Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 13, 1995 TAG: 9507130058
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
``Didn't you [say] ... `I know it was O.J. It had to be him'?'' Deputy District Attorney Christopher Darden asked during cross-examination.
``I never said that. Absurd!'' exclaimed Robert Heidstra, a neighhor of Nicole Brown Simpson who was walking his dogs the night she was killed.
Heidstra reluctantly confirmed that he once described a light-colored Jeep-like vehicle speeding away from her condo about a half-hour after the time prosecutors claim Simpson had driven his white Ford Bronco there to commit murder. Heidstra acknowledged the vehicle ``could have been a Bronco.''
Heidstra's testimony is key to the defense, which is challenging the prosecution's chronology for the night of June 12, 1994.
Defense attorney Johnnie Cochran erupted in anger when Darden asked if Heidstra had told a friend that one voice he heard from Nicole Simpson's condo that night sounded liked a black man's and could have been O.J. Simpson's.
An angry exchange between Cochran and Darden prompted Superior Court Judge Lance Ito to clear the courtroom for 15 minutes and threaten to impose ``severe'' sanctions against both.
Cochran said, "This statement about whether somebody sounds black or white is racist, and I resent it. I think it's totally improper in America at this time in 1995 just to hear this and endure this.''
Darden defended the question and accused Cochran of causing problems for him and his family by suggesting that he is insensitive to racial issues. Both Darden and Cochran are black.
Heidstra said he would be unable to identify someone's race from hearing a voice.
Later, attorneys focused on Simpson's demeanor shortly before and during a flight to Chicago. Courier Michael Norris, who saw Simpson at the airport at about 11:20 p.m., said Simpson was ``real nice'' and signed an autograph. Norris said he didn't see any cuts on Simpson's hands or any sign of distress.
A colleague, Michael Gladden, also described Simpson as calm when he asked for an autograph. Gladden showed jurors the autograph, which read ``Peace to you.''
Pilot Wayne Stanfield also said he didn't notice anything unusual when he asked Simpson for an autograph. The pilot said he sat down for a few minutes next to Simpson, who had been looking out the window ``pensive ... lost in thought.''
by CNB