REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK : Holden Trial Has Race, Sex and Even Politics

In the post-O.J. Simpson world, the sexual harassment case against Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden has become the Trial of the, um, Fortnight.

If things keep up--and, especially, if the lawyers keep objecting to one another’s queries, slowing testimony to a turtle trot--it could even make Trial of the Month.

Instead of allegations that Simpson told a friend he dreamed about killing his wife, we have a psychologist who says the plaintiff, Marlee M. Beyda, had nightmares about Holden attacking her.

Instead of the bloody glove, we have a baseball cap with an emblem meaning “Don’t [expletive] Touch Me” that Beyda, the art-student-turned receptionist, made as a form of silent protest.

And instead of audiotapes of Detective Mark Fuhrman’s racist rantings, there are videotapes of self-help guru John Bradshaw talking about male domination and power structures.

There’s no live television feed broadcasting every sidebar and swearing-in to millions worldwide. In fact, Superior Court Judge Raymond D. Mireles has even banned still photographers from his courtroom. But at least six television news crews and just as many print and radio journalists camped out at the trial every day last week, chasing the councilman and the receptionist down the hall with bright lights blazing every time they left the courtroom.

For some court buffs and City Hall-watchers, it’s the biggest show in town.

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This trial has race, sex and a dash of politics to boot.

Beyda, 31, is one of three women who have filed formal claims against the 66-year-old lawmaker. She contends that he touched her waist, buttocks, chest and thigh, forced her to touch his penis and kiss him, and offered to advance her career in exchange for sex.

Holden says Beyda’s story is baldfaced lies and says that her lawsuit is part of a broad political conspiracy by his nemesis, former Mayor Tom Bradley.

Originally, Beyda also alleged that the black council member discriminated against her because she is Jewish. She has dropped that element of the suit, but it nevertheless comes up in court.

Both sides waived the right to a jury trial, which was supposed to speed things up. But it hasn’t prevented the lawyers and judge from calling for sidebars.

Holden spent much of last week on the stand, testifying that he had never had sex with Beyda, never touched her sexually, never made sexual comments to her and never went on a date with her. On Friday, Beyda began telling her story of come-ons and kisses.

The second-string witness list offers no limo driver, no neighbor’s maid and no house guest. But there is Geneva Cox, Holden’s retired field deputy.

During her first stint on the witness stand, Cox asked the judge to hurry because she had to get home to meet the plumber. Later, she asked if she could stay and listen to others testify, to learn more about trials. A sixtysomething woman who used to start staff meetings with biblical quotations, Cox was ultimately asked whether she talked about her sex life in the office.

“I’m too modest for that. I didn’t even look at my husband for a long time after we were married,” Cox said, blushing.

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Like the Simpson trial, there has been a steady stream of visitors to the courtroom, which sits in the middle of the third floor of the county courthouse.

Actor Jon Voight came by one day and gave Holden a hug. Two members of the Women’s Action Coalition watched testimony for a couple of days and then yelled at Holden in the hallway with chants of, “Don’t [expletive] Touch Me, Nate!” Holden’s lawyer, Skip Miller, brought a group of young lawyers from his office for a field trip, and a steady stream of bored jurors from other cases have stopped by to hear a witness or two.

Here at least the journalists don’t have to share seats or watch via closed circuit TV. Pretty much, there’s room for everyone.

Plus, Mireles is a bit of a softy, allowing people to read newspapers or drink coffee (though the bailiff has a strict policy against chewing gum) during the trial.

“This guy’s much more kick-back. I can whisper to my colleagues,” said John North of KCAL-TV, Channel 9, covering his first non-Simpson story since the slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman. “If this were [Simpson Judge Lance A.] Ito, I’d be in jail by now.”

As the week waned, the lawyers started trading barbs outside court, with one accusing the other of slander, the second threatening to bring forward 20 more women who would name Holden a harasser. And the press had started to get antsy as well, crowding closer each time someone emerged from court.

“There’s no need to chase her down the hallway!” Beyda attorney Dan Stormer screeched. “Give her some respect! This is a very trying time for her. Just let her walk down the hallway!”