Kaelin Refuses To Back Down
SANTA MONICA, Nov. 19 (Evening) -- Brian "Kato" Kaelin faced an arduous and contentious cross-examination Tuesday afternoon. But he refused to back down from his direct testimony. Also on cross examination, defense attorney Robert Baker revived the specter of racist, rogue cop Mark Fuhrman, suggesting that Fuhrman planted the bloody glove found at Rockingham by throwing it out Kaelin's window.
On Wednesday, limousine driver Allan Park is scheduled to take the stand, followed by FBI shoe print expert William Bodziak.
Some of Kaelin's testimony was beneficial to the defense. He said he never saw cuts on Simpson's hands, even after 11:00 p.m. on the night of the murders. For the most part, Baker sought to portray Kaelin as a well-trained plaintiffs witness, who significantly changed his story from previous testimony. The defense had a lot to work with: for the criminal proceedings Kaelin was interviewed twice by police officers and testified under oath in front of the grand jury, at the pretrial hearing, and at the trial itself. Kaelin also gave an extensive interview for a book and was deposed for the civil trial.
Baker hammered Kaelin for slightly changing his story about the thumps he heard behind his room. In his civil testimony, Kaelin said he heard the thumps between 10:40 and 10:50 p.m. But Baker pointed out that in most of his previous testimony Kaelin said he heard the thumps between 10:40 and 10:45 p.m. Also in his civil testimony, Kaelin said the noise was right behind his bed and caused a vibration on the wall. But Baker noted that Kaelin had located the noise further away in his previous testimony. Kaelin felt compelled to change his story, Baker noted, "after spending hours with Mr. Petrocelli," the lead plaintiffs attorney.
Kaelin, however, refused to back down, saying that he didn't wear a watch on the night of the murders and always gave approximate times when he testified.
Baker did not hesitate to raise Fuhrman's name. Kaelin described how he first encountered Fuhrman the day after the murders. Fuhrman was one of four LAPD officers who woke Kaelin up at six in the morning to question him about the murders. Baker tried to establish that Fuhrman went into Kaelin's bathroom alone and looked around. The bathroom has a window that looks out onto the area where the glove was found. "The only person in your area, your room, was Mark Fuhrman?" Baker asked Kaelin. "Then he went into the bathroom area and looked around, did he not?"
But Kaelin said he didn't think that was true. On redirect examination, Kaelin testified that there was a screen on the window that night.
Outside the courtroom, excitement continued to build as some of the more notable witnesses from the criminal trial took the stand. Park, the limousine driver, who was waiting to testify, stopped and signed autographs for onlookers, as did Kaelin. Although the infamous house guest refused to speak with reporters, he did manage to say he was glad it was over.
"I'm so relieved," he said.
-Robert Schmidt
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