Judge Gives Prosecutors 2-Week Continuance in Cowlings Case

A Municipal Court judge Friday gave prosecutors two more weeks to determine whether to charge Al Cowlings with trying to help O.J. Simpson flee from police last month, after the football great was charged with murdering his ex-wife and her friend.

Judge L. Jeffrey Wiatt ordered Cowlings to be back in court July 29 and extended his $250,000 bail until then.

The request for the continuance came from Deputy Dist. Atty. Jaime Hernandez, who told Wiatt the extra time was needed for his office “to complete an investigation of this matter.”

Cowlings’ lawyer, Donald Re, agreed to the delay, but later told reporters that he had hoped for a decision.

“We would like to have this case resolved as soon as possible,” Re said. “We wish it had happened today. We hope it happens in two weeks.”

Re said the prosecution’s request does not necessarily bode ill for his client. He said he assumed that Deputy Dist. Atty Marcia Clark and Central Operations Division Director William Hodgman, who are prosecuting Simpson and investigating Cowlings, have their hands full with the double murder case.

Cowlings, Simpson’s longtime friend and former teammate, made no comment.

Cowlings, according to Re, had only been trying to prevent Simpson from killing himself June 17, the day he had agreed to surrender to police.

Cowlings was arrested and booked on suspicion of aiding a fugitive.

Re said Friday that police, instead of accusing Cowlings of a crime, should have seen him as a hero.

“This man risked his life to try to save his friend and he did it,” Re said. “I am afraid if he had not intervened, O.J. Simpson would be dead.”

Re declined to comment on revelations that police found $10,000 in cash and Simpson’s passport in the Bronco after Simpson and Cowlings’ arrests because, he said, he had no official confirmation of those reports.

Even if the money and passport were in the vehicle, Re added, Cowlings did not know they were there.

While Cowlings’ case will be postponed for at least two weeks, the Simpson investigation continues to plunge ahead at full speed, with lawyers for the football Hall of Famer pushing for a trial as early as September.

On Friday, Simpson’s lawyers were in court for a closed hearing before Superior Court Judge Lance Ito, according to a court spokeswoman. The substance of the hearing was not known.

An order from Ito placing transcripts from the hearing under seal, however, suggested the lawyers had sought changes in an earlier order that allowed Simpson to meet with defense witnesses at the Men’s Central Jail in preparation for his trial.

Meanwhile, Simpson friend and lawyer Robert Kardashian offered his most complete explanation to date for a videotape aired by a local television station in which he is shown carrying off a garment bag belonging to Simpson on the day after the killings.

In an interview with The Times, Kardashian said he took the bag from Simpson’s assistant, Cathy Randa, and tried to leave it at Simpson’s house. But police officers would not let Kardashian into the house so he said he took the bag to his Encino home.

“I never opened it, never looked in it,” Kardashian said. “It wasn’t my property. My fault is that I’m a gentleman and I carried the bag. They (the police officers) said you can’t go in and so I wasn’t going to let it sit on the driveway.”

Kardashian, who has been friends with Simpson for 25 years, said he returned the bag to Simpson’s house when Simpson was arrested. “It was here and then, when he got arrested, it went back to his house,” Kardashian said. “The police have searched the house so I assume they’ve searched the bag.”