THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL : With Slap at Ito, Garcetti Joins the Shadow Trial

“He sure knows how to get on TV,” a television reporter said after Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti’s news conference Wednesday.

He sure does. With the fiercest blast heard from his 18th-floor office since the O.J. Simpson trial began, Garcetti ripped apart his old colleague, Lance A. Ito, once a deputy district attorney, now the world-famous ringmaster of the Trial of the Century.

Dropping caution, Garcetti condemned Ito for levying a $1,000 fine on the prosecution. Ito had fined the prosecutors $250 for failing to show up for an early morning hearing and when Deputy Dist. Atty. Marcia Clark objected, he quadrupled the penalty.

“What the judge did today was outrageous, it was vindictive, it was petty, it was uncalled-for,” said Garcetti. He slammed his palm down on his rostrum for emphasis.

It was a shocker for us who have faithfully sat through Garcetti’s monthly news conferences, often impatiently, while the D.A. fired off one generality after another.

But Garcetti is smart enough to know that shock makes a story in today’s media world. With his few unexpected words and his uncharacteristic hand slap to the rostrum, Garcetti leaped to the center of the media stage that has been the exclusive property of his foe, chief defense attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.

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All the seats at the U-shaped table in the D.A.’s conference room were filled by the time Garcetti walked in just after the 12:30 p.m. scheduled starting time.

He started off in his usual bland mode. He gave his customary recitation of the number of felony trials his office is prosecuting, over and above the Simpson case. Simpson, he said, is one case, and there are 104 others, 20 of them murder trials. Most are based on circumstantial evidence. In most, the deputy D.A.s are working with much less evidence than possessed by the Simpson prosecutors. And he expects to win most of them.

But it was quickly apparent this news conference would be different.

In contrast to his usual refusal to talk in detail about the Simpson case, Garcetti said his deputies had put on “an extremely powerful case” and that the defense, despite its “exhaustive and expensive” presentation, had come up with “nothing to raise reasonable doubt.”

The jurors, he said, were “smart, intelligent people” who will base their decision on the evidence. Asked about the possibility of a second trial, he said, “I really don’t think we have to deal with this problem.”

Garcetti sounded like a coach familiar with every nook and cranny of his game plan. For example, when a question was raised about whether retired Los Angeles Police Detective Mark Fuhrman might be charged with perjury, Garcetti quickly offered his take.

Lying on the witness stand, he said, does not automatically constitute perjury. An actor who lies about his age is not a perjurer. The witness, Garcetti said, must have lied about material facts and have done it intentionally.

This was all preliminary to his blast against Ito. He looked as though he was waiting for the inevitable question about the fine.

“I’ll take a deep breath,” Garcetti said before answering.

After calling Ito vindictive and petty, he said “this office will not pay this fine.” If Ito doesn’t reduce it, “we will appeal.”

A little later in the news conference, he said, “I’m not sure anyone can understand what this judge is doing.”

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In the end, Ito cut the fine back to $250, and did it with a smile. Maybe he’ll still be pals with his old D.A.’s office colleagues. Perhaps they’ll invite him to the office Christmas party.

However, there was more than the fine at stake for the D.A.’s office Wednesday.

Garcetti’s attack on Ito put the district attorney in the middle of a contest he had been ignoring--the other O.J. Simpson trial, the shadow trial being held outside the courthouse.

The D.A. acknowledged the existence of the other trial. The prosecution, he said, is up against “a propaganda campaign very well-organized by the defense.” Defense words, he said, may reach the sequestered jury through conjugal visit chats in bedroom privacy. “There may be pillow talk,” he said. “Is it happening? I hope not.”

Up to now, the defense has been uncontested in this out-of-court war. It’s always Cochran, F. Lee Bailey, Robert Shapiro, Alan Dershowitz or some other defense heavy on the network morning shows. In fact, it’s hard to turn on the TV set in the morning without encountering one of them.

Garcetti’s team has been heard in the courtroom. Obviously, he wants to get the same message across on television--and in jury pillow talk.