Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 22, 1995 TAG: 9509220103
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: THE BOSTON GLOBE
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
Judge Lance Ito delivered the hardest blow, ruling in favor of a prosecution motion to tell jurors they may find the defendant guilty of second-degree murder if they decide a first-degree conviction isn't warranted. The defense wanted no option for the lesser charge, because it could lead wavering jurors to a compromise that still would mean a long prison term for Simpson.
``By giving that instruction, you are contradicting and undercutting the defense presented by the defendant in this case,'' defense counsel Gerald Uelman said. ``We are objecting in the strongest possible terms.''
Within hours of that stinging setback, the California Supreme Court unanimously rejected a defense appeal to inform the jury why Mark Fuhrman, the much-vilified former detective, hadn't been called to testify again.
Ito heard arguments for proposed jury instructions all day Thursday and planned to deliver them this morning - after both sides formally rest their cases.
Assuming procedural issues don't cause delays, the prosecution's closing statements are to start next Tuesday, a year to the day after jury selection began. Deputy district attorney Marcia Clark and her colleagues are expected to spend two or three days summing up their case, followed by a day or two of the defense's final arguments. Then a prosecution rebuttal should last only a day.
Simpson's lead attorney, Johnnie Cochran, and his colleagues had won Ito's permission to call a scientist as their final witness but announced Thursday morning they would not do so. The lawyers said they had ended on a sufficiently high note with their cross-examination of a police commander Wednesday and with their impeachment of a lead detective in the case, Philip Vannatter, before that.
by CNB