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

In North Carolina, on August 7, the court of appeals ruled that tape recordings and testimony of McKinny, the screenwriter whom Fuhrman advised, "could make a difference in the trial." This permitted Judge Ito to rule on whether the jury could hear the tapes.

Cochran announced that the transcripts from McKinny disclosed that Fuhrman had used the word "nigger" at least 30 times and that at least 17 times he had referred to lying, covering up for fellow officers, or planting evidence. "I am the most important witness in the trial of the century," said Fuhrman on one tape. "If I go down, their case goes bye."

"And that's what they're faced with—bye," Cochran told the press. "This is a blockbuster. This is perhaps the biggest thing in any case in this decade, and they know it."

Dr. Henry C. Lee, head of the Connecticut State Police Crime Laboratory, took the stand. Defense attorney Barry Scheck focused Lee's testimony on faint marks on the walkway at Bundy. Were the marks from a shoe? One could be from a shoe, said Lee, but not from Bruno Magli shoes. Deputy District Attorney Hank Goldberg's cross-examination tried to dispel Lee's suggestion that more than one assailant might have committed the murders.

On August 29, 1995, Judge Ito permitted screenwriter McKinny to tell the packed courtroom—minus the 14-member jury—how she had audiotaped 16 hours of interviews with Mark Fuhrman. Defense attorney Gerald Uelmen argued that the jury should hear all of the 41 times that Fuhrman—who had testified that he had not used the word "nigger" in the last 10 years—had in fact voiced that word on tape. Prosecutor Clark countered. The real "N word," she said, is not "nigger" but "Nicole." "None of this is relevant," she said. "The admission of this evidence is telling the jury, 'Disregard the case. Look somewhere else.'"

The next day, Judge Ito ruled that the jury would be allowed to hear only 2 of Fuhrman's 41 references to blacks as "niggers."

On September 5, the jury was again excused. Fuhrman took the stand and replied, "I wish to assert my Fifth Amendment privilege" to several questions asked by defense attorney Uelmen. The judge dismissed him, agreeing to instruct the jury that "Detective Fuhrman is not available for further testimony."

Prosecutor Clark objected and filed an appeal. Within three hours, Justices Paul Turner and Orville J. Armstrong of the California Court of Appeals ruled that "the proposed instruction regarding the unavailability of Detective Fuhrman is not to be given."