ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 TAG: 9701220070
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SANTA MONICA, CALIF.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Pointing his finger at an unflinching O.J. Simpson, a lawyer angrily mocked the football star's explanations and told jurors Tuesday: ``There's a killer in this courtroom.''
``That's the man who attacked them, confronted them and who killed them,'' attorney Daniel Petrocelli said in closing arguments in the wrongful-death civil case against Simpson.
Again and again, Petrocelli raised images of blood, fiber and hair, a hat, gloves and shoes that he said were indisputable proof that Simpson killed ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman on June 12, 1994.
``Did Mr. Simpson explain why his blood and DNA were found next to the victims?'' Petrocelli asked. ``Did he explain why his glove was found why his knit cap was at the scene? Did he explain any of that? Not one word.''
Petrocelli made it clear that his most prized new evidence - which he thinks will turn the case around - is a collection of photos purportedly showing Simpson wearing the same kind of Bruno Magli shoes the killer wore.
He said Simpson was quick to talk about football, his Heisman trophy and golf, ``but no Bruno Magli shoes. Can you imagine? O.J. Simpson didn't say a word about it.''
As Petrocelli showed jurors bloody pictures of the victims, he declared, ``These pieces of evidence are the voices of Ron and Nicole speaking to us from their graves, telling us, telling all of you, that there's a killer in this courtroom.''
Simpson's attorneys are to give their closing arguments after Petrocelli finishes today, and the case could be in the hands of the jury Thursday. The victims' families are seeking millions in damages from Simpson.
Behind Simpson sat his sister Shirley Baker and a niece. Across the courtroom, the families of Nicole Simpson and Goldman wept quietly as pictures of the victims' bloody bodies were again projected on a large screen.
Petrocelli spoke of the victims clawing at their killer and leaving fingernail marks, forcing the killer to drop telltale evidence along the way. And he said that while Nicole Simpson was killed ``up close and personal'' by a man in a rage, Goldman was slain to silence him about what he had seen.
``Had Ron lived, ladies and gentlemen, he would have been on this witness stand,'' Petrocelli said, tapping the stand. ``And he would have told us what he saw.''
The lawyer retraced Simpson's movements the night of the slayings, using telephone records and testimony, and he dismissed Simpson's claim that he was at home at the time.
``O.J. Simpson does not have an alibi between 10 and 10:45,'' Petrocelli said. ``But all the evidence in the case tells us he was not there. He was lying. He got caught.''
Petrocelli, a man with carefully groomed graying hair, paced in front of the jury box more somber even than Simpson, who sat across the room scribbling notes and sometimes shaking his head in disagreement.
As the day wore on, Petrocelli's attacks became more personal. ``If it isn't Mr. Simpson, who is it?'' he asked.
He ridiculed Simpson's explanation of the infamous Bronco run as a race to commit suicide and picked apart the note he left behind.
``What kind of a suicide note is that? There's not one word of sorrow in that note expressed for Nicole. Who signs a suicide note with a happy face? Have you seen that note - O.J. with a smiling `O?'''
Simpson, who chose not to take the stand at the criminal trial that ended in his acquittal, testified for four days during the civil trial.
In a rapid-fire barrage, Petrocelli launched into a sneering attack on Simpson's testimony and his character.
``What kind of man takes a baseball bat to his wife's car right in front of her and says she was not upset even though she called police for help?
``What kind of man kicks in a door and says it was just a reflex?
``What kind of man says his wife was lying on that tape when she says she was afraid and he was going - in her words - to beat the s--- out of her?
``What kind of man says cheating on your wife isn't a lie?
``What kind of man when shown 30 photographs of him wearing Bruno Magli shoes says, `That's me that's my head that's my pants no, not my shoes'?
``What kind of man says that with a straight face?''
Petrocelli answered his own questions: ``A guilty man a man with no remorse. A man with no conscience. This man is so obsessed with trying to salvage his image that he'll come into this court and will smear the name and reputation of the mother of his children while she rests in her grave. This man has lied and lied and lied.''
Pointing to the blood evidence charts, Petrocelli told jurors in even but powerful tones: ``There's no innocent explanation. He doesn't have one. He's guilty.''
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. O.J. Simpson and his attorney, Robert Baker, conferby CNBas they pass a Los Angeles County Superior Court officer during
lunch break Tuesday in the wrongful death lawsuit against Simpson.
The jury could begin deliberations as early as Thursday. color.