Fresh from losing a juror they didn't like and clashing with defense lawyers they don't trust, the O.J. Simpson prosecutors were prepared to attack the credibility of a witness they don't believe.
Rosa Lopez, the former maid who could supply Simpson with an alibi, was to return to the stand Thursday for the final minutes of direct examination from the defense.Then she was to be turned over to prosecutors, who say they've been looking forward for weeks to cross-examining her - so much so that Deputy District Attorney Marcia Clark suggested they may use her as a witness even if the defense chooses not to.
Lopez got a taste of the prosecutors' zeal on Friday, when they caught her in a lie and several inconsistencies. She ended the long day in tears.
Also Thursday, Judge Lance Ito was expected to decide whether to punish the defense for violating state evidence-sharing laws by withholding a tape of an interview with Lopez.
"This is a sinister scheme. This is a conspiracy," Clark told the judge Wednesday. "They're trying to hide the ball and keep the jury from hearing the truth."
Defense lawyers apologized for what they called an innocent oversight. Robert Shapiro offered to be held in contempt if necessary to protect his client.
As a partial sanction, the judge gave prosecutors an extra day to prepare to question Lopez, who testified that she saw Simpson's white Ford Bronco parked outside his estate about the time he allegedly was two miles away, murdering his ex-wife and her friend.
Prosecutors say Simpson drove to Nicole Brown Simpson's house in the Bronco and left blood inside the vehicle.
In Lopez's first statement to a defense investigator, she never mentioned seeing the Bronco shortly after 10 p.m., prosecutors say.
Lopez is testifying on videotape, without the jury present, because she has threatened to flee to her native El Salvador to escape media harassment. If she leaves, the testimony could be shown to the jury when the defense presents its case.
Lopez's return to the witness stand comes after prosecutors succeeded in ousting a black juror, apparently because they thought he was biased toward Simpson. But the man told reporters he thought the prosecution has made "a pretty strong case."
Michael Knox, a 46-year-old courier, was the subject of numerous complaints over several weeks that culminated in a dispute during the jury's visit to Simpson's estate.
He was replaced Wednesday by one of the nine remaining alternate jurors: a 38-year-old white woman who works for a phone company and once described herself as a "touchy, feely" person.
Knox was the fourth juror in the case to be removed. The jury now consists of eight women and four men. Racially, it consists of eight blacks, two whites, one Hispanic and one mixed-race juror.
Knox, who returned home after being sequestered for eight weeks, denied reports that there were racial tensions among jurors.
"The only problem that the jury is having are the problems that any of us would have if all of us together were to come inside this house and have to be sequestered for any length of time," he told reporters. "You know, we started going through personality conflicts, and that's all it is."
The judge refused to say why Knox was ousted and Knox declined to discuss the judge's reasons, saying only that he disagreed.
He had been under challenge by the prosecution for some time on several grounds. First, it was reported that Knox made a bet with a co-worker before the trial began, wagering a week's salary that Simpson would be acquitted.
Then he showed up at the jury's trip to the murder scene and Simpson's mansion in a sweatshirt with the logo of the Los Angeles Raiders and a cap with the logo of one of Simpson's former teams, the San Francisco 49ers.
Knox noted that he disclosed during jury selection that his brother worked for the 49ers.