Read Online The Search for Justice by Robert L Shapiro - Free Book Online
Authors: Robert L Shapiro
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brains—and, at times, less common
sense—than almost anyone I know. Sometimes his passion leads him to take positions that are painful to watch.
One afternoon a few months into the trial, I got a call from Larry King. “You should come over to the studio tonight,Bob,” he said. “Alan Dershowitz is in town, and he ’s gonna be on the show, arguing about police brutality with the head of
the Police Protective League.”
I immediately tracked Alan down and tried to caution him about the need for discretion, that we should avoid slamming the
police while O.J. ’s case was making headlines every day. “Please tone it down,” I asked him. “The lawyers on the team need
to be a little more circumspect these days, especially about the L.A.P.D.”
Alan assured me he understood. That night, however, I winced as he spoke on Larry ’s show of police conspiracies, “testi-
lying
,” and the way cops are “trained to lie at the police academy.”
Clearly, Alan Dershowitz is the man you want on your side where appellate and Constitutional issues are in question, and he
was a boon to this case. As the case evolved, he would be the one player who was always on good terms with everyone on the
defense team. He wasn ’t afraid to stand up to O.J. when he was angry, calm him down when things got rough, and play peacemaker
when the occasion warranted. And given the opinions and egos on the defense team on any given day, the occasion warranted
quite often.
In a high-profile case, the job of a defense attorney expands beyond advocate to include manager and, when appropriate, spokesman
on behalf of the client. And from June 1, to the morning of June 17, my job certainly did expand. I was managing a growing
team of law professionals, and struggling to manage the information as well. The reporters and TV cameras were everywhere,
of course, but O.J. was no stranger to publicity, and with many athletes, entertainers, and public figures as clients, I had
dealt with publicity before. I knew that I wasn ’t the celebrity here, O.J. was. They couldn ’t get to him, so they came after
me and anyone having to do with the case. However, the sheer number of cameras, reporters, and interview requestsamazed us all. Wasn ’t anything else happening in the country? And then came Friday, June 17.
At 8:30 that morning I was on the phone with Michael Nasatir, a noted criminal defense attorney and old college friend, who
naturally wanted to know what was going on with the case. What were the police going to do? Was there going to be an arrest?
“I have very little information at this point,” I told him. “The unofficial word is that nothing ’s going to happen for a
while.” At that point, I had to put him on hold and pick up the other line, to hear the voice of L.A.P.D. Detective Tom Lange.
“We are going to charge O.J. Simpson with two counts of first-degree murder,” Lange said. “We want you to surrender him here
by ten o ’clock.”
I took a deep breath. Here it comes, I thought. “I ’ll contact him immediately and make the arrangements,” I said, “and we
’ll be bringing him in to turn himself in voluntarily.” I hung up and switched back to Nasatir.
“Well, I can answer your question right now,” I told him. “They ’re charging him, and I ’ve got to go over and get him ready
to surrender immediately.” I started to think, This is happening way too fast. What have they got that they should be moving
so fast?
Although they could ’ve filed charges at any time, the information we had been getting from the police department and the
district attorney was that the investigation was proceeding, they would probably need more time, and they were prepared to
take as much as they needed. I thought, in turn, that this would give
us
more time—to prepare with O.J. and to conduct our own investigation. Now that time had run out.
After the funeral the previous day, O.J. had
sense—than almost anyone I know. Sometimes his passion leads him to take positions that are painful to watch.
One afternoon a few months into the trial, I got a call from Larry King. “You should come over to the studio tonight,Bob,” he said. “Alan Dershowitz is in town, and he ’s gonna be on the show, arguing about police brutality with the head of
the Police Protective League.”
I immediately tracked Alan down and tried to caution him about the need for discretion, that we should avoid slamming the
police while O.J. ’s case was making headlines every day. “Please tone it down,” I asked him. “The lawyers on the team need
to be a little more circumspect these days, especially about the L.A.P.D.”
Alan assured me he understood. That night, however, I winced as he spoke on Larry ’s show of police conspiracies, “testi-
lying
,” and the way cops are “trained to lie at the police academy.”
Clearly, Alan Dershowitz is the man you want on your side where appellate and Constitutional issues are in question, and he
was a boon to this case. As the case evolved, he would be the one player who was always on good terms with everyone on the
defense team. He wasn ’t afraid to stand up to O.J. when he was angry, calm him down when things got rough, and play peacemaker
when the occasion warranted. And given the opinions and egos on the defense team on any given day, the occasion warranted
quite often.
In a high-profile case, the job of a defense attorney expands beyond advocate to include manager and, when appropriate, spokesman
on behalf of the client. And from June 1, to the morning of June 17, my job certainly did expand. I was managing a growing
team of law professionals, and struggling to manage the information as well. The reporters and TV cameras were everywhere,
of course, but O.J. was no stranger to publicity, and with many athletes, entertainers, and public figures as clients, I had
dealt with publicity before. I knew that I wasn ’t the celebrity here, O.J. was. They couldn ’t get to him, so they came after
me and anyone having to do with the case. However, the sheer number of cameras, reporters, and interview requestsamazed us all. Wasn ’t anything else happening in the country? And then came Friday, June 17.
At 8:30 that morning I was on the phone with Michael Nasatir, a noted criminal defense attorney and old college friend, who
naturally wanted to know what was going on with the case. What were the police going to do? Was there going to be an arrest?
“I have very little information at this point,” I told him. “The unofficial word is that nothing ’s going to happen for a
while.” At that point, I had to put him on hold and pick up the other line, to hear the voice of L.A.P.D. Detective Tom Lange.
“We are going to charge O.J. Simpson with two counts of first-degree murder,” Lange said. “We want you to surrender him here
by ten o ’clock.”
I took a deep breath. Here it comes, I thought. “I ’ll contact him immediately and make the arrangements,” I said, “and we
’ll be bringing him in to turn himself in voluntarily.” I hung up and switched back to Nasatir.
“Well, I can answer your question right now,” I told him. “They ’re charging him, and I ’ve got to go over and get him ready
to surrender immediately.” I started to think, This is happening way too fast. What have they got that they should be moving
so fast?
Although they could ’ve filed charges at any time, the information we had been getting from the police department and the
district attorney was that the investigation was proceeding, they would probably need more time, and they were prepared to
take as much as they needed. I thought, in turn, that this would give
us
more time—to prepare with O.J. and to conduct our own investigation. Now that time had run out.
After the funeral the previous day, O.J. had
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