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From: Jasper
Date: 2/23/02
Time: 4:21:13 AM
Charlie,
I did notice that Fuhrman wasn't mentioned in the grand jury hearing. I also noticed how careful Marcia was in her questioning and Vannatter was in his answers to get around him. No mistake. They deliberately tried to hide him. That could only mean that they knew enough about him at that early date to feel that he was as a BIG liability to the prosecution.
No, they couldn't hide him - but they sure tried to.
There success in hiding Roberts was made easier by the fact that he made no reports and the officers on the scene, including the assistant watch commander, didn't know who Roberts was. Fuhrman lied in the preliminary hearing about Phillips being his partner and Phillips gave the false impression in the criminal trial that Roberts was partnered with Tom Nolan. In rechecking Riske's testimony, I discovered that Marcia Clark also lied by omission about Fuhrman's partner in Cochran's questioning of Riske.
Cochran clearly believed that Phillips was Fuhrman's partner but checked his facts before proceeding…
COCHRAN: YOU NEVER SIGNED IN? ALL RIGHT. I WANT YOU TO LOOK DOWN. LET'S SEE IF WE CAN FIND -- PHILLIPS AND FUHRMAN WERE PARTNERS THAT NIGHT; IS THAT RIGHT?
RISKE: YES, SIR….
Riske might have believed that Fuhrman's partner was Phillips but Marcia knew better. She never corrected the error. It's not as though she didn't have another crack at it. She did….
COCHRAN: AND IF ROBBERY-HOMICIDE HAD TAKEN OVER AT 4:00, DO YOU KNOW WHY IT WAS THAT FUHRMAN RETURNED BACK TO THE ADDRESS THERE AT BUNDY AFTER 6:30 AND WAS PARTICIPATING IN TAKING PICTURES? DO YOU KNOW WHY THAT WAS?
RISKE: NO, I DON'T.
COCHRAN: WHEN FUHRMAN CAME BACK TO BUNDY, WAS HE ACCOMPANIED BY HIS PARTNER ALSO, DETECTIVE PHILLIPS?
RISKE: YES.
I also want to underline what you said about Fuhrman and Roberts changing places. You wrote, "If you were wakened at 5 AM or so by cops and several went away pretty soon, would you actually recall which one did what?"
The answer is obviously, no. I might BELIEVE I remember. I might even believe it so strongly that I would swear to it in court. But an actual recording of the event might show something else. It happens all the time. And nobody knows better about this particular quirk of mind than experienced police detectives and prosecutors. In a real "search for truth" it's something they always have to take into account. --Jasper