The People V. . . . Episode Nine

In a recent TV interview, Alan Dershowitz was asked about the TV series, "The People V. O. J. Simpson."  He said it was an interesting fictionalization.  

We saw that in the interactions between Chris Darden and Marcia Clark which the writers made out as very close to being a romantic relationship.  There is nothing I remember in my reading that they ever apologized to each other as the series writers suggest.  Over the last few days, I've read portions of Detective Fuhrman's, Fred Goldman's, Lawrence Schiller's, and Jeffrey Toobin's books about the Fuhrman testimony.  All of the books made Darden out to be very hard-nosed and aggressive, not at all the gentle giant of a man shown in the series.  And Clark never softened beyond changing her clothes and hairstyle during the trial.  

The series writers may have made up a lot of stuff but they did make points on behalf of women's rights, especially how much they are hounded if they are accomplished and successful.  They have also been clear that African Americans have been and still are victimized by the criminal justice system.

The writers made sure to have Clark say that bringing in Fuhrman for further testimony would so enflame the jury that they would ignore the evidence in order to punish the LAPD.  Toobin wrote in his book that OJ was the "undeserved beneficiary" of the the jury's attitude toward the police.  

But the writers got it right when they did the court scene with Fuhrman.  They had the wrong defense lawyer question him but the truth is that Fuhrman took the Fifth Amendment and looked guilty of all kinds of evidence planting and violence against the African American community.

A few years before the trial, a screen writer from North Carolina had a chance encounter with Fuhrman and thought she found an experienced cop who could give her background for her writing police drama for TV.  She recorded and had transcribed their extensive conversations.  Not only did Fuhrman use the "N" word forty two times, he described in detail numerous events where police tactics used unprovoked violence toward Black people and tampered extensively with evidence to get convictions.  Copies of the tapes and transcripts were gone over carefully by both prosecution and defense and by the time Fuhrman came into the court room, no one wanted to look at him.  Even the crowd in the court room had heard snippets of the tapes over radio and TV the previous few days,  The only one who really watched Fuhrman enter and sit down was Fred Goldman, Ron's father, who was furious that it was now Fuhrman on trial rather than OJ.

Fuhrman wrote in his book MURDER IN BRENTWOOD that he was ready to explain everything because he felt completely innocent of any tampering with evidence and that his taped conversations had been pure fiction.  But on advice of his new lawyer (his old one quit when the tapes were released) and because he knew no one on the prosecution would be willing to be his advocate, he wrote that he had to take the Fifth.  Clark did turn her back on him as he came in and Darden left the courtroom, just as the series showed.  Poor Fuhrman . . . not!

Anyone who knew the actual content of the tapes knew he was bad.  Schilling reported that the writer who had made the tapes was called to the stand and said she was convinced during her interviews with him that he was talking about how he operated as a cop.

In the show, I noticed that there was no jury when Fuhrman testified.  The books all confirmed they were not there to see him take the Fifth.  Though it was not shown in this episode,  Judge Ito brought them in for the writer's testimony and she confirmed it was Fuhrman's voice on the two brief segments (total of fourteen words) that were allowed to be presented.  When asked, she said Fuhrman had been totally serious and scary when he described treatment of African Americans and when he used the "N" word.  The series writers indicated that the jurors found out about all the stuff outside of the courtroom during conjugal visits with spouses during "pillow talk."  

Goldman did a news conference immediately after that session blasting the judge for allowing the trial to turn into the "people v. Fuhrman."  In his book, Goldman never used OJ's name, but referred to him as the killer, murderer, and such terms.  There is more to know about Goldman and I may do a post on him.

You may ask why Fuhrman didn't say "No" when asked specifically about evidence tampering.  Another arcane rule of law is that once he started claiming the Fifth, if he answered anything but that way, he could be subjected to extensive questioning and lose his Fifth Amendment right.  Fuhrman later pleaded "no contest" to the felony charge of perjury in OJ's trial.  The LAPD found insufficient evidence to try him for the incidents he described for the screen writer.  Fuhrman was thus a convicted felon, could no longer be a policeman, and even lost his right to a gun,  Meanwhile he has done well as a mystery writer living in Idaho and being a guest expert on FOX.

Was anything entered into evidence in this episode that the jury could have used?

The opening scene has a person of foreign extraction testifying to hearing someone yell "Hey, Hey, Hey" from the crime scene.  But no time is given.  And Clark says he saw a Bronco by the alley gate to Bundy.  What wasn't shown was that the witness went on to say he saw four men running from the scene and driving the white SUV south rather than north toward Rockingham.  

The testimony was abridged by the series writers in order to focus on another point about racism.  The man said someone responded and sounded like he was Black.  Cochran jumped all over that presumption and said there was no way to take that seriously because no one can tell such a thing for sure.  

Cochran saw the case as OJ v. American racism.  But "Americans" do not realize just how racist we are and so the show leaves the impression Cochran was using a tactic rather than showing the truth.  And as Fuhrman came into focus in this episode, his racism was used as the best example of Cochran's tactic to hijack the case and put the LAPD on trial.

The writers and Toobin have set up the jury to be so angry about Fuhrman that they can't think straight and deal with the evidence.  Or was Cochran correct when he said earlier in the series that they would be mature enough to look past the epithets directed toward Blacks and be able to keep their poise.  We'll see next week if the jury is given that credit.    

The People V. . . . The Detectives’ Actions

As was described in an earlier posting, the activities of the detectives related to the case can be drawn with some accuracy, showing some gaps that should concern us.  Some of the details from the book KILLING TIME by Freed and Briggs.  The outline and familiar details come from the series.

As Episode Six showed us, Detective Lange admitted to holding evidence overnight, something he never did otherwise, opening the door to seriously doubting how scrupulous he and the others were.  

Vannatter’s ignorance of a common Colombian cartel killing technique intended to intimidate anyone crossing them, as shown in Episode Seven, also was a chink in the prosecution’s belief the officers were competent.

Let’s review the detective’s actions to see where they say they were, when they did what they did, and see if they showed sound police skills or something else.  The detectives involved testified to the actions below.  I will try to add when the press became involved, since Marcia Clark was shown to argue in Episode Seven that their presence would have spotted police shenanigans.  Where I can, I will also add police photographers and other specialists as they became involved.  

1985        Fuhrman responded to a domestic dispute call between OJ and Nicole at Rockingham.  No arrest was made at the time.

Sometime     Fuhrman, along with other LAPD officers, may have availed himself of the hospitality of the Simpsons.

Sometime     Fuhrman bragged around the LAPD of knowing about Nicole’s breast augmentation “up close and personal.”  (This is from KILLING TIME but may come up in the last episode of the series.)

Based on these, Fuhrman was known in the department as knowledgeable about Rockingham and the Simpsons.

June 13, 1994

12:17 am       Police respond to a 9-1-1 call at Bundy.

2:10 am         Over a dozen officers are already at the crime scene when Fuhrman and his partner sign in at Bundy.  One of the officers is a friend of his and is playing with Nicole’s dog, Kato, which is still covered with blood from the crime scene.  Fuhrman is shown around and then goes inside Nicole’s condo and makes notes about the crime scene he has just toured.  

2:30 am         Fuhrman’s boss arrives and tours the site.  Fuhrman’s partner comes in and lets Fuhrman know that downtown is sending two homicide detectives to take over the case.  He is officially being dropped from handling it.

2:50 am         Fuhrman ceases “detecting” and waits with the other officers on the corner near Bundy for the two detectives.

3:25 am         Police photographer arrives, gets pictures of Fuhrman and others around the crime scene.  (Pictures are from Fuhrman's book MURDER IN BRENTWOOD.)

4:05 am         Detective Vannatter arrives, views crime scene, and then joins the other officers on the corner.

Sometime      Fuhrman is photographed again at Bundy only without his jacket on.  (This is from Fuhrman's book.)

4:25 am         Lange arrives, tours the crime scene, joins the others at the corner, and learns the captain wants them to contact OJ about the crime and to come get the two children.  Lange and Vannatter ask Fuhrman and his partner to lead the way to Rockingham but Fuhrman pauses to get directions from one of the other police.

Sometime      The press may have already arrived at Bundy before detectives leave for Rockingham.  But they would have been subject to restriction of their movements to protect the crime scene’s integrity and they would have seen a dozen or more police coming and going around the site.  

5:05 am         The four detectives and another car with four officers arrive at Rockingham.  They try for 10 to 15 minutes to get someone inside to answer the gate phone to let them in.  They contact the mansion’s security company seeking help.

5:20 am          Fuhrman checks out the Bronco to see if an owner can be determined.  He sees a package with OJ’s company name on it and some other stuff.  He learns it belongs to Hertz and is available to OJ because of his doing ads for them..

5:30 am         Vannatter joins him and they find what looks like a blood spot on the driver’s side door.  They take that as a sign that more victims may be inside the estate.  

5:45 am         After discussing the matter and trying to call the phone inside (a number they got from the security company) with no luck, Fuhrman is sent over the wall to open the gate.  OJ’s watchdog, Chachi, offers friendly greetings.  The detectives go to the front door, ring the bell, and get no response.  They walk around to the left and follow the walkway to the guesthouses behind the mansion.  

6:00 am         They find Kato in one.  He refers them to OJ’s daughter Arnelle who is asleep in the other guesthouse.  While Vannatter and Lange go to wake her and contact OJ, Fuhrman questions Kato alone.  Kaelin tells of the bumps on his wall at 10:40 or so the night before.  

6:05 am         (The sun has been up about an hour but) Fuhrman testifies he took his flashlight and worked his way back along the walkway next to the garage on the other side of the mansion to behind Kaelin’s apartment.  (In his book, Fuhrman is even more graphic, saying the walkway was dense with cobwebs and that he made his way to the backyard through cobwebs all the way before turning back and finding the bloody glove near Kaelin’s AC).  He checks further, he testified, for bodies or something to go with the glove he found there.  

6:30 am         Fuhrman shows the other detectives the glove, which he left in place.  

6:45 am         Vannatter sends Fuhrman and his partner back to Bundy to see if the glove matches the one at Bundy.  He sends Lange back to take charge at Bundy.  Vannatter stays at Rockingham.  (In his book, Vannatter wrote that he saw the blood drops up the driveway to the front door – though not to the walkway where the glove lay – and connects the blood trail at Bundy to Rockingham).  

7:00  am         Fuhrman and the police photographer return to Rockingham to photograph the glove there for comparison with the one at Bundy.

7:10 am          Criminalist Fung arrives at Rockingham to gather blood evidence off the driveway and in the kitchen.  There is so much blood he is busy there for three hours.

Sometime      The following was not testified to at the trial: Fuhrman’s police officer friend who had played with Nicole’s bloody dog at Bundy was asked by Fuhrman to help check the Bronco by sliding in and popping the hood.  (This is from KILLING TIME.)  

9:00 am          The coroner arrives at Bundy.  Massive searches are underway in Chicago at the hotel where OJ stayed, at Ohare Airport, at LAX, and in the neighborhood around Rockingham for the bloody clothes, shoes, and knife. 

   

10:10 am        The criminalist arrives at Bundy.

Sometime        A photograph is taken of OJ’s bedroom and shows nothing out of place.  (This is from KILLING TIME).

Sometime       The press would probably not have come to Rockingham prior to setting up for OJ’s return and would not at that time have known Rockingham was a LAPD-designated crime scene like Bundy.  Again, they would have seen many police officers coming and going and would have had their own movements restricted.

Noon               OJ returns from Chicago.  

!:30 pm           Fuhrman remains at Rockingham while Vannatter and Lange meet with OJ downtown at the LAPD center.  OJ volunteers blood which Vannatter keeps.  (The series does not mention this but it is in KILLING TIME.) 

2:20 pm         The interview ends.

4:00 pm         Vannatter and Lange takes over the investigation at Rockingham from Fuhrman.  

5:30 pm         The criminalist returns to Rockingham and begins going over the house.  A picture taken in OJ’s bedroom shows a pair of socks on the floor, later identified as the bloody socks OJ allegedly wore during the crime.   Lange takes a pair of OJ’s shoes and takes them home with him.

6:30 pm         Fuhrman leaves Rockingham, his responsibility of keeping the site secure having ended.

Sometime       Several hours later, Vannatter turns (what is left of) OJ’s blood sample over to the criminalist (KILLING TIME).

June 14           Vannater and Lange observe the autopsies of Nicole and Ron, perhaps taking blood samples of each with them (KILLING TIME).  Sometime, Lange turns over the shoes he kept overnight to the criminalist.  

June 15            OJ’s Bronco is taken to a police parking area and left unsecured.

June 17            OJ is arrested after the slow Bronco chase

July 5               Blood evidence is gathered from the Bundy back gate (KILLING TIME, but may be shown in the series).

August 26         Criminalist Fung begins examining the Bronco for evidence, checking the blood on the door and inside (KILLING TIME, but may be shown in the series).

Those accustomed to the precise and prompt investigative techniques of contemporary crime shows will shudder at the loose way things happened in 1994.  And there were few if any of the press able to be close enough to the investigation at this point to know whether or not the four detectives handling things were acting properly.

The defense offered a scenario that had Fuhrman manipulating the evidence by planting the glove at Rockingham.  That will be handled in another posting summarized from this timeline.  There is a chance that will be shown during the ninth or tenth episodes of “The People V. O. J. Simpson.”