Part 26 (1/2)
”And I submit, if the Court please,” Mason said, ”that the only proper way to show that is not by asking the witness how he feels but by showing the relations.h.i.+p which has existed between the parties.”
”I think that is correct,” Judge Keyser said, ”but I will not permit a report of an account of an altercation between the decedent and the defendant by way of cross-examination at this time and of this witness.”
”I'll reframe the question,” Mason said.
Mason turned to the witness. ”At a time when your wife and the defendant had an altercation over you, and accusations were made by your wife, were you present and did you take any part in the altercation?”
”Same objection,” Hamilton Burger said.
”This question is permissible,” Judge Keyser said.
”I make the further objection that it a.s.sumes a fact not in evidence.”
”But it is in evidence,” Judge Keyser said, ”not by this witness but by your own witnesses. The objection is overruled. Answer the question.”
”I took no part,” Ellis said.
”Did you see the defendant on the eighth of this month?”
”Yes, sir.”
”At The Big Barn where she was working?”
”Yes, sir.”
”Were you present when she was discharged on Tuesday, the ninth?”
”No, sir.”
”Did you see her that same night after she had been discharged?”
”I saw her before she was discharged.”
”That isn't the question. Did you see her afterwards?”
”I . . . I don't remember.”
”Let's see if we can refresh your memory,” Mason said. ”The defendant went to the Surf and Sea Motel in Costa Mesa. Did you go there?”
”Yes, that's right. I did.”
”And saw her there?”
”Very briefly.”
”When did you next see her?”
”I don't remember. I think .-. I don't think I saw her after that until she had been arrested.”
”You don't remember?”
”I can't say positively, no, sir.”
”This was a girl with whom you had been infatuated and yet you can't remember whether you saw her or not?”
”Sure I saw her but it was after she had been arrested. I can't remember. I saw her so many times that it was difficult to keep them straight.”
”You remember seeing her at the Surf and Sea Motel?”
”Yes, sir.”
”That was on the night of Tuesday, the ninth of this month?”
”Yes, sir.”
”How long did you see her on that occasion?”
”About ten or fifteen minutes.”
”Where did you go after you left the defendant that night?”
”Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and not proper cross-examination,” Hamilton Burger said. ”This witness is not on trial.”
”I have a right to test his recollection,” Mason said.
”You're trying to test his recollection in regard to matters which have absolutely nothing to do with the case,” Hamilton Burger said. ”If you start following every move made by this witness over the period of time from Tuesday, the ninth, until the body of his wife was discovered, you'll have this court sitting here all night inquiring into matters which have absolutely nothing to do with the case.”
”The objection is sustained,” Judge Keyser said.
”Did your wife tell you that she had been advised by her attorney that in case two bullets were fired into a body by two persons acting independently that only the person firing the bullet which actually resulted in death was guilty of murder?” Mason asked.
”Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial, calling for hearsay, not proper cross-examination,” Hamilton Burger said.
”Sustained,” Judge Keyser snapped.
”You were at The Big Barn on the night of Tuesday, the ninth?”
”Yes.”
”All right,” Mason said, ”I'm going to put it to you directly. Didn't you at that time take possession of one of the guns in The Big Barn? Now remember, you're under oath.”
”What do you mean by 'take possession'?”
”I'm asking you,” Mason said, ”if you didn't arrange with Sadie Bradford to pick up one of the guns and turn it over to you.”
”Just a moment, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said. ”This is getting far afield. This is not proper cross.e.xamination. It is--”