Simpson ordered to testify next Friday

Alternate juror dismissed for sleeping in court

• Juror expelled
• Focus on DNA
• Related stories and sites

SANTA MONICA, California (CNN) -- The judge in the O.J. Simpson civil case Friday ordered the former football star to take the witness stand at the end of next week, a source close to the case said.

Also Friday a white alternate juror was dismissed from the trial at the request of the defense because she had nodded off during testimony about DNA.

Simpson's attorneys had tried to persuade Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki to delay their client's testimony in Santa Monica because he wanted to be present in a courtroom in Orange County where he is fighting for full custody of his two young children.

But Fujisaki sided with the families of murder victims Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, telling Simpson's defense team that he would have to begin testifying next Friday, the source said.

Fujisaki discussed Simpson's conflict in a conference call Friday with Orange County Judge Nancy Wieben-Stock, who is presiding over the custody case. The judges agreed that the custody case would recess next Friday, November 22.

Daniel Petrocelli, the attorney for the family of Ronald Goldman, said Friday that he expected Simpson's testimony to take a couple of days.

CNN Legal analyst Roger Cossack on Simpson as a witness (26 sec. /288K AIFF or WAV sound)

Juror expelled

Simpson, who was acquitted during last year's criminal trial in the murders of his ex-wife and her friend, is now facing a wrongful-death civil lawsuit brought by the victims' families.

As with the criminal trial, lawyers on both sides battled over the conduct of the jury. While Fujisaki accepted the defense request to remove the 19-year-old female college student, he rejected the plaintiffs' request for the black juror's dismissal promising he would "keep an eye on her."

According to a transcript of a bench conference Thursday, Simpson lawyer Robert Baker told the judge he thought the alternate was sleeping "through most of this case."

"I think she has been asleep throughout a long period of this trial," Baker said.

Focus on DNA

Friday's testimony focused on DNA, with expert Gary Sims on the stand. He testified Thursday that blood found at the crime scene and at Simpson's estate matched Simpson's blood.

But Friday, under cross examination, Sims conceded that there are many ways that blood samples can be contaminated and that he would have no knowledge if such contamination had occurred during the collection process.

The day began on a rancorous note, as Simpson's attorneys reacted angrily to the plaintiffs' request for an audio tape made by Simpson shortly before that notorious low-speed Bronco chase. (6 sec. /96K AIFF or WAV sound)

A portion of that tape was aired recently during an interview with the author and sometime Simpson intimate, Lawrence Schiller.

Simpson's attorneys said they didn't have the tape. If the other side wants it, they were told, go ask Schiller.

Correspondent Anne McDermott and Reuters contributed to this report.

Special Section:

• Simpson Civil Trial

Related stories:

• Alternate juror dismissed from Simpson trial - November 15, 1996
• Focus of Simpson custody case is domestic violence - November 14, 1996
• DNA experts link sock blood to Nicole - Nov. 14, 1996
• Expert says crime scene DNA matched Simpson's blood - November 13, 1996

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