—
By The
Associated Press
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Wednesday, October 19, 1994 Page 2
Judge orders potential jurors
to keep themselves secluded
LOS ANGELES — An explosive
new book threatens O.J. Simpson's
right to a fair trial, a judge said Tues
day as he abruptly suspended jury
selection and ordered prospective ju
rors to avoid newspapers and TV, and
to stay out of bookstores.
Earlier, Superior Court Judge
Lance Ito handed the prosecution a
major victory in refusing to throw out
DNA tests on a bloody glove and
other key evidence.
Ito dismissed prospective jurors
for four hours while he and lawyers
reviewed the book “Nicole Brown
Simpson: The Private Diary of a Life
Interrupted," which was released
Monday and co-written by Faye
Resnick, a friend of Ms. Simpson 's.
Afterward, he sent them home until
Thursday.
The book portrays Simpson as
stalking his ex-wife and threatening
to kill her if she ever slept with an
other man.
Simpson. 47. is accused of the
June 12 murders of Ms. Simpson and
her friend Ronald Goldman.
“There arc certain recent develop
ments regarding the publication of a
book that caused the court great con
cern about the ability of Mr. Simpson
to get a fair trial.” Ito told the jury
pool.
“Because of the change in the in
tensity- of the coverage. I’m going to
have to increase the restrictions to
you,” he said. “1 am going to order
you not to read any ncwspaf>crs, any
magazines, or watch any TV or listen
to any radio.”
Later, he added: “You arc to stay
out of bookstores.”
‘'Keep in mind those
who are selected to serve
on this jury may he de
facto incommunicado
for a significant period
of time. ”
■
LANCE ITO
Superior Court Judge
Ito apologized for the inconve
nience but said the restrictions may
last for some time.
"Keep in mind those who arc se
lected to serve on this jury may be de
facto incommunicado for a signifi
cant period of time." he said.
ho said he would talk to the attor
neys on the ease and “other authori
ties" before deciding what to do next.
Mike Walker, the book's co-au
thor and general editor of the Na
tional Enquirer, defended the book's
release.
"Docs it influence the trial? I can't
imagine with the billions of words
that have been spoken about this case,
it can have an undue influence."
Walker told reporters.
In his DNA ruling. Ito said he
could find no proof that prosecutors
aetpd in bad Qjtth. and no law that
would allow Kim to punish them for
waiting to begin some genetic tests
until three months after the slayings.
O.J. Simpson's lawyers had asked
that the DNA results be thrown out,
arguing that prosecutors dragged their
feet in order to ambush them with an
“avalanche” of test results at the last
minute.
The judge suggested that some of
the lawyers' complaints may have
been of their own making because
they pressed for a speedy trial.
Among the evidence at risk were
tests on a bloody glove found on
Simpson's estate, on blood found at
his estate and on blood on his Ford
Bronco. Prosecutors say the glove at
the estate matched one found at the
murder scene.
Ito suggested the defense may have
pushed for a speedy trial to catch
prosecutors with their DNA results
incomplete.
“The court notes that the sound
ness of tactics, like beauty, are often
in the eye of the beholder,” he wrote
in his three-page ruling.
He also rejected a request to set a
deadline after which DNA tests would
not be accepted.
The ruling was a stunning con
trast from last Friday, when the judge
warned prosecutors that they hadn’t
given him an acceptable reason for
delaying the tests. At the time, he had
warned prosecutors. “You are going
to lose.’’
“I'm pretty surprised at his back
tracking like this,” said Loyola Uni
versity Law School Professor Stanley
Goldman. ^
"I think he just reconsidered it and
decided the delay wasn't enough to
find bad faith.... He rethought it and
said. ‘I can’t do this.’”
Thousands of people displaced
as floodwaters inundate Texas
HOUSTON—A firefighter's coat
draped over her shoulders. Oma
McCalister clutched her metal cane
and a few other possessions Tuesday
as she was lifted in a rescue boat from
floodwaters that had reached door
knob level.
“In 18 years no water's ever been
in my house.” said the 56-ycar-old
Ms. McCalister, who lives down the
street from Sims Bayou.
She and thousands more across
southeast Texas were driven out of
their homes by three days of rain that
have swollen rivers and other water
ways.
The floods were blamed for at least
eight deaths, including that of a 2
month-old baby. Two other people
were missing and presumed drowned
In southeastern Houston, where
Ms. McCalister lives, scorcsof people
stood on high ground Tuesday and
flagged down rescue trucks or boats.
With daytime nearly as dark as night,
some people shined flashlights to
show their positions. Outside the city.
Some people were plucked from roof
tops.
: Fire Department boats dodged
$nakcs and floating colonics of fire
ants to make the rescues. One fire
truck was stranded.
About 10,(XH) people were out of
their homes and 30 counties were
threatened by floods. The Red Cross
opened at least 30 shelters for the
homeless.
“My mama just got her home re
modeled and got a new car." said
Dante Thomas. 25. “It's in the drive
way, under water.”
Velma Brown was too distraught
to talk. ‘‘It’s bad, bad,” was all she
would say.
The storm that hit Sunday brought
as much as 30 inches of rain to some
areas and was expected to continue at
Texas flooding ,
Flash flood warnings and watches were in effect |
for a broad area of southeast Texas as rain fell 1
for a third straight day Tuesday. An estimated
10,000 people evacuated their homes and more 4
than 30 counties are threatened by floods.
^ Brazos R. Trinity R. Jj
Flash flood warnings
CJ I
Disaster areas
Flash flood warnings i
and disaster ares«^_.
Counties:
1. DeWlti 17. Trinity
2. Fayette 18. San Jacinto m
3. Lavaca 19. Polk
4. Victoria 20. Liberty
5. Jackson 21. Chambers
6. Washington 22. Nacogdoches #
7. Austin 23. Shelby
8. Colorado 24. Angelina
9. Grimes 25. San Augustine H
10. Waller 26. Sabine
11. Fort Bend .27 . Tyler |§
12 Bruona 28. Jasper
13. Walker 29. Newton
14. Montgomery 30. Hardin
15. Harris 31. Orange
18. Galveston 32. Jefferson
least until Wednesday.
“It ain’t over yet, folks,” said Ed
Schaefer, assistant coordinator for the
state Emergency Management Divi
sion. “It will probably get worse in
terms of impact before it gets better.’’
“Pray for these people,” Gov. Ann
Richards said alter touring the Lake
AP
Livingston area about 65 miles north
east of Houston.
“There's an awful lot of water out
here and a lot of people out of their
homes.”
Among the people killed was a
man trying to drive through high
water in Grimes County. 40 miles
News... __
in a Minute
Rwandan diplomat disappears
NEW YORK — After failing to appear at several meetings,
Rwanda’s foreign minister-designate paid his hotel bill in cash and
vanished last week, along with $187,000 that was to be delivered to
his country’s U.N. Mission, officials said Tuesday.
There was no evidence of foul play in the disappearance of Jean
Marie Vianney Ndagijimana, but a communique from Rwanda's
premier said his government feared for his life.
“Our fear is that he might have been harmed.” Claude Dusaidi. the
director general of the Rwandan foreign ministry, said Tuesday. “But
if he hasn't been attacked, he is certainly a common thief.”
Ndagijimana, an experienced diplomat, arrived in New York City
with a Rwandan delegation Oct. 5 and was expected to leave five days
later. He missed several meetings Oct. 8 and Oct. 9, and failed to
appear with the money at his country's mission the following day.
When officials called the hotel, they found he had checked out a day
earlier,
Vietnam vets die young
WASHINGTON — Vietnam veterans, particularly those who
used drugs in Vietnam, have a Tar higher mortality rate than those in
their age group who did not serve in the war. a study shows.
The preliminary study by the Washington University School of
Medicine in St. Louis found that by their mid-40s. former enlisted
men who used drugs in Vietnam are more than nine times likely to
have died than nonvctcrans. For soldiers with no confirmed report of
addiction in Vietnam, the mortality rate is three times higher.
The research joins previous findings of higher rates of suicide and
other traumatic deaths among Vietnam veterans, many who suffered
severe adjustment problems when they returned from the war.
Agreement angers Arab neighbors 1
JERUSALEM — PLO chief Yasser Arafat condemned the Isracl
Jordan peace accord Tuesday. cal ling it an “outrageous infringement"
of the PLO's peace agreement with Israel and a betrayal of Palestinian
interests.
The Jordanian prime minister said his country made a separate
peace with Israel because it could not wait for other Arab states to
move, and urged Syria to move toward peace with Israel.
Syrian President Hafez Assad said the formula used to resolve the
land dispute between Jordan and Israel would never work when it
came to Syria’s claim on the Golan Heights.
The arrangement calls for Israel to return most of the 152 square
miles of border land it seized from Jordan in 1948, but allows Israel
to lease areas where there arc Israeli settlements or farms. Israeli
officials have suggested it could be a model for a similar arrangement
with Syria.
Assad said Tucdsay that Syria would never agree to such a lease
back plan. Israel seized the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East
war and Syria insists it must be returned in full.
Bosnian Serbs kill convoy driver
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Hcrzcgovina — Serb soldiers shot to death a
food convoy driver Tuesday, a day after comrades hijacked a medical
supply convoy in some of the worst back-to-back blows to this year’s
U N. relief effort.
The two actions underscore the Bosnian Serbs’ determination to
make their Muslim foes on government-held territory share their
suffering.
Bosnian Serbs are increasingly short of supplies since being cut off
by their former patrons in Serb-led Yugoslavia for rejecting a peace
plan that would reduce their war-won holdings in Bosnia by one
third. ^ *
UJM. officials still were fuming about the theft of medical supplies
Monday when they learned of the attack that killed a driver in
Gorazde.
The three-truck convoy was attacked as it was carrying food and
seed from Gorazde to outlying villages. One Bosnian driver was
killed; there were conflicting reports about whether another driver
was wounded.
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