THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL : Fuhrman Adds Shapiro to Libel Suit Against Writer, Magazine

The lawyer for Los Angeles Police Detective Mark Fuhrman, who earlier this week filed a $50-million libel action against New Yorker magazine, on Friday amended that complaint to include O.J. Simpson attorney Robert L. Shapiro as a defendant.

Robert H. Tourtelot, the attorney for Fuhrman, said his decision to name Shapiro as a defendant was made after he received information linking the defense lawyer to a meeting with New Yorker writer Jeffrey Toobin in July, 1994.

The article that is the subject of the lawsuit was published in the July 25 issue of the magazine. In the story, Toobin and the New Yorker quoted unnamed defense attorneys calling Fuhrman a racist and a “bad cop” who might have planted evidence to frame Simpson. Although the story was cast as an analysis of the defense strategy, Fuhrman’s suit says that the allegations were false and outrageous, and that they damaged the officer’s reputation.

Tourtelot, who has aggressively defended Fuhrman since the detective first came under attack for his actions during the Simpson case, said in a statement Friday that “other members of the Simpson defense team may also be added as specific defendants in the suit.”

Shapiro was not immediately available for comment.