Jury Transfixed As O.J. Dons Bloodied Gloves Prosecutors Say He Wore Them During Murders A Year Ago

In a gripping scene that transfixed jurors Thursday afternoon, O.J. Simpson tugged on the pair of frayed, bloodied leather gloves that prosecutors say he wore to murder Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman a year ago.

Responding to a prosecution request, Simpson pulled the cashmerelined gloves over a pair of latex liners, turned to the jurors and, shaking his head and flexing his hands, sought to demonstrate that his fingers could not fit all the way in. Smiling comfortably, Simpson held his arms above his head, revealing that the extra-large gloves did not stretch all the way to his wrist.

It was one of the most dramatic courtroom scenes to date, a key moment rising above months of technical displays and dry testimony.

Fascinated, the jurors leaned forward and craned their necks as Simpson strained to pull on the gloves, which are designed to fit nearly as snugly as the latex liners. “Too tight,” he complained to the panel, grinning a bit. The jurors’ faces betrayed nothing, but they were clearly transfixed by the show.

At the prosecution’s direction, Simpson grasped a large blue magic marker in his right fist once he worked his hands into the gloves. With an apparent air of incredulity, he displayed the glove bunched around his palm.

The jurors scribbled notes frantically and at least three of them continued jotting their impressions for several minutes after Simpson returned to his seat, tore off the latex gloves and tossed them onto the table.

The demonstration capped a lively day of testimony by three expert witnesses in forensics, fashion and manufacturing. Simpson has pleaded not guilty to the June 12 murders of his former wife and her friend Goldman.

Seeking to mute the drama of the earlier display, prosecutor Christopher Darden quickly asked his witness, Richard Rubin, the former general manager of the glove manufacturer Aris, to examine Simpson’s hands.

The former football star congenially held out both hands for inspection. When Rubin returned to the witness stand, he testified that “at one point in time, those gloves would actually be large, I think, on Mr. Simpson’s hand.”

Darden did not ask Rubin whether moisture - such as blood or dew - could shrink the gloves. And Rubin said he did not feel qualified to testify about whether the latex glove Simpson was wearing could have contributed to the tightness of the fit.

But Rubin, who had previously testified that he was familiar with the styles of all Aris gloves, said that Simpson’s hands “should be able to fit into those pair of gloves.”

Although some experts questioned the decision to have Simpson try on the gloves, Darden and other prosecutors reacted cooly. Darden tried to question Rubin about whether Simpson had pulled on the gloves in a normal manner or cocked his thumb. But Judge Lance A. Ito sustained a number of objections from defense attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., noting that the jury had seen the demonstration for themselves.