O.J.'s Camp Moves for Mistrial; Dunne Back in Court

Defense objects to prosecution calling Goldman family attorney to testify; accused Simpson accomplice says he doesn't remember much

By Natalie Finn Sep 24, 2008 1:35 AMTags
O.J. SimpsonDaniel Gluskoter-Pool/Getty Images

Trials may be old hat for O.J. Simpson, but it's always nice to see a familiar face.

"Mr. Dunne, nice to see you back," the former football star greeted author and celebrity-crime expert Dominick Dunne, who was briefly hospitalized for an infection after experiencing pain while watching testimony Monday morning, upon his return to the courtroom today.

Dunne closely followed Simpson's 1995 murder trial and has told reporters that this will probably be his final foray into the high-profile crime arena. He was accompanied Tuesday by his son, director and actor Griffin Dunne.

And the 82-year-old man of letters returned just in time to hear Simpson's attorney ask for a mistrial.

Actually, that didn't happen until about 4 p.m., but we digress.

Both Simpson lawyer Yale Galanter and counsel for codefendant Clarence Stewart moved for a mistrial—and Stewart asked to have his case excised from Simpson's—after the prosecution called attorney David Cook to the stand to testify about Simpson's past legal issues.

Cook has been representing the family of murder victim Ron Goldman in their ongoing litigation against Simpson in connection with the $33.5 million wrongful death judgment they won in 1997.

“This testimony has no relevance to this case," Galanter said. "It's prejudicial."

“The fact of the matter is, is that Mr. Simpson talks about the [civil] judgment [and] the Goldmans on the audio tape. This was one of the motives for the robbery," argued Cook County District Attorney David Roger.

Judge Jackie Glass, in denying the mistrial and after questioning Cook outside the presence of the jury, is expected to rule Wednesday on whether Cook will be allowed to testify in open court.

If he's allowed to testify, Glass said, she wants him to "avoid any non-responsive answers, any spontaneous declarations, anything, any personal opinions that might in some way prejudice my jury and cause there to be a mistrial.

"Any personal opinions or feelings you may have and you would like to express, I don't want them expressed them here. This is not an appropriate forum for any such remarks along those lines."

Earlier in the day, one of the men accused of carrying out an armed robbery with Simpson testified that his memory has been foggy due to two heart attacks he's suffered since the alleged heist.

Charles Ehrlich, a longtime friend and golf buddy of Simpson, in August became the fourth of his alleged cohorts to cop to a lesser charge in exchange for their testimony.

He had testified Monday that he heard Simpson say, "Put that gun away," in the room at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino where the confrontation occurred Sept. 13, 2007.

Simpson has denied knowing that guns would be—or were—involved.

"He was in denial," Erhlich said, referring to Simpson's take on what happened that day.

But under questioning from defense attorney Yale Galanter today, Ehrlich otherwise supported Simpson's side of the story, telling the court that the plan was to recover Simpson's stolen property from sports memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley—and that nothing illegal was in the works.

"You certainly didn't think your friend O.J. Simpson would have you do anything illegal?" Galanter asked.

"I would hope not," Ehrlich replied.