Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994 TAG: 9406190102
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Long
The 46-year-old Hall of Fame running back, whose bizarre low-speed escapade through freeway traffic capped a week of morbid melodrama, is expected to be arraigned Monday on charges that he fatally stabbed his ex-wife and her male friend in a bloody June 12 attack.
His attorney, Robert Shapiro, described his client as distraught and emotionally drained.
"As bad as he has been in the past four days, it's the worst I've ever heard him," Shapiro said after speaking with Simpson by telephone at Men's Central Jail, where a deputy is on guard to keep him from harming himself. "He was crying. He apologized . . . for disappointing me."
Developments included:
Prosecutors have convened the Los Angeles County Grand Jury, according to sources who said the first witness was called Friday. Officials are using the closed proceedings to avoid the spectacle of a preliminary hearing, but they hit a snafu after an unidentified witness reportedly refused to testify unless granted immunity.
Although no decision has been made about seeking the death penalty, Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti said he may use Simpson's attempted escape as evidence of guilt in the brutal slayings.
Los Angeles Police Chief Willie Williams said the suggestion that Simpson was given special police treatment that allowed him to flee was "one of the dumbest statements" he had heard. He said suspects frequently have been given the chance to voluntarily surrender: "The difference was the world wasn't watching."
Simpson's best friend and former teammate, Al Cowlings, arrested for aiding him during the nationally-televised two-hour pursuit, was released early Saturday on $250,000 bail. Storming past reporters later in the day outside a friend's home, Cowlings hurled expletives and snarled: "Don't you have any respect?"
Several high-powered attorneys acknowledged that they had been approached by Simpson's friends to help mount his defense. Cowlings' attorney, Donald M. Re, speculated Simpson's aberrant behavior Friday could be a sign he is mentally disturbed.
Although the circus-like atmosphere that surrounded Simpson's brief time as a fugitive had subsided, sharp emotions continued to swirl. Some feminist advocates reacted angrily to the cheering crowds that rooted for Simpson's escape, while some African-American activists contended that Simpson had been unfairly convicted without trial by a mostly white media.
Nicole Simpson's father, who answered the phone Saturday at his home, said he would make no comment on O.J. Simpson's arrest.
"We have a great love for our daughter," said Louis Brown, 70, his voice breaking. "That's all I can say."
Nicole's older sister, Denise Brown, 36, said the family would not respond to questions about Simpson. They are caring for the Simpson children, who are staying there.
She said the youngsters, Sydney, 9, and Justin, 6, were spending long hours playing with their cousins - her son, Sean, 7, and her sister Dominique's son, Aaron, who is 6 - and were doing "surprisingly great" in their efforts to cope with the traumas of the week. "They're pretty strong," she said.
Garcetti said in a news conference that Simpson would likely be arraigned Monday on the two murder charges. He also acknowledged that Friday's outpouring of support for Simpson could foreshadow problems in getting a guilty verdict when the former football great is brought to trial.
"There is no doubt that O.J. Simpson - the persona, the hero of O.J. Simpson - is something that most people don't want to let go of," Garcetti said. "I mean, this was a man. A beauty. A grace. A talent. He had succeeded. He'd been through tough times, and he had made it, made it big. And he was doing good things. Unfortunately, we now have a set of circumstances that change that entirely."
Garcetti was joined by Williams, who had cut short a trip in Philadelphia to fend off criticism that Simpson had managed to escape because he received preferential treatment.
"We have had hundreds of people in the city of Los Angeles who have committed crimes - robbery, burglary, assault, rape, shoplifting - who have surrendered . . . people who have surrendered to some of you in the media," Williams said. "The difference was the world wasn't watching; and if the person didn't show up, we went out and got them that afternoon or the next day, and no one knew about it."
One member of Simpson's legal team, respected forensic scientist Henry Lee, reportedly left town Saturday after examining a cut on Simpson's hand. His lawyers contend that Simpson cut himself after slamming down a water glass on being informed of his former wife's death. Police sources suspect he was slashed during the fatal attack.
by CNB