Newspaper Page Text
New law allowing hearsay evidence meant for O.J. only.
By Dennis Schatzman
Special to the AUGUSTA FOCUS
As ever one needed proof that a
new California law allowing the
admittance of hearsay evidence
in civil trials was passed solely
to fleece O.J. Simpson out of his
millions, one need only go to Los
Angeles County Superior Court
Judge Sherman Smith’s court
room.
Last month, California’s Gov.
Pete Wilson signed into law a
bill that allows lawyers repre
senting the families of Nicole
Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle
Goldman to introduce hearsay
testimony into their “wrongful
death” suit against Simpson.
The profootball Hall of Famer
turned actor and pitchman was
acquitted of murdering his es
tranged wife and her friend al
most a year ago.
Specifically, the plaintiffs are
now free to present portions of
Brown Simpson’s diary and sec
_ond-hand gossip from some of
her friends to a jury in the case
now being heard in the trendy
-bos Angeles suburb of Santa
Monica.
Gov. Wilson’s signing of the
novel bill was met with great
gapfare. It made front-page news
Tidtionwide and has been lauded
T&nany of the most well-known
law school professors who double
as' television commentators on
What is now known as “Simpson
flfi'i’kppoau‘ently, they don’t read
fi€wspapers, including the Los
ngeles Daily Journal, the cel
ebrated legal newspaper, in
Jydge Smith’s courtroom. Had
géy done so, Smith would cer
inly have not made such a bi-
Zarre ruling as he did in the case
of'Potts v. City of Los Angeles
291
Closer Look
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(BC 120232).
Glenda Potts, a 32-year-old
Black laborer of the city-run
Hyperion Wastewater Treat
ment Plant, was fired in Janu
ary 1994 for allegedly stealing a
telephone answering machine.
The city’s Civil Service Commis
sion upheld the firing even after
it learned that the machine was
found in a box with other ma
chines that had been collected.
Potts filed a complaint with
the Congress of Racial Equality
of California and hired Attorney
Margoßouchet to represent her
in her fight to get her job back.
In August, 1995, Potts was rein
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stated with back pay. Her suit,
currently before the court, is for
damages due to racism, discrimi
nation and cronyism.
Bouchet offered as an expert
witness a former judge who con
ducted an exhaustive investiga
tion into those allegations for
the Los Angeles Sentinel. His
eight-part series wasbuttressed
by evidence gleaned from nu
merous internal reports and
memorandums and interviews
with nearly 100 Hyperion work
ers and supervisors. The judge/
reporter also wrote a series of
articles on the firing of Potts in
1994-95, where he also inter-
G oCT Wy
I Q@m 10 l
L. ASSY
199 c >
viewed several of Potts’co-work
ers who contend that she had
been set up by several of her
Black shift workers and white
supervisors.
Bouchet cited the 20 years
plus experience of the judge as
an investigative reporter, his 10
years experience as an employ
ment investigator for the Pitts
burgh, Pa. branch of the Na
tional Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People and
his experience as the executive
director of the North Carolina
NAACP.
Lawyers complained vehe
mently over the admission of the
expert. Smith agreed, saying
the reporter was “not competent
to offer such hearsay testimony
in this case.” Smith suggested
that the reporter give the names
of the sources to the attorney
then subpoena them to give tes
timony in the case.
Bouchet then reminded Smith
that Hyerpion employment ana
lyst, Claude Mark Reed, was
fired two days after he told the
reporter that he refused to go
along with his supervisor’s plan
to fire “three very competent
Black secretaries.” To expose
other employees to similar re
taliatory treatment would be un
wise, Bouchet said.
New law notwithstanding,
Smith, who is also Black, held
for the City of Los Angeles on the
issue.
So, what are we saying here?
Simply this: It appears that the
new law, which allows lawyers
to admit hearsay evidence, is
meant only for the O.J. Simpson
trial and no other. Ordinary
mortals need not try to apply the
rule of law.
And so it goes in the City of
Angels.
AUGUSTA FOCUS
Letters
Focus as teaching tool
The Augusta Focus has been
the paper of choice for my eco
nomics class at Lucy C. Laney
High School. I have been using
your paper to supplement the
teaching of economics for a num
ber of years now. Articles like
“Racial Disparities In Lending
Surpass 1995 State Average” are
always well-researched and they
hold the interest of my students.
Justice not just for Simpson
The blindfolded figure of Jus
tice with scales tipped toward a
defendant proclaim innocence
until proven guilty. Beyond any
shadow of doubt. Equal Justice
under law.
A Superior Court Judge in
Santa Monica, Calif. may be ei
ther blind, or deaf. Prior to the
beginning of the wrongful death
trial of O.J. Simpson, this jurist
has weakened Mr. Simpson’s
defense team by removing key
elements of their defense strat
egy. This includes a gag order
relating to inclusion of any refer
ences to a racist police detective
inthe defense’s opening remarks
before the jury unless these re
marks can be substantiated by
proofand facts. In an earlier trial,
Mr. Simpson alleged that he was
the target of a frame-up by the
aforementioned detective and
Send your letters to the editor to:
Augusta Focus
1143 Laney Walker Blvd.
Augusta, GA 30901
October 3, 1996
My students and I also enjoy the
columns written by Mr. Hugh
Price and Dr. Lenora Fulani.
On behalf of Dr: Utley, princi
pal of Lucy C. Laney High School,
and students, I want to thank
you for the weekly editions of the
Augusta Focus which have been
made available to us.
Jesse Bolden
Augusta
members of the Los Angeles Po
lice Department.
But the same judge will permit
testimony relative to allegations
of spousal abuse against Simpson.
The presumption, one assumes, is
that domestic violence is a pre
lude to murder. Not necessarily.
No more than “living together”
leads to a marriage ceremony.
Television cameras, court room
artists and radio broadcasts have
been barred from the trial. One
shudders to think of what would:
have occurred to survivors during:
civil rights demonstrations of the
1960 s had the media been so,
shackled. Just what does Supe-,
rior Court Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki
have to fear? Worse still, what
does equal justice have to hide? -,
Lewis P. Bohler Jr. 3
St. Mary's Episcopal Church, y
Augusta :
9