Fuhrman To Plead Guilty On Perjury May Appear In Court Today On Charge From Simpson Trial

Former police detective Mark Fuhrman is expected to appear in a Los Angeles courtroom, perhaps as early as today, to plead guilty to perjury stemming from his testimony in the O.J. Simpson double murder trial, according to local law enforcement officials who say they have been briefed by state prosecutors.

Details of a case against Fuhrman remain sketchy. But the state attorney general’s office has been investigating Fuhrman for perjury for nearly a year.

Officials from the Los Angeles Police Department and the county Sheriff’s Department said they have been briefed by state prosecutors about the upcoming court appearance. The officials scrambled Tuesday to tighten security around the downtown Criminal Courts Building, where the proceedings would take place.

Testifying last year during the Simpson trial, Fuhrman denied he had used a racial slur that denigrates black people at any time in the previous 10 years. That testimony was later contradicted by four defense witnesses, including an aspiring screenwriter who brought to court tape recordings of Fuhrman using the “N-word” at least 41 times and bragging about illegal and unethical conduct.

Raymond C. Fisher, president of the city’s Police Commission, said he learned Tuesday afternoon that Fuhrman was expected to be in court today, possibly to enter a plea.

Other sources familiar with the attorney general’s investigation said negotiations have been ongoing and the matter could be resolved with a plea and no jail time. Fuhrman, one source said, could well “be back on a plane to Idaho,” where he now lives, “by sunset.”

Any agreement must be approved by a judge who is certain to scrutinize a plea bargain closely because of the sensitivity of the issues. Another source emphasized that judicial approval is necessary and noted, “There has been no deal struck.”

State prosecutors declined to comment. Asked if Fuhrman had reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, his attorney, Darryl Mounger, replied: “Don’t hold your breath.”

Law enforcement officials, however, braced Tuesday for numerous camera crews and the prospect of protesters outside the courthouse. “We certainly will be looking at security arrangements,” said Fisher.

Officials said they hope to speed Fuhrman in and out of the courthouse.

The investigation by the attorney general’s office is one of several probes involving Fuhrman.

Sources say an LAPD investigation has not turned up evidence that Fuhrman and other officers brutalized suspects, as Fuhrman claimed, but has found evidence that he and others in the LAPD’s West Los Angeles station demeaned female colleagues. If sustained by Police Chief Willie L. Williams and the Police Commission, those charges could result in Fuhrman receiving an official LAPD reprimand.

The attorney general’s investigation has been under way since November, when Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti turned over to the state agency the issue of whether to charge Fuhrman with perjury. The D.A.’s office bowed out because members of Garcetti’s office initially vouched for Fuhrman as a witness - then, after Fuhrman was found to have lied in open court, sought to discredit him.