Week 6

February 27 - March 3, 1995

Lopez said she saw Simpson's car as she walked her employers' golden retriever around 10:15 pm on June 12. Lopez said she was not wearing a watch at the time. But she said that she checked her clock as she left her bedroom to walk the dog, and it was little after 10 pm. Later that evening at around 11pm, she said she heard Simpson's voice outside. She also testified that detective Mark Fuhrman interviewed her on June 13 but failed to follow up with her even though she told him she heard loud voices that night.

The day also was highlighted by arguments between the attorneys over a July 29 statement that Lopez gave to the defense. The statement was not disclosed to the prosecution until Monday. Lopez never mentioned the Bronco in the July 29 interview with defense investigator William Pavelic.

Prosecutor Marcia Clark said that Lopez, in her first statement, also said that a woman named Sylvia Guerra could support her recollections. But Guerra was not mentioned in the second statement. The second statement -- when Lopez discussed seeing the Bronco -- was dated August 18.

Story continues

advertisement

"When the defense found out that Sylvia was not only not going to corroborate Mrs. Lopez but was going to say she was a liar and no such thing happened and 'I was not at her house' and 'I did not make an observation of the Bronco' she conveniently disappeared from the statement," Clark said. "Obviously we have some material discrepancies of a very important nature," she continued.

Clark then chastised the defense team for not turning over the statement. "As officers of the court, they should be ashamed, they should be embarrassed. In fact, their bar tickets should be hanging in jeopardy for this kind of misconduct, and this is misconduct, there's no question about it," she said.

The defense has told Judge Ito that they turned over all their notes and tapes to the prosecution. But defense lawyer Carl Douglas told the court Monday that he had learned of Lopez's earlier statement only Monday morning, and that no tape of that conversation had been made. But later, Pavelic told the judge that the interview had been taped.

The questioning of Lopez took place in front of a video camera and not before the jury. That tape can be played by the defense when it presents its case.

The judge had ruled on Friday that Lopez would testify before the jury. But Clark convinced him Monday to change his mind. She argued that having Lopez testify before the jury would give her testimony undue importance.

FEBRUARY 28 - The legal wrangling over the testimony of Rosa Lopez continued with the prosecution claiming that the defense alibi witness was coached into stating what the defense wanted to hear.

Prosecutor Marcia Clark said Lopez, a former maid to Simpson's next-door neighbor, had been "told what to say through every bend and turn" of a July 29 interview with a defense investigator. A tape of the interview was revealed for the first time Monday. Clark accused the defense of deliberately withholding the recording, in violation of California discovery laws, to conceal "huge inconsistencies" in Lopez's account of the events of June 12.

Judge Lance Ito ordered Lopez's testimony halted until Thursday to give prosecutors more time to prepare for their cross-examination of the witness. Her testimony is being videotaped and may be shown to the jury when the defense presents its case.

The defense planned to finish its questioning of Lopez on Tuesday, but the judge also delayed it until Thursday.

"I am very sick, sir," Lopez told the court. "I don't eat every day. I'm not sleeping well, and I'm going to tell you this is not my fault." She then turned to leave the courtroom, saying: "I want to go rest, sir. I don't want any more questions."

Lopez testified that she saw Simpson's Bronco parked outside his mansion at 10:15 pm - the same time that prosecutors have said Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were killed.

The legal arguments started early in the day when Clark expressed outrage over the defense's failure to turn over the tape of the July 29 interview with Lopez.

Clark said she had "never heard anything like" the 12- to 15-minute interview, in which she said Lopez sounded as if she had been "handed a script" by defense investigator William Pavelic.

"Mr. Pavelic got on the tape and spoke almost non-stop ... getting her to affirm, yes, yes, yes, yes," Clark said, noting that the entire interview was conducted in English, even though Lopez has requested a Spanish-language interpreter in court.

Clark also cited "numerous" and "glaring" inconsistencies between the July 29 statement and a second statement Lopez made on August 18.

Most notably, Clark said, Lopez's July 29 statement did not mention her seeing the Bronco outside Simpson's estate at 10:15 pm.

Defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran Jr. defended Lopez's credibility, calling her statements "entirely consistent." He conceded that Lopez did not specifically mention seeing the Bronco at 10:15 pm. But he said she the statement showed that Lopez was "adamant ... that the Bronco was not moved" from 8:30 pm, when she first saw it, until the next morning.

MARCH 1 - The jury underwent another change when Judge Lance Ito dismissed a juror who appeared to have shown bias in O.J. Simpson's favor.

The judge replaced the juror, a 46-year-old black male, with a 38-year-old white woman.

It was the fourth time since the trial opened that a juror case has been replaced. The jury now has eight females and four males. There are eight remaining alternates, leaving open the possibility that there will not be enough jurors to finish the case. If this occurs, Judge Ito would have to declare a mistrial.

There have been reports that the dismissed juror may have offered to bet a week's wages before being empaneled that Simpson would be found innocent. The juror also was seen wearing a San Francisco 49ers cap at times while serving on the jury. Simpson played for the 49ers in the late 1970s.

MARCH 2 - The prosecution started its cross-examination of Rosa Lopez in an effort to point out inconsistencies in the testimony of the potential alibi witness for O.J. Simpson.

During a vigorous cross-examination by prosecutor Christopher Darden, Lopez testified that she was not sure about the exact time that she saw Simpson's Bronco parked outside his home -- only that it was after 10pm.

Darden also suggested that the critical time of 10:15pm on June 12 was suggested to Lopez by defense team investigator William Pavelic. The prosecution has alleged that the murders were committed at about 10:15pm.

"All I said was that it was after 10," she said,

"So you don't know how long after 10?" Darden asked.

"No sir," she said.

Darden started his cross-examination by questioning Lopez on her claim for unemployment benefits and her statement to the court last Friday that she had made airline reservations.

Lopez admitted she had not made reservations for a flight back to her native El Salvador, as she had previously testified.

"That was a lie, correct?" Darden asked her.

"I didn't remember that I hadn't made reservations previously," Lopez answered.

But she agreed that she told the court she had made reservations last Friday when in fact she had not.

"And you lied?" Darden asked. "No," Lopez replied.

MARCH 3 - The prosecution continued its vigorous cross-examination of Rosa Lopez as a defense attorney conceded that no decision has been made on whether to show her testimony to the jury.

Lopez, a housekeeper for O.J. Simpson's neighbors, claims she saw Simpson's Bronco parked outside his mansion at about the time the prosecution says he was murdering his ex-wife and her friend.

During cross-examination by Deputy District Attorney Christopher Darden, Lopez said her friend Sylvia Guerra, who is also a housekeeper, was lying when she told a detective about an alleged conversation in which she told a friend she'd been offered money to testify.

Darden, referring to an interview Guerra had with detectives, said, "Sylvia stated that you told her that the lawyers were going to give you $5,000 and that she could also get $5,000 if she testified for Mr Simpson."

"I never said that sir," Lopez replied.

"Sylvia is lying?" Darden asked.

"100 percent," said Lopez.

Meanwhile, defense attorney Robert Shapiro was asked whether the videotaped testimony will ever be shown to the jury. "I think we will make that evaluation when we hear what her entire testimony is." he said. "To date she has been very consistent on some issues and on some others she has clearly been inconsistent, and its an evaluation that will have to be made after we see all of her testimony."

In another development, Judge Lance Ito issued a written order sanctioning the defense for withholding from the prosecution information regarding interviews that Lopez gave defense investigator William Pavelic. Defense lawyers Johnnie Cochran and Carl Douglas each were fined $950, and Ito said he would instruct jurors that the defense violated the law if Lopez's taped testimony is played for the jury.

WEEK 7