Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 4, 1995                   TAG: 9510040046
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

...AND IN ROANOKE

The eight women watching the verdicts judged O.J. Simpson this way: 5 guilty, 3 not guilty.

Race and age didn't divide them. Of the three black women in the room, one welcomed his acquittal; the other two deplored it.

"That just goes to show you what money will do for you," said one.

A white woman who appeared to be the oldest in the room was Simpson's biggest defender. "I think he was framed. Whether he paid somebody or not..." She didn't know.

A young woman puzzled over the jury. "I figured with all those women on there, they wouldn't let this happen. Ten women and two men?"

Women here suffer from substance abuse dependency. Several have been physically abused.

"To me [the verdict] sends out the message [if] you got the money, you can treat women however you want to," said one woman.

One who's been assaulted by men said abused women "have choices" and can leave abusive relationships, as did Nicole Simpson.

"Did you choose to be beat ?" asked another.