Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 14, 1995 TAG: 9507140123
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Newsday
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
Christian Reichardt, an ex-boyfriend of Resnick's, was expected to bolster defense claims that the slayings of Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman may have been drug-related. But Superior Court Judge Lance Ito, citing state law, said Reichardt could testify only about O.J. Simpson's demeanor and a telephone conversation he had with Simpson on the afternoon of the killings.
``There must be evidence of motive and opportunity'' for another suspect, Ito said. ``I find there was opportunity for a third party, but I find the offer of proof regarding motive to be highly speculative.''
Resnick, also listed as a defense witness, stayed with Nicole Simpson until checking into a rehabilitation center about a week before the killings. Resnick later published a book about Nicole Simpson's troubled marriage to O.J. Simpson and accused him of killing her.
Defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran said Resnick may have owed money to drug dealers who retaliated by killing Simpson's ex-wife and Goldman.
``Judge, when you buy drugs, you generally have to pay for them,'' Cochran said. ``There is testimony from several witnesses that once these horrible crimes occurred, friends of all parties, Faye Resnick, Nicole Brown Simpson, everyone indicated ... if O.J. isn't guilty of this, then we're all in trouble, and we all - there's testimony, for instance, from Dr. Reichardt that he slept with a gun for several weeks or 10 days after this happened. ... We think that is relevant, and it certainly ties in.''
Deputy District Attorney Cheri Lewis disagreed. ``They have a tortured argument that somehow, because Faye Resnick may have had a minor drug habit, that would cause and warrant some Colombian drug lord to come murder her friend and someone who is coming by her house at the time,'' she said.
Also Thursday, testimony by Howard Bingham, a well-known photographer, and three other witnesses painted a picture of Simpson as relaxed, in good spirits and uninjured on his trip to Chicago, but distraught and bleeding on the trip back the next day.
Bingham was a passenger on Simpson's flight to Chicago. He said he had known Simpson for more than 20 years, that he chatted with him briefly, and that Simpson seemed his usual self. Stephen Valerie, who sat across from Simpson, agreed. David Kilduff, a vice president for Hertz Corp., who drove Simpson to the airport for the return trip, said Simpson's middle finger was bandaged and bleeding. On cross-examination Kilduff conceded he was surprised that a black bag Simpson had with him appeared nearly empty. Prosecutors claim that Simpson disposed of bloody clothes somewhere between Los Angeles and Chicago.
Mark Partridge, a Chicago lawyer who sat next to Simpson on the flight home, testified that Simpson was upset and made several telephone calls.
Nonetheless, Partridge said, Simpson signed an autograph for another passenger. ``I thought what a nice man this was, having heard what I had heard about the tragedy that was affecting his life,'' he said.
by CNB