The Search for Justice (48 page)

The photographs were as unimaginable as any I had ever seen, and Ito agreed. The close-up shots of the cleaned wounds, especially
the ones in the neck areas, were simply incomprehensible. There was a hole in Ron Goldman ’s throat large enough for a fist,
and Nicole ’s throat seemed open from end to end.

I argued that the photographs were such that anyone seeing them would have such a visceral reaction, such rage, as to seriously
prejudice the defendant. It simply wasn ’t necessary to introduce them at all; Golden could testify to cause of death, we
would certainly stipulate to that, and the jury didn ’t need to see these photos to establish that information.

The defense lost that round; at the end of May, Ito ruled that the jury could see the photographs. Later, of course, it became
obvious that Dr. Golden was a Trojan horse to bring the autopsy photos into the trial. Dr. Golden was not asked to testify
by the prosecution.

On May 10, I took a break from court, and went down the hall to see Michael Baden, who was in town with Barbara Wolf testifying
as a key prosecution witness in another criminal case.

For nearly a year, I ’d been the only lawyer who sat in on each and every hearing and session in the courtroom. I had become
a desk lawyer, captive at the end of the table with my computer, listening as O.J. commented on every piece of evidence, hearing
Cochran respond with “We ’ll look into that” or “Carl ’s on top of it.” I ’d sprained my back sparring with Grant the weekend
before and couldn ’t find a comfortable place in my chair. Taking a walk down the hall for a strategy session with Baden and
Wolf seemed like a good idea.

After Michael had completed his testimony in the other case, he and I and Barbara went into another room to watch the live
television feed of the trial. Since the trial had begun, I hadn ’t seen any of the television coverage; I had deliberately
avoided anything except the evening news recap. Seeing the way the camera editorialized what was taking place in that courtroom,
especially the actions and reactions of the lawyers, was a revelation.

There was an alert Peter Neufeld, looking intently at the witness he was examining. Scheck, who had been the DNA point man
for days, looked less focused, his clothes disheveled, his hair badly in need of a trim. Blasier was hunched over his computer,
probably in-putting some esoteric data or creating graphics for the next day ’s use. Cochran was agitated and restless, slumped
down in his chair. O.J., who had a tendency to throw his head back and look up at the ceiling when he was thinking, was, said
Barbara Wolf, “looking scornful.”

“I needed to see this,” I said to my two friends. “I need to tell them about this, especially O.J. We ’ve forgotten the cameras,
or gotten used to them. If we look like this to television viewers, we must look like this to the jury.”

The rule of the court is that when an objection is made, the brief legal explanation—it assumes a fact not in evidence, is
hearsay, irrelevant, or whatever it may be—is made, and any detailed or further explanation is given at a sidebar conference.
Otherwise the jury hears remarks or observations from either prosecution or defense that will poison their ability to deliberate
fairly. In this case, although there was certainly no shortage of sidebars, Ito had warned lawyers for both sides numerous
times about “speaking objections” in which we continued to argue or explain our reasons for objections in full hearing of
the jury.

In mid-May, Judge Ito sanctioned Peter Neufeld and Woody Clarke each $250 for specifying their objections during Cotton ’s
testimony within the jury ’s hearing. He ordered them not to bill their clients for the charges.

“Thank you, Your Honor,” said O.J.

“You ’re welcome, Mr. Simpson,” said Ito. Later, we heard that Clarke ’s colleagues in San Diego took up a collection to pay
his fine.

As the first anniversary of Nicole ’s death approached, O.J. became angry when he saw his kids on the cover of
Life
magazine, and he called Lou Brown to tell him so. He thought the Browns were being naive about the press ’s intentions. “They
don ’t care about you,” he told Lou. “They care about themselves, about how much money they make off this stuff.”

He wanted his kids protected, out of the spotlight, so that they ’d be able to make their own choices. “I taught Sydney to
play chess when she was only seven,” he said proudly. “She ’s going to be able to be anything she wants.”

In mid-May, the jurors sent Judge Ito a letter, signed by a majority, asking to extend the week—full days on Friday and half
days on Saturday. They were willing to forego the outings Ito had been arranging for them in order to put in more court time.
Cochran was against it, I was mixed, and O.J. was strongly in favor. The judge said he couldn ’t open the courtroom on Saturdays,
but extending on Friday afternoons was a realistic possibility.

Marcia Clark and Johnnie were back to being flirtatiously friendly with each other; O.J. dogged Johnnie about it, especially
when it happened in front of the jury. “Don ’t do that,” O.J. repeatedly said to Cochran.

On the way into court on May 18, a reporter called out to me, “What will O.J. say to his kids on Nicole ’s birthday?” She
would ’ve been thirty-six. I told O.J. later that it had to be the stupidest question I ’d heard since this all started.

“What do they think, that I ’ve got this thing scripted?” he asked. “She wouldn ’t have hung around for a party with her family,
she didn ’t like that stuff,” he said. “We would ’ve taken the kids and our friends and gone to Cabo.”

Someone sent cans of black spray to Cochran and me, for the bald spots on our heads. The gift giver said that he was being
blinded by the reflection of my pate on television. I was impressed with the gesture—the guy actually went to the trouble
of having the spray cans personalized with our names.

When Barry Scheck cross-examined Gary Sims, the senior criminologist for the California Department of Justice, he used Sims
’s testimony for defense purposes, as an example of excellent procedure, in contrast to that of the L.A.P.D. crime lab. Sims
couldn ’t say for sure whether the socks found in O.J. ’s bedroom were tampered with before the technicians in the lab got
them. Sims also testified that there was no way for him to say for sure that the police did not tamper with the crime scene.

The prosecutors clearly weren ’t happy with Sims. He was straightforward, giving scientific interpretations as clearly as
he could, and doing his best to avoid showing favoritism to either side. Rock Harmon had done the direct on Sims, and he objected
constantly during Scheck ’s cross. If Ito didn ’t sustain Harmon ’s objections, Harmon would remain standing until Ito would
finally say “Sit down, Mr. Harmon.”

As careful as the court had been with screening newspapers, the jurors had seen in
USA Today
that Harmon had cracked a joke about the DNA analysis of O.J. ’s blood excluding everyone except the San Antonio Spurs. “Not
exactly a world-class comedian,” grumbled O.J.

“Harmon bought new clothes to be on TV,” he speculated. He was always giving Johnnie and me a bad time about our ties. He
preferred a more conservative style, saying that it was
more businesslike. When O.J. first went to USC, John DeLorean hired him as a product spokesman for Chevrolet. The Chevy people
took O.J. to Carroll ’s, a conservative clothing store in Beverly Hills, stressing to him that this was how a businessman
should dress. “People should say ‘you look good, ’ “ he said, “not ‘that ’s a great suit. ’ “

During Scheck ’s cross of Sims, the witness couldn ’t immediately locate one piece of information in his notes. Scheck had
the data in front of him. Scheck said, “Well, would you agree if I told you that…?” and then recited the data. Responded
Sims, “Mr. Scheck, I ’ll take your word for anything.”

Both men were clear speakers; they knew this was a tough audience. But the testimony was dense, confusing, and the jurors
obviously bored. Scheck raised the possibility that someone not identified in the case left blood at the scene, but there
was no way of knowing if the jury picked up on this. Two days later he was able to get into evidence that the tissue and isoenzyme
found under Nicole ’s fingernail was type B; her blood was type AB.