ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603040045
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
Federal, state and local investigators have found little evidence that Mark Fuhrman committed the crimes he boasted of to a screenwriter, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Furthermore, interviews with more than 40 of Fuhrman's colleagues, friends and critics, as well as a review of confidential police documents, suggest that many of his lurid stories were concocted by an egotistical and troubled man, the Times reported.
Johnnie Cochran Jr., who represented O.J. Simpson in his murder trial, portrayed the former detective as a ``lying, perjuring, genocidal racist.'' Prosecutor Marcia Clark called him the ``worst LAPD has to offer.'' And several jurors cited his untrustworthiness in deciding to acquit Simpson in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
But the Los Angeles public defender's office reported that its review of the 35 most serious cases in which Fuhrman had been the investigating officer since 1988 showed virtually no complaints.
``Astoundingly, there was not a single complaint about planting evidence,'' Michael Clark, a deputy public defender, said in a statement in January. Nor were there any complaints about racial misconduct.
On the contrary, Michael Clark said in the statement, ``there were some compliments paid to Fuhrman by arrestees,'' some of whom were members of minority groups. Clark concluded that although Fuhrman might well be a racist, he had ``grossly exaggerated'' his experiences on the tapes.
There are three investigations into his conduct: the FBI's civil-rights probe; an inquiry by the California attorney general's office into whether he committed perjury; and a review of all his cases by the Los Angeles Police Department.
The Times reported that all three investigations have found little to back up Fuhrman's boasts to screenwriter Laura Hart McKinny in tapes that were played at the trial.
Fuhrman told McKinny that police officers often manipulate evidence and frame innocent people., and that he enjoyed lining up ``niggers against the wall and shooting them.''
But the Times said Fuhrman's public image is based in large part on his fantasies.
For example, Fuhrman made racist comments, yet counted blacks among his close friends. He boasted of violent exploits as a Marine in Vietnam, yet spent the war on a ship in the South China Sea. He cultivated a reputation as a macho officer, yet he really wanted to be an artist.
``Looking back on it, I think he had a real identity problem,'' Janet Hackett, who divorced Fuhrman in 1980, told the Times. ``He loved art, but he joined the Marines and the police as if he was trying to prove himself. On the outside Mark is very poised, but inside he had the lowest self-esteem you can imagine.''
Fuhrman was scheduled to be questioned on March 10 in the wrongful-death civil suit filed against Simpson by the Brown and Goldman families. Until then, he will not give any interviews, his lawyer told the Times.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 linesby CNB