Making a New Case for the Defense

The vast warehouse in Sylmar was the most unlikely place imaginable for a reunion of the O.J. Simpson defense “dream team.”

But there they were, together again for the first time, gathered in a conference room littered with pizza boxes and tossed files: “Robert Shapiro,” complete with bald spot and bushy eyebrows, talking quietly on a cell phone; “Johnnie Cochran” looking stern and focused; and “Carl Douglas,” waiting patiently for the conference with “the client” to begin.

“F. Lee Bailey” entered the room and started to address the group, but then glared angrily off to the side. “That camera crew is in my line of sight,” growled Christopher Plummer as he stepped out of character as Bailey to complain about the TV entertainment-news show crew filming the scene. “I can’t do my lines like this. Please tell them to leave the set.”

“Cut!” yelled director Lawrence Schiller, and the actors portraying the infamous lawyers in the upcoming CBS miniseries “American Tragedy” relaxed. Moments later, Ving Rhames (Cochran), Ron Silver (Shapiro), Darryl Alan Reed (Douglas) and Plummer, all wearing wigs, padding and heavy makeup to approximate their real-life counterparts, were back into the scene, while Schiller watched closely from behind a camera.

The project Schiller and the actors were working on is more than just the dramatic adaptation of Schiller’s 1996 bestseller, which went behind closed doors to examine the legal strategies and personal clashes among the attorneys who successfully defended Simpson in the criminal case in which he was charged with the 1994 murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald L. Goldman.

It’s the two-part miniseries Simpson doesn’t want you to see--a hook CBS is using to market the two-part miniseries.

The former football star has lost one Los Angeles Superior Court battle to stop the broadcast, arguing that the content in the script violated attorney-client confidentiality. He maintained that his lawyer and former friend, Robert Kardashian, provided Schiller with inside information on the defense team. Both Schiller and Kardashian have declared in sworn declarations they did nothing wrong.

Terry Gross, Simpson’s attorney, also sought millions of dollars in damages against Schiller and Kardashian, saying there was a conspiracy to defraud Simpson of privileged information. That case was recently thrown out of court.

“What’s important is the principle,” said Gross. “This demonstrates that attorneys and writers have no qualms about stealing confidential information from people in high-profile cases and selling them to the highest bidder.”

*

The miniseries also arrives as Simpson continues to make headlines ranging from his stormy breakup with his young girlfriend to reports that he is selling his autograph without giving the profits to the families of the victims in the murders. A civil jury in Santa Monica ordered Simpson to pay $33.5 million in damages after finding him responsible for the Brown and Goldman deaths, but the vast majority of the judgment remains uncollected.

Schiller said he is not concerning himself with the legal shadows on his project or what perceptions viewers may bring to the miniseries as a result of their feelings about Simpson.

“I’ve really kept myself separate and apart from the legal things,” he said. “The film will air as I have been producing and directing it.”

And despite the deluge of Simpson-related books and movies during the last several years, Schiller is convinced that viewers who tune in will gain fresh insights into not only the case, but the justice system. He does not fear or anticipate a Simpson backlash.

“I want to show what this system of defense attorneys really means,” said Schiller. “It’s about winning. It’s not about justice. That’s a riveting story no matter who is involved.”

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Norman Mailer, who wrote the screenplay for “American Tragedy,” agreed. Schiller and Mailer had previously collaborated on several projects, including the book and film “The Executioner’s Song.”

Said Mailer: “One-third of the viewers may come to this believing Simpson is innocent. One-third may come to it believing he’s guilty. And one-third may come to it being undecided. But my feeling is that it’s not about guilt or innocence. It’s about what goes on in defense lawyers’ minds and how they work, irrespective of a client’s guilt or innocence.”

In fact, although Simpson is a pivotal character in “American Tragedy,” he is not center stage. In an early draft of the script, Simpson was simply referred to as “the client.”

“Sure, Simpson will bring people to the TV, but the story has to work without his name,” said Schiller. “I wasn’t making a film about O.J. This isn’t a replay of the Simpson trial.”

During “American Tragedy,” Simpson is heard but never really seen. He is played by Raymond Forchion but is mostly hidden by other figures or by shadows. However, his “voice,” performed by another actor, is heard prominently as he advises the lawyers.

Using a technique that combines actual footage from news broadcasts at the time with dramatic scenes created for the movie, Schiller and Mailer portray an expert team that was crafty and focused in its defense of Simpson at the same time its members were manipulating and plotting against each other.

The growing rift between Cochran and Shapiro is detailed as Cochran positions himself against Shapiro as the attorney who should lead the team. The gradual exclusion of Bailey from top maneuvers is unveiled, as well as the “real” story about why in court Simpson tried on the gloves found at the murder scene.

Also given prominence in the miniseries is the media circus surrounding the case, with some of the reporters who covered the trial playing themselves.

Several of the major figures involved in the trial and the case cooperated with the miniseries. Rhames had dinner with Cochran (“I liked him”). Silver said he has become good friends with Shapiro. Schiller supported the approach and said it made it easier to direct the actors.

Ironically, many of the key players in the project, including Rhames, Silver and Mailer, said they were not engrossed or even interested in the case while it was going on.

“I was a bit annoyed by the whole atmosphere,” said Silver. And Mailer added that he aggressively avoided paying attention to the case and the trial.

“I just hated the case at the time,” said Mailer. “I was approached by a few people about doing something, but I just felt it was something that was just terrible for everyone involved, especially because of this split between blacks and whites.”

*

But after reading Schiller’s book, he became more intrigued, finding the material fascinating.

“The evidence on each side was so powerful,” Mailer said. “I’ve never seen a case like it. If you look just at the circumstantial evidence, there’s no way O.J. could have done this. But if you look at the DNA evidence, you say just the opposite. It really comes down to whether the evidence could have been corrupted. That is what people will be arguing about for decades.”

Silver said he also became keenly interested in the minutiae of the case.

“The public only saw the trial coverage and the media carnival,” said Silver. “They didn’t see things that were quite crucial--what was going on in the field and in the lawyers’ offices. That had a lot to do with the case and the result. That’s why this was a fun project to do.”

Debates about the case erupted on the set of “American Tragedy” among the actors. Said Rhames: “There were actors who truly felt O.J. was guilty. But then with the other evidence, people said the opposite could be true. There was back and forth about it.”

Even Schiller, whose conversations with Simpson resulted in the book “I Want to Tell You,” is torn about Simpson.

“I’m personally outraged that he has never acknowledged the spousal abuse that allegedly took place,” he said. “I believe he should have done something to help people and help society. But I also believe he should definitely have custody of his children. He’s such a complex character to me --there are so many sides to him. If you believe the science, then he was at the scene of the crime. If you believe the timeline, then he wasn’t responsible. The majority of people believe in the science.”

The project seems to truly be a passion for Schiller, who has also been a photojournalist for Life magazine, Newsweek, Time and the Saturday Evening Post, as well as an author, interviewer, producer and director. He seemed excited as he toured the set of the film, which featured perfect replicas of Cochran’s law offices.

He said he approached the miniseries with an eye toward authenticity and objectivity. “I wanted to shoot this as if I were shooting stills for Life. I would instruct the actors, ‘Don’t tell me what you’re going to do. I’ll just follow you.’ I mixed some of the real people involved with the actors to bring some reality to it.”

Schiller said he hopes viewers will be more than entertained by “American Tragedy.” “They may become upset and maybe start to question the way things are,” he said. “I want to really make people think.”

*

Part 1 of “American Tragedy” will air on CBS from 9 to 11 p.m. next Sunday, with Part 2 airing Nov. 15.

Greg Braxton is a Times staff writer.