Plaintiffs Promise New Evidence
SANTA MONICA, Oct. 23 (Noon) -- As opening statements began today in the O.J. Simpson Civil trial, lead plaintiffs' attorney Daniel Petrocelli gave notice that he will present a case that is quite different than Simpson's criminal prosecution.
Now at the noon lunch break at the Santa Monica Courthouse, Petrocelli has spoken for about two hours; he will likely continue for another two. Petrocelli will be followed by Michael Brewer, who represents Sharon Rufo. His statement is expected to take up the remainder of the day.
Earlier in the day, Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki ruled that the defense could not -- for the moment -- mention that Detective Mark Fuhrman could be a witness in the trial. The judge reserved ruling on the Fuhrman testimony until it has been further briefed by the attorneys. Briefs are due Nov. 1.
Already, the plaintiffs have begun to deviate from the case presented by prosecutors in Simpson's criminal trial. Perhaps the most significant difference is that they have scrapped the timeline used by the criminal prosecutors. Instead of claiming Simpson killed Nicole and Ron around 10:15 p.m. on June 12, 1994, the plaintiffs have adopted a later time sequence that puts the killings around 10:35 p.m. Petrocelli told the jury he will present Robert Heidstra, a defense witness in the criminal trial, who will testify to hearing a young male voice say "hey, hey, hey," and several minutes later saw a white Jeep-like vehicle speeding away.
The plaintiffs also will not rely on coroner Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran to tell the story of the deaths. Instead they will use Dr. Werner Spitz, a well regarded expert witness.
New evidence will also play a large role in the civil trial. Petrocelli told jurors he will introduce evidence about Simpson's flight from the police, his apparent suicide attempt, and fiber evidence from Simpson's Bronco -- all of which was not used in the criminal case. The plaintiffs will also introduce a recently discovered photograph of Simpson wearing Bruno Magli shoes -- the same shoes experts say left bloody footprints at the crime scene. In his sworn deposition earlier this year, Simpson said he would never own such a pair of "ugly-ass shoes."
The scene outside the courthouse has been relatively tame. Perhaps a dozen protesters carried signs, slightly more than half in support of Simpson. Some of the protests have a Halloween flavor. Six grave stones are lined up on the lawn, complaining mainly of judicial corruption. One of the grave markers reads: O.J. Simpson, strangled by aliens. Court TV reporter Dan Abrams heard Simpson in the hallway whistling, "If I Only Had A Brain," the song sung by the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. Family members in the courtroom include both of Nicole's parents, Denise Brown, Fred Goldman, and Sharon Rufo. O.J.'s mother, who is celebrating her 75th birthday today, is also in court. Surprisingly there are several empty seats in the courtroom.
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
Documents and Depositions from the Pre-Trial Civil Proceedings
A Look Back at the Criminal Case
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