Ito, Lawyers Preview Jury Field Trip Sites

Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito on Friday led a coterie of lawyers and court officers to the scene of the murders that O.J. Simpson is accused of committing--an outing that captivated sightseers who gathered to watch as the group laid the groundwork for a Sunday field trip by the jury and the defendant.

Friday’s dry run included the judge and lawyers for both sides, and the group traveled to Simpson’s Rockingham Avenue house as well. While there, sources say, an argument erupted over whether the jury would be allowed to see the former football star’s trophy room.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Cheri Lewis objected, sources said, arguing that it was irrelevant and would tend to cause jurors to look more favorably on Simpson. According to the sources, Simpson’s attorneys countered that it was unfair to limit the panel’s visit by excluding areas that reflect well on their client--and Ito agreed.

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The result: Jurors will see the trophy room and the rest of the Rockingham house interior, as well as the murder scene, the driveway at Simpson’s home where blood drops led to the front door and the narrow alley where a bloody glove was recovered on his estate. They also may make stops at Mezzaluna restaurant and at the apartment where murder victim Ronald Lyle Goldman lived.

They will be accompanied by a small group of reporters, including one from The Times, but the reporters will not be allowed on Simpson’s property--a prohibition that Simpson requested.

Lawyers for the two sides have painstakingly negotiated the details of the visit, including arrangements that provide for Simpson’s security while still allowing him to make the trip to his own house and to that of his murdered ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.

“He will be attending,” Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., Simpson’s lead trial attorney, said Friday. “Satisfactory arrangements have been made, so he will be there.”

Although Cochran would not comment on the arrangements, a source close to the case said Simpson will wear an electronic device that will shock him if he tries to flee. However, the device can be worn beneath clothing, thus remaining invisible to the jury.

Simpson has pleaded not guilty to the June 12 murders of Goldman and Nicole Simpson. He was arrested June 17, and has been in custody ever since, so Sunday’s trip will mark his first return to his Brentwood estate since being charged with the murders.

The prospect of jurors trooping through the crime scene has set Brentwood abuzz and raised new legal and strategic questions for the attorneys in the case. It also has created a host of logistic problems: Air space will be closed to keep helicopter-borne cameras from recording the scene, and about 200 police officers will be on duty to shut down streets and provide other security.

On Friday, police warned some Brentwood residents not to rent space to photographers who are desperate for a peek at the tour participants.

Despite the extraordinary arrangements made for the trip, attorneys were confronted with a number of strategic questions. Chief among them was the question of whether and how Simpson, who is in custody, could join the jury for the trip.

Legal experts said Simpson had a right to attend because the trip is part of his trial, and a criminal defendant is entitled to attend all phases of the proceedings against him.

“This is essentially the outdoor courtroom for the day,” said Loyola University law professor Laurie Levenson. “He has a right to be there.”

But Sheriff’s Department officials, who are providing security for the trip, also have an obligation to ensure that Simpson does not escape and that his safety is protected.

In past cases, some defendants have passed up the chance to attend jury field trips out of concern that having jurors see them handcuffed or surrounded by deputies would convey an ominous impression of guilt. During the trial of the so-called Hillside Strangler, for instance, deputies insisted that the defendant be shackled, so he elected not to attend.

In another highly publicized case, Richard Miller, an accused spy, attended a jury field trip in his trial wearing handcuffs. He was allowed, however, to drape a raincoat over the cuffs to minimize any inference that he was dangerous.

Although Cochran said defense lawyers were satisfied with the approach that Ito and the Sheriff’s Department have devised for Simpson, legal experts said the trip raises a number of other confounding problems such as controlling what jurors see and hear while they are on tour.

“There’s a huge danger of something going wrong,” said Harland W. Braun, a Los Angeles defense lawyer who has attended two jury field trips, one as a prosecutor and one as a defense attorney. “What happens if one of these jurors spots something on the sidewalk that the others don’t see? They’re not allowed to talk about the case, so months go by and then they’re in deliberations and that juror says: ‘I saw blood there.’ There’s no way to cross-examine that, no way to check it.”

Levenson said field trips inevitably raise those types of concerns, and the extraordinary publicity surrounding this case only heightens those issues.

Peter Arenella, a UCLA law professor, agreed that the problems were formidable but said they would be minimized by the extensive law enforcement response. The Los Angeles Police Department and the county Sheriff’s Department will be on hand.

“There is a danger of contamination of the jury, but given the level of police protection, I think the dangers are minimal,” Arenella said.

To guard against problems, Levenson said, she expects Ito will give the jurors detailed instructions about what they are to do while on the field trip. Defense attorneys said jurors will not be allowed to ask questions, and no witnesses will testify. The panel of 12 jurors and nine alternates will merely observe.

Ito has scheduled a hearing for 8:30 a.m. Sunday in his court, where he is expected to instruct jurors before heading out on their tour. Once they do, they are sure to be swept up in a monumental media affair.

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The dress rehearsal was Friday. As the judge and lawyers toured the sites, two news helicopters fluttered overhead, and several news crews aimed their cameras over the green-tarped fences guarding Simpson’s home in hopes of recording any activity inside. In addition, a small group of onlookers quickly gathered at Simpson’s Rockingham estate once it became clear that something was happening in the Simpson case.

Two of those who stood outside the estate awaiting the next turn of events were Reuben and Ruby Fonseca, a honeymooning couple from Sinton, Tex. (population 5,517). They followed Ito to Brentwood after spotting him being driven in a white van.

In their beige Chevy pickup with “Just Married” emblazoned across the side, the Fonsecas trailed the judge from a courthouse Downtown to Nicole Simpson’s condo, then to the Simpson estate.

“This is great,” said Ruby Fonseca, who with her husband has been following the murder case from the beginning.

Neighbors and residents in Brentwood were noticeably less impressed. Some were visibly annoyed at the presence of dozens of reporters, some of whom blocked the street in front of the Simpson home, impeding traffic. One driver shouted obscenities at reporters as he inched his way through the crowd.

A much larger media crush is anticipated this weekend when the actual tour takes place, and some people already are trying to cash in. A few residents who live near Nicole Simpson’s Bundy Drive condominium have rented space to television camera operators and photographers looking for the best angle on the murder scene. The going rate: $500 a day and up.

Police sought to rein in any profiteering, urging residents not to allow photographers to rent space. A longstanding court order prohibits photographing of the jurors.

Gilbert Greene, who lives on Dorothy Street about a block from the condominium, said he had been approached by several photographers seeking to rent his garage apartment, which has a direct view. Other neighbors reported similar approaches by the press, and some accepted offers, only to back out once the police warned them against it.

Nevertheless, they are braced for a hectic weekend.

“It’s Disneyland. Our neighborhood will never be the same,” Greene said. The police “want to rope off my driveway and I won’t be able to get in or out. I’ll be a prisoner in my home.”

Times staff writers Tim Rutten, Andrea Ford and Scott Shibuya Brown and correspondent Susan Steinberg contributed to this article.