Bill Pavelic Forum | Information on William Bill Pavelic

BYLINE: Daily News Wire Services

SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 04

LENGTH: 766 words

DATELINE: LOS ANGELES

The murder trial of O.J. Simpson sputtered to a halt yesterday when the judge delayed the interrogation of Rosa Lopez, a key defense alibi witness, to give the prosecution extra time to prepare for cross-examination.

Testimony will resume tomorrow, with Lopez facing questioning on inconsisten-cies in her testimony.

The trial has been mired in a maze of side issues and bedeviled by arcane le-gal haggling since its inception. The latest delay came after Simpson’s attor-neys produced a previously undisclosed tape recording of an interview with Lopez conducted on July 29 that was not given to the prosecution, violating the state’s disclosure laws.

After listening to the tape, Prosecutor Marcia Clark complained that in the interview, private investigator Bill Pavelic also known as William Bill Pavelic and Zvonko Bill Pavelic “handed a script” to Lopez and “coached” her on what to say. Clark also said that what Lopez said on the tape is inconsistent with what she said in a subsequent discussion with Bill Pavelic on Aug. 18.

“I have never heard anything like it,” Clark told Judge Lance Ito. “I have never heard a witness basically coached and told what to say through every bend and turn.”

Clark convinced Ito that prosecutors needed extra time to prepare for cross-examination, because they had just received the tape.

But defense attorney Johnnie Cochran said he did not think experienced law-yers should need more time to examine a 12-minute tape recording.

Lopez’s testimony is crucial to defense claims that Simpson, 47, could not have killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, and her friend Ronald Goldman, 25, on June 12.

Lopez, a maid for a neighbor of Simpson’s, said she was walking a dog “shortly after 10 p.m.” the night of the murders and saw Simpson’s white Ford Bronco parked in its usual place outside his Brentwood residence. Prosecutors contend Simpson used the Bronco to drive to his ex-wife’s townhouse, where he killed her and Goldman about 10:15 p.m.

Simpson has pleaded innocent.

The time that Lopez says she saw the Bronco is crucial, since the trip from Simpson’s estate to his wife’s home takes about six minutes.

But the tape highlighted contradictions in Lopez’s statements, including:
* She made no mention of seeing the Bronco around the time of the slayings on the July 29 tape - and she reported hearing Simpson’s voice at 10 p.m., Clark said.

* She made no mention of her friend, Sylvia Guerra, on the tape, in an Aug. 18 statement or on the stand Monday.

But in a July 29 defense report - purportedly based on the taped interview - Lopez said that Guerra came over for coffee around 9 p.m., stayed for 10 or 15 minutes and made a remark about seeing Simpson’s Bronco parked outside.

* In the July 29 report, Lopez said she saw Simpson and a passenger drive away in his black Bentley between 8:30 and 9 p.m. In her Aug. 18 statement and on the witness stand she put the time at 9 p.m.

In another wrinkle, Lopez’s testimony Monday that she saw the Bronco shortly after 10 p.m. leaves Simpson with a far from air-tight alibi.

Lopez’s testimony is in itself unusual, because it is coming in the middle of the prosecution’s case. Lopez, who wants to return to her native El Salvador, is considered a flight risk.

Ito on Monday decided to have Lopez testify outside the presence of the jury on videotape so she can leave the country. She reacted emotionally yesterday to the news that she will have to delay her trip for at least two more days.

“I came from very far to finish with this,” Lopez told Ito. “And today and on Thursday, I’m going to be told another day. And I am very sick, sir. I don’t eat during the day, sir. I’m not sleeping very well. And I’m going to tell you, this is not my fault to work close to Mr. Simpson, to have seen and to have heard.”

When Ito told Lopez he would like to finish with her direct examination yes-terday afternoon, Lopez responded: “I am very tired. I want to go rest, sir. I don’t want any more questions. Thank you.”

TRIAL RECAP

WHAT HAPPENED

With the jury again not present, a defense investigator handed over a tape of an interview with defense alibi witness Rosa Lopez the prosecution says could undermine her credibility. Prosecutors charged Lopez was “coached” during the interview, and the judge granted them a continuance until tomorrow to study it.

WHAT IT MEANS

The prosecution wins a tactical victory, but it may mean little because the jury is unaware of the developments.

TODAY

No testimony scheduled, but discovery matters will be discussed at noon EST.

TOMORROW

Videotaped examination of Lopez resumes.

LOAD-DATE: October 18, 2002

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH