Wearing a black pantsuit, a large gold cross and a tense, angry look on her face, Brown tearfully recounted alleged incidents that depicted her former brother-in-law as a bullying, violent man. After a night at a Mexican restaurant in the late 1980s, she said, she returned to O.J.’s house with Simpson, Nicole and a friend. Denise testified that she told Simpson that he took Nicole “for granted,” and a fight ensued. “Pictures started flying off the walls; clothes started flying down the stairs.” Weeping, her voice trembling, Denise continued: “He grabbed Nicole and told her to get out of the house. He picked her up and threw her against the wall. He picked her up and threw her out of the house. She ended up falling on her elbows and her butt.”
No one ever said Simpson’s defense team would have a cakewalk defending him in the double-murder case – and last week’s first parade of witnesses, culminating with Brown, only showed how difficult it will be. The prosecution’s strategy to destroy Simpson’s All-American image – before moving on to the crime itself – seemed to be falling into place. A series of witnesses described the amiable former football star as an obsessed man who beat and stalked his wife,dreamed of killing her and remained strangely unfazed even after her death.
Denise was on the stand for only about 20 minutes last week, but it was easily the most anticipated testimony. Prosecutor Christopher Darden led her to recount another incident, the now infamous Red Onion episode. In a crowded bar at the restaurant in Santa Ant in 1987 or ‘88, Brown said, Simpson grabbed Nicole’s crotch and said, “This is where babies come from and this belongs to me.” The defense had earlier tried to portray this incident as just a married couple’s squabble. Brown’s version was hardly that. Simpson did not seem angry, she said, just crudely possessive.
The jury seemed riveted by her testimony, but no member reacted overtly. Outside the court, defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran seemed to suggest Brown’s emotional – and teary – testimony was staged. “If it was planned, is that fair?” he told reporters. Defense lawyer Robert Shapiro was expected to question Brown this week.
Simpson had more than an in-law problem in court. The jury was shown graphic pictures of a bruised Nicole in 1989 – and then it heard her terrific d voice in a 911 tape recorded four years later. As O.J. ranted in the background, Nicole is heard crying, “He’s f – – -g going nuts.” The most complex witness was Ronald Shipp, a former cop who described himself as Simpson’s friend. He testified that a day after the murders, O.J. had confided: “You know, to be honest, Shipp . . . I’ve had some dreams of killing her.” His testimony, which the defense failed to dent, was a kind of Rorschach test. Did jurors see Shipp as a traitor to his old friend? Or, as NYU law professor Stephen Gillers suggested, was the state saying that even a buddy – who was Hack – was pointing the finger at O.J.?
All the news wasn’t from the witness stand. Judge Lance Ito was considering removing one or more jurors for possible misconduct after maps of Chicago and L.A. may have been found among them. Jurors aren’t permitted to have materials that could have a bearing on the case. Cochran’s personal life also came under tabloid like scrutiny. The Los Angeles Times reported that Barbara Berry, Cochran’s former wife, had accused him of assaulting her, in divorce papers filed 28 years ago. Cochran denied it, saying the charges were intended as leverage in the divorce. A woman by the name of April Levalois appeared on “Geraldo” to say that, while married to Barbara, Cochran was the lover of Levalois’s mother – with whom he lathered a son, Jonathan Cochran, now 21. And Berry said she was writing a book about her life with Johnnie – to join the ever-growing list of Simpson tomes.
Week Two featured a haunting photo of a battered Nicole, a turncoat O.J. hanger-on and a weeping Denise Brown. On a scale of 1 to 5 gavels (the more the better), here’s the flash judgment:
Clark’s bonus six minutes of opening statement ripped into the defense’s surprise witnesses. Then Darden skillfully drew out damning testimony. Denise’s tears well timed, too.
Is O.J. getting his millions’ worth? Cross-exam of Shipp helped the prosecution. If the Team fumbles Denise’s cross, too, Cochran & Co. will look like the San Diego Chargers: the dolts, not the ‘bolts.
When he wasn’t confiscating beepers, he was less testy, even making nice to Clark for a change. But did he risk reversible error on appeal by not disallowing Shipp’s “dream” testimony?
