Civil trial a shadow of criminal case

O.J.'s testimony was highlight

• Shoes replaced gloves as hot topic
• Fuhrman not among familiar witnesses
• Grim and touching moments
• Related stories and sites

Editor's note: Los Angeles-based correspondent Anne McDermott covered both the Simpson criminal and civil trials, filing daily reports on the proceedings. This is her comparison of the two.

SANTA MONICA, California (CNN) -- O.J. Simpson answered a big question during his civil trial, and it wasn't, "Did you kill Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman?"

Yes, he answered that. To no one's surprise, he denied it.

	Simpson civil trial in review -- CNN's Anne Mcdermott
	2.3M/180 sec. QuickTime movie

But the real question was, "How would he do on the stand?" The answer? Not bad, according to most trial observers. He stayed cool, even when he denied ever hitting, slapping or striking his former wife -- even in the face of photographic evidence.

Shoes replaced gloves as hot topic

What else did he talk about? Shoes. Specifically, Bruno Magli shoes, the kind that left bloody prints by the bodies of Simpson's ex-wife and her friend. The kind of shoes Simpson said he never wore.

But 30 new photographs turned up, including one published in the Buffalo Bills report, all showing Simpson wearing Bruno Magli shoes.

An FBI expert pronounced the photos genuine. Simpson's own photo expert, a man with little formal training, said he thought the photographs were fakes.

Anyway, there was a lot of talk about shoes and less about bloody gloves that were found at the crime scene and at Simpson's estate.

And no one in the civil trial uttered the immortal line: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit!" made famous by Simpson attorney Johnnie Cochran in closing arguments of the criminal trial as he referred to Simpson struggling to put on the gloves.

Fuhrman not among familiar witnesses

One reason we didn't hear more about the gloves may have been the absence of former Los Angeles Police Detective Mark Fuhrman, the man the defense has long suggested planted a glove to try and frame Simpson.

These days, Fuhrman is retired, living in Idaho, and out of reach of Simpson subpoenas.

But there were plenty of other familiar faces on the witness stand. The duo of former detectives Philip Vanatter and Tom Lange were once again chastised by the Simpson defense for procedural errors -- errors the Simpson team suggested were signs of evidence-tampering.

And once again, forensics expert Henry Lee was on hand, testifying on videotape, criticizing the laboratory work in the case, and speaking those words so dear to the defense: "Something is wrong."

And there was Alan Park, the limousine driver who's never deviated from his story that he saw a dark figure walking into Simpson's house the night of the murders.

And Kato Kaelin, the house guest, who did deviate from his story a bit. This time he said those thumps on his wall sounded like a person slamming against it.

At times, it all seemed surreal, such as when a juror was bounced for allegedly attempting to pass a message to an attorney, complimenting him on his tie. Naturally, once ousted, she quickly hit the talk show circuit.

Grim and touching moments

But there were grim moments, too.

Nancy Ney told of receiving a call at a battered women's shelter from a woman named Nicole, who said she'd been married to a famous man whom she feared would kill her -- a call Ney said she got just days before Nicole Brown Simpson was slashed to death.

Most touching of all, perhaps, were the families and their stories.

Arnelle Simpson, quiet and dignified, told the jurors how upset her dad was when he learned Nicole was dead.

And Fred Goldman, who quietly wept as he remembered his son Ron, and how much he'd miss him.

And Juditha Brown, who trembled on the stand as she recalled the last time she saw her daughter alive.

"Nicole was so beautiful," she said. And then she wept.

But in the end, it was O.J. Simpson who commanded most of the attention -- as well as the cheers and the jeers -- as he testified over and over again, calmly and quietly, that he was not a killer.

Related stories and sites

Tell us what you think! You said it...

© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.