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

Simpson family members were the first defense witnesses. O.J.'s sister, Carmelita Durio, and his eldest daughter, Arnelle, both said he was "distraught" when informed of the murders. His 73-year-old mother, Eunice, testified, "He seemed shocked."

The defense called several witnesses who testified that they heard nothing unusual in the Bundy neighborhood during that Sunday evening of June 12. One neighbor, Robert Heidstra, testified that at 10:40 P.M. he had heard two persons arguing. One shouted "Hey! Hey! Hey!" while the second voice was overridden by the frenzied wailing of a dog. Shortly thereafter, a white sport utility vehicle sped south. Cross-examination disclosed that Heidstra had told friends the voices were a younger white man's and an older black man's, and that Simpson's was one.

Johnnie Cochran objected furiously, "You can't tell by someone's voice when they're black. That's racist, and I resent it." Judge Ito sent the jury out and declared a recess as prosecutor Darden and Cochran verbally dueled—an event forbidden in courtroom protocol and one the judge had frequently warned against.

Dr. Robert Huizenga, former team physician for the Los Angeles Raiders, cited injuries he had found while examining the defendant soon after the murders, concluding that "fast walking, slow jogging would be difficult if not impossible."

The prosecutors showed the doctor a Simpson exercise video made shortly before the murders. Deputy District Attorney Brian Kelberg argued that Simpson could have been under the influence of an "adrenaline rush," which would have helped him through the physical stress of committing murder. The doctor agreed. A videotaped workout of O.J. was shown with the jury excused. At one point, Simpson told a trainer, "You got to get your space in if you're working out with your wife, if you know what I mean. You can always blame it on working out." The remark, Kelberg argued, proved "that he thinks beating a wife is of no consequence." Ito admitted the tape as evidence.

LAPD cameraman Willie Ford testified that he hadn't seen any socks in Simpson's bedroom when he videotaped the home at 4:13 P.M. on June 13. On cross-examination, he admitted he had been told to videotape only after the room had been searched. Detective Adelberto Luper said he saw the socks on the floor earlier, at 12:30 P.M.

Josephine "Gigi" Guiran, the Rockingham maid, said Simpson did not leave socks lying around. While cross-examining her, Darden suggested that the defendant's unusual sloppiness—socks on the bedroom floor, a towel on the bathroom floor—was evidence of frantic behavior that night.

To support their theory of a police conspiracy to frame Simpson, the defense called Fredric Rieders, Ph.D., to interpret FBI tests of blood on the socks and on a Bundy gate. The toxicologist said both blood specimens contained EDTA—ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid—a chemical that prevents coagulation of blood, often used for preserving blood samples. Defense witness Roger Martz, chief of the FBI's chemistry toxicology unit, disagreed, saying the bloodstains did not come from preserved blood.

Cross-examined, Martz said EDTA was a preservative in many foods. "If a person is eating EDTA," he said, "some will be in their blood."

On July 28, Cochran asked a North Carolina superior court to order Laura Hart McKinny, a screenwriter who had been advised by Mark Fuhrman, to testify regarding racial slurs Fuhrman had made while they worked on the screenplay. The judge ruled that the writer's conversations with Fuhrman were immaterial to the trial. Cochran filed an appeal.

The defense brought in police nurse Thano Peratis, who said he had obtained between 7.9 and 8.1 milliliters of Simpson's blood on June 13. The defense insisted that 1.5 milliliters had gone missing.

John Gerdes, a molecular biologist, testified that the LAPD laboratory had a "substantial" problem that "created unacceptable risks" of cross-contamination, from using outdated chemicals to wearing the same gloves for more than one test. Under cross-examination, Gerdes admitted he had never examined another laboratory so scrupulously and that he opposed DNA testing.