Simpson Chronicles His Marriage
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Jan. 10, Evening) -- A confident and relaxed O.J. Simpson, testifying Friday afternoon in his civil trial, chronicled the sometimes loving, sometimes turbulent final months of his relationship with Nicole Brown Simpson. Under the questioning of his attorney Robert Baker, the football hero also told tales of his ex-wife's excessive drinking, drug use, abortion, and parties with prostitutes.
Simpson did not finish direct examination and will remain on the stand Monday morning.
Simpson frequently shot smiles at the jury. He seemed to come across as likable, mainly because he never engaged in a full frontal assault on his former wife's character. Instead, he subtlety chipped away at it, tucking anecdotes about her behavior into explanations about their relationship.
In a hearing earlier in the day, Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki ruled that Simpson can testify about Nicole Brown Simpson's alleged drug use and 1992 abortion.
But Judge Fujisaki's ruling came with a restriction: The defense cannot use this testimony to argue that another killer committed the murders. Fujisaki allowed Simpson's testimony on Nicole Brown Simpson's lifestyle to show O.J. Simpson's state of mind leading up to the murders and whether or not he had a motive to kill his ex-wife.
Simpson noted that after the couple split up, Nicole continued to call him just to chat. In one conversation, she seemed upset.
"She just spilled out that she had done something stupid and gotten herself pregnant," Simpson said.
Simpson also spoke about the time he looked in the window of Nicole's house and saw her performing oral sex on her sometime boyfriend Keith Zlomsowitch. Simpson told the jury that once he saw what was happening, he rang the doorbell -- to let them know they could be seen -- and then walked away.
"Did you go into a rage, O.J.?" Baker asked.
"No," Simpson answered. "I think I was a little stunned."
Later, Simpson confronted Nicole about the incident because, he said, it was inappropriate with the children upstairs.
"She said it was a mistake, what had happened that night," Simpson said. "They'd been drinking too much."
Zlomsowitch also figured prominently in the defense's claim that prostitutes frequented Nicole Brown Simpson's home. Simpson related a long story about working on a "Naked Gun" movie and being approached by a woman who was working as a stand-in for Anna Nicole Smith. The woman told Simpson that she didn't think he was such a bad guy -- although she'd heard stories about him from Zlomsowitch. She also told Simpson, he testified, about Zlomsowitch's drug problems, Nicole using drugs, and parties with prostitutes at his ex-wife's home. The woman's stories angered Simpson, he testified, and they were the root of the couple's fight that prompted her 1993 911 call to police.
"What the hell are you doing with hookers here?" Simpson said he asked Nicole.
However, Simpson told the jury that incident was "just an argument," and that nothing physical happened. He did concede that, as she closed the door in his face, he kicked it, but said it was just "a reflex."
Although Simpson carefully trashed his ex-wife's character, he also took pains to praise her.
"Throughout the time that you and Nicole were together, throughout the time that you an Nicole were apart, was she a fabulous mother?" Baker asked.
Replied Simpson: "Always."
Baker also gave Simpson ample time to show his good side. He spoke of the numerous charities he works for, and also noted that he consulted with his mother about whether or not he should reconcile with Nicole.
Simpson also told the jury of his love for Nicole.
"Mr. Simpson, from 1977 [until she died] did you love Nicole Brown Simpson," Baker asked.
"Very much so," Simpson replied.
"And you told this jury you never harmed her or touched her in any physical way after Jan. 1, 1989?" Baker continued.
Replied Simpson: "That's absolutely correct."
-Robert Schmidt
Court TV Law Center
Find out about Court TV's coverage of the civil trial, and take a look at the witness lists provided by both sides.
Rob Schmidt's Reporter's Notebook
Court TV Reports and Trial Coverage
A Look Back at the Criminal Case
Discuss the Case
Register for our message boards and trade your insights and opinions with other trial watchers.
