THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL : Trial Highlights

Some of the key events Wednesday in the Simpson murder trial:

* SUMMARY: In court, witnesses testified about seeing and hearing a barking dog on the night of the murders, and Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito ordered O.J. Simpson’s first wife to testify if prosecutors want to call her to the stand. Outside court, Simpson friend Al Cowlings backed out of a book deal, and a potentially important defense witness surrendered to police, who booked her for felony fraud in connection with a disputed hotel bill.

* WITNESSES: On the stand Wednesday:

* Eva Stein, next-door neighbor of Nicole Simpson: Said she heard a dog barking about 10:15 p.m.

* Louis Karpf, next-door neighbor of Nicole Simpson: Said he returned home at 10:45 or 10:50 p.m. and saw a dog barking outside his home.

* Steven Schwab, Brentwood resident: Testified that he was walking his dog between 10:30 and 11 p.m. when he found Nicole Simpson’s dog barking and acting strangely. He also found blood on its paws and legs.

* Sukru Boztepe, Brentwood resident: Found the bodies on June 13, shortly after midnight. He saw Nicole Simpson’s body slumped at the bottom of a stairway and persuaded a neighbor to call police.

* Elsie Tistaert, neighbor of Nicole Simpson: Told the jury she reported a possible prowler in the neighborhood because someone rang her doorbell repeatedly after midnight on June 13. Prosecutors say that person was Boztepe or his wife, not a prowler.

* OUTSIDE COURT: Mary Anne Gerchas, a witness who defense lawyers say could help Simpson’s case, turned herself in and was booked on suspicion of felony fraud. She is accused of defrauding a hotel chain of $23,000. She was released after posting a $20,000 bond. Also, sources said a juror excused Tuesday was not released because of a dispute with other panelists, as some news organizations had reported. And Al Cowlings’ lawyer, Donald M. Re, said his client had backed out of a possible book deal when his co-author submitted a proposal that included derogatory statements about Nicole Simpson.

* COMING UP: Prosecutors are expected today to begin calling police officers who investigated the murders.

“It wasn’t just like a regular bark. It just seemed like an insistent, loud bark, and it just didn’t stop. And I remember being very annoyed because I couldn’t fall back to sleep.”

--Eva Stein, Nicole Simpson’s next-door neighbor, describing what she heard on the night of the murders