O.J. Simpson says a photograph of him in the same Bruno Magli shoes that his ex-wife's killer wore is a fake. Now there are 30 more that supposedly show the same thing.
The jury in the wrongful death trial was shown 30 photographs Monday that show Simpson wearing the same rare model of shoes believed worn by a killer of Nicole Brown Simpson and a friend.What's more, photographer E.J. Flammer said in a sworn statement, the pictures were taken the same day, in the same stadium as another photographer's picture that Simpson's photo expert has branded a fake.
The Flammer pictures, discovered just weeks ago and inspected by the plaintiffs, were not handed over to the Simpson defense team until Monday morning.
Caught off guard by the evidence, defense lawyer Dan Leonard objected to showing the jury the pictures at the "23rd-and-a-half-hour" of the trial. Usual court procedures are for each side of a case to divulge their evidence in advance of trial.
"It's a total sandbag," Leonard said.
But Superior Court Judge Hiro-shi Fujisaki ruled that last-minute evidence could be used to impeach the credibility of Simpson's photo witness, Robert Groden.
Groden testified earlier that another photo, taken by Harry Scull before a September 1993 Buffalo Bills football game and used during Simpson's criminal trial, was altered to make it look like Simpson was wearing the Bruno Magli shoe that left bloody imprints at the crime scene.
Simpson also testified six weeks ago that he never owned a pair of the shoes and the photo was fraudulent.
On the stand Monday, Groden stuck to his opinion of the original photo. But he also said if the new pictures were authenticated and the shoes were proven to be Bruno Maglis, he would "probably" reconsider his conclusion.
Simpson is expected to retake the stand Thursday or Friday.
Although acquitted of murder, Simpson could be forced to pay monetary damages to the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman if jurors in the civil trial find him responsible for the June 12, 1994, murders.
Tuesday's court session was canceled. Testimony is to resume Wednesday with former houseguest Brian "Kato" Kaelin as the first witness.
In another development Monday, former police detective Mark Fuhrman claims in his coming book that prosecutors ignored or failed to follow up on potentially important evidence he found, including a bloody fingerprint at the crime scene, Vanity Fair reported.