INTO THE SPOTLIGHT / JUDGE JOHN H. REID : THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL : Jurist Jumps Into Trial Banter With a Direct Style

He was disqualified from presiding over the Rodney G. King beating trial. He got pushed off the Reginald Denny case. But Superior Court Judge John H. Reid now has a piece of the O.J. Simpson saga.

On Tuesday, the 47-year-old jurist was given the task of deciding the admissibility of audio taped interviews with Los Angeles Police Detective Mark Fuhrman. He was assigned to the matter after Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito excused himself because the tapes apparently include disparaging comments about Ito’s wife, LAPD Captain Margaret York.

As Reid took the bench in a hastily called afternoon hearing, he looked out on dozens of lawyers, reporters and gawkers. He raised his eyebrows and admitted: “I’m obviously not fully aware of all the decisions or the issues now before me.”

Later, he told the crowd he was unfamiliar with the Simpson case’s twists and turns because “I don’t read the press or watch TV.”

Despite his self-professed ignorance, Reid jumped comfortably into the bantering cadence that has enlivened Ito’s courtroom for the past eight months. When defense attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. pleaded with the judge for one last chance to speak, Reid countered: “Mr. Cochran, have you ever said just one more thing?”

And when prosecutor Marcia Clark said she would be “sad” if Reid had to waste hours reviewing the Fuhrman tapes, he chuckled wryly: “Oh, don’t shed a tear for me. I think I’ll be able to handle it.”

At last, it is the jurist’s chance to bask in the legal spotlight.

In 1991, he was removed from the King case at the request of defense attorney Paul DePasquale, who represented Officer Timothy E. Wind. A year later, he was disqualified from hearing the Denny case, this time at the urging of James Gillen, one of defendant Antoine Miller’s lawyers.

DePasquale recalled that he had concerns at the time that Reid would be biased against a police officer in trouble. He since has changed his mind, however.

“In retrospect, it was absolutely unwise of me to challenge and disqualify him in the Rodney King case,” DePasquale said. “It was a stupid, stupid decision. He keeps his head in stressful situations, which is what you want in these highly visible cases.”

He applauded the decision by Judge James Bascue, supervising judge of the Superior Court’s criminal division, to give Reid a part in the Simpson case.

As for Gillen, he questioned at the time whether the judge could be “even-tempered and evenhanded.” He declined to comment Tuesday on Reid’s appointment.

Known for his direct yet somewhat brusque style, Reid was named a Superior Court judge in 1987 by former Gov. George Deukmejian. He graduated in 1969 from USC and earned a law degree in 1972 from Southwestern University School of Law.

Times staff writer Stephanie Simon contributed to this story.