Trial Highlights : THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL

Some of the key events Thursday in the O.J. Simpson murder trial:

* SUMMARY: Defense attorneys continued their often personal attack on former LAPD Officer Ronald G. Shipp, who testified that Simpson is a longtime friend and that Simpson told him he dreamed of killing his ex-wife. Prosecutors defended Shipp and, just as the day concluded, played for the jury two 911 calls placed by Nicole Brown Simpson in 1993. In one, she sobs and pleads for help as a man she identifies as Simpson yells in the background.

* WITNESSES: On the stand Thursday:

* Ronald G. Shipp, former Los Angeles police officer who has known Simpson for 26 years. Defense lawyers tried to tear down Shipp’s credibility by raising a series of attacks on his character; prosecutors derided those attacks.

* Michael Stevens, senior investigator for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Stevens said that on Dec. 6, 1994, he drilled open a safe deposit box belonging to Nicole Simpson. Inside were photographs of her with injuries, a will, newspaper clippings detailing a 1989 fight between her and O.J. Simpson and three letters from Simpson taking responsibility for the beating.

* Terri Moore, an LAPD 911 operator. Moore testified that she received calls from Nicole Simpson on Oct. 25, 1993, and the tape of the calls was then played.

* COMING UP: Two police officers who responded to the 1993 call for help are expected to lead off the day, but the emotional highlight is likely to be the testimony of Nicole Simpson’s sister, Denise Brown. Brown will be the first family member of either victim to take the stand in the case, but her sometimes conflicting prior statements about the relationship between her sister and O.J. Simpson may be used against her.

“I upgraded it to life-threatening.”

--Terri Moore, 911 operator, describing her reaction to Nicole Simpson’s pleas for help during an emergency call in 1993