ILL JUROR HOLDS UP TESTIMONY: Danny Masterson Trial, Day 12, morning break report
[This report was produced live during a court hearing with a lot going on. There will be typos. Please don't email us about typos that you find.]
Morning session.
On the record. No jury yet.
Defense attorney Philip Cohen asks for a sidebar.
Again, not a lot of people in the courtroom to start this morning, but it usually takes a while to fill up.
After the sidebar, Judge Olmedo checks with the clerk, but we're short four jurors.
After those jurors arrived, then Det. Schlegel is brought back to the witness stand.
Continuing direct examination of Det. Schlegel.
Mueller: You indicated on June 6, 2004, you had handled about six reports of rape.
Correct.
Did you have prior training of investigation sexual crimes?
Just the academy training officers.
The station there did it have a special unit for handling sex crimes?
I believe they did have detectives there, but they didn't work at night.
Did the station have a protocol for a sex crime that a special officer come in to handle it?
No, they didn't back then.
And again when was it she came in?
(Checks report) 2200, which is 10 o'clock at night.
You indicated you have a recollection of this case because she mentioned she had dated one of the officers at the station at one time.
That's true.
Did you know her?
No.
Did you know who the defendant was?
Mr. Masterson, yes.
From TV?
Yes.
So no one else was notified to come in and take the report.
That's correct.
It looks like you originally prepared an injury report. Why?
I think it was the watch commander, because so much time had occured since the incident.
Was there some information she brought you that caused you to go to the watch commander?
When she told me she had dated one of the officers at the station, I thought I should go to the watch commander.
Do you recall how much information she had provided before you went to the watch commander and was told do an investigation?
No, I don't remember.
Do you recall her saying that she woke up and found Masterson penetrating her?
I don't remember, sir.
Do you remember her saying he smothered her with a pillow?
I don't recall, sir.
So if I understand, you stopped taking information and went to the watch commander?
No, she gave me some information, and I went to the watch commander to ask what kind of report to make, then I got more information from her. She gave me some information (before he went to the watch commander).
Did that include giving you the facts of where she had been in Masterson's home?
I don't recall.
The watch commander, did they have any special training in sex cases?
I have no idea. It's been quite a while.
So you conducted this interview yourself?
Yes.
Where was it conducted?
The lobby of the detectives. I shut the door to keep it separate.
The lobby? Was there somewhere to sit down?
Yes.
Was there audio or video capabilities at that time?
No.
Do you recall her coming in and providing you with some documents?
It was a letter.
You do recall that?
Just from my report.
And the report says see attached copy with regard to notifying the minister, Witness 6.
Correct.
Do you remember reviewing that document?
I would have. I don't recall.
But you don't remember now if you did?
I don't recall.
If you had reviewed that, would that be something considered in your report?
Yes.
And in conducting an investigation of alleged rape, I presume that something that should be done, even in 2004, that you wouuld review it.
The attachments are mainly for the detectives to follow up on.
That was your understanding in 2004?
It still is.
So it's likely that you may not have reviewed that and left it for the detectives to consider?
It could have, yes.
Are you aware of a Det Myers re-interviewing JD1 a cuople of days later.
I just found out lately, yes.
You weren't aware of it at the time?
No.
Were you aware that after that review your report was reclassified as a rape report?
Yes, I just found out yesterday.
Was your partner working that day?
No.
No further questions.
CROSS-EXAMINATION
Cohen: Let me ask you some big picture questions. On 6/4/2004 JD1 comes in and says she wants to give a report.
Correct.
You had taken hundreds of reports.
Yes, correct.
That report was based exclusively on what JD1 told you.
Correct.
You have no idea whether what she told you was accurate.
Correct.
You have no idea what she told you actually happened.
Correct.
You have no idea if she was truthful.
Correct.
When you take a report you rely I assume that the person is truthful.
Correct.
And you take whatever they say on face value.
Correct.
And what JD1 told you on June 6, 2004 is what she said had happened some 14 months earlier.
I believe 13, yes.
This was 20 years ago.
18 and a half.
One of the reason you remember it was she commented she had dated a partner of yours?
That's right.
Who provided you a copy of your report.
Detective Vargas.
When?
A week or two ago.
After he provided you with a copy of it, did DA Mueller reached out to you?
Yes, because I reached out to him for a copy.
Did DA Mueller ask you if you remembered this interaction?
Yes.
Was this a phone call?
Yes.
Did he ask you whether you remembered if she had mentioned a gun?
No, he didn't.
Testified in court before?
Hundreds of times.
Are you often asked to testify by DA's office.
Yes.
Do they typically go through with you, at the begining, what your training and exerpeinec is? (Obj, sustained) Can you tell us your training history?
Twenty seven years of experience, working mostly gangs.
Let's go back to your first training as a police officer.
(He describes police academy basics.)
Lasts many months?
Yes.
How to interview witnesses?
Yes.
How to write reports?
Yes.
After you graduate are you on a probation period?
Yes, with the training officer for a year.
You are a detective now?
Yes.
When did you become one.
13 years ago.
Do you do interviews?
Yes.
Do you write reports?
Yes.
In your training, when you take a witness to ask open-ended questions?
Yes.
Would they be like, tell me what happene?
Yes.
Did anything else happen?
Yes.
Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Yes.
Is that how you conduct your interviews?
Yes.
Is that how you wouuld have done it with JD1?
Yes.
Are you taught to let them speak and not cut them off?
Yes.
And to put them at ease?
Yes.
And did you do all those things with JD1?
From what I can remember, yes.
You indicated at that time, you had taken about six rape reports?
Yes.
Did you ever tell JD1 that her report was the first you had ever written?
No.
That hers was the first rape report you had ever written?
No.
You had asked JD1 to give you the names of any witnesses that she thought might be important.
Correct.
And she gave you the names of six people.
Yes.
Did she ever give you the name Rachel D, a cousin?
(Checks report) No.
Did she ever tell you that her cousin Rachel had taken some pictures that JD1 wanted to provide you?
I don't recall.
Is there a portion in your report for photographs being provided?
Yes.
In that portion, what did you write?
"None."
Would you have written none if she had provided any photos?
No.
Did she ever indicate that her cousin Rachel was in the process of trying to get her photographs?
I don't recall.
Whatever you put in your report about how it was conducted would have been based on your observations.
Correct.
Did you indicate that a Det. Moye had sat in on the interview?
Yes.
Would it have been accurate?
Yes.
Did JD1 indicate that on the night of April 24, 2003, she was out at a club with some friends.
Yes.
Did JD1 indicate that from the club they decided to go to a party or a get-together at Masterson's house?
Yes.
Did JD1 ever indicate to you that she was terrified of being at Masterson's house?
No.
Did JD1 tell you that she had taken a drink that was a glass of vodka and fruit punch from Masterson?
Yes.
And did she tell you she took it from the kitchen?
(Checks report.) That's correct.
Did she tell you that, after taking the drink, she went to outside yard talking with Witness 2, Luke Watson?
Yes.
And at some time she had wandered into the yard area where the jacuzzi was?
Yes.
Is this something you would have made up?
No.
Would that have been specifically based on what she told you?
Yes.
Did she tell you with respect to this jacuzzi that Masterson had said in a joking matter that she was going in?
Yes.
And then he pulled her in?
Yes.
She indicated to you that Masterson said he would help her vomit by sticking his fingers down her throat.
That's right.
And then she described what was happening when she vomited.
Yes.
And that he held her around the waist while she vomited.
That's correct.
Would you agree there's nothing in the report about him actually sticking his fingers down her throat?
Correct.
Did JD1 say that prior to vomiting, Masterson had helped her up the stairs to get there?
Correct.
The report that you took, is fairly detailed.
Yes it is.
Is one thing you were taught in the academy is include the most important things that a reporting witness tells you.
Correct.
Would the mention of a gun be considered an important thing?
Yes.
Is the use or brandishing of a gun separate from any sexual assault a potential crime in itself. (Obj, sustained.) You are trained that, the word gun has special meaning in terms of how you react?
Yes.
Did JD1 ever mention to you a gun?
Not to my recollection.
If JD1 had mentioned to you that Masterson had a gun, is there any way that you would not have included that?
No. I would have included it, yeah.
Did JD1 ever tell you that she woke up at 3 in the afternoon on April 25, 2003 with Masterson in bed next to her?
Not next to her, no.
Did she ever tell you that Luke Watson was downstairs during the incident.
I believe so, yes.
Did she ever tell you that she and Masterson discussed what they would tell Luke Watson happened? (Obj, sustained.)
Did she indicate that the reason she didn't report it to police because she didn't want her parents to find out?
Yes.
And Masterson was a friend and she didn't want him to get in trouble?
Yes.
No further questions.
REDIRECT
Mueller: You indicated that you were taught to ask open-ended questions.
Correct.
Now I presume that when you're conducting an interview, especially of rape, you're not just asking open-ended questions.
Correct.
You're not just eliciting a narrative, you asked questions to follow up?
Yes.
Do you remember doing that in this case?
I don't remember specifically in this case, but that's the only way you can do it.
Did you ask JD1 about anything that might have occurred later that day after the incident on April 25, 2003?
I don't recall.
Do you recall asking, after the incident, and she left Masterson's home, what she did?
I don't believe I did, but I don't recall.
So you're not aware of any activities that JD1 did afterwards or who she might have talked to afterwards.
What's in my report, that's it.
Did you ask about any disclosures she might have made?
It's in my report.
Did you ask her what had occurred later that evening after the incident? (Obj, sustained) JD1 had given you a list of witnesses and those are in your report. (Obj, sustained.) Did you ask her why she gave you the name of Witness 1, Brie Shaffer?
I don't recall.
Did you ask her what significance she played?
Yes, and I believe I indicated what role they played.
But I think we established yesterday you didn't indicate what role they played but who they were. Did you ask JD1 what Brie Shaffer might have had to do with this case?
Yes.
Did you put that in your report?
I would have to look. (Checks.) I don't see it in the report.
So if it's not in the report, it's fair to say you didn't inquire about the relationship she had to the case?
That's correct.
What about Witness 3, Jimmy Debello. Did you ask what importance he had to the case?
Can I take a look at the report?
Absolutely.
(Checks report.) It's not in the report, no.
So I'm assuming had you followed up on that, it would be on your report.
Correct.
So it's fair to say you didn't follow up.
Correct.
How about Witness 4, Jenni Weinman, did you ask what significance she had?
Can I take a look at the report?
Yes.
(Checks report.) No.
So again, presuming that there's nothing in your report, you likely did not inquire or follow up?
I would write down the witnesses and a detective would follow up with them.
But for your purposes, as the first officer, important to take as much information as possible.
Any follow-up would be done by a detective.
So with all of that training, it's your understanding that if you have an alleged sexual assault victim giving you names, you would not ask what those people have to do with the case? (Asked and answered.) On the top right it indicates time and date, June 6, 2004, 10 pm. On bottom left corner, it indicates June 7, 2005 at 0450. And on that date and time, that's when it was generated?
No, that's when records took it in. (He describes that he would take it in, approved by watch commander, and then go to records clerk.)
At what point in time did you prepare this report to when she had come in?
When she was there, and afterwards.
So you were literally writing this out while she was there.
No, I would have been taking notes.
So when did you prepare this?
That night. I interviewed her and made the report.
My question again is when did you prepare this six-page handwritten report.
June 6.
What time?
After she left.
How soon after she left?
Right away. I would do it as soon as she left and move on to the next report. (Says it would have been done by end of watch, before the 4:50 records intake.)
(Mueller goes over his method, taking notes, then writing out a report.)
No further questions.
RE-CROSS
Cohen: With respect to that name Jimmy Debello, did you indicate in your report that "the victim informed me that Luke Watson and Jimmy Debello were downstairs."
Yes, that's what I indicated in my report.
When did you become a detective?
Thirteen years ago.
So, 2009?
I believe so.
Does everyone get to become a detective?
No.
Is that an advancement?
Yes, a promotion.
Does that get handed out by lottery, or earned.
Earned.
And Supervising Detective, is that different than detective?
Before the detective can answer: Something's wrong with a juror, an alternate, I think.
Judge Olmedo asks the jury to go to jury room.
Judge Olmedo: He's not feeling well. She asked the clerk to check on him to see if we can continue today.
Cohen asks to take up a couple of issues.
Cohen: There was reference to some discussion between the detective and Mueller from a couple of weeks ago. I have not received discovery from that.
Olmedo: Obviously both sides are going to have contact with witnesses just on logistics issues. If they talk about substantive issues it's different.
Cohen: The questions they're asking which question the officer's competence, that would call for Brady material, and that I don't have access to.
Olmedo: If the prosecution is aware of any Brady material they would need to turn over.
Cohen complains that he didn't know the prosecution was going to question the competence of an officer.
Olmedo: Sloppy report-writing is something both sides bring up routinely. That doesn't necessarily go to Pitchess or Brady information, which they would have to turn over.
Judge Olmedo calls for sidebar to check on the juror and because Cohen wanted one for his second issue.
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