Brown to Offer Bill Barring Witnesses From Selling Testimony Before Trial

Troubled that witnesses in the O.J. Simpson case have sold their stories to tabloid publications and television programs, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown says he will introduce legislation that would bar material witnesses in any criminal case from selling their testimony until after a trial is over.

In a radio address scheduled for broadcast today, the San Francisco Democrat said violators of his proposed law would be required to forfeit any money they have received and, in addition, pay a substantial fine.

In his prerecorded statement, Brown described his dismay at the extensive media attention given to the Simpson case.

“At a minimum, we must wonder how in the aftermath of such intense media coverage, there could possibly be 12 impartial jurors left in the city of Los Angeles,” he said.

Recognizing that intense attention is almost inevitable in such a high-profile case, Brown said he is most troubled by “the specter of witnesses who have sold their testimony for a fee.”

Not only does the sale of witnesses’ stories add to the problem of pretrial publicity, but “second and more importantly, it intrudes upon the judicial process, because it creates an incentive to lie,” he said.

Brown was not available for comment late Friday. It is unlikely that his bill could be enacted fast enough to have an effect on the Simpson case.