Simpson Team Hires Nw Attorney Seeks Subpoena To Get Tape, Photos From Airport Incident

O.J. Simpson’s defense team Friday hired a Puyallup attorney to pursue a subpoena against The Spokesman-Review.

A newspaper reporter and photographer in late January encountered Los Angeles homicide detective Mark Fuhrman at Spokane International Airport.

Fuhrman, 42, accused by Simpson defenders of being a racist, rogue cop who planted the bloody glove at their client’s estate, visited Sandpoint on a house-hunting trip.

After a cordial interview in which he called Simpson a “sloppy” killer, Fuhrman objected to being photographed and lashed out.

Early Friday, F. Lee Bailey telephoned legal acquaintance Doug Kaukl in Puyallup and hired him to process a California subpoena in Washington state. Out-of-state subpoenas are not enforceable.

Bailey offered Kaukl his usual rate of compensation, about $150 an hour.

The two currently represent a New Age spiritualist in Yelm, Wash., who claims to channel for a 35,000-year-old warrior.

The Spokesman-Review has agreed to give up its 10-minute audiotape and 26 photographs because Fuhrman was not a confidential source.

But in keeping with the newspaper’s policy, Spokesman-Review attorney Duane Swinton required a Washington court order.

One is expected to be faxed to the newspaper from Tacoma’s Pierce County Superior Court on Monday or Tuesday, Kaukl said.

“As long as they follow appropriate procedures, we’ll respond,” Swinton said.

“Bailey said he believes this information may result in other information that confirms and corroborates the race questions he raised in his cross-examination of Mr. Fuhrman,” Kaukl said. He termed the newspaper’s demands for a Washington subpoena as reasonable.

“The paper doesn’t want to be a database for attorneys to fish in at will. The paper doesn’t want to be perceived as partial, and I think that’s legitimate.”