THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL

On the prosecution: UCLA law professor Peter Arenella and Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson offer their take on the Simpson trial. Joining them is defense attorney Jill Lansing, who will rotate with other experts as the case moves forward. Today’s topic: Flight information.

PETER ARENELLA

On the defense: The value of the defense’s demeanor evidence depends on each juror’s view of human nature. O.J. acting like O.J., pleasant and gracious immediately after the murders, suggests his innocence only if one believes killers display visible guilt. Perhaps more telling is his change in demeanor after he was contacted by the police in Chicago, unless O.J. is a better actor than we realized, or his distress was sincere but motivated by fears of apprehension.

On the prosecution: Prosecutors should be smiling after a series of Judge Lance Ito’s rulings limited defense options. Any attempt to show Mark Fuhrman committed perjury will not be aided by the D.A.s who prepared him. And the defense’s drug-murder-gone-wrong scenario took a fatal hit because the defense cannot use Faye Resnick’s drug problems to support it. The defense will need hard evidence, not speculation and rumors, to create reasonable doubt.

LAURIE LEVENSON

On the defense: Was the finger cut? Defense witnesses didn’t see a cut on O.J.’s finger until after he got to Chicago. Although this testimony could help O.J., he apparently told police something different, that he cut his finger before he left L.A. As for demeanor, O.J. was cordial to everyone before the tragic news and upset afterward. Nevertheless, he still was able to sign autographs.

On the prosecution: The prosecution’s most successful moment came at the day’s beginning. Ito precluded the defense, for now, from suggesting that the murders were linked to Resnick and her drug use. Prosecutors were less successful, however, in attacking defense witnesses. O.J. may be an actor, but the witnesses saw it differently. They saw a sockless, but sincere, celebrity.

JILL LANSING

On the defense: The defense continued to contrast the relaxed, affable, uninjured Chicago-bound Simpson with his distraught, injured, post-notification condition. Despite some inconsistencies elicited by the prosecution, it will be hard to persuade the jury that all of these disinterested strangers are lying or mistaken.

On the prosecution: The prosecution victory eliminating defense evidence regarding the drug cartel theory of the killings, while not a surprise, certainly limited the number of borders along which the prosecution must fight this war. Now, we never will know who would have sustained the most casualties in that particular skirmish.

Compiled by Tim Rutten / Los Angeles Times