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O.J. Simpson Braces For Arraignment Today; A Judge Will Be Assigned To The Case In Which Simpson Faces Charges Of Killing His Ex-Wife And Her Friend

Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
July 22, 1994 Friday, 3 STAR

BYLINE: Compiled From Wire Reports
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A1
LENGTH: 568 words
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES

Former football great O.J. Simpson is to be arraigned in Los Angeles Superior Court today on charges he killed his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman.

The arraignment is to begin at 1:30 p.m. Live coverage is planned by all television networks.

At the arraignment, Superior Court Judge Lance Ito will assign a judge to preside over the case. He also will set a date for the first pretrial hearing.

One of nine judges who preside over lengthy trials on the high security floor of the downtown Criminal Courts Building will be assigned the case, court officials have said.

The judge will determine a schedule for hearing pretrial motions, including one filed Wednesday by Simpson’s defense attorneys that seeks access to any investigatory leads that may support Simpson’s claim of innocence.

Prosecutors formally pursued their case against Simpson in Superior Court on Thursday with the filing of a criminal “information.”

The information charges Simpson with two counts of murder alleging that on June 12 he “willfully, unlawfully and with malice aforethought” killed Nicole Simpson and Goldman with a knife, along with a special allegation that he committed more than one murder.

Also Thursday, the two lead police investigators in the case took blood samples to the FBI crime laboratory in Washington for genetic testing, KNBC-TV reported, citing unidentified law enforcement sources.

Police Lt. John Dunkin declined to comment on the report, citing a media blackout ordered by Police Chief Willie Williams on the Simpson investigation.

Meanwhile, Simpson’s media blitz - including a toll-free tip line and $500,000 reward - got mixed reviews Thursday from lawyers.

“It’s being run like a political campaign,” said attorney Harland Braun, who represented former police officer Theodore Briseno after the Rodney King beating.

“The problem is you don’t have an election at the end. You have a criminal trial.”

Defense attorney Robert Shapiro said hot-line operators were receiving 100 calls a minute. Earlier, an operator for American Telephone & Telegraph had said technical difficulties were blocking some calls.

In other developments:

- Newport Beach police Sgt. Andy Gonis said the department was investigating attorney John Stewart’s acquisition of a notepad found in the car of Simpson’s friend, Paula Barbieri.

The notepad was found in January after police arrested a man for investigation of stealing the car. It was turned over to Stewart because he claimed the notepad belonged to his client, Gonis said.

Stewart said he picked up the notepad without realizing it belonged to Barbieri, and returned it to police when his client told him what it was.

Cable News Network, citing an unidentified source, said the notepad had a first page titled “Nicole’s schedule” that listed her whereabouts and who she saw over several months last winter. Stewart declined to discuss the contents.

- The Associated Press reported that a top investigator for O.J. Simpson, Zvonko “Bill” Pavelic, has been portrayed in court papers as a bitter ex-cop with a vendetta against a former colleague assigned to the Simpson case.

- Leroy Taft, Simpson’s personal attorney for 25 years, announced that the defense team had hired a well-known private investigator, retired New York police detective John McNally, to head a probe to prove Simpson’s innocence.

LOAD-DATE: July 22, 1994
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: BOX: About arraignment; O.J. Simpson will appear today before Superior Court Judge Lance Ito.; Simpson likely will waive reading of the charges, then enter a plea.; Ito will announce the name of the trial judge and set a date for the first pretrial hearing.; Simpson lawyer Robert Shapiro has said he will file motions, but Ito will probably defer action on them to the trial judge.; BOX: Simpson on TV; ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC plan live coverage of O.J. Simpson’s arraignment on murder charges today in Los Angeles. The court session can also be seen on Court TV. It is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT.