Fuhrman May Enter Plea in Perjury Case

Former police Det. Mark Fuhrman is expected to appear in a Los Angeles courtroom, perhaps as early as today, to enter a plea in a perjury case stemming from his testimony in the O.J. Simpson double murder trial, according to local law enforcement officials who say they have been briefed by state prosecutors.

Details of the case against Fuhrman remain sketchy. But the state attorney general’s office has been investigating Fuhrman for perjury for nearly a year.

Officials from the Los Angeles Police Department and the county Sheriff’s Department said they have been informed by state prosecutors about the upcoming court appearance. The officials scrambled Tuesday to tighten security around the downtown Criminal Courts Building, where the proceedings would take place.

Testifying last year during the Simpson trial, Fuhrman denied that he had used a racial slur that denigrates black people at any time in the previous 10 years. That testimony was later contradicted by four defense witnesses, including an aspiring screenwriter who brought to court tape recordings of Fuhrman using the “N-word” at least 41 times and bragging about illegal and unethical conduct.

Raymond C. Fisher, president of the city’s Police Commission, said he learned Tuesday afternoon that Fuhrman was expected to be in court today, possibly to enter a plea.

Other sources familiar with the attorney general’s investigation said negotiations have been ongoing and the matter could be resolved with a plea of either no contest or guilty and no jail time. Fuhrman, one source said, could well “be back on a plane to Idaho,” where he now lives, “by sunset.”

Any agreement must be approved by a judge who is certain to scrutinize a plea bargain closely because of the sensitivity of the issues.

Sources also emphasized that security concerns and even publicity about a plea bargain may affect the timing of a deal--perhaps even unravel the deal itself.

State prosecutors declined to comment. Asked if Fuhrman had reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, his attorney, Darryl Mounger, replied: “Don’t hold your breath.”

Law enforcement officials, however, braced Tuesday for hordes of camera crews and the prospect of protesters outside the courthouse. “We certainly will be looking at security arrangements,” said the Police Commission’s Fisher.

Officials said they hope to speed Fuhrman in and out of the courthouse.

The investigation by the attorney general’s office is but one of several probes involving Fuhrman.

Sources say a Los Angeles Police Department investigation has not turned up evidence that Fuhrman and other officers brutalized suspects, as Fuhrman claimed in tape-recorded interviews with an aspiring screenwriter, but has found evidence that he and others in the LAPD’s West Los Angeles station demeaned female colleagues. If sustained by Chief Willie L. Williams and the Police Commission, those charges could result in Fuhrman receiving an official LAPD reprimand.

The attorney general’s investigation has been underway since November, when Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti turned over to the state agency the issue of whether to charge Fuhrman with perjury. The district attorney’s office bowed out because members of Garcetti’s office initially vouched for Fuhrman as a witness--then, after Fuhrman was found to have lied in open court, sought to discredit him.

The district attorney’s office has long maintained that Fuhrman’s comments were immaterial to the issue of Simpson’s guilt or innocence. Typically, the key issue in a perjury case--which can bring up to four years in state prison--involves whether a lie is “material.”

Reached Tuesday by phone, Garcetti declined to comment.

Meanwhile, upon learning that Fuhrman might be in Los Angeles today, Simpson’s defense team in the civil wrongful death case against the former football star immediately sought to track him down so they could serve him with a subpoena.

Fuhrman had not been expected to take the stand in the civil trial--as long as he remained in Idaho, out of reach of a subpoena.

So far, the jury selection process in the civil trial in Santa Monica has made it clear that Fuhrman will be a major force in the case--particularly if he testifies.

One woman blasted him as an “egotistical opportunistic cop who conspired to frame Simpson.” Another called him a “cocky jerk.” And juror after juror has said he lied on the witness stand and expressed racist attitudes.

Times staff writers Stephanie Simon and Andrea Ford contributed to this story.