9 ore 20 lugl 1994 anni - Simpson pleads 'not guilty'

Descrizione:

O.J. Simpson pleads "absolutely 100 percent not guilty" to the charges.

Judge Lance A. Ito assigned to hear case.

O.J. SIMPSON ENTERS PLEA OF NOT GUILTY
By William Claiborne June 21, 1994

LOS ANGELES, JUNE 20 -- Looking exhausted and at times impatient, a subdued O.J. Simpson pleaded not guilty today to two counts of first-degree murder in the knifing death of his ex-wife and her male friend.

The former football superstar and sports broadcaster, who led police on a slow, 60-mile chase on the freeways of Los Angeles before surrendering last Friday night, stood erect and impassive during his brief arraignment in a packed courtroom in Municipal Court.

He was ordered held over for a preliminary hearing on June 30, when the first substantive details of the evidence against him could come to light.

As the arraignment occurred, a grand jury meeting four floors above the courtroom was considering an indictment in the case, in which Simpson is charged with murdering Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, and Ronald L. Goldman, 25, June 12. If the grand jury indicts, the preliminary hearing could be canceled, allowing the prosecution to conceal some elements of its case from the defense until closer to the actual trial.

Simpson, dressed in a dark blue suit with a white shirt and no tie, showed little emotion for most of the session as he listened to a public recitation by Judge Patti Jo McKay of charges that, if proven, could result in his execution. At times, his eyes narrowed as he tilted his head sideways. At one point his attorney, Robert L. Shapiro, had to prompt him to verify his name for the record, and he responded, "Yes, I'm sorry."

Shapiro asked the judge for permission for Simpson's physician to examine his client's arm for a suspected swollen lymph node, and she granted the request. Asked whether the lymph node was cancerous, Shapiro said only that medical tests would be continued and that "he does have a family history of cancer."

Reiterating a theme he has sounded since he took over as Simpson's chief defense attorney last Wednesday, Shapiro said that when he visited Simpson today he found him "very, very depressed, exceedingly emotional." The lawyer made note of Simpson's apparent confusion at the start of the arraignment, recalling that "he had difficulty giving his name."

However, Shapiro declined to reveal whether his defense strategy will be based on a claim of temporary insanity, saying only that "every possible defense has to be considered by any trial lawyer, and I will consider all possibilities."

Shapiro rejected a suggestion that an insanity defense would be inconsistent with Simpson's assertion of innocence in a rambling, emotional letter made public last Friday. The handwritten letter, which contained suggestions that Simpson was planning suicide, was read to a news conference by his friend and private lawyer, Robert Kardashian, after police revealed that Simpson had broken a prearranged agreement and fled arrest.

A few hours later, police located the white Ford Bronco in which Simpson had fled with former University of Southern California and Buffalo Bills teammate Al Cowlings. They followed the vehicle to Simpson's Brentwood mansion in a bizarre 90-minute, low-speed odyssey that ended with his arrest.

"He stated in his letter that he is innocent. ... ," said Shapiro. "The charges are going to be contested."

Nicole Simpson's father, Louis Brown, reached tonight at his home in Dana Point, said: "We're hoping against hope he's not involved... . We don't welcome the idea of the children being without a mother or a father."

In the letter, Simpson offered farewells to his friends and family and said that at times he felt like a battered husband or boyfriend because of his tempestuous relationship with ex-wife Nicole. They were divorced in 1992 after a troubled seven-year marriage during which police were called to their home at least eight times because of domestic disturbances and Simpson was once convicted of battery for beating Nicole Simpson.

The letter was dated June 15, two days before Simpson's arrest.

Responding to a question at the news conference, Shapiro said he had "no knowledge of the letter at the time it was composed" and did not know when it was written.

Shapiro refused to characterize Simpson's and Cowling's circuitous freeway odyssey as an attempt to escape custody. He said Simpson was attempting to visit his wife's grave but was talked out of it by Cowlings, who is free on $250,000 bail after being charged with aiding and abetting a felon.

"O.J. had no intention of leaving the city, the state or the country," Shapiro said.

Security was unusually tight at the downtown Los Angeles Criminal Courts Building. Simpson was driven to the arraignment in a white van with blacked-out windows from the nearby county detention center where he has been held under a 24-hour suicide watch in a sparsely furnished 7-foot-by-9-foot cell.

He was held in a holding pen near the courtroom for about 30 minutes, then led in to the hearing room for the arraignment. He stood throughout the proceedings with his hands clasped in front of him, and remained silent except for verifying his identity and entering the not guilty plea.

Shapiro told the judge he was "shocked" that the package of police reports and other documents relating to the case that he had received from the prosecution earlier in the day had contained only 25 pages.

The lead prosecutor in the case, Marcia Clark, responded that the police had been busy, but that fuller details of the investigation would be turned over to the defense lawyers when the documents are completed.

In his news conference, Shapiro said the 25-page summary of evidence that he had been given consisted mostly of reports of laboratory analysis of blood samples found at the scene of the murder in front of Nicole Simpson's Brentwood town house and at O.J. Simpson's home.

Shapiro said there was "no conclusive evidence" from the blood-type information because of the possibility that many other people could have shared the same blood type.

Responding to Shapiro's request for greater disclosure by the police and district attorney's office of evidence gathered so far, the judge set Wednesday for a compliance hearing.

Shapiro said he had asked for a speedy preliminary hearing so that "for the first time the American public can see from the witness box ... what the true facts and the evidence are in this case."

"So much speculation has gone on across the country. It is time to turn this matter over to the criminal justice system, where it belongs," the lawyer said.

Simpson's lawyer also asked for a special cervical pillow, but McKay said she could not grant the request until corrections officials approved it. Shapiro later said Simpson had neck problems resulting from football injuries.

Clark told reporters after the arraignment that Simpson is the only suspect in the murders of Nicole Simpson and Goldman, a waiter at the Brentwood restaurant that Nicole Simpson and friends visited the night of the slayings.

Clark also said that the prosecution believes the killings were premediated. As defined legally, however, premeditation can range widely from a crime planned days or weeks in advance to one that takes shape in someone's mind only seconds before it is committed.

The prosecutor sought to shift public sympathy away from O.J. Simpson, a well-liked celebrity, and toward the victims.

"We should not forget the fact that we have two victims who were brutally slain, two young people whose lives stretched out before them," Clark said.

She said the prosecution is preparing for trial and will be ready within a few months. However, she added, the defense probably would need more time than that.

Clark added that there is "no reason" to consider a plea bargain at this time. Shapiro, who is known for his skill in arranging bargained pleas, has given no indication that he intends to attempt one in this case.

As the Sheriff's Department van carrying Simpson to the arraignment neared the courthouse today, passersby waved and cheered in a demonstration of support.

Staff writer Christine Spolar contributed to this report.


Sourced from:
Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/06/21/oj-simpson-enters-plea-of-not-guilty/3626dbe4-fc67-4e0b-ae8e-70a8fddeff1f/

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