Investigators combed O.J. Simpson's estate for clues hours after lawyers wrangled over sharing evidence that already had been gathered - including a single hair.
Police barricaded the street Tuesday around the mansion in the exclusive Brentwood neighborhood as homicide detectives searched bushes with dogs and a metal detector. A black Rolls Royce was towed from the gated estate.Lead prosecutors Marcia Clark and David Conn were at the mansion.
Investigators removed at least two brown paper evidence bags and a shovel. Neither police nor prosecutors would say what they were looking for.
A private security guard at the estate, who would not identify himself, said investigators were looking for a weapon and several other items. He wouldn't elaborate.
Simpson, 46, has pleaded innocent to the June 12 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, and her friend Ronald Gold-man, 25. He has been jailed without bond since June 17.
Before the search, Simpson sat in court stone-faced and unshaven as his lawyer, Robert L. Shapiro, asked a judge for access to samples of blood, hair and other evidence so the defense could conduct its own scientific tests.
"We are entitled to our own independent tests, not to simply sit and look over the shoulder of the district attorney and the Los Angeles Police Department crime lab," Shapiro said.
Clark countered that there may not be enough blood and hair to share because testing consumes specimens. She said she would know before Thursday's preliminary hearing whether specific evidence could be split for defense examination.
Clark said detectives recovered a single hair from the murder scene.
"What that means is that it may be capable of DNA testing. But hairs, uh, cannot be split."
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Additional Information
Hearing on TV
ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC plan extensive live coverage of Thursday's preliminary hearing in the O.J. Simpson murder case. The hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. MDT.