O.J. Simpson's longtime friend, Al Cowlings, will not be prosecuted for helping the football legend lead police on a slow-speed pursuit last June, Los Angeles County's chief prosecutor said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in court, attorneys and Superior Court Judge Lance Ito began questioning more than 70 potential jurors who could serve as the 15 alternates in Simpson's double-murder trial. A panel of 12 jurors has already been selected.District Attorney Gil Garcetti, questioned by reporters in a courthouse elevator, said there was not enough evidence "to go forward with any additional prosecution" against Cowlings.
"I'm saying we can't prove the case," Garcetti said. "It does not meet our filing standards."
The Los Angeles County grand jury spent several months investigating Cowlings since he and Simpson slipped out of a home where Simpson was to turn himself in June 17 to face charges he killed his ex-wife and her friend.
The pair drove to Orange County where they were spotted by police. They led a pack of police cars on a 11/2-hour pursuit along several Southern California freeways before driving back to Simpson's Brentwood estate, where they were both arrested.
Cowlings was jailed briefly on suspicion of aiding a fugitive but was released on bail.
Cowlings' attorney, Donald Re, had said he believes Cowlings helped to save a distraught and suicidal Simpson's life and should not face any charges.
Hours before Simpson was arrested on June 17 on suspicion of killing Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, Garcetti warned that anyone assisting the football legend in fleeing would be committing a felony.
But Garcetti said Tuesday the district attorney's office does not intend to present any more information on the Cowlings case to the grand jury.
Deputy District Attorney Christopher Darden, who was the lead prosecutor in the Cowlings case, has been reassigned to the Simpson case, the district attorney's office said. Darden becomes the first black attorney assigned to help prosecute Simpson.
The district attorney's office disputed a claim made Tuesday by one of Simpson's attorneys, Johnnie Cochran, that a black lawyer was appointed to the case because the jury is predominantly black. In a statement, the prosecutors said Darden has joined the prosecution team because of Garcetti and lead Simpson prosecutors Marcia Clark and Bill Hodgman's "respect for his abilities as a trial lawyer."
In court Tuesday, nine potential alternate jurors were dismissed, including five for hardship reasons and four for cause. One of those jurors, a 50-year-old black woman, said she "can't imagine a man with his abilities, opportunities, style, make-up, success to even think of such a devastating act."
The voir dire questioning process - during which attorneys try to determine if the potential jurors are biased - is expected to take at least a month.
Ito said he did not expect opening statements in the trial to begin until mid-January. An all-important hearing on the admissability of DNA test results still has to be held before jurors begin hearing the case.
The panel of 12 jurors selected last week had been banned from watching TV, listening to the radio or reading newspapers because of fears they would be tainted by the publicity. Ito again warned jurors they could be sequestered - kept in hotel rooms and away from their family and friends - during the trial. The judge warned them to prepare a three-day supply of clothes just in case.