Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 25, 1995 TAG: 9501250078
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
Prosecutors showed jurors maps and full-color photographs of bloody carnage and crumpled bodies, including one of Nicole Brown Simpson's uncovered corpse, to guide them Tuesday through two murders they contend O.J. Simpson committed\ after years of obsession and jealousy.
The pictures of Simpson and Ronald Goldman, flashed on a large courtroom screen during prosecutor Marcia Clark's opening statement, brought gasps and sobs from the courtroom.
Moments before the defense was to unveil its case to jurors, Superior Court Judge Lance Ito pulled the plug on the courtroom's television feed because an alternate juror was briefly shown when she leaned forward in her seat.
``I'm going to terminate the television as a result of that,'' Ito said.
Defense Attorney Robert Shapiro jumped up and objected, pleading to have the defense's opening statement broadcast to the audience that had just seen the prosecution spend four hours portraying Simpson as an abusive monster.
``We are representing a man whose life is at stake in this trial,'' Shapiro said.
``In fairness to his mother, his supporters and the [audience] worldwide, it would be tremendously unfair for the world to see TV coverage of the prosecution and not our defense,'' Shapiro said, turning to Simpson's relatives sitting behind the defense table.
At that point, Ito recessed court for the day and said he would hold a hearing this morning on whether to oust the camera.
Ito asked for the prosecution's position. Clark supported ousting the cameras.
``The important people to hear from both sides are the jury,'' she said. ``They are the ones who will vote on guilt or innocence. ... We are not playing to the world, we are playing to the jury.''
Clark followed her graphic display of photos with a calm, methodical recitation of evidence she said scientifically linked Simpson to the murders.
Tests on Simpson's Bronco, on crime scene evidence and at his Brentwood estate all showed traces of his blood and that of the two victims, Clark said.
The leather glove found on a walkway behind Simpson's mansion also contained a mixture of all three peoples' blood, she said.
For the first time, the prosecution mentioned a pair of dark socks found at the foot of Simpson's bed. Those socks, Clark said, contained a mixture of his blood and that of his former wife, Clark said.
Deputy District Attorney Christopher Darden led off the prosecution statement by acknowledging the power of Simpson's celebrity. He told jurors they must realize the man on trial is not the one they admired on the football field, in the movies or in easy-going Hertz rental car commercials.
Darden said ``many public men'' have carefully crafted images but also have a ``a private life, a private face.''
``That is the face we will expose to you in this trial: the other side of O.J. Simpson, the side you never met before," he said.
by CNB