Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9409270045
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
With jury selection scheduled to begin Monday, Judge Lance Ito also handed the defense a major setback. He denied a request to throw out crucial evidence, including bloodstains in Simpson's Ford Bronco and a note to Simpson from his ex-wife, Nicole, breaking off their relations. Prosecutors have said the note suggests a motive for the June 12 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
Ito also allowed into evidence a videotaped pilot for the television series, ``Frogmen,'' containing a scene in which Simpson, playing the part of a Navy Seal, holds a knife to a young woman's throat.
Ito said he contemplated ``terminating the media coverage in this case'' because of what he called ``erroneous'' television reports about DNA evidence linking Simpson to the crime.
Court spokeswoman Marcia Skolnick said his remarks were directed at all broadcast media, not just the one station - KNBC-TV. The judge has the authority to pull the plug on television in his courtroom.
Ito said he would hold a hearing next week to decide about a broadcast ban.
He denounced KNBC on Thursday for what he said was an inaccurate report that DNA tests had identified Nicole Simpson's blood on a pair of men's socks seized from Simpson's mansion. Prosecutors said Friday that no such tests have been performed.
Friday, the judge was irate that KNBC had not retracted the story and, in fact, rebroadcast it, adding new details.
``This news operation was put on notice that this was incorrect information,'' Ito fumed. ``This is fundamentally unfair. It's also fundamentally wrong [and] ... detrimental to Mr. Simpson's right to a fair trial.''
Officials at KNBC had no immediate comment. KNBC news anchor Jim Avilar, reporting on Ito's actions, told viewers, ``We're not adding any commentary on it. All I can say ... is that we are continuing to work on that story.''
Defense lawyer Robert Shapiro suggested that the DNA story was leaked to the station by police sources as part of a ``deliberate, calculated and manipulated way to prevent O.J. Simpson from getting a fair trial.''
Shapiro asked Ito to order an investigation by the state attorney general's office and the Los Angeles police. Ito said he would consider the request.
But in a blow to the defense, Ito ruled that police did not violate Simpson's rights in conducting a wide-ranging search of Simpson's mansion on June 28.
The only evidence Ito threw out from the June 28 search were Simpson's divorce papers, a note pad containing phone numbers and a video of his football highlights.
by CNB