DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. SHAPIRO
MR. SHAPIRO: Good morning, Mr. Mandel, and thank you for coming.
MR. MANDEL: Good morning.
MR. SHAPIRO: Are you a little nervous?
MR. MANDEL: Definitely.
MR. SHAPIRO: Have you ever had the occasion to testify before?
MR. MANDEL: No, I have not.
MR. SHAPIRO: Would you briefly tell the jury what your education and background consists of.
MR. MANDEL: I have a BA from UCLA, I graduated in 1990, and currently I work at Sony Pictures in television finance. MR. SHAPIRO: I want to draw your attention and ask you to tell the jury if anything unusual happened to you on June the 12th and if there is any reason to recall that date of 1994.
MR. MANDEL: Well, just that I was in this--at Mezzaluna that evening and then happened to walk by Nicole Simpson's house that evening.
MR. SHAPIRO: So you have--you are--obviously you are aware of what has been going on in the trial of Mr. O.J. Simpson?
MR. MANDEL: Yes, I am....
MR. SHAPIRO: Would you tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury where you were just prior to going to Mezzaluna restaurant?
MR. MANDEL: I picked up--I was on a first date and I picked up Ellen Aaronson in her apartment.
MR. SHAPIRO: And where did Ellen Aaronson live?
MR. MANDEL: She lives on Darlington in Brentwood.
MR. SHAPIRO: And do you recall where Darlington is in relationship to a location that you--did you at some point become aware of where Nicole Brown Simpson lived?
MR. MANDEL: Yes, I did.
MR. SHAPIRO: Where in relationship to Nicole's condominium was Miss Aaronson's apartment?
MR. MANDEL: It is approximately one block south and one block east.
MR. SHAPIRO: What time did you arrive at Miss Aaronson's apartment?
MR. MANDEL: At a little past eight o'clock.
MR. SHAPIRO: And did you leave there at some point in time?
MR. MANDEL: Yeah, shortly thereafter.
MR. SHAPIRO: Where did you go upon leaving the apartment?
MR. MANDEL: We walked to the restaurant....
MR. SHAPIRO: And did you have dinner at the restaurant?
MR. MANDEL: Yes, we did.
MR. SHAPIRO: Do you know what time you left the restaurant?
MR. MANDEL: I would approximate 10:15 or so. . . .
MR. SHAPIRO: Which route did you take going home?
MR. MANDEL: We left from Mezzaluna's back door, which is on Gorham, and we walked Gorham west onto Bundy and continued Bundy until Darlington.
MR. SHAPIRO: At some point in time did you become aware of the precise location of Nicole Brown Simpson's condominium?
MR. MANDEL: Yes.
MR. SHAPIRO: Do you recall whether or not you walked by that location on June the 12th in the evening with your date, Miss Aaronson?
MR. MANDEL: Yes.
MR. SHAPIRO: When you walked by that area did you notice anything unusual?
MR. MANDEL: No.
MR. SHAPIRO: Did you hear anything unusual?
MR. MANDEL: No.
MR. SHAPIRO: Did you hear any barking dogs?
MR. MANDEL: None. . . .
MR. SHAPIRO: When you walked by that location on the 12th, did you see any blood in the area that is depicted in the photograph?
MR. MANDEL: No, I did not.
MR. SHAPIRO: Did you see the shape or silhouette of the body of a person when you walked by?
MR. MANDEL: No, I did not.
MR. SHAPIRO: How can you relate what time it was?
MR. MANDEL: Well, both by knowing the credit card time and having approximation of how long I sat before I left, and then also when I was on Darlington a few houses down from Ellen's apartment I happened to glance at my watch and--
MR. SHAPIRO: What time was it when you glanced at your watch?
MR. MANDEL: It was at the bottom of the hour, approximately 10:30. It could be a minute or two before or after.
MR. SHAPIRO: And how far was that location from 875 south Bundy when you looked at your watch?
MR. MANDEL: In time it is probably about three--three-minute walk, three or four-minute walk.
MR. SHAPIRO: Was there anything unusual whatsoever, at approximately 10:30 on June the 12th, that you recall when you walked by the condominium of Nicole
Brown Simpson?
MR. MANDEL: No. . . . .
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. CLARK
MS. CLARK: Now, tell us, is it your testimony, sir, that you walked past 875 south Bundy sometime between 10:20 and 10:30?
MR. MANDEL: I would say approximately 10:25.
MS. CLARK: Or between 10:25 and 10:30?
MR. MANDEL: I would say it is probably closer to 10:25 than 10:30.
MS. CLARK: So if you were walking down Bundy, passing 875 south Bundy at about 10:25, that means that you would have gone--you would have crossed Dorothy at what, at about 10:26?
MR. MANDEL: Dorothy, correct.
MS. CLARK: That means that would have been just above 875 at about 10:23?
MR. MANDEL: Sounds reasonable.
MS. CLARK: And if someone was in their home just south of Dorothy looking north on Bundy, he should have been able to see you; isn't that right, walking south on Bundy?
MR. SHAPIRO: Objection, calls for speculation.
THE COURT: Sustained.
MS. CLARK: To your knowledge, sir, are you aware that someone testified that they looked out their window from that location I just pointed to south of Dorothy, looking north on Bundy, and saw no one walking down south Bundy at approximately 10:25?
MR. MANDEL: I hadn't heard that, no.
MS. CLARK: I have nothing further.