Renowned Coroner Says Goldman Suffered A Slow Death
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Dec. 16, Evening) -- Dr. Michael Baden, the defense's expert forensic pathologist, told jurors Monday afternoon in the O.J. Simpson civil trial that a cut on Simpson's hand was probably made by broken glass and not by a fingernail. Baden, a renowned coroner, also said that Ronald Goldman was on his feet for about five minutes after he received a fatal cut to his jugular vein.
Baden will continue testifying on cross examination Tuesday morning. Following Baden, the defense is scheduled to read into the record the criminal trial testimony of William Blasini, who looked at Simpson's Bronco while it was in the police department's impound lot and saw no blood or fingerprint dust on it. John Meraz, the tow truck driver who stole several receipts from the Bronco when he took it to the impound lot, is expected to testify in person. He says he later returned the receipts.
Baden's testimony conflicted at several points with the plaintiffs' expert pathologist Werner Spitz, an equally respected coroner. Spitz, when he testified earlier in the trial, advanced a new theory that the cut on the middle finger of Simpson's left hand was made by fingernail gouging. Baden disagreed, saying that the cut was "most likely" caused by broken glass.
"It was cut by some sharp, irregular object . . . a jagged piece of glass or a knife," Baden told the jury. "I've never seen a fingernail gouge mark produce that long and deep a wound on somebody."
The two experts differed sharply in their estimates of the length of time the murders took, as well. Spitz's earlier testimony put the time of the killings at about a minute and 15 seconds. Baden had a much longer estimate. Although Baden did not address how long it took for Nicole Brown Simpson to die, he said Goldman may have been alive for 15 minutes. Goldman died from blood loss after receiving a wound to his jugular vein, Baden noted, but he probably remained standing -- and possibly fighting -- for five minutes after his jugular was sliced. Baden testified that a wound Goldman received to his aorta -- which Spitz said killed him -- was only of minor significance.
"Once this wound was inflicted in the neck causing complete transection of the jugular vein, Mr. Goldman was able to stand up and to continue struggling for perhaps up to five minutes until he lost enough blood to get dizzy and to faint," Baden said.
Baden, who has investigated the deaths of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., also told jurors that there could have been two attackers at the crime scene and two weapons could have made the wounds. Baden said he based part of his two attacker theory on the fact that the victims did not scream.
"It is my opinion that it is more likely that there was more than one perpetrator," Baden said. "There could be one single weapon . . . but certainly much of the findings would be equally consistent with two weapons."
During Baden's testimony, Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki put a stop to another courtroom demonstration -- this time involving Simpson. Defense attorney Robert Blasier asked Simpson to take off his shirt so Baden could refer to a mark on Simpson's left arm. The plaintiffs' expert pathologist, Spitz, had identified the mark as a bruise -- possibly from Goldman striking Simpson -- in his earlier testimony.
"I will not have him [Simpson] disrobing in my courtroom," Fujisaki told Blasier.
However, Baden did say that he examined Simpson recently and the mark is still there.
Defense attorney Edward Medvene began his cross-examination of Baden at the end of the afternoon, accusing the pathologist of going on numerous television shows as an advocate for O.J. Simpson. Medvene also pointed out that Baden had no expertise in identifying fingernail marks or sharp-force injuries, including stab wounds.
Simpson was in court Monday and seemed to have difficult time listening to the sometimes graphic testimony about the wounds received by his ex-wife and Goldman. He grimaced, looked down at the floor, and closed his eyes at times. Both Fredric and Kim Goldman also attended the proceedings. During testimony about her brother's wounds, Kim buried her head in her arms.
-Robert Schmidt
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