THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL : Chief Criticizes Way Defense Has Portrayed Police Force

Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams on Tuesday denounced O.J. Simpson’s attorneys for their claims that the LAPD mishandled the murder investigation and fabricated evidence against the former football star.

“It is unconscionable that you would paint a picture where you would have detectives, police officers, civilian laboratory people and others decide to plot against Mr. Simpson, carry it out, all keep quiet and not have anyone break it,” Williams said. “It’s too fanciful to imagine. . . . It’s something that belongs down in Disneyland.”

Williams, who has rarely commented publicly on the Simpson case, said he was compelled to speak out after attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.’s opening statement described the department as having bungled the case. Cochran has suggested an LAPD conspiracy to convict Simpson of the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend Ronald Lyle Goldman, but has yet to spell out the details.

“The defense misdirected the public and the jury away from the facts in the case and towards a fictitious and fanciful notion that there was a plot to deny Mr. Simpson his right to a fair trial,” Williams said. “Mr. Simpson has a right to a fair trial, but the Los Angeles Police Department also has a right not to be painted with a broad brush of accusation.”

In his criticism of Simpson’s attorneys, Williams also voiced his support for Detective Mark Fuhrman, a prosecution witness the defense has characterized as having racist views toward blacks. Indicating he found nothing wrong with the job Fuhrman did, Williams said: “I stand behind him.”

Police Commission President Enrique Hernandez echoed the chief’s criticism, characterizing the opening statements by the defense as “self-serving lawyer talk” that was not accurate.

Before going public, Williams said he cleared his remarks with the prosecutors. He said he was forced to take action, in part, to counteract the devastating impact the lawyer’s remarks were having on morale among the rank and file.

Dennis Zine, a Police Protective League spokesman, said department morale has hit the lowest point in decades.

“It’s been miserable,” Zine said. “We have been beaten up after Rodney King, Daryl Gates, every conceivable issue. Now it’s Simpson. It’s outlandish how bizarre the accusations are.”

He applauded the police chief’s remarks, particularly comments supporting Fuhrman. “There was no reason for Mark Fuhrman or anyone else involved in this investigation to plant evidence,” he said.

Williams said it may take years for his department to recover.

“If we travel anywhere in the city, this county or this country, people say, ‘Oh, LAPD, Rodney King, O.J. Simpson,’ ” Williams said.

“Long after this case is over, the only impression people are going to have of the Los Angeles Police Department is what they see on the tube or what they read in the newspapers,” Williams said.