Simpson’s Video Spurs Bid to Tie Up Phones

There are those who definitely want to hear O.J. Simpson talk. And then there are those who opted Thursday to make that tough to do.

Lawyers opposing Simpson in a wrongful-death lawsuit saw a possible legal advantage in having him comment about the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman on a mail-order video that has just gone on sale.

“Anything that’s recorded on that video, anything spoken or demonstrated by Mr. Simpson, is going to be something he will have to live with,” said Daniel Petrocelli, who represents Goldman’s father.

At the same time, a backlash developed Thursday, with campaigns blossoming on radio talk shows, on fax machines and even in cyberspace to block sales of the video--by keeping the telephone operators hawking the $29.95 tape so busy with questions that they would be unable to get to calls from willing buyers.

An anonymous fax sent to various news media screamed, “Tie up his lines!” and suggested that callers inquire about price, length of the tape, content, tape size and format. It also instructed, “Close by Saying: ‘We’re Not Buying It!’ ”

An Internet site provided a list of 39 other questions that might be asked, such as: “How do I operate a VCR?”

On radio, KFI’s John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou emphasized that they did not want their listeners to swamp the 800 number with calls since that would be illegal.

Instead, Kobylt said, “We’re telling people, don’t buy the tape, but if you have any interest, you might want to ask the operator some questions, and it might cost O.J. a little money.”

The strategy appeared to be working.

“I can just share with you that I’ve had several callers indicate that [tying up the lines] appears to be the objective,” said one frustrated telephone operator who declined to give his name.

Meanwhile, the CNBC cable channel decided Thursday to turn down a two-minute advertising spot to promote the videotape. Instead, Managing Editor Jack Reilly said, the NBC-owned outlet offered Simpson free time with talk how host Geraldo Rivera.

Steve Syatt, a spokesman for KCOP-TV Channel 13, said the Simpson promoters needn’t come knocking there.

“We are not accepting the . . . O.J. spots,” he said. “It was a preemptive decision on the part of the station.”

In the 2 1/2-hour video, Simpson talks to Ross Becker--a former KCOP anchorman--about the murder trial, the evidence presented against him, his alibi on the night of the killings, his acquittal, his breakup with girlfriend Paula Barbieri and his search for the so-called real killers. But so far, its complete contents have not been released.

Simpson was acquitted in October of murder. During the criminal trial, he did not testify in his own behalf.

He backed out of a scheduled interview with NBC after his attorneys voiced opposition about detailed questioning. Another proposed interview, with CNN, also never came off.

Simpson is, however, due to testify under oath at a forthcoming deposition in the civil case. The date for that testimony has been set but, by court order, has not been made public.

On ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Fred and Kim Goldman, Ronald Goldman’s father and sister, lashed out at Simpson for trying to profit from the video.

“I have the right to hear his story under oath . . . and not have to pay 30 bucks for it,” Kim Goldman said.

Petrocelli, Fred Goldman’s lawyer, added in a telephone interview: “The facts of this case should be left to the court process and should not be exploited for profit.”

Attorney Robert Baker, who is defending Simpson in the civil suit, did not return a call seeking comment.

The video is likely to surface at the civil trial, due to begin April 2. The danger for Simpson is that everything he says on the video can be compared with what he says in court or under oath, legal experts said.

Simpson’s attorneys were on the premises when the interview was taped last month at his Brentwood estate. It’s possible the video is so “sanitized that it doesn’t say anything that can be used against him,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, a law professor at USC.

“The difficulty is, it’s never possible to completely foresee . . . where all the questions are going to go or how the answers are going to be phrased,” Chemerinsky said.

For example, Becker told “Dateline NBC” that Simpson explains on the video who the shadowy figure is that chauffeur Allan Park said he saw enter Simpson’s house the night of the killings. Prosecutors had claimed that the figure was Simpson returning after committing the slayings.

At the criminal trial, defense attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. had contended that Simpson was hitting golf balls at the time of the killings.

After being acquitted, Simpson called Larry King’s CNN talk show and said: “There was no shadowy figure coming down the driveway and going across the driveway. That’s what [prosecutor] Marcia Clark told you. That’s not what Allan Park told you.”

Because of such discrepancies, Chemerinsky said, “I would have advised him not to do [the video interview].”

For the moment, said Loyola law school professor Laurie Levenson, “I doubt that anything on this video is going to change the mind of someone who thinks O.J. is guilty. On the other hand, if they think O.J. is innocent, they may point to the video and say, ‘See, he’s willing to tell us he’s innocent.’ What’s so amazing, though, is that basically people are still addicted. They’re still addicted to the story.”

Times staff writer Judith Michaelson contributed to this story.