55:03yes
- 2:55:07was it a happy occasion for you
- 2:55:12oh there we are
- 2:55:14so we invited cassie's mother and my
- 2:55:17father my question is was it a a happy
- 2:55:21occasion
- 2:55:23was kathy happy
- 2:55:26cathy was ecstatic were you happy i was
- 2:55:30ecstatic
- 2:55:32were you in love
- 2:55:35we were both very much in love
- 2:55:38where were you living and where did you
- 2:55:39plan to live
- 2:55:41in the next
- 2:55:42year or so
- 2:55:45well about a year before we got married
- 2:55:55about a year before we got married
- 2:55:59i promised dad
- 2:56:02that i would check the store
- 2:56:05or sell the store
- 2:56:08and come work in the durst organization
- 2:56:12but i told them
- 2:56:14if i did not like it
- 2:56:16i would only do it for a little while
- 2:56:20i was very pleasantly surprised
- 2:56:23to find out that there were people who
- 2:56:27wanted
- 2:56:29to run our health food store
- 2:56:32so i was able to sell the lease
- 2:56:36and to sell
- 2:56:38the inventory i guess you call it
- 2:56:43had to make a small profit
- 2:56:48and we
- 2:56:51gave up from leaving
- 2:56:54of the apartment
- 2:56:56we were living in middlebury
- 2:56:59so where were you living then when you
- 2:57:01and kathy married
- 2:57:04well there's more to the last part of it
- 2:57:07so i sold the store again with the
- 2:57:10police of the apartment
- 2:57:12we had bought what's called a quarter
- 2:57:15century
- 2:57:17460 acres
- 2:57:20of forest land
- 2:57:22on the
- 2:57:24hillside
- 2:57:25[Music]
- 2:57:26about 40 minutes
- 2:57:29outside of hillbury
- 2:57:32where we plan on building a house
- 2:57:34someday
- 2:57:36so we kept the land
- 2:57:39we moved into the katona house
- 2:57:44and we fixed up the apartment
- 2:57:46in the city
- 2:57:48where susan barman
- 2:57:50had visited us
- 2:57:53so
- 2:57:54before we did that
- 2:57:59we went on our honeymoon
- 2:58:01i'm going to ask you about that
- 2:58:03but so at the time of your marriage were
- 2:58:06you living in katona
- 2:58:08and the apartment in manhattan and had
- 2:58:11given up the house in
- 2:58:14vermont
- 2:58:20yes i gave up the rented apartment
- 2:58:24and we were living on in vermont
- 2:58:26it was a downstairs of a house
- 2:58:30all right now you mentioned your
- 2:58:33honeymoon
- 2:58:36did you and kathy
- 2:58:38uh
- 2:58:39take a honeymoon
- 2:58:41yeah so we got a man
- 2:58:43what that spent a lot of time what kind
- 2:58:46of van
- 2:58:48what kind of van
- 2:58:51ford
- 2:58:52all right
- 2:58:54and we built all kinds
- 2:58:56of stuff in the van we had a mattress
- 2:59:00and an ice box
- 2:59:02and some kind of a stove
- 2:59:05and we took two months
- 2:59:08and zoomed around the country
- 2:59:12we
- 2:59:12visited
- 2:59:26children susan had already moved to new
- 2:59:29york
- 2:59:30so we did not visit susan
- 2:59:33in san francisco
- 2:59:36we visited
- 2:59:37my baby brother tommy
- 2:59:40in san francisco
- 2:59:43what was your relationship with tommy
- 2:59:46then
- 2:59:48he was seven years younger than me
- 2:59:52so when i got out of high school at 18
- 2:59:56when i was 18
- 2:59:58had moved away from score sale
- 3:00:01he was only 11.
- 3:00:05so we never saw each other very much
- 3:00:09all right you mentioned that
- 3:00:11you and kathy
- 3:00:12were taking your honeymoon by driving
- 3:00:14around the country
- 3:00:16in a van
- 3:00:18yes and i
- 3:00:20found my itinerary
- 3:00:23i left out someplace in there
- 3:00:26between
- 3:00:29susan leaving
- 3:00:31san francisco chronicle
- 3:00:33and going to work for city magazine
- 3:00:36she bought a house on clay street
- 3:00:40where i had visited her
- 3:00:43then she moved to new york
- 3:00:45okay now
- 3:00:46when susan had the house on clay street
- 3:00:50in san francisco that was before you and
- 3:00:53kathy
- 3:00:54uh had met and married right
- 3:00:58that was before i met kathy yes okay
- 3:01:03so back to
- 3:01:05your honeymoon
- 3:01:07do i
- 3:01:08understand to tell the jury
- 3:01:11did you
- 3:01:12travel around the country and live in
- 3:01:14your van for a couple of months
- 3:01:20yes
- 3:01:23bob even though
- 3:01:27it was
- 3:01:28trust money
- 3:01:29did you need to
- 3:01:31live in a van traveling around the
- 3:01:33country and sleep
- 3:01:35by the side of the road
- 3:01:37absolutely not
- 3:01:40why did you do it
- 3:01:41what i wanted to do
- 3:01:44did kathy what we wanted to know
- 3:01:47and how was it it was fun
- 3:01:55you've uh
- 3:01:57you've heard tommy your
- 3:01:59little brother
- 3:02:01testify here that he resented you
- 3:02:04to this day
- 3:02:06for
- 3:02:07pulling a trick on him in a
- 3:02:11revolving door
- 3:02:14do you remember that event
- 3:02:18i remember tommy's testimony
- 3:02:21i don't remember the answer
- 3:02:24tommy said
- 3:02:26[Music]
- 3:02:29and this is when he was in idaho
- 3:02:32so i don't know how old we were then
- 3:02:35i don't remember
- 3:02:38when he was talking about
- 3:02:41me ignoring him in the revolving door
- 3:02:47it was not when he was little
- 3:02:50he was a grown-up
- 3:02:54at any rate
- 3:02:55where
- 3:02:56tell the jury a little bit about
- 3:02:58where you went you and kathy
- 3:03:01when you spent your two month honeymoon
- 3:03:03injection relevance sustained
- 3:03:12what did you do
- 3:03:13after you and kathy
- 3:03:15um
- 3:03:17came back from your honeymoon
- 3:03:24i went to work at the dirt store gonna
- 3:03:27say
- 3:03:33it was just like i expected it to be
- 3:03:37and i did not love it
- 3:03:39i
- 3:03:40barely liked it at all
- 3:03:44i was in a room
- 3:03:46with a whole bunch of suits
- 3:03:51all day long
- 3:03:55and people would talk about
- 3:03:59language
- 3:04:01you know means
- 3:04:03very mortgage
- 3:04:06i gradually
- 3:04:08figured out how to do things
- 3:04:12but it was not something i loved
- 3:04:16meanwhile
- 3:04:18for kathy
- 3:04:20life would go gone the other way
- 3:04:23kathy's family
- 3:04:26her brother went to college
- 3:04:29none of her older three sisters went to
- 3:04:32college
- 3:04:33kathy did not plan on going to college
- 3:04:37but when we were in middlebury
- 3:04:40she got an idea
- 3:04:42that she wanted to be a nurse
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