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March 4, 2008
Posted: 04:15 PM ET
NEW YORK – O.J. Simpson’s lawyers go back to court on Friday, arguing pre-trial motions before the start of his kidnapping and robbery case, scheduled for trial on April 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada. 
O.J. Simpson’s robbery trial begins April 7.
 Most of the motions are no real surprise — seeking dismissal of the charges, separate trials for the defendants — and, according to most legal experts, are not likely to be granted. But here’s one that might surprise you: The O.J. defense team wants the judge to prohibit the prosecution from mentioning anything about the Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman murder cases during this robbery trial. Here’s the problem with that motion: Is there, really, any potential juror in Las Vegas who doesn’t know about that case? And won’t both sides, and the judge, be necessarily spending an extraordinary amount of time asking every possible juror what they know about the earlier case and what impact that knowledge might have on their ability to sit as a fair and impartial juror in the new case? The answers are: “No” and “Yes.” So, why then is the defense seeking to keep any mention of the murder case out of the trial? Well, the answer has to do with the proverbial “elephant in the room.” Everybody knows it’s there but nobody wants to talk about it. In this instance, that “elephant’ is the slayings of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman. The defense is worried that some juror, believing that O.J. Simpson got away with murder, may see this new case as a chance for a “pay back” verdict. The prosecution, however, says the jurors need to hear at least about what they claim is O.J. Simpson’s continuing effort to frustrate any attempt to recover any of the $33 million judgment against him. This, says the prosecution, helps to explain O.J.’s actions and the armed robbery in the hotel room in Las Vegas. So, will the “elephant” move to the front of the room when the trial starts? Stay tuned—we may know the answer to that question by Friday. – Jack Ford, In Session anchor Filed under: Jack Ford • O.J. Simpson |
 
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