LAS VEGAS — Both sides rested in the O.J. Simpson kidnapping and armed robbery case Wednesday after a last-minute dispute over testimony blurted out by a witness threatened to derail the trial.
The judge, rejecting mistrial motions, expressed concern that the trial was in jeopardy and said, “I’m trying to get this case back on track.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t seen my head spin and fire come out of my mouth at this point in this trial,” said Clark County District Judge Jackie Glass.
Simpson and a co-defendant are accused of robbing and holding two sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint a year ago in a hotel room to get back mementos that once belonged to the former NFL star, who once famously beat charges of murdering his ex-wife and her friend.
After both sides rested, Glass dismissed jurors for the day, convened privately with attorneys to discuss jury instructions and told everyone to return today for final arguments.
But that was after she first admonished jurors to disregard testimony blurted out by police detective Andy Caldwell, then told them to forget about her admonition.
Defense lawyers, the judge and spectators thought Caldwell, the lead detective in the case, said star defense witness Thomas Scotto had been thrown out of a preliminary hearing for “tampering with a witness.”
But after sending the jury from the courtroom and reviewing Caldwell’s testimony on tape, Glass found that Caldwell had referred to “Mrs. Scotto,” not Scotto himself.
Simpson lawyer Yale Galanter said attacking the credibility of Scotto’s wife was just as bad, but the judge said Sabrina Scotto was not a witness and retracted her admonishment to the jury. Glass also sternly lectured the detective outside the jury’s presence for putting the case in jeopardy.
The legal flap all but upstaged the defense’s final flourish — testimony from Scotto, a close friend of Simpson’s who said two key prosecution witnesses tried to extort him for $50,000.
The defense introduced a voice mail recording of Walter Alexander offering to tailor his testimony to benefit Simpson if he was paid enough
“If I get some help, I’ll do whatever I can,” said Alexander, whose message was played in a hushed courtroom.
“I can do quite a bit,” said Alexander, one of four former co-defendants who pleaded guilty to reduced charges in return for their testimony against Simpson.
Scotto was asked what he thought after hearing the message and replied: “Basically, he was selling his testimony.”
Simpson was not called as a witness in his own defense.
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