A sample of O.J. Simpson's hair will be given to prosecutors to compare to hair in a knit cap found where the football legend's ex-wife and her friend were killed, a judge ruled today.
Simpson, who appeared unshaven and was wearing a dark suit and open-collar white shirt, was stone-faced and appeared alert during the morning hearing. He has been jailed without bail since June 17.Defense attorney Robert L. Shapiro didn't object to the surrender of his celebrity client's hair sample and Municipal Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy-Powell ordered it done.
Deputy District Attorney Marcia Clark filed the prosecution motion seeking the hair sample to compare to hairs recovered in the cap found after the June 12 slayings.
"Inside the cap black curly hairs were detected which have been determined to be of African-American origin," Clark said in her written declaration.
She also said "the location in which the cap was found would tend to indicate that it was related to the commission of the crimes."
Both sides argued about the sharing of evidence, including DNA analysis, in the case.
Shapiro complained that prosecutors weren't splitting evidence for independent testing by the defense, but Clark said the defense was invited to witness testing by prosecution experts.
"We have nothing that we would like to hide from the defense," said Clark. "This case is an open book and we intend to share our results." But she said samples could not be divided into two parts for independent testing.
Said Shapiro: "We are entitled to conduct our own independent tests, not simply to look over the shoulder of the district attorney and the Los Angeles Police Department crime lab."
"It does us no good to simply watch," he said.
Shapiro filed a motion Monday demanding quick access to evidence, including blood samples, Simpson's Ford Bronco, the ski cap and gloves found at the murder scene and at Simpson's Brentwood estate.
The official list of evidence in the case so far does not include bloody clothes found anywhere but at the crime scene, a source close to the case told The Associated Press. There had been unconfirmed reports of bloody clothes found in Simpson's washing machine.
The motion signaled that the defense could turn a preliminary hearing scheduled to start Thursday into a mini-trial.
"Virtually every witness who has been involved in the investigation of this case has been subpoenaed to testify at the preliminary examination," Shapiro said in his motion.
The preliminary hearing normally is a brief proceeding in which only the prosecution pre-sents a bare-bones version of its case. But the defense can counter with its own evidence, an opportunity usually seized only in high profile cases.
Meanwhile, the father of Simpson's slain ex-wife disputed a coroner's document that said his daughter was on the phone at 11 p.m. the night she was killed, saying the call was closer to 10 p.m.
Simpson lawyer F. Lee Bailey had used the document to bolster Simpson's alibi.
The report by a coroner's investigator said Nicole Simpson spoke with her mother on the telephone at 11 p.m. the night she was killed. But Monday evening, Louis Brown told The Associated Press his wife misspoke.
"Initially, the wife thought it was around 11, but it actually was around 10 o'clock," he said. "However, we're awaiting our telephone bill which won't be here until around the middle of July" to confirm the time.