Simpson Loses a Privilege; Others in Jail Gain One

Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block, moving to counter the perception that O.J. Simpson is getting special treatment in jail, disclosed Wednesday that new restrictions have been imposed on the football great and that his case has led to a liberalization of rules for other inmates.

Block revealed that Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito, in a court order delivered late last week, has moved to curb what has been a persistent point of contention between the Sheriff’s Department and Simpson’s defense team--unlimited visitation privileges by Simpson’s friends and family included on a list of 52 “material witnesses” in his double homicide case. The list is the longest in recent memory and Block has contended it is part of a defense plan to circumvent jail policy by allowing visits in the attorney’s room at hours not available to other inmates. Ito’s recent order cuts back Simpson’s private visits on weekends, the sheriff said.

The sheriff also said that all inmates involved in trials lasting longer than three weeks will be given hot dinners--a perk that Simpson began receiving in November after a request by Ito and complaints by his attorneys that the Hall of Famer was becoming undernourished.

Block’s comments came in response to growing criticism that Simpson is getting special treatment at the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail, where the 47-year-old former athlete has been incarcerated since he was charged with the June 12 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Lyle Goldman. Simpson has pleaded innocent.

Taking the offensive at his monthly media open house, the sheriff defended his decision--based on medical advice--to give Simpson 10 extra hours of “freeway time” outside his high-security cell to stretch his legs each week.

Block, however, contradicted several points made by his spokesman to The Times last week about other privileges afforded to Simpson that are not granted to similar inmates classified as “keep-aways,” high-security inmates who must be isolated because they are too dangerous or vulnerable to mix with the general population.

Block said Simpson gets to shower every day when he has a court appearance, but otherwise must follow jail policy and shower every other day. He also acknowledged that Simpson is awakened later than most other inmates are for court appearances--6:30 a.m. compared to 5:30 a.m.--but said that he is among dozens of other high-security prisoners whose special handling allows extra sleep because they are put in “security cages” in prisoner buses. For extra protection, Simpson is transported individually by van from the jail.

Although the sheriff maintained that Simpson gets no more opportunities to make phone calls than other inmates, spokesman Sgt. Larry Lincoln said late Wednesday that among the high-security prisoners, Simpson actually gets more access to the telephone outside his cell because of the greater number of freeway hours.

At his media briefing, Block repeated his contention that “alleged special treatment” is actually intended to facilitate operations at the jail, where Simpson is kept in isolation in a seven-cell wing.

“I think it’s very important that everyone understands that an individual’s status outside of the jail does not entitle them to any special treatment when they become a resident inside the jail,” said Block, adding that defense team complaints about Simpson’s jailhouse accommodations were “relative.”

“If you come from a mansion in Brentwood, living in a 7-by-9-foot cell I imagine would be horrendous,” Block said. “If you were some homeless person off the street who was suddenly given a warm place to sleep, three meals a day and medical attention, it would probably be an upgrade in your lifestyle.”

At the same time, Block said Simpson’s stay at the jail has prompted some recent changes in policy, giving other inmates privileges that Simpson’s attorneys needed a court order to obtain.

One Simpson-inspired change, Block said, guarantees all prisoners tied up in a trial for three weeks or longer a warm meal when they return to their cells too late for dinner. This change essentially restores a practice that was in effect until about two months ago. At that time, said sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Spear, a new state law allowed law enforcement agencies to reduce the number of hot meals and to give sack lunches to inmates returning late from court.

In November, Simpson’s attorneys complained that the routine was plunging their client into ill health because he was being forced to eat “mystery meat” sandwiches. Ito recommended and jail authorities agreed to have a warm meal waiting for Simpson if he missed dinner after his long day in court--a blanket accommodation that Block said he now is extending to other prisoners involved in long trials.

“In evaluating it, it seemed like a reasonable thing to do,” Block said about the change. The sheriff said it was instituted within the last week, but a spokesman later said warm meals have been available to qualified inmates since the first week of December.

Block also said that an order issued by Ito late last week now makes the jail’s third-floor infirmary visiting room--used almost exclusively by Simpson and his attorneys during the past few months on weekends--available to any inmate and attorney on a “first-come” basis.

The same order, faxed to the county’s attorney late Dec. 22 from the judge’s home, also included the new restrictions on Simpson’s visits.

The witness designations granted by Ito have long allowed girlfriend Paula Barbieri, Simpson’s grown children and others to conduct private, non-contact visits with Simpson all week long, according to court papers and attorneys who have witnessed the meetings.

Ito’s order allows those private visits to continue during the week, but forces the “material witnesses” to follow routine procedure and use the less private, heavily populated jail public visiting room on weekends, Block said.

Block said Wednesday that Ito made the change at his department’s behest “because we felt that there were too many visitors coming” to see Simpson. Block said there was “no question in my mind” that the designation of such a long material witness list was “part of a plan” to get Simpson out of his jail cell as much as possible.

By court order, Simpson--unlike any of the 6,000 other inmates--was allowed a visit by outsiders on Christmas Day. Block said four of Simpson’s attorneys came to call on the holiday, and sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ron Spear later said that no other inmate was accorded that privilege. Ito also asked in his order that Simpson’s wheelchair-bound mother from San Francisco be allowed to visit Christmas Eve and again Monday morning, Block said.

As for his decision to give Simpson an hour of freeway time in the morning and another hour in the evening, Block said he was following a medical directive by his staff based on an unspecified ailment suffered by the county’s most famous prisoner. Block also said the extra time was in lieu of rooftop recreation, which Simpson has only taken advantage of once during his stay.

Similar high-security inmates are allowed only half an hour every other day of freeway time, in addition to two or three hours of recreation time on the jailhouse roof.

Simpson, Block said, uses most of his freeway time to sit in his cell reading rather than walking around.

Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., one of Simpson’s lead attorneys, said Wednesday he was upset by suggestions that Simpson was being treated leniently while in custody.

When visitors come to see him, Simpson is kept in handcuffs, Cochran said, adding that during the entire past six months, Simpson has only been allowed on the rooftop for sunlight one time. What’s more, Cochran added, Simpson’s so-called “freeway time,” though longer than that given to other inmates, still is more restrictive.

“When all the other inmates get freeway time, they can talk to other inmates,” Cochran said. “For O.J., it’s five steps up, five steps back. Nothing else.”

Times staff writer Jim Newton contributed to this story.

The Simpson Case (Southland Edition, A20)

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