Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 27, 1995 TAG: 9509270068
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News|
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Long
On a day that combined high drama, new theories, graphic details of the killings and a brief television blackout, lead prosecutor Marcia Clark pleaded with jurors not to let Simpson off the hook because of what she called the racism and lies of retired Los Angeles Police Department Detective Mark Fuhrman.
``At the conclusion of all of our arguments, when you open up the windows and let the cool air blow out the smokescreen that's been created by the defense with a cool wind of reason, you will see that the defendant has been proven guilty, easily, beyond a reasonable doubt,'' Clark said.
Before breaking for the evening, Clark was followed by Christopher Darden, who recounted the testimony describing Simpson's abusive treatment of his wife.
He is expected to finish his arguments today before lead defense attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. gets his chance to address the jury.
With Simpson grimacing and near tears and family members of the victims sobbing in the audience, Clark showed jurors photos and described for them the way the former football star's ex-wife and her friend Goldman were slain outside her Bundy Drive condominium in Brentwood on June 12, 1994.
``When you look at these pictures, ladies and gentlemen, you see rage,'' Clark said. ``You see fury. You see overkill. This is not the mark of a professional killer. These are not efficient murders. These are murders that are really slaughters and are personal.
``In that respect they reveal a great deal about who did them. No stranger, no Colombian drug dealer. A man who was involved with his intended victim. One who wanted to control her and failed, and in failing found the one way to keep her under control where she could never slip out of it again, and that man is this defendant.''
She told the jury that the prosecution has proven premeditation and deliberation - the requirements of first-degree murder - beyond a reasonable doubt.
Clark said Nicole Simpson was on the ground barely conscious when the former football star delivered the coup de grace.
``She's lying there basically unconscious,'' Clark said. ``He pulls back her head and slashes her throat to such a degree that she's nearly decapitated. That was a cold and calculated decision to kill - to make sure she was dead.''
To show planning, Clark also raised the issue of Simpson's dark clothing he was seen wearing, the use of a watch cap and leather gloves. She also noted the use of the weapon, saying that a knife was chosen because ``a gun makes noise, a knife doesn't''
Clark also focused on blood that belonged to only one in 57 billion people, a trail of blood pointing to Simpson and a 78-minute window of opportunity for the celebrity defendant to accomplish the killings.
``We have linked the defendant to the crime scene,'' Clark said. ``We have linked the defendant to the victims. We have linked the defendant and the victims to his car, and that link has reached from Bundy into his bedroom at Rockingham.
``They are all interwoven by time, by space, by occurrence, by science.''
The prosecutor launched a fierce assault on some of her own witnesses - including Fuhrman and affable Simpson house guest Brian ``Kato'' Kaelin.
She also attacked the defense theories of a frame-up and contaminated evidence.
The day's proceedings, meanwhile, raised new theories about the killings.
In her argument, Clark maintained that Simpson ran into the air conditioner accidentally outside Kaelin's room in his haste to hide key evidence - causing the famous thumping noises Kaelin heard.
Prosecutors asserted before the jury entered the courtroom that Simpson was rejected by both his ex-wife and girlfriend Paula Barbieri, motivating him to kill. The prosecution intended to weave that theory into its arguments later.
In front of the jury, Clark explained that Simpson planned to hide the murder weapon and bloody clothes in a dirt pile behind the guest house because he was concerned about doing it in a public place where he might be recognized.
Just six minutes into her arguments, Clark went after Fuhrman - branding him a racist and a liar. But she appealed to the jury of nine women and three men - which has nine black jurors - to put that aside.
``Wouldn't it be a tragedy if with such overwhelming evidence, ladies and gentlemen, that we have presented to you, you found the defendant not guilty in spite of all that because of the racist attitude of one police officer?'' Clark asked.
She tried to turn one of the most disastrous prosecution mistakes - a botched glove demonstration - to her advantage.
Clark noted that Simpson deliberately tried to make it look like the gloves found at the murder scenes didn't fit. She asked jurors to pay close attention to how quickly he removed the gloves.
(STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL 2ND TAKE FOLLOWS.)
LOS ANGELES: removed the gloves.|
(For use by NYTimes News Service clients)|
With a flare for the dramatic, she began assembling pieces of a computer-generated puzzle that soon took the shape of Simpson's LAPD mug shot. A new piece was added after she described each key segment of her case.
The first piece, part of Simpson's forehead, was placed on the board after she outlined the opportunity the former football star had to kill his ex-wife and Goldman - focusing on his lack of an alibi.
``From 9:36 p.m. until 10:54 p.m., the defendant's whereabouts were unaccounted for,'' Clark said. ``So we have the beginning of our window of opportunity.''
Clark filled in the last piece of the computer-generated jigsaw puzzle after describing what she called the most powerful evidence - socks with Nicole Simpson's blood found in the defendant's bedroom.
When Simpson's face was in full view, Clark said: ``There he is. You haven't even heard yet about the motive. You haven't even heard the why of it, and you know he did it.''
She then handed the floor over to Darden, who reviewed the prosecution's evidence of domestic violence and stalking to establish a motive for the killings.
He described the relationship between Simpson and his wife as a time bomb that started ticking in 1985 when the couple married.
``This thing was like a fuse,'' Darden said. ``It was a bomb with a long fuse.''
Darden also replayed excerpts of 911 tapes.
Before he moved into motive, however, Darden also addressed the Fuhrman issue, reiterating Clark's plea not to let the embattled ex-detective to get in the way of the evidence.
Simpson has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is facing life in prison if convicted.
The jurors listened intently for most of the day, but took notes only sporadically.
One juror, a 43-year-old man, kept his hands folded on his lap - the only juror who didn't even have a note pad out.
The prosecutor acknowledged mistakes by authorities investigating the crime.
``They've thrown out questions whether LAPD has some bad police officers,'' Clark said about Simpson's defense. ``Does the scientific division have some sloppy criminalists? Does the Coroner's Office have some sloppy coroners? And the answer to all of those questions is sure. Yes, we do. It's not news to you. I'm sure it wasn't a big surprise to you.''
But she also highlighted Simpson's own mistakes, his odd behavior and a series of circumstantial evidence that she contended was more than just a coincidence.
She noted that blood at the Bundy Drive crime scene dripped in a pattern to the left of a left shoe print of a Bruno Magli size 12 shoe, which is Simpson's size. She added that a left glove came off at the scene there and Simpson's left finger was cut.
She also noted the chain of events surrounding the thumping noise heard by Kaelin outside the guest room of the Rockingham Avenue estate after the killings.
Limousine driver Allan Park saw an black person walking up the driveway minutes later and the matching bloody glove was found behind the wall where the thumps were heard.
``Simple common sense tells you that the thumping, the glove and the defendant's appearance on the driveway almost immediately thereafter are all part of one set of events - all connected in time and space,'' she said. ``You don't need science to tell you that. You just need reason and logic.''
She also urged jurors not to let the lack of a murder weapon, eyewitnesses or bloody clothes get in the way.
``Evidence was left behind,'' Clark said. ``We don't need the murder weapon because we have much much more proof than that.''
Clark labeled the defense theories ``smoke and mirrors'' and ``false roads because they lead to a dead end.''
But Clark left perhaps her harshest remarks for Fuhrman, the detective who found the bloody glove at Simpson's Rockingham estate.
``Is he a racist? Yes,'' she said. ``Is he the worst LAPD has to offer? Yes. Do we wish that this person was never hired by LAPD? Yes. Should LAPD have ever hired him? No. Should such a person be a police officer? No. In fact, do we wish there was no such person on the planet? Yes.''
During the day, Simpson furiously took notes during Clark's arguments. He wrote most rapidly when she raised issues that appeared to bother him. He shook his head and mumbled to his attorneys when Clark delved into theories about the killings including examples of his premeditation.
LOS ANGELES - Urging jurors to ignore the ``smoke screen'' created by the defense, prosecutor Marcia Clark said that only O.J. Simpson could have committed the brutal knife murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
On a a day that combined high drama, new theories, graphic details of the murders and a brief television blackout, Clark pleaded Tuesday with jurors not to let Simpson off the hook because of the racism and lies of former Los Angeles Police Department Detective Mark Fuhrman.
``At the conclusion of all of our arguments, when you open up the windows and let the cool air blow out the smoke screen that's been created by the defense with a cool wind of reason, you will see that the defendant has been proven guilty, easily, beyond a reasonable doubt,'' Clark said.
With Simpson grimacing and near tears and family members of the victims sobbing in the audience, Clark showed jurors photos and described for them the way Nicole Simpson and Goldman were murdered outside her Bundy Drive condominium in Brentwood on June 12, 1994.
``When you look at these pictures ladies and gentlemen, you see rage,'' Clark said. ``You see fury. You see overkill. This is not the mark of a professional killer. These are not efficient murders. These are murders that are really slaughters and are personal.
``In that respect they reveal a great deal about who did them,'' she continued. ``No stranger, no Colombian drug dealer. A man who was involved with his intended victim. One who wanted to control her and failed, and in failing found the one way to keep her under control where she could never slip out of it again, and that man is this defendant.''
Clark focused on blood that belonged to only 1 in 57 billion people, a trail of blood pointing to Simpson and a 78-minute window of opportunity for the celebrity defendant to commit the murders.
``We have linked the defendant to the crime scene,'' Clark said. ``We have linked the defendant to the victims. We have linked the defendant and the victims to his car, and that link has reached from Bundy into his bedroom at Rockingham.
``They are all interwoven by time, by space, by occurrence, by science,'' Clark added.
The prosecutor launched a fierce assault on some of her own witnesses - including Fuhrman and affable Simpson house guest Brian ``Kato'' Kaelin.
She also attacked the defense theories of a frame-up and contaminated evidence.
The day's proceedings, meanwhile, raised new theories about the murders.
In her argument, Clark maintained that Simpson ran into the air conditioner accidentally outside Kaelin's room in his haste to hide key evidence - causing the famous thumping noises Kaelin heard.
Prosecutors asserted before the jury entered the courtroom that Simpson was rejected by both his ex-wife and girlfriend Paula Barbieri, motivating him to kill. The prosecution intended to weave that theory into their arguments later.
In front of the jury, Clark explained that Simpson planned to hide the murder weapon and bloody clothes in a dirt pile behind the guest house because he was concerned about doing it in a public place where he might be recognized.
Just six minutes into her arguments, Clark went after Fuhrman - branding him a racist and a liar. But she appealed to the jury of nine women and three men - which has nine African-American jurors - to put those feelings aside.
``Wouldn't it be a tragedy if with such overwhelming evidence, ladies and gentlemen, that we have presented to you, you found the defendant not guilty in spite of all that because of the racist attitude of one police officer?'' Clark asked.
She tried to turn one of the most disastrous prosecution mistakes - a botched glove demonstration - to her advantage.
Clark noted that Simpson deliberately tried to make it look like the gloves found at the murder scenes didn't fit. She asked jurors to pay close attention to how quickly he removed the gloves.
by CNB