Simpson's lawyers try to bolster claim that evidence planted

SANTA MONICA, California (CNN) -- The O.J. Simpson defense team has submitted 300 pages of documents supporting its contention that evidence gathered during the investigation into the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman was either planted or contaminated.

The paperwork, turned over Monday to the plaintiffs in the civil case, was not available to the media.

Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki had ordered Simpson to produce the information by September 23, after lawyers for the plaintiffs complained that defense attorneys had ducked the questions and simply referred to large segments of transcripts from the criminal trial.

Simpson was cleared of the June 1994 murders last year, but is being sued by the families of the victims.

An attorney representing O.J. Simpson Wednesday accused the plaintiffs' attorneys of removing potential black jurors because of their race. The wrongful-death case is in its second week of jury selection.

"Your honor, this is about the 10th black juror in a row the plaintiff has challenged," Simpson attorney Bob Baker complained to Fujisaki.

Black woman removed

His comment came after attorney Daniel Petrocelli, lawyer for the Goldman family, sought to remove a black woman from the panel. He gave bias as the reason. Petrocelli denied he was removing black jurors because of their race.

"It's totally factual," Baker sniped back. Fujisaki ordered the two men to sit down, then ruled that the woman would be removed as a potential juror because of bias she expressed during the oral questioning.

She was the second black juror questioned and dismissed from the jury pool on Wednesday morning.

Earlier, a black man was removed after he expressed the opinion that O.J. Simpson was definitely not guilty of the killings. The man also said he believed the police had framed Simpson.

The black woman who was removed was a postal worker who appeared to be in her 30s. On her questionnaire, she said she had no definite opinions on the case and answered "not sure" to many of the queries. She left blank a question asking for her opinion of former Los Angeles Police Department Detective Mark Furhman.

But during several minutes of questioning by Petrocelli, the woman expressed opinions that the LAPD may have planted evidence in an attempt to implicate Simpson for the murders.

"If he's guilty, tear him down," she said. "You don't have to add anything."

She also felt it was "not right" that the police scaled Simpson's wall the night of the murders.

'Undisclosed bias'

After the questioning, Petrocelli asked that the woman be removed from the panel of prospective jurors because she had not been candid in her answers on the questionnaire and had to be "prodded" during the oral questioning.

"This undisclosed bias is the most insidious," Petrocelli told the judge. The judge agreed that the woman was biased and dismissed her.

Two other potential jurors, a Latino and a white woman, were kept on the panel following their questioning. The white woman, who appeared to be in her 20s, said she hadn't followed the criminal case very closely.

"The news depresses me. I try to avoid it," she told the judge.

Financial records sought

Also Wednesday, Simpson's attorney filed a motion seeking the financial records of Nicole Brown Simpson, "including ATM transactions, withdrawals, billing statements, checks, credit cards."

The attorney for the Brown family, John Kelly, has refused to turn over the information, saying the request is irrelevant, violates privacy and is privileged information.

In the motion, Simpson's attorneys cited a California law that says, "the right of privacy is a personal right that terminates upon death."

They argued that the financial information is relevant to the case. The information could relate, they said, to the allegations that Nicole Brown Simpson purchased shoes and gloves for Simpson, and clarify whether she ever visited psychiatrist Jennifer Ameli, who claims to have treated her in 1994.

Related stories:

• Simpson judge OKs jury prospects who admit bias - September 25, 1996
• Simpson makes first appearance at civil trial - September 20, 1996
• Simpson must hand over key videotape in civil trial - September 19, 1996
• Judge has no-excuses attitude in picking Simpson jurors - September 18, 1996
• Simpson civil trial convenes Tuesday - September 16, 1996
• O.J. Simpson scheduled to appear in two courts - September 12, 1996
• Simpson judge gets tough at civil trial - September 4,1996

Related sites:

• CNN Interactive's O.J. Simpson main page
• Simpson Court Transcripts

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