Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 3, 1995 TAG: 9510030095
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LINDA DEUTSCH ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Long
Simpson, apparently as surprised as anyone by the swift resolution, stood biting his lip as the 10 women and two men of the jury filed into court at 2:55 p.m. He stared at them, but none looked his way; throughout the brief court session, they kept their eyes on the judge.
The decision was announced as many Americans were just beginning to debate how many weeks the jurors might be out. Superior Court Judge Lance Ito said the verdicts would be read today at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT), allowing time for all attorneys and families to be there.
In announcing the startling news, Ito said his court clerk told him that the panel had made its decision.
``Is that correct?'' he asked.
``Yes,'' said the jury forewoman.
There were gasps in the hushed courtroom.
Lawyers on both sides seemed almost dazed.
```Surprise' doesn't begin to describe my feelings. I am stunned at the speed,'' defense attorney Carl Douglas said.
Prosecutor Christopher Darden, asked if he could believe the rapid end to deliberations, said: ``I think I have to believe it. It's happening. Nothing shocks me anymore.''
The announcement came after jurors asked for and heard a repetition of testimony by a limousine driver that concerned the time when Simpson was picked up for a ride to the airport on the night of two murders.
Ito, who had sent jurors from the courtroom after the reading and was entertaining a group of visitors in the courtroom, seemed startled when three loud buzzes sounded in the courtroom, signaling jurors had reached verdicts. He quickly summoned lawyers and convened court with only a few reporters present.
The jury forewoman also appeared a bit rattled. Asked for the verdict forms, she said she had signed them, placed them in an envelope, sealed it and left them in the deliberation room.
Ito sent her to fetch the envelope, which was then placed in the hands of a court bailiff and stored for safekeeping overnight.
Ito said he was delaying reading the verdicts to give all parties time to return to court for the climactic moment. Jurors nodded and smiled understandingly.
``Ladies and gentlemen, have your last pleasant evening,'' he told them, suggesting they use the time to pack their belongings.
As they filed out, Simpson rose again and watched grim-faced as the jurors left. When it was time for him to return to jail, he dropped his pen on the defense table and left the room with a somber expression.
In all, jurors had spent less than four hours in reaching their verdict - two hours and 20 minutes in morning deliberations, and an additional hour and 10 minutes rehearing testimony from limousine driver Allan Park. They cut the rereading short, asked for verdict forms and signaled their decision.
No members of Simpson's family or the families of victims Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were in court.
It was one of the fastest verdict decisions in memory for such a long, high-profile trial, indicating that once the sequestered jury broke its silence about the case, the panelists found they were all in agreement.
If they had any doubts, they were apparently answered by the rereading of Park's testimony, a precise, minute-by-minute account of his efforts to rouse Simpson for a trip to the airport the night of the murders.
When the judge gave court reporter Janet Moxham a 10-minute break from her recitation, the jury forewoman quickly sent a note saying panelists had heard enough.
What they heard was testimony that prosecutors had suggested jurors review: Park's descriptions of phone conversations with his boss and mother and his efforts to summon a response from Simpson by ringing a bell at the gate to his Rockingham Avenue estate.
Three jurors took copious notes, particularly during testimony about a call to Park from his boss, responding to Park's request for advice, at 10:52 p.m. - a crucial time in the prosecution's reconstruction of what happened the night of June 12, 1994.
Those jurors also took notes during Park's descriptions of the lighting at the estate.
The jury's request to rehear testimony was the first disclosure that the panelists had selected as forewoman the juror who sits in seat No.1. She is a black woman in her early 50s who said in jury selection that she had no opinion on Simpson's guilt or innocence but respected him as an individual ``based on his past accomplishments.''
Simpson was brought from jail to attend the open court session, and he and Douglas were the only ones at the defense table normally occupied by an army of attorneys.
The prosecution was represented by Darden and William Hodgman, both deputy district attorneys.
Prosecutor Marcia Clark wasn't present. But during summations last week, it was she who told jurors that the recollections of the young limo driver point the finger of guilt in Simpson's direction.
Park testified March 28, early in the trial, and it is conceivable that jurors had forgotten exactly what he said.
``This is a positive sign for the prosecution, but don't read too much into it,'' Laurie Levenson, a Loyola University law professor, had said before it was learned a verdict had been reached. ``Allan Park came very early in the case. They just may be trying to set the timeline.''
Park was dispatched to Simpson's estate for a 10:45 p.m. limousine pickup the night of June 12, 1994. Simpson was to take a red-eye flight to Chicago for a business trip, and Park said he arrived early to ensure they had enough time to get to the airport.
Events surrounding that trip are at the center of a web of circumstantial evidence woven by prosecutors who contend Simpson used the trip to cover his tracks and create an alibi.
``Allan Park's testimony is unrefuted,'' Clark told jurors last week as she highlighted key points of his testimony.
Among them:
Park said he arrived about 10:22 p.m., didn't notice Simpson's Bronco parked on the street, got out of his limousine at 10:40 p.m. and rang the gate buzzer several times but got no answer.
Park reached his boss to say that Simpson wasn't responding, but was told to wait, that Simpson often ran late.
At 10:55 p.m., the driver said he saw a large shadowy figure walking up the path to Simpson's front door. Under questioning, he described the figure as a 6-foot, 200-pound black person. Park testified that about the same time he saw the figure, he spotted house guest Brian ``Kato'' Kaelin approaching from a side walkway. Moments later, when he rang the buzzer again, Simpson answered, saying he had fallen asleep and would be right down.
Simpson walked out of the house at 11:01 p.m. Park loaded his luggage except for a small bag Simpson said he would carry himself. They left for the airport at 11:15 p.m.
With no eyewitnesses, prosecutors tried to set out a precise timeline in which Simpson could have committed the murders at Nicole Simpson's condominium, returned in his Ford Bronco to his home about 2 miles away, changed out of bloody clothes and met the waiting limo.
The defense said the feat could not have been accomplished in the time specified, and Simpson's attorneys disputed the prosecution's theory of what time the murders occurred.
Prosecutors also focused attention on the small black bag they suggested could have contained the killer's bloody clothes and weapon. Park testified that Simpson, riding in the back seat of the limo, appeared to be leaning over and doing something with the bag during the ride.
by CNB