THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL : To Testify or Not, That Is the Question

A big question in the O.J. Simpson trial is whether the football hero will take the stand in his own defense.

If he does, it would be the most hyped-up media event of American criminal law--everything riding on O.J.’s shoulders, just as it was in 1967 when his fourth quarter run carried the USC Trojans football team to a 21-20 victory over UCLA.

After beating the Bruins, winning the Heisman Trophy, starring in the National Football League and appearing on television and in movies, Simpson may figure he has the ability to persuade the jury of his innocence.

But defense attorneys think long and hard before they put a client on the stand, especially in a heavily publicized trial such as Simpson’s.

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One of the most celebrated instances of a prominent defendant not taking the stand came in the trial of John DeLorean, the manufacturer of the stainless steel DMC sports car who was tried in Los Angeles in 1984 on charges of participating in a $24-million cocaine deal.

It looked as if the evidence against him was overwhelming. The government had videotapes of DeLorean in a hotel room engaged in what federal authorities said were conversations about drugs, money laundering and investment of drug profits.

DeLorean seemed to be the perfect person to convince a jury that the charges were untrue. He was a tall, handsome man who was intelligent and persuasive enough to rise to the top level of General Motors before persuading investors and the British government to finance DeLorean Motor Car Ltd., the maker of the DMC car.

And he wanted to testify, according to his attorneys, Donald Re and Howard Weitzman. The same two lawyers, by the way, are peripherally involved in the Simpson case. Weitzman represented Simpson when he was first questioned by police and Re represents Simpson’s friend, A.C. Cowlings.

DeLorean’s desire to take the stand is fairly typical, said Theo Wilson, who covered the trial for the New York Daily News and is now writing about the Simpson case for Reuters. “There isn’t a defendant who doesn’t want to get on the stand and straighten things out,” Wilson said. “They have been sitting there in silence hearing things about themselves that are making them crazy. Most of them think they can do it very well. They figure they are the most involved, they know about it more than anybody.”

In DeLorean’s case, Weitzman and Re decided that their client’s testimony wasn’t needed. “We had established John never agreed to do the deal,” Re said. “We had explained the tapes.” And, Weitzman said, the government “had failed to prove their case and the credibility of their witnesses was so damaged it was unnecessary for the jury to hear from John.”

Although Re felt DeLorean would have been effective on the stand, Weitzman had his doubts about how the jury would react to the supremely confident, even arrogant, defendant. “I don’t think DeLorean would have been a good witness and his credibility would have been suspect and I did not want to take that gamble,” Weitzman said.

So, without ever hearing from DeLorean, the jury of six men and six women found him not guilty after 29 hours of deliberation, extending over seven days. It took just one ballot.

To this day, Weitzman believes the decision to keep DeLorean off the stand “made the difference between winning and losing.”

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Thursday, I talked to lawyer Re and reporter Wilson about whether Simpson will testify.

It was the kind of day that might spur Simpson to insist on speaking up on his own behalf. Los Angeles Police Detective Ronald Phillips testified that Simpson asked no questions about the circumstances surrounding the killing of Nicole Brown Simpson when Phillips notified him of the death. Simpson, Phillips said, had not asked how Nicole had been killed or when, where or by whom. Anyone would want to give their side of such a conversation.

“My inclination would be for him not to testify,” Re said. “He has his image. You don’t want to take him off his pedestal. I would want the jury to react to the image, to keep him up on the pedestal.”

Wilson agreed. “As of today, I don’t think O.J. will take the stand unless he is running the show,” he said. “I don’t think it is good lawyering to let this particular defendant take the stand.

“O.J. has been an idol for many years, surrounded by yes men, used to being in charge. A defendant on the stand is going to be subjected by the prosecution to so much that I don’t think O.J. can handle it. I don’t know how disciplined he is. I don’t know how smart he is. Is he a brilliant, self-searching man?

“Is he a man who can handle Marcia (Clark)? She would love to have him on the stand.”