Simpson Trial:
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Notice how much work the advocate does to establish who the witness is, how she happened to hear something, and exactly what she heard, all before actually play the 911 tape.
Judge LANCE ITO: All right, Mr. Darden, who is your first witness? CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Sharyn Gilbert, Your Honor. Judge LANCE ITO: All right, Ms. Gilbert [sp?], w ould you step over here by the witness stand, please, by the court reporter? Mrs . Robertson. COURT REPORTER: Please raise your right hand. Do you solemnly s wear that the testimony you may give for the cause now pleading before this court will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God? SHARYN GILBERT, 911 Dispatcher: I do. COURT REPORTER: Please be seated, then state to the court your f irst and last names for the record. SHARYN GILBERT: My first name is Sharon, spelled S- H-A-R-Y-N. L ast name is Gilbert - G-I-L-B-E-R-T. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Thank you, Your Honor. Good morning, Ms. Gi lbert. SHARYN GILBERT: Good morning. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Ms. Gilbert, who do you work for? SHARYN GILBERT: The Los Angeles Police Department. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: And what is your job title? SHARYN GILBERT: I'm a police service representative. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: And are you also a 911 operator and dispatch er? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: OK, and were you a 911 operator and dispatch er on January 1, 1989? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes, I was. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: And were you on duty between 3:00 and 4:00 i n the morning on that date? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes, I was. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: And on that date and during that time period did you receive a telephone call? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes, I did. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Where were you physically located at that ti me? SHARYN GILBERT: I believe I was sitting on console 41, as indica ted on my SNF, the console that I was sitting on. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: OK, so you were sitting at console 41? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes, which is what we determine as a primary pos ition, and primary is 911. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: OK, now, is console 41 located in a private office? SHARYN GILBERT: No, it is not. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Is it located in a cubicle? SHARYN GILBERT: No, we don't sit in individual cubicles. We- th ere are approximately five consoles side- by-side, all connected together. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: I take it that there's a telephone of some k ind in front of you. SHARYN GILBERT: Each console has its own telephone, and it sits to the left of each operator. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: And are you provided with earphones? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes, we have headsets, individual headsets. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: OK, and are you also provided with a keyboar d? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes, we have two computer screens and a keyboard for each console. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: OK, if you will, take us through the process and procedure that occurs whenever you receive a 911 telephone call. OK, the ca ll comes in, and you answer it, correct? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes. When you're plugged in, you- we have what you call a ``in'' button. It stays in all the time, ready for a call to- well, y ou say, ``drop in.'' And we have an indicator on the panel to the left that shows the address and phone number where this call is originating from, and it also co mes in on my computer screen, which is the left computer screen, considered as ou r status screen. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: OK, so whenever you receive a 911 call, a di splay comes up on the console that indicates the origin of the telephone call? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: The address from which the telephone call or iginated? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: And that same information comes up on anothe r screen? SHARYN GILBERT: Comes up on our status screen. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Your Honor, I have here a single-page docume nt. It appears to be some form of a 911 dispatch- dispatcher's log. I've provid ed Mr. Cochran with a copy. May it be marked ``People's 2?'' Judge LANCE ITO: All right, People's 2 for identification. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Ms. Gilbert, showing here what has been mark ed as People's 2 for identification. Do you recognize that document? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes, I do. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Your Honor, I also have a copy of the docume nt on the Elmo [sp?] machine. May we project it on the screen please?... CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Ms. Gilbert, what time did you say you received the telephone call? SHARYN GILBERT: 3:58. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: 3:58 in the morning? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: And does the incident report indicate the origin of the telephone call? SHARYN GILBERT: No. It just shows- I have the ability to update it, and I have the ability to update the incident type when I first got the call. I had it as an ``unknown trouble.'' CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: OK. So the call came to you, right? SHARYN GILBERT: Right. It was an open line. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: OK. Could you hear anything over the open line? SHARYN GILBERT: No. At the beginning, no. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Did the line remain open? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes, it did. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: And while the line was open, at any point in time could you hear anything? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes, I did. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: What did you hear? SHARYN GILBERT: At first I heard a female screaming, and that's when I went back and changed my incident type from ``unknown trouble'' to ``a screaming woman.'' CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: And did you hear anything else? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes, I did. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: What did you hear? SHARYN GILBERT: I heard someone being hit. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: You heard a noise that you associated with someone being hit? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: And what did you do with that information? SHARYN GILBERT: That's when I went back and updated it to- and the fact that I heard a female screaming. And then I heard what I thought was a slap. I went back and updated it as the female being beaten at the location to give the responding officer indication of what was going on - that it was no longer ``unknown trouble.'' CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: That communicated that a female being beaten at location could be heard over the telephone, is that right? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: What was the next thing that you did after you updated the incident report? SHARYN GILBERT: I brought up the necessary frequencies to broadcast it bureau-wide, and for the air unit to assign a unit. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Did you assign a unit? SHARYN GILBERT: At the time I dispatched it, either there weren't any units available, or I did a immediate dispatch. And I just broadcast it to West L.A. units. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: And is there something called a call priority or priority call in terms of dispatching units to certain types of incidents? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes it is. It's indicated to the right- far right. You see a C/P and a 2/H - that means ``Code 2 high,'' and for the police department that means a ``hot shot'' - that means immediate response. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: You mentioned a moment ago that the telephone line was left open. Is that correct? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Can you tell us how long that line was left open? SHARYN GILBERT: Well, I can go by my incident that I created - that the call came in at 3:58, and I updated it at 4:01. So I kept- I stayed on the line at least three to four minutes. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: So the line was open then three to four minutes? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: And the screams that you heard - you say that those screams were the screams of a woman? SHARYN GILBERT: It sounded like a female to me. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: It didn't sound like a man? SHARYN GILBERT: No. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Could you tell who was being hit or struck or slapped? SHARYN GILBERT: No, I could not. JOHNNIE COCHRAN: [inaudible] Calls for speculation [inaudible]. Judge LANCE ITO: Overruled. She indicated no - she couldn't tell - and sustained. CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Are 911 calls recorded by the L.A.P.D.? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes, they are.... CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Thank you. With the Court's permission, Your Honor, I'd like to play the 1989 911 tape. Judge LANCE ITO: All right. You have that identified as an exhibit? CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Yes. It's been marked People's 1. Judge LANCE ITO: All right. (The tape is played.) CHRISTOPHER DARDEN: Ms. Gilbert is that a tape recording of the telephone call you received at 3:58 a.m. on January 1, 1989? SHARYN GILBERT: Yes, it is. |