O.J. Jury Won’t Hear Fuhrman Testimony

The judge in O.J. Simpson’s wrongful death trial barred Mark Fuhrman’s previous testimony, a big blow to the defense but also Simpson’s best ammunition for a possible appeal.

Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki’s ruling Monday essentially renders the ex-detective a Simpson case memory, crippling any defense effort to elicit evidence that brands Fuhrman a lying racist who could have framed Simpson.

Lacking the Fuhrman material, defense lawyer Robert Baker probably can refer during closing arguments only to some possibilities that unidentified police with unknown motives may have tampered with evidence.

“It does real damage,” Loyola University Law School Dean Laurie Levenson said. “They’ve already had some of the other parts of their case cut out. Now they have lost the ability to play the race card. Mark Fuhrman’s is the picture on the race card.”

Still, the ruling is so sweeping that Simpson can use it as a major point on appeal if he loses, said Southwestern University law professor Robert Pugsley.

“This without a doubt is the judge’s most risky use of discretion,” he said.

Simpson, 49, was acquitted last year in the killings of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. The victims’ relatives are suing Simpson for damages.

Simpson’s lawyers had intended to present Fuhrman’s earlier testimony, on videotape or by re-enactment with transcript readings. Fujisaki said the law forbids calling a witness just to discredit him, and all the details Fuhrman could have provided have been covered by other witnesses.

The defense may still try to get Fuhrman into the courtroom, but the Simpson camp faces legal hurdles. Although Fuhrman was served a subpoena last month in Los Angeles, it may be unenforceable since Fuhrman lives in Idaho.

If the defense can’t get Fuhrman to California, the defense can rely only on jurors’ memories and vague impressions that Fuhrman was a bad guy.