L.A. Cop’s Actions Don’t Go Unnoticed Simpson Attorney Promises To Make Issue Of Fuhrman’s Conduct
O.J. Simpson’s lead attorney says he will make detective Mark Fuhrman’s conduct in Spokane a trial issue.
The chief homicide investigator in the Simpson murder case also will be questioned by his own department about his run-in with a news photographer at Spokane International Airport on Wednesday.
“There is a big issue about his demeanor, and we want to find out what happened up in Spokane,” defense attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. said Thursday.
“His conduct in Spokane may very well bear upon his actions in this case,” Cochran said after the fourth day of trial.
“I was surprised that he was up there,” Cochran said of Fuhrman’s visit this week to North Idaho as the Simpson trial began in Los Angeles.
Fuhrman, who was under orders not to talk with the press, granted an interview on the third day of the Simpson trial.
He had granted no previous interviews and appeared to be caught offguard when approached by a reporter in the Spokane airport terminal.
“The matter is under review,” said Lt. John Dunkin, press spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
“We’re gathering information and material to determine if there is, in fact, a violation of departmental regulations,” Dunkin said.
Even if the incident isn’t considered criminal, it could be considered conduct unbecoming an officer under department regulations.
The review of Fuhrman’s conduct comes just before he testifies as the star prosecution witness in the trial.
The detective, returning from a house-hunting trip to Sandpoint, roughed up a photographer for The Spokesman-Review on Wednesday evening.
Fuhrman, 43, told airport police that photographer Dan McComb was blocking his path in the Spokane International Airport terminal.
“I’m sorry the whole incident happened,” Fuhrman’s attorney, Robert Tourtelot, of Los Angeles, said Thursday.
Tourtelot said Fuhrman was angry that the news photographs may have included shots of his wife, whose privacy he’s protecting.
“This whole situation started because of an overzealous photographer,” Tourtelot said.
Before and after the fracas, newspaper representatives told the detective they wouldn’t publish his wife’s photo.
The attorney said his client “did hit” the photographer with a metal briefcase because he was blocking the detective’s path “after being told to get out of way.”
McComb said he was merely doing his job, taking a picture of a public figure in a public building. The 28-year-old photographer said he didn’t block anyone’s path of travel.
“Dan McComb acted in a totally professional way, and he didn’t try to impede Detective Fuhrman,” said John Sale, photo editor for The Spokesman-Review.
“The attack, as far as I’m concerned, was totally unprovoked,” Sale said.
The Spokesman-Review sent a letter Thursday to L.A. Police Chief Willie Williams, complaining about Fuhrman’s conduct.
“This lapse of professional conduct (by Fuhrman) and show of temper need to be investigated by your office,” Managing Editor Chris Peck said in the letter to Williams.
“As an editor I expect my reporters and photographers to keep it together, maintain a professional decorum and treat people with respect,” Peck told the chief.
“The public expects this of the media,” Peck said. “The same should be expected of LAPD officers.”
The newspaper editor said the news team that approached Fuhrman waited until after he and his wife had a private dinner in an airport cafe.
The reporter and photographer identified themselves separately and acted professionally, Peck said.
xxxx The second sidebar is a reprint of the letter from Chris Peck to Willie Williams, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department.
January 26,1995 Willie Williams, Chief Los Angeles Police Department 150 N. Los Angeles Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 Dear Chief Williams, In the heat of the moment, a true professional keeps his cool. Unfortunately, Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman lost his cool in Spokane on Wednesday, January 25. During the course of a routine newspaper interview that evening at Spokane International Airport, detective Fuhrman grew enraged, then hit a. SpokesmanReview photographer in the chest with a metal briefcase and proceeded to grab the photographer and force him to his knees, ripping the buttons off the photographer’s shirt in the process. This lapse of professional conduct and show of temper need to be investigated by your office. As an editor, I expect my reporters and photographers to keep it together, maintain a professional decorum and treat people with respect. The public expects this of the media. The same should be expected of LAPD officers. I know detective Fuhrman has been the center of much attention in relation to the trial of O.J. Simpson. Perhaps he is under stress. Probably he was hoping to find some serenity on his house-hunting trip to Idaho. But all of this doesn’t, in my view, excuse the shoving, yelling and ripping of buttons. The Spokesman-Review’s reporter Bill Morlin and photographer Dan McComb had a job to do Wednesday night. Their job was to interview a police officer who finds himself in the midst of a very big story. Reporter Morlin and photographer McComb maintained a high professional standard of conduct that evening. Upon first recognizing detective Fuhrman and his wife, they let the two finish dinner before approaching them. They identified themselves right away as working press. Witnesses will confirm neither reporter nor photographer raised his voice. For this, McComb was subjected to profanities and then forced to the ground with a ripped shirt at the hand of detective Fuhrman. I hope you will agree this is conduct unbecoming a police officer. I would urge you to investigate these events and I await your response. And one more thing. Dan McComb makes $455 per week. He could use a new shirt. Editorially yours, Chris Peck Managing Editor
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Copyright 1995, The Spokesman-Review By Bill Morlin Staff writer