THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL : Ito’s Words to Jury on Defense Failure to Disclose

Judge Lance A. Ito’s remarks to jurors in the O.J. Simpson case Monday morning:

All right. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Everybody seems to be smiling today? Good.

All right. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury I need to advise you of certain things. First of all, one of the attorneys has fallen ill, Mr. (William) Hodgman, and he is not with us today. However, the parties have elected to proceed in his absence.

Also, I need to instruct you and to explain to you some of the reasons for the delay that we have had for the past two days.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: The laws governing criminal procedure in California require that each side disclose and give to the other side the names of the persons they intend to present as witnesses and any written record or recording of the statements made by these witnesses. The law also requires the disclosure of any real or tangible evidence. These disclosures must be made before trial if the witnesses or evidence are then known. These laws exist to promote the ascertainment of truth in trials, to save court time in trial and to avoid the necessity for frequent interruptions and postponements.

During the course of the opening statements, defense counsel mentioned witnesses who had not previously been disclosed to the prosecution, or whose written statements were not given to the prosecution before trial as required by law. This violation of the law, this was a violation of the law and one of the causes of the two-day delay, including the absence of Mr. Hodgman.

Keeping in mind that statements by the lawyers are not evidence, you are directed to disregard the comments of defense counsel during this opening statement as they pertain to the following potential witnesses: Mary Anne Gerchas, Michelle Abudrahm, Mark Partridge, Howard Weitzman, Skip Taft, Christian Reichardt.

If and when these witnesses are presented to you during this trial, you may consider the effect of this delay in disclosure, if any, upon the credibility of the witnesses involved and give to it the weight to which you feel it is entitled.

Please note however, and this is important, please note that the failure of the defense attorneys is not evidence of the defendant’s guilt and should not be considered as such by you.