Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 10, 1995 TAG: 9508100084
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
Ito's ruling cut off a provocative line of defense long advanced by the Simpson legal team and also lifted a cloud over book author Joseph Bosco and reporter Tracie Savage of Los Angeles TV station KNBC-TV. Both had been called to the witness stand outside the jury's presence and invoked the California journalists' shield law rather than name their sources.
Backed up by a line from an article Bosco wrote for Penthouse magazine, the defense had alleged that a police officer was the source of a Sept. 21 story that appeared on KNBC purporting to disclose DNA test results performed on a sock found in Simpson's bedroom. That story was inaccurate - no DNA tests had been conducted on the sock at that point - but later tests did show the presence of blood with genetic markers identical to those of Nicole Brown Simpson on the sock.
O.J. Simpson has pleaded not guilty to murdering his former wife and her friend Ronald Goldman. Prosecutors have tried to tie him to the crimes with what they call a ``trail of blood'' beginning near the bodies of the victims and ending with the socks in Simpson's bedroom.
The strange series of events surrounding the KNBC report led the defense to allege that a police officer or laboratory worker with access to the socks had smeared them with Nicole Simpson's blood and then had predicted the results of the subsequent DNA tests. Seeking to build on that theory, the Simpson team sought access to Internal Affairs documents prepared by the Los Angeles Police Department as well as the testimony of the two reporters.
The defense never offered more than speculation to support its premise, however, and a plainly skeptical Ito peppered defense lawyer Gerald Uelmen with questions in court Wednesday. Even if the defense could identify the source of the KNBC report, Ito asked, how would that demonstrate that the socks were tampered with?
``The bottom line here is whether or not the leaking of misinformation implies evidence tampering,'' Ito said. ``That is the bottom-line issue.''
Ito termed the defense's attempt to connect the leak of information to evidence tampering ``mere speculation,'' especially in light of the fact that the KNBC report was wrong. So Ito denied the defense requests for access to the Internal Affairs documents and for the right to question the journalists in front of the jury.
Defense attorneys, who have aggressively pressed their theory of a police conspiracy, were disappointed by Ito's decision, but nevertheless said they will continue to advance that argument.
by CNB