COURT TV SPECIAL EDITION: THE O. J. SIMPSON TRIAL
{PART 3 OF 4}: THE DEFENSE CASE (TV)
Summary
Continued from T:47249 Part three of four. This
four-part special recaps the double-murder trial of
former football great O.J. Simpson. This episode, "The
Defense Case," details the strategies employed by the
members of Simpson's so-called legal "dream team" in
their efforts to get him acquitted. Host Gregg Jarrett
starts the episode by pointing out that the trial has
already been going on for 106 days. Johnnie Cochran
opens his arguments in defense of Simpson by calling
family members of the accused to testify to the validity
of his claim that he is a "simple family man." Mother
Eunice Simpson, daughter Arnelle Simpson, and sisters
Shirley Baker and Carmelita Simpson Durio all insist
that they do not believe that the former football player
would ever have hurt Nicole Brown Simpson. The rest of
the defense attorneys begin to do their best to destroy
the prosecution's timeline. Simpson's doctor, Robert
Huizenga, then takes the stand to state that Simpson's
rheumatoid and osteo arthritis has rendered him too
weak to be able to stab two people. Unfortunately for
the defense, the prosecution has come into possession of
an aerobic workout video Simpson shot only two weeks
before the murders. On the tape, Simpson looks fit and
strong. He also makes a joke about wife-beating, to the
further dismay of the defense. The defense then sets
out to discredit the credibility of one of the
prosecution's key witnesses, Detective Mark Fuhrman.
Simpson's attorneys play several tape-recorded
interviews between Fuhrman and a screenwriter in which
the police officer makes racist remarks. Fuhrman even
insults Judge Lance Ito's wife, Margaret York, on the
tapes; she serves as a Los Angeles police officer.
Although the prosecution objects that the tapes of
Fuhrman are irrelevant to the Simpson case, Jarrett
suggests that their airing has permanently changed the
mood and tone in the courtroom. Continues with T:47245.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by The
New York Community Trust - Haas Foundation Fund.
Details
- NETWORK: Court TV
- DATE: November 30, 1994
- RUNNING TIME: 1:01:23
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:47240
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Trials (Murder)
- SERIES RUN: Court TV - TV series, 1995
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Steve Johnson … Executive Producer
- Carolyn Kresky … Senior Producer
- Susan Lehman … Producer, Writer
- Mark A. Harris … Producer
- Nicole Levitt … Associate Producer
- Gregg Jarrett … Host
- F. Lee Bailey
- Shirley Baker
- Marcia Clark
- Johnnie Cochran
- Christopher Darden
- Carl Douglas
- Carmelita Simpson Durio
- Mark Fuhrman
- Gil Garcetti
- Ronald Goldman
- William Hodgman
- Robert Huizenga
- Lance Ito
- Robert Shapiro
- Barry Scheck
- Arnelle Simpson
- Eunice Simpson
- Nicole Brown Simpson
- Simpson, O. J. (Orenthal James Simpson)
- Gerald Ullman
- Margaret York