Week 26

July 17 - 21, 1995

Dr. Robert Huizenga said that in a "stationary situation" Simpson was fit enough to murder Nicole Brown Simpson in the manner suggested by the prosecution, namely by grabbing her head with his left hand and yanking it backwards before cutting her throat.

Next, Huizenga testified that a person's observation of Simpson not having a limp around the time of the killings was inconsistent with his findings on June 15, 1994. The suggestion was that Simpson may have faked the limp during the doctor's examination.

Prosecutor Brian Kelberg attempted to show that adrenaline may have accounted for Simpson's ability to commit the murders, notwithstanding his physical limitations. To further his point, Kelberg read into evidence a portion of a book written by Huizenga detailing a football team member's insistence on continuing to play despite a dislocated finger. Huizenga was a former team physician with the Los Angeles Raiders. In addition, Kelberg raised the familiar anecdote of a mother lifting a car to free her child from underneath it.

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In the end, the doctor agreed that if Simpson committed the murders while in a rage, he would have been in "the throes of an adrenaline rush."

Kelberg later suggested that after the murders, Simpson could resume his normal personality, as would a football player who could shake an opponent's hand at the end of a tough game. Several defense witnesses said Simpson showed no signs of distress in the hours after the murders.

During the final half hour of the day, jurors watched portions of an exercise video featuring Simpson performing various exercises. The video was taped May 24 to May 27, 1994 -- two-and-a-half weeks before the murders.

JULY 18 - Jurors heard O.J. Simpson joke about domestic violence in a commercial exercise video he made several weeks before his ex-wife's murder.

During the video workout, filmed May 26, 1994, Simpson could be seen shadow boxing, throwing jabs and uppercuts. "Get your space in if you're exercising with your wife, if you know what I mean," he said, adding with a smile, "You can always blame it on working out."

Defense lawyer Robert Shapiro asked Judge Lance Ito to bar prosecutors from showing the clip, saying Simpson's comment "was clearly a remark made in jest and taken in jest."

But prosecutor Brian Kelberg argued that Simpson's "unscripted remark reflected his state of mind [and] his attitude toward his wife" several weeks before the murders.

Kelberg also played for jurors a second video of a promotional speech Simpson gave in March 1994. In the video, Simpson extolled the virtues of a vitamin supplement called Juice Plus, saying the product had so relieved his arthritis symptoms that he had quit taking conventional medication and pain relievers.

Both videos were intended to convince jurors that Simpson had the physical capability to commit the murders and was not suffering from acute arthritis at the time of the killings.

The defense also tried to show Tuesday that police "rushed to judgment" against Simpson when they handcuffed him almost immediately after he returned home from Chicago the day after the murders.

Police Officer Donald Thompson said Simpson was handcuffed on orders from Detective Philip Vannatter.

But the defense effort to show that Simpson was mistreated by police appeared to fail since Thompson said on cross-examination that Simpson's celebrity status earned him "special treatment."

Out of concern for "the dignity of the defendant," Thompson said, he led Simpson away from a swarm of television cameras before placing him in handcuffs, saying, "I didn't want to make a big scene there in the driveway." Thompson said Vannatter removed Simpson's handcuffs minutes later.

Thompson, a seven-year police veteran and training officer, said he had "never seen" a murder suspect treated with such deference.

JULY 19 - The defense continued to have problems with the credibility of its witnesses.

John Meraz, who towed Simpson's Bronco away from a police department shed several days after the murders, testified for the defense that he did not see any blood inside the vehicle or fingerprint powder on the doors.

But prosecutors presented photographs taken the day before Meraz moved the vehicle that clearly showed the blood and powder.

Meraz, who took two receipts from the Bronco, also admitted that he lied to the yard's manager about removal of the receipts. One of the receipts had Simpson's name on it; the other had Nicole Brown Simpson's name on it. Meraz said he showed the receipts to co-workers and later placed the vouchers into a side pocket of the Bronco. The receipts were never found and Meraz eventually was fired.

Deputy District Attorney Marcia Clark implied that the defense had helped Meraz in the wrongful termination suit he has filed against the tow yard. She also suggested that Meraz was testifying for the defense in exchange for immunity from prosecution for theft. Meraz admitted that defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran, Jr. told him the defense would not file charges against him.

Testifying after Meraz was Richard Walsh, the fitness instructor with whom Simpson produced an exercise video two weeks before the killings.

Walsh testified that he had reservations about Simpson's abilities to perform the video exercises. He noted that during rehearsals Simpson was unable to lift a 30-pound sandbag . And he said Simpson was given a chair and ice packs during breaks.

But on cross-examination, Walsh agreed that Simpon was able to perform all the exercises required for the video. Walsh testified that at one point he told Simpson, "it's too bad you're not tough enough to do this." Simpson then allegedly said, "let's go," and was able to resume exercising even after 12 hours of the workout.

The day's final witness was police photographer Willie Ford, who testified that he saw no socks when he videotaped Simpson's bedroom at 4:13 pm on June 13. A police evidence collector said he believed he had picked up the socks around 4:30 or 4:40 pm. The defense has claimed that the incriminating socks were planted in Simpson's bedroom.

In another defeat for the defense, Judge Lance Ito denied a request for a hearing on the issue of jury targeting. The judge ruled there was no evidence that the prosecution or any other law enforcement agency targeted jurors for dismissal.

The judge detailed the reasons for dismissing the four jurors in the dispute.

The first juror -- whose name has never been released -- was removed because he was a Hertz employee who lied during jury voir dire when he said that he had never met Simpson.

Juror Michael Knox failed to mention during voir dire that he had an arrest record for domestic violence.

Juror Jeannette Harris was removed for failing to disclose that she had filed a restraining order in 1988 against her husband.

Finally, the judge found that juror Willie Craven intimidated six different jurors.

JULY 20 - The defense pressed forward with the conspiracy phase of its case but ran into some severe roadblocks.

Judge Lance Ito restricted the testimony of one expert and raised the possibility of barring another expert.

The judge blocked much of the testimony of Herbert MacDonnell, a blood spatter expert from Corning, N.Y. MacDonnell conducted tests that the defense contends could prove blood was planted on socks seized from O.J. Simpson's bedroom the day after the murders.

The judge agreed with prosecutors that MacDonell's experiment, which determined the drying time of blood on sock fabric, was flawed because the materials and conditions affecting the socks in the case were not accurately recreated in the experiment.

Defense lawyers have said MacDonell's experiments suggested blood was placed on at least one of the socks when it was lying flat, not when it had a foot inside.

Meanwhile, another defense witness, blood expert Fredric Rieders, may not be allowed to testify as scheduled on Monday. Prosecutor Marcia Clark complained that the defense's late disclosure of Rieders' report didn't give her enough time for what she said would be a lengthy cross-examination.

Rieders is expected to say that a lab preservative called EDTA was found on the socks and on a back gate of Nicole Brown Simpson's condominium. That preservative is commonly added to blood stored at the police crime lab, and the defense argues its presence in evidence blood samples would prove that blood was planted.

On Thursday, the defense unsuccessfully tried to use two police witnesses to support the sock-planting theory.

Police photographer Willie Ford, whose video shot of Simpson's house the day after the murders shows no socks in the bedroom, explained that he only taped rooms after they were searched. Then Detective Bert Luper testified that he personally saw the socks collected by criminalist Dennis Fung -- before Ford even arrived at Simpson's house with the video camera.

Simpson's maid, Josephine "Gigi" Guarin testified that Simpson is very neat and orderly. He always put his clothes away, she said, adding that she never saw him throw clothes on the floor or around his room.

JULY 21 - Judge Lance Ito cancelled testimony is order to give prosecutors time to prepare for the next defense witness, a scientist whose report was only recently provided to the prosecution.

WEEK 27