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

DATE: TUESDAY, January 24, 1995                   TAG: 9501240116
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                 LENGTH: Medium

SIMPSON TRIAL HELD UP

O.J. Simpson asked Monday to speak to his jurors for one minute and show them scars on his body, a stunning twist to a day dominated by attorneys scrapping fiercely over last-minute evidence the defense dumped on prosecutors.

The fight over evidence pushed the long-awaited opening statements back until this morning. Superior Court Judge Lance Ito said the last item Monday would be his instructions to the jurors, who waited all day to take their seats in the courtroom.

Defense attorneys surprised the prosecution with a list of 34 new witnesses and a videotape of police walking through blood at the murder scene. They also offered evidence of an alibi for the first time - a witness who says she saw Simpson's white Ford Bronco outside his home at a time when the prosecution says he was two miles away killing his ex-wife and her friend.

Simpson's attorneys suggested in court papers that police may have moved the Bronco as well as the bloody glove that matched one found near the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in June.

Deputy District Attorney Marcia Clark called the new evidence ``trial by ambush'' and said she was ``absolutely shocked'' by the last-minute disclosure. ``This is a willful desire to deprive the people of a fair trial,'' she said.

Her colleague, William Hodgman, asked for a week's continuance to study the new evidence and witness list, which includes actress Tawny Kitaen, local TV reporter Tracie Savage, Los Angeles Police Chief Willie Williams and author Lawrence Schiller, who is writing Simpson's book.

``The truth, or part of the truth, has been hidden from us by the defense,'' Hodgman said.

Defense attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. responded with equal indignation.

``I am absolutely appalled that the prosecution comes here and says they are unprepared,'' he said. ``They see a few charts from us and become frightened and want to run away and hide for a week.''

Ito was tense during the exchange, interrupting attorneys at times to say, ``You're wasting my time'' and ``Do you expect me to believe that?''

The prosecution strongly objected to the idea of Simpson talking to jurors or showing them ``physical scars, injuries and limitations.'' The written request would seem to indicate he hopes to show he was physically incapable of committing the crimes.

Simpson's bid to address jurors is not unprecedented; other defendants have given opening statements.

Ito put off until today a decision on either of Simpson's requests.

by CNB