Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 14, 1995                   TAG: 9501160061
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                 LENGTH: Medium

SIMPSON TRIAL LAWYERS CLASH OVER USE OF RACIAL SLUR

In an extraordinary attack, black prosecutor Christopher Darden accused Simpson defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran, who also is black, of trying to ``play the race card'' to distract black jurors from the question of whether Simpson is guilty.

Darden passionately urged Superior Court Judge Lance Ito to bar defense lawyers from asking Mark Fuhrman, the white detective who found a bloody glove behind Simpson's mansion, whether he had ever used the ``n-word'' to refer to black people.

``There's a mountain of evidence pointing to this defendant's guilt,'' Darden said of Simpson. ``But when you mention that word to this jury, it will blind the jury to the truth. It will affect their judgment and impair their ability to be fair and impartial.''

The ``n-word,'' as Darden called it - refusing to utter it himself - would be a ``call to arms'' that would force Simpson's predominantly black jury ``to skip the evidence and ... decide this case on the basis of race.'' Eight of the 12 jurors impaneled are black.

``It will not be a simple issue of guilt vs. innocence,'' Darden said. ``... It will be black vs. white, us vs. the system. All they'll be thinking about is frame-up, frame-up, frame-up.''

Darden argued that race should play no role in the case, in which Simpson is accused of the June 12 stabbing deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, both white.

``We are not seeking to introduce to this jury that the defendant has a fetish for blond-haired white women,'' the prosecutor said. ``That would be inappropriate. That would inflame the passions of the jury.''

Cochran, who had not planned to speak until later, rose and insisted on answering Darden's accusations.

``I am ashamed that Mr. Darden would allow himself to become an apologist for this man,'' Cochran said, referring to Fuhrman, whom the defense has characterized in court papers as a racist, rogue police officer ``with a propensity to create false information against African-American defendants.''

``To say that our jurors cannot be fair is absolutely outrageous,'' said Cochran, his voice filled with indignation. ``It's demeaning to our jury to say that African Americans who have lived under oppression for 200-plus years in this country cannot work in the mainstream. ... It's not our intention to use any race card. All we're trying to do is get justice for our client.''

Later, alluding to Darden's reference to Simpson's interracial marriage, Cochran said: ``A fetish for blond white women? That is outrageous! If this man loves somebody who is purple, it's his right in our country to marry that person.''

At that, Simpson, who had listened with apparent incredulity to Darden's remarks, lost his composure. Breathing heavily and shaking, Simpson wiped tears from his eyes.