Search in Simpson Case Upheld

The detective in charge of the O.J. Simpson double-murder investigation recklessly misstated facts to get a search warrant, but the situation at Simpson’s estate was suspicious enough to justify a search anyway, a judge ruled Wednesday.

“I cannot make a finding that this was merely negligent,” Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito said of the statements made by Detective Philip L. Vannatter in a search warrant affidavit. “I have to make a finding that this was at least reckless.”

The judge noted Vannatter, seeking permission to conduct the search the morning after the slayings, wrongly stated:

* Simpson had left unexpectedly for Chicago on the night of the killings when, in fact, the business trip was long-planned.

* Failed to note that Simpson returned to Los Angeles voluntarily.

* Described stains and drops found at the house as blood or human blood instead of saying that they only appeared to be blood.

Ito said the veteran detective had investigated enough murder cases and handled enough searches to know better than to make that many misstatements in a search warrant affidavit, which is drafted to persuade a magistrate to approve a search.

Despite the problems, the judge upheld the search, saying the presence of what appeared to be blood at the estate coupled with the discovery of a glove--that matched one at the murder scene--behind a guest house provided probable cause for the search inside the house.

Evidence seized in that search included blood in the foyer and bathroom, a receipt for an airline ticket and a baggage tag.

The judge’s ruling undermined part of a key defense effort to keep jurors from hearing about much of the evidence gathered inside Simpson’s $5-million Brentwood home. The defense still can try to challenge the evidence on other legal grounds, but the chances of success are even less.

“They get one shot . . . and that’s it before trial,” Loyola Law School professor Stan Goldman said. “Sure, you come up with new evidence and you might be able to reopen it, but that is very, very unlikely.”

Simpson, 47, has pleaded innocent to murder in the June 12 slashing deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Lyle Goldman.

The ruling came as Simpson’s lawyers pressed a bid to toss out much of the evidence. With jury selection in the trial less than a week away, they argued that police concealed facts and exceeded the authority of search warrants in seizing everything from the bloody glove to a movie script to Simpson’s Bentley.

Attorney Gerald F. Uelmen, who outlined the defense’s challenge of seven searches, contended that during a June 28 search, detectives and prosecutors fanned out in Simpson’s home and spent three hours conducting “an impermissible general search.”

“It was a grazing and browsing expedition in which district attorneys and officers were looking for whatever might help them,” he said.

At one point, they found a video from Simpson’s most recent film, sat down with his VCR, played it and then seized it, although it was not mentioned in the search warrant, according to Uelmen.

Uelmen said they also hauled off Simpson’s Bentley, although “the affidavit was devoid of any probable cause that there was evidence of a crime in the Bentley.”

Similarly, he said, there were insufficient warrants for repeated searches of Simpson’s Ford Bronco and his business office.

Vannatter was called to testify Wednesday afternoon about the June 28 search.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Marcia Clark, downplaying the accusations of wrongdoing, instead focused on procedural deficiencies in the defense challenges. She maintained that because the defense had failed to file the proper affidavits, the judge could not rule on the matters.

Simpson’s lawyers also sought an encore witness stand appearance by Detective Mark Fuhrman, who the defense contends is a racist. Fuhrman found the glove behind Simpson’s guest house that matched one at the murder scene.

Outside court, Fuhrman’s representatives fought back, alleging at a news conference that the woman who told the Simpson camp that Fuhrman made racist remarks was mad at Fuhrman because he spurned her romantic advances when they had a chance encounter at a Marine Corps recruiting office.

Fuhrman’s private investigator, Anthony Pellicano, also said three Marines who worked in the office denied that Fuhrman made the remarks attributed to him by Kathleen Bell.

Bell’s attorney, Taylor Daigneault of Torrance, said he couldn’t comment until he had contacted his client.

In another development, Simpson’s mother told CBS news that she is praying for a miracle to save her son because he already has been convicted in the media.

Eunice Simpson and Simpson’s sister, Shirley Baker, are to appear on “Eye to Eye” with Connie Chung on Thursday.

Simpson’s mother said she went to her son’s home after finding out about the killings and found him in a state of shock.

“I squeezed his hand, and I said, ‘O.J., why would they, you know, think of you?’ And he just squeezed my hand,” she said.

“He didn’t say anything?” Chung asked.

“He appeared to be in shock,” his mother replied.

* RELATED STORIES: B1