22h 22min, jun 12, 1994 y - Limo driver arrives at Rockingham

Description:

10:22-10:30pm Limo driver Allan Park, arrives at Simpson's home 30 minutes early, to drive
OJ to the airport for an overnight flight to Chicago.

The limo drives testifies, that upon arriving to Simpson's estate, he did not see a white Ford Bronco parked on Rockingham Street.

Limo driver didn't see O.J.'s Bronco By TERRI VERMEULEN

"LOS ANGELES, March 28 -- O.J. Simpson's alibi for double murder was damaged Tuesday when a limousine driver testified he did not see the football legend's Ford Bronco at the curb as he waited to pick him up for a trip to the airport. Allan Park testified he did not see Simpson's white Bronco when he looked at the address on the curb about 10:22 p.m. and realized he had reached Simpson's estate.

Park said he approached the gate again at 10:39 p.m. and did not see the Bronco then, either. Park's testimony is expected to be crucial to bolstering the prosecution's theory that Simpson drove the Bronco to his ex-wife's Brentwood condominium 2 miles away and killed Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, about 10:15 p.m. on June 12, 1994. Simpson, 47, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the stabbing and slashing deaths. If convicted, the National Football League Hall-of-Famer could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Simpson's legal team contends he was trying to call his girlfriend, Paula Barbieri, on a cellular phone in his Bronco and practicing golf shots at 10:15. Key alibi witness Rosa Lopez, whose testimony was videotaped outside of the jury's presence earlier this month, said she saw the Bronco at the curb after 10 p.m. that night, but she could not pinpoint exactly what time. At Simpson's preliminary hearing last summer, Park said he did not notice Simpson's Bronco at the curb.

Park did not indicate then that he had looked at the curb to determine Simpson's address. Under questioning Tuesday by prosecutor Marcia Clark, Park provided precise times that he passed by Simpson's curb -- 10:22 and 10:39 -- saying he often checked his watch and a limousine clock because schedules are important in his job. 'So, at the time that you were looking at that location, the address on the curb, did you see a car parked in that location?' Clark asked. 'I didn't see it,' Park responded. 'And you were looking at the curb, were you not?' Clark asked. 'Yes,' Park answered.

Park testified he did not see the white Bronco parked at the curb at 10:39 p.m. when he attempted to drive up to a gate on Simpson's estate, and that the curb was in his field of view. Park testified he did not see anything at the curb when he backed the limousine out of the driveway after realizing there was probably not enough room for the stretch limo.

Park said he went to a gate on another side of the house at 10:40 and rang an intercom 'a good two or three or four times' and called his boss after receiving no response. He had been scheduled to pick Simpson up at 10:45 p.m. for an 11:45 flight from Los Angeles International Airport, Park said. 'Nobody was answering and I didn't think anyone was home,' the limo driver said.

Park said Simpson responded to the intercom within 30 seconds to a minute after he saw the shadowy figure of a 6-foot, 200-pound black person walk up to the house about 10:54 p.m. Clark asked Simpson to stand up in court, and Park agreed that the shadowy figure was 'around the size' of Simpson. Simpson told him he had 'overslept and he just got out of the shower and he'd be down in a minute,' Park said.

That testimony apparently conflicts with Simpson's alibi, spelled out to the jury in lead defense attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr.'s opening statement in January. Park also supported portions of the testimony of Simpson's former house guest, Brian 'Kato' Kaelin, who told the jury he was concerned about hearing three thumps on the wall of his guest room at about 10:45 p.m. Park said Kaelin approached him and asked if he had a flashlight he could use to investigate the source of the sounds. Park also supported Kaelin's testimony about a mysterious knapsack both of them saw on the driveway moments before Simpson departed.

Park said he heard Kaelin offer to pick up the small knapsack, but Simpson said he would pick it up himself. Park said he wasn't sure sure if Simpson actually picked up the bag -- which prosecutors have suggested might have carried bloody clothes and the murder weapon -- and carried it back to the limo. Upon leaving the house between 11:05 p.m. and 11:15, Park said his view of the street was obstructed by 'something to the right,' but he did not pay any closer attention to the object.

Prosecutors are apparently suggesting that the Bronco hadn't been on the street earlier, but was on the street when Simpson left for his red-eye flight to Chicago. During the late-night ride to the airport, Simpson complained of being hot and turned on the air conditioner and rolled down his window and appeared to be slightly sweaty when he arrived at the airport, Park said. The limousine driver estimated the temperature at about 70 degrees.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys each attempted to use Park's testimony for their own benefit. Park said Simpson carried some of his own luggage and never complained about any pains, though defense attorneys have said that Simpson suffered from chronic rheumatoid arthritis so bad that he couldn't shuffle a deck of cards earlier that day. But, in testimony helpful to the defense, Park said he never saw any cuts, bandages or bleeding on Simpson's left middle finger that night. Prosecutors have indicated Simpson was cut on the hand during the slayings.

Under cross-examination, Cochran introduced grand jury testimony in which Park testified he did not look to see if there were any vehicles as he left Simpson's estate. Park acknowledged that he never heard a vehicle stop in front of Simpson's estate, and was more concerned with getting Simpson to the airport on time than noticing which cars were parked on the street. Outside court, Cochran called Park a 'great witness.' 'They tried to get him to say that he hadn't seen the Bronco,' Cochran said. 'What he said is that he didn't notice.' Cochran also cited Park's testimony that Simpson had given him a generous tip and stopped at the airport to sign an autograph -- something he likely wouldn't have been concerned with if he had just killed two people.

In other testimony, Kaelin concluded his fifth day on the stand, maintaining he would not lie on Simpson's behalf, even though the former football hero had probably saved him at least $6,000 by letting him live rent-free at his estate for six months. 'With all of that you don't feel obligated to him...?' Clark asked the now famous house guest and Hollywood hanger-on. Kaelin initially appeared confused, asking Clark to explain to explain 'obligated.' A moment later, he said, 'Somewhat, yes.' Kaelin's former girlfriend, Rachel Ferrara, also was called to the stand briefly to testify that she was talking with him on the phone when he mentioned hearing the bumping noises on the wall of his guest room.

Police detective Mark Fuhrman testified earlier this month that he discovered a blood-stained glove near an air conditioning unit at the back of the property while investigating the source of the three thumps Kaelin mentioned to him. Police said the right-handed glove apparently matched a left-handed glove found at the murder scene near Goldman's body. In other developments Tuesday, transcripts of a sidebar conference showed that prosecutors have cellular phone records indicating Simpson called his former wife at 2:18 p.m. the day she was slain.

Prosecutors told the judge that a woman saw Simpson yelling while talking on his cellular phone at the Riviera Country Club, where he had been playing golf. Several prosecution witnesses have said Simpson appeared to be upset and 'simmering' later that night at a recital for the couple's daughter, Sydney. Kaelin, who admitted Monday to changing his testimony about Simpson's demeanor that night, testified that Simpson appeared 'somewhat upset' after returning from the recital. Kaelin said Simpson remarked about his ex-wife's tight outfit and said she didn't want to let Simpson spend time with his daughter.

Park said he went to a gate on another side of the house at 10:40 and rang an intercom 'a good two or three or four times' and called his boss after receiving no response. He had been scheduled to pick Simpson up at 10:45 p.m. for an 11:45 p.m. flight, Park said. 'Nobody was answering and I didn't think anyone was home,' the limousine driver said. Park testified at the preliminary hearing that he didn't get any response from Simpson until moments after he saw a large black person walk quickly into the house shortly before 11 p.m.

Park testified last year that Simpson told him he had overslept and just gotten out of the shower. That testimony conflicts with Simpson's alibi, spelled out to the jury in lead defense attorney Johnnie Cochran's opening arguments in January. In other testimony, Simpson's former house guest, Brian 'Kato' Kaelin, concluded his fifth day on the stand, maintaining he would not lie on Simpson's behalf, even though the former football hero had probably saved him at least $6,000 by letting him live rent-free at his estate for six months. 'With all of that you don't feel obligated to him...?'

Clark asked the now famous house guest and Hollywood hanger-on. Kaelin initially appeared confused, asking Clark to explain 'obligated.' A moment later, he said, 'Somewhat, yes.' Kaelin, the prosecution's 33rd witness, was dubbed a 'hostile witness' to the prosecution outside the jury's presence Monday, allowing Clark to ask Kaelin leading questions. Transcripts of Monday's sidebar conferences between Superior Court Judge Lance Ito and the attorneys indicate that Ito scolded Clark for suggesting in front of the jury that Kaelin was a 'hostile witness,' and indicated that matter should have first been brought up outside the jury's earshot. Kaelin's former girlfriend, Rachel Ferrara, also was called to the stand briefly to testify that she was talking with him on the phone when he mentioned hearing bumping noises on the wall of his guest room at Simpson's estate.

Police detective Mark Fuhrman testified earlier this month that he discovered a blood-stained glove near an air conditioning unit at the back of the property while investigating the source of the three thumps Kaelin mentioned to him. Police said the right-handed glove apparently matched a left-handed glove found at the murder scene near Goldman's body. In other developments Tuesday, transcripts of a sidebar conference showed that prosecutors have cellular phone records indicating that Simpson called his former wife at 2:18 p.m. the day she was slain. Prosecutors told the judge that a woman saw Simpson yelling while talking on his cellular phone at the Riviera Country Club, where he had been playing golf.

Several prosecution witnesses have said Simpson appeared to be upset and 'simmering' later that night at a recital for the couple's daughter, Sydney. Kaelin, who admitted Monday to changing his testimony about Simpson's demeanor that night, testified that Simpson appeared 'somewhat upset' after returning from the recital. Kaelin said Simpson remarked about his ex-wife's tight outfit and said she didn't want to let Simpson spend time with his daughter.

Limousine driver Allan Park, who took O.J. Simpson to the airport the night the football legend's ex-wife and her friend were slain, has ended his first day of testimony (Tuesday) in Simpson's double-murder trial. Park is scheduled to resume his testimony Wednesday at 9 a.m. PST."


Sourced from:
UPI News

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