Simpson Case’s New Judge Is Praised

A gruff, tough jurist with a passion for motorcycles and an empathy for victims, Superior Court Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki took charge of the civil case against O.J. Simpson on Wednesday, drawing praise and predictions that he will run a fair and snappy trial.

Fujisaki has earned a reputation in nearly 20 years on the bench as a crack-the-whip judge with little tolerance for chit-chat in the courtroom. The most common description of him: “no-nonsense.”

The 60-year-old jurist landed on the Simpson case after the defense objected to the first judge assigned to the trial.

Though he’s known as a careful researcher who checks his law books before issuing a ruling, Fujisaki makes it clear he hates wasting time. And he snaps at any attorney who dares come to his courtroom ill-prepared. When he caught one hapless prosecutor basing an argument on an obsolete case, the other lawyers in the room “just started backing toward the door,” expecting a tirade, attorney Mike Yamaki recalled. Sure enough, Fujisaki “totally trashed” the offending lawyer, Yamaki said.

“He’s the kind of judge who will cut to the chase right away,” Yamaki said. “He expects you not to put any fluff in. . . . I think he gets impatient with incompetence.”

Despite his brusque manner, however, Fujisaki has said--with evident emotion--that he feels a special affinity for “people [who have been] taken advantage of.” He attributes this empathy to his own horrible, humiliating childhood. He was born in West Los Angeles, but when he was 6 years old, Fujisaki’s family was herded into an internment camp in the Eastern Sierra with other Japanese Americans during World War II.

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Forced to dress in decades-old Army castoffs, trapped behind barbed wire, guarded by machine guns, Fujisaki has said the experience seared him. “I always felt apologetic for being Japanese and being put in a camp,” he once told the Daily Journal, a legal newspaper. Being treated like a criminal, he added, made him “feel responsible for all the bad things that Japan did” during the war.

Fujisaki’s wartime ordeal echoes the family experience of another prominent Japanese American jurist: Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito, whose parents were interned in Wyoming during the war.

Ito, of course, presided over the criminal trial against O.J. Simpson. When he was first appointed to the Simpson case, Ito earned praise similar to the plaudits Fujisaki is now receiving. Those early huzzahs soon turned to hisses, however, as analysts panned Ito for letting the trial drag on for nine hype-filled months.

Simpson was acquitted in October on charges of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Relatives of the victims are now suing Simpson in civil court. It is that trial, due to start Sept. 9, over which Fujisaki will preside.

Although the rules are different in civil and criminal court, Fujisaki will face the same pressures that Ito did: trying to manage a ballyhooed trial burbling with questions of celebrity, race, sex and violence. The same compelling, colorful characters will return to the witness stand. And the legions of O.J. junkies--from TV commentators to armchair analysts--might be back as well, scrutinizing Fujisaki’s performance. If that wasn’t enough, the lawyers in the civil trial have started taunting one another inside and outside of court, serving notice that they will be just as quick to snipe, bicker and gripe as their counterparts in the criminal case.

As he prepped himself for the challenge, Fujisaki declined to comment on his role in the Simpson matter. But others in the legal community were more than willing to talk about him--and to compare him with Ito.

Their conclusion: Fujisaki will rein in loudmouth lawyers. Block presentation of crackpot theories. Speed up questioning of witnesses. Ban cameras from the courtroom. In short, push the case along briskly and keep the hoopla at a minimum.

“Judge Fujisaki is superbly qualified by virtue of his experience and temperament to hear a case as complicated and difficult as this one,” Superior Court Judge Paul Boland said.

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Like many judges in Los Angeles, Fujisaki has seen a fair number of celebrities--or their attorneys--in his courtroom. He has handled a sexual harassment lawsuit against movie star Steven Seagal, a financial claim brought by former child actor Gary Coleman, a defamation tiff between actresses Elke Sommer and Zsa Zsa Gabor and a contract dispute involving Jack Nicholson.

Presiding over these high-profile cases with the same stern manner that has become his trademark, Fujisaki never wooed publicity. In fact, he discouraged it. In the Gabor case, television producers asked to set up cameras in the courtroom. Fujisaki instructed them to fill out a formal application--then took “about an eighth of a second” to review it before turning them down, recalled lawyer Richard Posell, who represented Sommer.

“This case will not last for nine months,” Posell said. “I guarantee it. Because he will not let it.”

Stung by Fujisaki’s short fuse, Posell suggested that the judge has “a bit of an attitude problem” and “can get huffy at times.” He also complained that Fujisaki rarely steps in to handle the distracting logistical issues that pop up in complex cases, such as organizing heaps of evidence.

Still, Posell and other observers said that Fujisaki--who worked for seven years as a deputy public defender--has earned his reputation for fairness.

“He has very good seat-of-the-pants instincts on how to solve legal dilemmas,” Posell said. “He’ll try to help both sides as long as they treat him well.”

Simpson’s lawyers did not return calls seeking comment on Fujisaki’s appointment. But Daniel M. Petrocelli, the attorney representing the Goldman family, said he was “absolutely delighted.”

“He will put up with no nonsense, no shenanigans in his courtroom,” Petrocelli said. Petrocelli has argued two previous cases before Fujisaki--he won dismissal of a sexual harassment charge against his client in one instance and agreed to settle an accountant malpractice claim in another.

The son of a gardener, Fujisaki has said he does not consider himself as a “great whiz” despite his successful career. “I think I rule more out of judicial instincts,” he said.

Although judges have vast powers to shape trials by deciding what evidence is admissible, Fujisaki downplayed his role in an interview with the Daily Journal two years ago, referring to himself as “just the umpire.”

To Judge Boland, such modesty is typical of Fujisaki. “While he takes judging seriously, he has never taken himself too seriously,” Boland said.

Boland recalled one sunny afternoon when Fujisaki, decked out in a leather jacket, roared over the grass at UCLA Law School on a motorcycle and screeched to a halt in front of the building where he was to preside over a mock trial. Confronted by the dashing Fujisaki, students gaped.

And Fujisaki knew how to make the most of the stir, Boland said: “He flipped back his goggles and with a disarming smile said, ‘Gentlemen, the judge has arrived.’ ”

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Profile:

Hiroshi Fujisaki

A Superior Court judge based in Santa Monica, Fujisaki was selected to preside over the civil trial of O.J. Simpson.

* Age: 60

* Education: Bachelor’s and law degrees from UCLA.

* Career highlights: Deputy public defender, Los Angeles County, 1963-70. Appointed to the Municipal Court bench in 1977. Appointed to Superior Court in 1980. Now assigned to civil trials in Santa Monica.

* Interests: Motorcycle riding, fishing, jogging, skiing

* Family: Married, two daughters