Media Can’t Rekindle First Trial’s Spark

For the media, Monday’s opening of Act II in the O.J. Simpson drama was a social success but an artistic disaster.

Act II, in which the wrongful death suit against Simpson unfolds, never had the promise of Act I’s drama, with its chase and never-ending tabloid scandals. But the press, hungry to recapture the old O.J. spark, figured that the presence of Simpson, giving a deposition in a West Los Angeles law office, had possibilities--even if the proceedings were private. A dozen television trucks showed up, along with more than 25 reporters and TV crew members.

At the outset, the event had some pleasant moments. Veteran trial reporters hugged and shook hands, pleased at seeing each other for the first time since Simpson’s acquittal last October. They were like kids back in school after summer vacation.

But the closest they came to seeing the star of the show was on a guard station television screen, when a security camera caught him waiting for an elevator. Crews that had waited for two hours in chilly morning air could barely see Simpson through the darkened window glass of a black Ford Explorer.

Then, in a final insult, the law building snack bar refused to serve the journalists. Apparently the management wanted to save the lawyers and secretaries who patronize the place from exposure to the Simpson press corps.

*

This stage of the Simpson case is tremendously important to the families of the murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. It is the relatives’ chance to nail Simpson for a crime they are convinced he committed. And in the end, it could provide the dramatic results that the survivors and their supporters hope for.

So despite my conviction that the Simpson case essentially ended after the first act, I decided to check out the media scene since O.J. himself was giving his deposition just a few blocks from my home.

He was sequestered on the fifth floor of a high-rise on Olympic Boulevard that houses the old and prestigious law firm of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp. An adjacent high-rise, part of the same complex, is headquarters of an equally well-known legal firm, Manatt, Phelps, Phillips & Kantor.

Given the nature of the two firms, it was amusing to see their turf invaded by so many reporters and TV crews.

Mitchell Silberberg and Manatt Phelps operate from the inside, their reputations earned by quiet deal-making rather than through courtroom histrionics.

Mitchell Silberberg is known for its entertainment law clients, Manatt Phelps for influence in government chambers ranging from Los Angeles City Hall to Congress. Neither seek publicity. In fact, it’s tough to get an interview with one of their lawyers. And when the interview begins, it’s even harder to persuade the attorney to provide even a minimum of information.

All through the morning, employees of the two firms viewed the media horde with distaste as the reporters waited in the large courtyard between the two high-rises.

There was downright dislike in one woman’s voice when she asked me to step aside in the small gift shop. At lunchtime, lawyers heading out to lunch looked at us as though we were exhibits in a freak show.

*

The reporters waited from early morning until early afternoon, but got little out of it. Even though the electronic crews were backed up with expensive hardware, including the latest satellite dishes, technology can’t make something out of nothing.

Fred Goldman spoke to the reporters briefly, providing no details of Simpson’s answers to lawyers’ questions. One of the lawyers had a few words for the press.

Amazingly, Channel 7 said Monday had been “an eventful day” and Channel 2 said it was important.

That’s not the way I see it. If O.J. Simpson committed the murders and walked, no civil verdict, no award of damages can right that wrong. For that reason, Monday’s coverage was little more than media hype, the offering of news directors who remember how the Simpson trial boosted ratings and are hoping these proceedings provide the same.

Unfortunately for them, a civil trial is heavy on procedure and technicalities. Depositions are taken behind closed doors and not released until later, although lawyers on both sides will no doubt leak tidbits. When the actual trial starts in April, the courtroom will be heavy with citations from the civil code and old appellate decisions. No way that will increase ratings.

Yet we persisted in searching for the old magic, more sad than silly. It was as hopeless as trying to rekindle a dead romance or chasing lost youth.