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 lawyer Gigi Gordon, who will rotate with other experts as the case moves forward. Today’s topic: Detective Mark Fuhrman takes the 5th.

PETER ARENELLA

On the defense: “Another red-letter day for the defense. A large segment of the public will erroneously construe Fuhrman’s taking the 5th on whether he planted the glove as an admission that he did. Today, the defense will argue the jury should be told what the rest of the world knows because Fuhrman’s invocation of the privilege makes him unavailable to the defense. If Judge Ito grants that request, a hung jury would be a moral victory for the prosecution.”

On the prosecution: “More self-inflicted wounds. By asking Laura McKinny the wrong question, Chris Darden opened the door to Fuhrman’s statements that female officers could not be trusted as much as their male counterparts to cover up misconduct. Now the prosecution must persuade Ito that jurors can not be told that Fuhrman took the 5th because the jurors would then assume Fuhrman planted the glove, even though the law tells them not to do so.”

LAURIE LEVENSON

On the defense: “Wow! Although jurors may never hear it, it was startling when Fuhrman, a veteran police officer, invoked his 5th Amendment privilege rather than deny he planted evidence. Fuhrman had the right to do so, but the sting was still there. Defendants are expected to take the 5th, not detectives. Fuhrman’s actions seem to have eclipsed everything else in the trial.”

On the prosecution: “Just when prosecutors thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did. Laura Hart McKinny zinged Chris Darden with references to alleged cover-ups and Roderick Hodge completed the picture of Fuhrman as a racist cop. Then Fuhrman took the 5th rather than step up to explain his actions. By the end of the day, prosecutors faced misconduct accusations and suppression of their evidence. What else can go wrong? Don’t ask.”

GIGI GORDON

On the defense: “Technical knockout in the fight seen around the world. Not only was Fuhrman knocked down but the wall of silence was breached because of the tapes and the four witnesses who came forward. Round after round, the defense landed body blows on what remains of Fuhrman’s credibilility. But in the end, it was Fuhrman himself who begged the ref to call the fight when he took the 5th three times.”

On the prosecution: “Call the fight. For several days, Chris Darden has been telling Judge Ito that he’s taking it on the chin, but on Wednesday he took full body blows. The prosecution chose to go after Laura McKinny and Roderick Hodge and only wound up on the ropes, where they were pummeled senseless. The prosecution may win a round if jurors don’t hear that Fuhrman took the 5th, but it doesn’t matter because Fuhrman was KO’d by the witnesses and the tapes.”

Compiled by HENRY WEINSTEIN / Los Angeles Times