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Defense aims to improve Simpson's image
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Web posted at: 9:00 p.m. EST
SANTA MONICA (CNN) -- O.J. Simpson could return to the witness stand this week as his wrongful death trial resumes Monday with defense attorneys trying to undo damage inflicted by earlier grillings of the former football star.
"I can't be in the mind of the jurors," said legal analyst Robert Pugsley of the Southwestern Law School. "But I would say, yes, it is an upstream swim to rehabilitate this man."
Other familiar names in the Simpson saga also are likely to testify this week, including Al Cowlings, Kato Kaelin and former Playboy Playmate India Allen.
A likely topic of testimony this week is Simpson's footwear. The plaintiffs this week may introduce new evidence, including several photographs, that appear to show Simpson wearing Bruno Magli shoes.
An FBI expert testified such shoes left bloody tracks at the crime scene, but Simpson has said he never owned a pair of the high-priced designer shoes.
One 1993 photograph submitted earlier shows Simpson wearing what the FBI expert identified as Bruno Magli shoes. Simpson testified the photo is "a fraud," an assertion bolstered by testimony from Robert Groden, Simpson's photo witness.
Groden has testified that a picture showing Simpson wearing such shoes is a fake. The trial resumes with the continued cross-examination of Groden.
But sources told CNN the plaintiffs now have several other photos, taken by another photographer the same day, in which Simpson allegedly is wearing Bruno Maglis.
One of the pictures was published in "The Buffalo Bills Report" in November 1993, six months before the killings.
Other witnesses on the defense list this week include video-taped testimony of forensics expert Henry Lee, who balked at appearing in person in this trial.
During Simpson's criminal trial, he testified there was "something wrong" in the police crime lab.
Simpson, 49, was acquitted of murder charges in the June 1994 knife slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. He is being sued by the victims' relatives in civil court.
If the plaintiffs win, Simpson could be ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages, although there are questions about how much of his wealth remains.
Simpson could testify near the end of the week, or early next week, and defense attorneys are considering calling only one or two more witnesses after him, meaning the defense case could be finished in about 1 1/2 weeks.
That means the case could go to the jury before the end of January, after just three months of testimony -- far shorter than the nine months of testimony in the criminal trial.
Appearing for the first time in court will be Simpson family friend Cora Fischman, who has portrayed Ms. Simpson as living a dangerous final few months filled with drugs, sexual experimentation and club-hopping. Simpson intends to use Fischman's testimony to suggest that somebody from this crowd could have killed Ms. Simpson.
Special section:
Related stories:
- More photos surface of Simpson's shoes - December 31, 1996
- Simpson photo analyst denounced as JFK conspiracy buff - December 20, 1996
- Photo expert resumes testimony in Simpson trial - December 20, 1996
- Expert: Photo of Simpson probably faked - December 18, 1996
- Simpson attorney questions officer about 'police code' - December 18, 1996
- Pathologist waffles on cross examination - December 17, 1996
- Simpson witnesses dispute conclusions - December 16, 1996
- Blood expert sides with Simpson - December 16, 1996
- Simpson attorneys push contaminated evidence theory - December 12, 1996
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