O.J. Simpson Trials: 1995 & 1996-97

Opening the trial on Monday, January 24, 1995, Clark assured the jury they would hear evidence involving a trail of blood from the death scene to a pair of socks in O.J.'s bedroom. DNA testing would confirm whose blood it was. Prosecutor Darden described the defendant's years of abusive behavior toward his wife. He included 911 tapes of Nicole screaming for help, and police photos of her battered face.

The prosecution recounted the events of June 12, 1994. Karen Lee Crawford, manager of the Mezzaluna Restaurant, testified that Nicole's mother had called about her daughter's left-behind eyeglasses, and that waiter Ron Goldman had departed to return them to her. The Simpsons' neighbor, Steven Schwab, recalled walking his dog at 10:30 P.M. and encountering an agitated dog trailing its leash. The dog had bloody but uninjured paws. Schwab's neighbor Sukru Boztepe described taking that dog for a walk to calm it down, only to find it "pulling me harder" near Nicole's home, where "I saw a lady laying down, full of blood." He flagged down a passing squad car.

Officer Robert Riske, the squad car driver, testified, "We observed a white female in a black dress, laying in a puddle." Then he found Goldman's body. Riske described seeing a white envelope (later proved to contain Nicole's eyeglasses), a black glove, and a blue knit ski cap near the bodies.

Detective Mark Fuhrman took the stand. Anticipating the defense's plan to depict him as a racist, the prosecution presented the jury with a good-looking, athletic cop who had neither inclination nor opportunity to plant the glove at Rockingham. Defense attorney F. Lee Bailey grilled him aggressively as he denied making racist statements in 1985.