THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL : Arenella, Levenson & Co : The Legal Pad

UCLA law professor Peter Arenella and Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson offer their take on the Simpson trial. Joining them is Southwestern University Law professor Myrna Raeder, who will rotate with other experts as the case progresses. Today’s topic: Numbers, numbers and more mind-numbing numbers.

On the prosecution

PETER ARENELLA “Dry as sand and just as digestible. Expert witnesses face a formidable task: They must convey specialized knowledge comprehensibly without being condescending. Robin Cotton and Gary Sims performed this task brilliantly; Bruce Weir did not. Prosecutors have to hope any hostile juror reaction to Weir won’t spill over to other experts.”

LAURIE LEVENSON “Did haste make waste? Weir’s recently prepared reports contained mistakes. Although not critical, they embarrassed an otherwise unflappable witness. Nothing seems to come easily for the prosecution. Now Woody Clarke must unsnarl the statistical evidence and remind the jurors that DNA is still powerful evidence.”

MYRNA RAEDER “More mind-numbing statistics of all sizes with little real meaning to the case, even assuming jurors had any clue about their significance. If the jurors buy the other powerful DNA evidence, it shouldn’t matter what probabilities are generated concerning the mixed stains, because the presence of blood in the Bronco and on the glove by itself is what is important.”

On the defense

PETER ARENELLA “Weir is the type of witness jurors love to hate. Now we know why the defense forced the prosecution to present expert testimony about population frequency statistics for mixed stains. Having the prosecution end their DNA case with such an expert might motivate jurors to be suspicious about all the prosecution’s scientific testimony.”

LAURIE LEVENSON “No love lost between Weir and Peter Neufeld. Not only did Neufeld embarrass Weir, but he also painted him as a biased outsider bucking other statistics experts. Then Neufeld tried to transform Weir into a defense witness. If he can use Weir to do the defense’s calculations, he won’t have to expose his own expert to cross-examination.”

MYRNA RAEDER “Judge Ito may have done the defense a favor by admitting Weir’s staggering statistics. Besides providing a real issue for any appeal, jurors may be turned off by numbers so astonishing that even Weir finds them embarrassing. On cross examination, Neufeld caught Weir in an error that Weir conceded was biased against Simpson.”

Compiled by HENRY WEINSTEIN/Los Angeles Times