THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL

UCLA law professor Peter Arenella and Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson offer their take on the Simpson trial. Joining them is defense attorney Gerald L. Chaleff, who will rotate with other experts as the case moves forward. Today’s topic: the human factor.

PETER ARENELLA

On the prosecution: “With clarity, precision and attention to ghoulish detail, Brian Kelberg offered the jury a primer on how autopsies are conducted. Jurors learned why some wound patterns make it difficult to distinguish whether they were produced by a single- or double-edged knife. But Kelberg’s most important lesson concerned Dr. Irwin Golden: He may not remind anyone of Quincy, but his mistakes were harmless.”

On the defense: “Pictures of Nicole Brown Simpson’s slashed throat illustrated the defense’s dilemma with the coroner’s phase of the prosecution’s case. The defense would like to divert jurors’ attention from those grisly details that capture the horror and pain of what was done to the victims and their families. Yet, the defense must use some of these macabre details to show mistakes made by Golden that may have compromised some of his conclusions.”

LAURIE LEVENSON

On the prosecution: “Profoundly disturbing. Though the morning’s testimony sounded very clinical, by the time the jurors saw autopsy tools, the real thrust of the coroner’s testimony was clear. Dr. Lakshmanan summed it up at the end of the day: 1) the victims bled to death; 2) Nicole’s throat was viciously slashed; 3) she probably was on the ground and perhaps unconscious when it happened. Tuesday, the victims were not forgotten.”

On the defense: “Robert Shapiro knows he can’t make the horror go away. His only hope is to focus on the 30-odd errors Lakshmanan admitted that Golden made. Shapiro’s most important task is to show that these errors make a difference because they may undermine the estimated time of death and the prosecution’s contention that one man with one knife could have committed these horrific crimes. Given the emotional quality of this testimony, Shapiro must tread lightly.”

GERALD L. CHALEFF

On the prosecution: “The prosecution finally got to focus the jury’s attention where they’ve always wanted it: on the gruesome injuries that killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Kelberg wrapped up the day by effectively using gruesome photos of Nicole’s severed neck, but what the jury may take home for the night was the coroner’s description of Nicole--unconscious and face down, her head pulled back by the hair as her assailant slashed her throat.”

On the defense: “The prosecution anticipated the defense’s inevitable attack on Golden’s competency by having his boss admit his mistakes and describe them as unimportant. The defense still has plenty of room to attack because this witness did not do the autopsy and formed his opinions based on photographs and Golden’s much-amended notes. Lakshmanan’s tentative language can be used to undermine his own single-knife theory.”

Compiled by TIM RUTTEN / Los Angeles Times