THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503100075
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
THE YEAR was 2002, the seventh year of the Simpson trial, and the manila envelope containing the mysterious item given years ago to Judge Lance Ito had not been introduced in evidence.
Judge Ito, his beard now turning gray, was in the exhibit room with his clerk. ``I can't find it anywhere,'' she said. ``I've looked into every envelope and there are hundreds of them as you can see.''
The judge pointed to manila envelope No. 4-97. ``What's in that one?'' he asked.
``It's a transcript of a conversation at sidebar, your honor,'' she replied. ``You may remember you threatened to hold Ms. Clark in contempt for referring to Mr. F. Lee Bailey as `bucket butt.'
He replaced the envelope in the cabinet, drawing another, turning it over in his hands, sniffing it.
``That's not it, your honor. That's food,'' the clerk said.
``Food?''
``Yes, it is the ham sandwich that Mr. Shapiro threw at Mr. Darden during a court recess. That was back in 1996. I'm sure your remember the incident. Mr. Darden had called Mr. Shapiro a `honky media weasel.' ''
Judge Ito sat in a wooden chair, his dark eyes sweeping over the shelves filled with envelopes in the open cabinets surrounding him.
``You are trying my patience, madam clerk,'' he said. ``Don't we have any evidence in these manila envelopes that are not disputes between counsel?''
``Oh, yes sir,'' the clerk replied. She pointed to a pair of ceiling-high cabinets flanking a doorway.
``What's in the cabinet to the left there?'' the judge asked.
``The first shelf contains invoices for hotel rooms and airline tickets for Ms. Lopez, the housekeeper who lived next door to the Simpsons. She has been at the Hilton for 640 days and has flown round-trip to El Salvador 87 times.''
``And the second shelf?''
``That contains photographs of the sites where Ms. Lopez has seen various things. You know, the bushes where she saw the Madonna of the Azaleas rise in a cloud of pink perfume. And the tree in the Simpson back yard where she once saw Elvis Presley seated on one of the limbs, swinging his feet and eating an apple.''
``Well what about the third shelf?'' Judge Ito asked, unbuttoning his robe to loosen a dotted blue tie.
``Those are transcripts from one of your hearings in 1999.''
``I see,'' the judge said. ``What was that about?''
``The dog, sir.''
``The dog?''
``Yes, your honor. You remember Nicole Simpson's dog, referred to in testimony as the howling dog.''
``Yes.''
``Don't you remember that it was a guest on Larry King's television show, violating your order that witnesses could not speak to the media during the trial?
``It howled on the show, didn't it?''
``Yes,'' the clerk replied. ``You fined the dog. And the prosecution team, since it was their witness. Then they howled. Five days of testimony in those transcripts.''
Judge Ito's face reddened. ``Let's forget the hearings, the dog, everything except the mysterious envelope I handed to you. You've searched everywhere for it.''
``Yes, you honor,'' the clerk replied.
``And you can't find it?''
``No sir.''
``Where do you think it might be, madam clerk?'' he asked, icily.
``It's possible, sir, that it was accidentally moved out with the DNA evidence.''
``Well, we'll simply have to go through the DNA evidence and find it. Where is the DNA now?''
``In an empty Boeing 747 hangar at Los Angeles International, sir,'' the clerk replied. ``It will take 40 men and two dozen forklifts to sift through it all.''
The judge ordered her to do whatever it took. ``We have to have that mysterious envelope in hand no later than the first of next month,'' he warned. ``That's when the defense begins its case.'' by CNB