Murder in Brentwood (27 page)

‘Chris, you have Fuhrman and Vannatter.’

Damn. We had talked about this, but to hear it was like getting kicked. Those two were the most controversial witnesses in the case, the two who could turn the case, lose it for us. This wasn’t putting witnesses on the stand, it was taking cattle to the butcher. Vannatter was going to be drilled by the defense for statements he made applying for a search warrant, and-worse-there were reports Fuhrman had gone through some psychological tests that uncovered deep racist sentiments.

The other lawyers seemed to freeze, maybe expecting me to throw up or let loose with a wild string of expletives. They waited. Only Marcia didn’t look up at me. She continued to stare at the pages in front of her.

Yeah,’ I said. ‘No problem.’

On the way out the door, I passed Dana Escobar, one of the brand-new baby-cake deputy D.A.’s [sic] we had on the case.

‘So?’ I asked him. What do you think of the way the witnesses were split?’

‘I think it’s fucked up,’ he said. ‘I feel sorry for you.’

In this scene, Escobar is not the only person feeling sorry for Chris Darden. Chris wasn’t happy about having to cross-examine me. Tough. It was his job. I wasn’t very I nippy when people were shooting at me, punching, biting, and kicking me-but that was my job. I didn’t whine about it.

Before my appearance in court, Chris and I were supposed to prepare for my testimony. Since the grand jury was not in session, the prosecution took over the grand jury room and used it for a practice trial session. This practice session shocked me. There were too many non-essential people in attendance. The district attorney’s office already knew there were leaks to the media, yet they allowed people inside the room who I didn’t even recognize.

I didn’t like this situation, and I didn’t cooperate the way I know they wanted me to. Consciously, I changed my demeanor; I felt uncomfortable and showed my irritability. At one point I became so detached from participating in the session that I began eating a submarine sandwich while the attorneys were talking among themselves. The practice session was totally unproductive.

Almost immediately there were media leaks from the practice session, and these leaks became a big problem for the prosecution. Soon after stories about the session were published, Gil Garcetti held a meeting of the Simpson prosecutors to remind everybody that such information was supposed to be confidential and that leaks often result in erroneous news reports, such as the ones that had just come out. During this meeting, Darden went on a tirade, screaming about the leaks and promising an Internal Affairs investigation. Why did Chris unleash such an outburst-was he simply protesting too much? In hindsight, he was the only person who had anything to gain from leaking information to the press. Was he the leak? Did he do it in order to keep from having to cross-examine me, or even to keep me from appearing?

The defense, the media, and others were concerned that what had happened during the practice session was improper. But later in the trial, when those involved in the session were deposed by Judge Ito, no inconsistencies with my testimony were found. Ito could have saved himself the trouble and just asked me. I would have told him the practice session was short and useless.

Chris and I got nowhere on my testimony preparation. He asked me questions like, who were my favorite sports stars? (My answer: George Foreman, Michael Jordan, and Larry Bird.) Whenever possible during our sessions together, Chris avoided discussing the continuing racial controversy surrounding me, My testimony drew closer, and still we got nowhere.

One day I was sitting in Chris’s office, and he was doing what he usually did, reading something intently and glancing up at me only for an occasional question. While he was trying his best to forget that I was sitting right across from him, I looked around his office. On a hat rack in the corner was a black baseball cap with green lettering. I leaned forward to read what the cap said, and was surprised to see “Black Law.”

Maybe it was some kind of fraternity gift, or it had sentimental value. Still I thought it was inappropriate to display in the office. It’s not a big deal, just a baseball cap with a little slogan on it. But as a white man, I couldn’t even ask him what it meant.

After weeks of putting up with Chris’s attitude and intransigence, I finally confronted Marcia with the problem. I told her that Chris wouldn’t work with me and I would prefer that she did my direct examination. Marcia told me that she couldn’t just take this important job away from Chris. My response was, “If something doesn’t happen quickly, we are going to screw up what doesn’t need to be screwed up.”

This went on for two weeks. Marcia didn’t want to make the decision, and Chris and I still weren’t getting anywhere on my preparation. The defense was taking its time deciding whether Cochran or Bailey would cross-examine me, hoping that the apparent indecision would affect the prosecution’s strategy. Newsweek characterized Cochran as a “good cop” and Bailey as a “bad cop,” although to compare either one of them to policemen is an insult even to bad cops. Meanwhile, the prosecution was having problems of its own figuring out what to do. Finally, Marcia informed me that she would do my direct examination, and I was very pleased with the decision.

DARDEN FOR THE DEFENSE
  
•
  
233

In his book, Chris states that he was the one who asked Marcia to do my direct examination. If that’s what Chris wants to say to make himself look better, fine. But Cheri Lewis saw what happened and she also sat in Marcia’s office at least once when I pleaded with Marcia to do my direct.

And Chris portrayed a different attitude in the media. During an interview with People magazine, the following exchange was recorded:

Marcia Clark: “When Bailey starts in on Fuhrman, maybe Chris and I should create our own diversionary tactics for the jury. Chris will come over and begin to strangle me, and then I’ll fall to the floor, and then...”

“Why can’t I take some testimony from Fuhrman?” Darden interrupts in a mock whine. “I don’t get anything.”

Darden said that if he had examined me, he would have gone after me, treating me like a hostile witness. He calls his book In Contempt, and I agree, he is in contempt-in contempt of the people he is supposed to represent. The only difference between Chris Darden and Johnnie Cochran is that Chris worked for the city and made less money. After the trial, someone said about Darden: “I don’t know, he’s just an unhappy person.” The person making this observation was none other than Simpson himself, in a call to CNN. Even someone as self-absorbed as O.J. couldn’t help but notice Darden’s brooding, troubled character.

While he has made many harsh statements about me, I don’t think Chris really meant all of them. In fact, Chris was not all that unfriendly toward me. The day after Bailey’s cross-examination of me, Chris, Vannatter, and I had plans to play basketball. Vannatter dropped out at the last minute, so we never played. Now that it’s all over, I imagine Chris is glad the game was canceled. Shooting hoops with Mark Fuhrman is not something Chris Darden would want to have to look back on.

Despite all the conflicts and mini-dramas in the district attorney’s office, in the media, and in the courtroom, I thought that my testimony could clear up some of these problems. I should have known better. With my appearance at the trial just a few days away, I sat in Marcia’s office discussing my upcoming testimony. Chris Darden opened her door without knocking, looked in, and spoke to Marcia. Before leaving, Chris looked at me and said, “Remember, you didn’t use the ‘N’ word in the last ten years... right?”

Chris smiled and shut the door.

I was shocked that he would make that kind of a comment. He never joked with me very much before, especially about race. I wrote the comment off as sarcasm, but I have to admit that since Chris had never asked me the question in preparation, his words buzzed around in my head.

Chapter 19

TAKING THE STAND

Is he a racist? Yes. Is he the worst LAPD has to offer? Yes. Do we wish the LAPD had never hired him? Yes. In fact, do we wish there was no such person on the planet?

MARCIA CLARK, FROM HER SUMMATION

ON THE MORNING OF MARCH 9, 1995, I entered Judge Ito’s courtroom. Walking past the rows of the audience, I saw heads turn and I recognized many faces from the media. I was sworn in, took my seat in the witness chair and stared directly into the eyes of a murderer. Simpson tried to stare back at me but I locked my eyes on him. Eventually Simpson blinked and turned away.

Marcia began my direct testimony with a line of questioning that would appear out of place in any trial other than People vs. Orenthal James Simpson.

CLARK: Detective Fuhrman, can you tell us how you feel about testifying today?

FUHRMAN: Nervous.

CLARK: Okay.

FUHRMAN: Reluctant.

CLARK: Can you tell us why?

FUHRMAN: Throughout-since June 13, it seems that I have seen a lot of the evidence ignored and a lot of personal issues come to the forefront. I think that is too bad.

CLARK: Okay. Heard a lot about yourself in the press, have you?

FUHRMAN: Daily.

CLARK: In light of that fact, sir, you have indicated that you feel nervous about testifying. Have you gone over your testimony in the presence of several district attorneys in order to prepare yourself for court and the allegations that you may hear from the defense?

FUHRMAN: Yes.

CLARK: And in the course of that particular examination, sir, was the topic of your testimony concerning the work you did in this case, the actual visitation to Bundy and Rockingham, was that discussed?

FUHRMAN: No.

CLARK: It dealt with side issues, sir?

FUHRMAN: Yes, it was.

By being the first to bring up the subject of racial allegations, Marcia was gambling. She knew that the defense would bring it up, and she thought by mentioning it herself, she might be able to defuse the issue. Well, there was no way a few questions and comments were going to get the issue of race out of the Simpson case as it was now being conducted. And her mentioning racial issues first made it difficult for her to object or even argue when the defense brought them up on cross-examination. Whether or not race was relevant to the murder of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, once Marcia Clark introduced it in her initial line of questioning, race became an established issue in the trial.

We continued as I testified about my first encounter with O.J. Simpson in 1985. I described how I had responded to the Rockingham estate for a family dispute involving Nicole Brown and the defendant. One statement Marcia refused to include in my testimony about my first and only encounter with Nicole was my last comment to her before I left. Sensing Nicole’s fear and anguish, I asked if she

[F. Lee Bailey successfully argued that I had been opened up for cross-examination on several issues, including race. Marcia’s preemptive strike had backfired.]

wanted to make a crime report against her husband. She said no. I wanted to make her realize her desperate situation, so I said, “It’s your life.”
                    

Marcia felt the comment
  
was cold and insensitive; and I agreed. I wanted it to be cold and insensitive, perhaps it

would wake Nicole up. Marcia still disagreed, arguing that it was not relevant. Of course, because she decided which questions were asked, once she made her decision it was a dead issue. Since Marcia would not ask me about it, my statement to Nicole was never brought up in court. The statement would have shown that far from having an obsession with either O.J. or Nicole, I treated the visit to Rockingham professionally. While I was willing to give Nicole any help she required, she had to ask for it. She had to help herself.

The direct testimony continued, with Marcia again bringing up racial issues with questions about Kathleen Bell and Andrea Terry, two of the defense’s witnesses against me. Once the racial allegations were explored and refuted by Marcia’s line of questioning, my testimony got back on track. Now she asked about my participation in the murder investigation, and I laid out everything in detail. There were no surprises, no revelations, no conspiracy, no planting of evidence, just my recollections and observations concerning a brutal double homicide.

As the direct testimony progressed, Marcia came to the observations I made concerning the rear walkway gate at the Bundy crime scene. Her questioning definitely addressed the amount of blood drops on the gate:

CLARK: When you got to the rear gate area, did you make any observations there?

FUHRMAN: Officer Riske pointed out some blood on the gate, some smudging on the upper rail of the gate. I

noticed some blood dropping on the center of the gate, the mesh part of the gate.

BAILEY: Excuse me, your honor. The print [courtroom visual] is gone.

COURT: You don’t have to have it there to point it out.

FUHRMAN: There appeared to be evidence of blood on the bottom rung of the gate. I noticed a blood smudge

around the doorknob lock on the interior or east side of the gate.

Just by this exchange of questions and answers, the prosecution established evidence of blood on the gate’s upper rail, drops on the center of the gate in the steel mesh, blood on the lower rail of the gate, and a blood smudge around the gate’s doorknob lock area. The defense’s attack on Dennis Fung centered around these very issues, that the extra drops were not present early the morning of June 13, but planted by Vannatter after obtaining blood from Simpson. My testimony should have been enough to contradict the defense’s preposterous theory that Vannatter tried to plant evidence. But later on in the trial Fung proved to be such an ineffective witness that Barry Scheck was able to insinuate suspicion of conspiracy, instead of mere incompetence. All the more reason Brad should have been called to corroborate my testimony.

Instead, Marcia continued her examination without asking if anyone else had seen these additional drops of blood. Eliciting more facts about the gate, Marcia asked the following: