Defense Mounts Attack On Victim's Lifestyle
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Jan. 6, Evening) -- Defense lawyers began their assault on Nicole Brown Simpson's character Monday afternoon in the O.J. Simpson civil trial, eliciting testimony that Brian "Kato" Kaelin told police she "used coke."
Other defense witnesses this afternoon included Los Angeles Police officer Richard Aston; Otis Marlowe and Paul Tippin, two former detectives who worked for the plaintiffs as investigators; and Rachel Ferrara, whose criminal trial testimony was read into the court record. Earlier in the day, the plaintiffs confronted a defense photo expert with new photos of Simpson allegedly wearing Bruno Maglis -- the same type of rare Italian shoes the killer allegedly wore.
Court recessed until Wednesday morning because a juror asked to be off on Tuesday for religious reasons. Among the scheduled witnesses Wednesday are: Kaelin, Al Cowlings, and Cora Fischman. The defense has also said it wants to read the criminal trial testimony of Laura Hart McKinny -- the aspiring screenwriter who taped Mark Fuhrman bragging about manufacturing evidence and making racist comments. However, the plaintiffs are vigorously opposing her testimony and Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki has not ruled on the issue.
Although three officers who worked on the Simpson investigation took the stand this afternoon, the defense was unable to produce the accusatory fireworks that marked the testimony of other police witnesses. Aston, whose partner Daniel Gonzalez was accused on the stand of being part of the police conspiracy to frame Simpson, left the witness stand relatively unscathed.
Part of the reason for Aston's lackluster testimony was his memory. Although he was at the Bundy and Rockingham crime scenes in the early morning after the murders, Aston has never testified about his work on the investigation. He told jurors that he could not remember seeing Mark Fuhrman climbing over the wall into the Rockingham estate, nor could he remember any discussion about police being worried about Simpson's safety. However, Aston did recall seeing blood on the console of the Bronco, although he was not sure which window he looked in to see it. The defense sharply questioned Aston about an impound report on the Bronco he filled out. The report noted that the Bronco's battery and alternator were in working condition -- a fact the police could not have known unless they pooped the hood or turned on the car.
Former homicide detectives Otis Marlowe and Paul Tippin were called to the stand mainly to highlight what the defense says is their conflict of interest -- working as investigators for the plaintiffs. Both Marlowe and Tippin denied they had a conflict, pointing out that they were not in charge of the criminal investigation and merely helped "work clues" called into the LAPD.
But Tippin, who is now an investigator for the Orange County District Attorney's office, was also questioned about his interview of Kaelin at the West Los Angeles police station the day after the murders. Defense attorney Daniel Leonard quizzed Tippin about what Kaelin told him about Nicole Brown Simpson's "lifestyle."
"He said she used Coke," Tippin said.
Leonard also noted that Kaelin provided the police with a list of Nicole Brown Simpson's friends. At the top of the list was Cora Fischman, who the defense plans to call on Wednesday and ask more questions about Nicole's friends and habits.
The plaintiffs first question to Tippin on cross-examination, although the judge sustained an objection to it, gave a taste of things to come: "Did [Kaelin] tell you that Cora Fischman used coke?"
-Robert Schmidt
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