Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Simpson Wants Fuhrman Files Release > LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Now that the Justice Department has > decided against prosecuting former Los Angeles police > detective Mark Fuhrman, O.J. Simpson wants Fuhrman tried > in the ``court of public opinion.'' > > In a commentary printed in Sunday's Los Angeles Times, > Simpson said the Los Angeles Police Department should > make public Fuhrman's police file. > > Fuhrman, in a series of tape-recorded interviews with a > screenwriter, boasted of beating blacks and Hispanics, > chasing and shooting suspects, planting evidence and > sexually harassing women officers. He repeatedly used > the word ``nigger.'' > > During Simpson's criminal trial for the deaths of his > former wife and her friend, defense lawyers used the > recordings to suggest that Fuhrman was a racist who > planted a bloody glove at the former football star's > Brentwood estate in an attempt to frame Simpson. > > On the witness stand, Fuhrman denied using the word > ``nigger'' in the previous decade. Later, he admitted > that he lied and pleaded no contest to perjury. But he > maintained the taped interviews were full of > fabrications aimed at helping the screenwriter create a > fictional work. > > Earlier this month, the Justice Department said the > five-year statute of limitations for prosecuting the > now-retired Fuhrman had run out. The alleged acts all > took place before 1988, the Justice Department said. > > An LAPD task force, which examined the allegations > against Fuhrman, said it found a dozen instances between > 1977 and 1988 involving Fuhrman and other officers that > could be construed as police misconduct. The task force > said 17 other allegations were exaggerations. The > department took no action, in many cases also because > the statute of limitations had run out. > > ``While Fuhrman cannot be prosecuted in the courts, he > ought to be prosecuted in the court of public opinion,'' > Simpson wrote. ``The public needs a better understanding > of police misconduct against minorities.'' > > The files, he said, may contain misconduct complaints > and could show how an officer can be promoted despite > the complaints. > > ``In my case, the police were quick to leak false > information, lies and rumors to sway public opinion > against me,'' he said, adding that the LAPD settled two > lawsuits against Fuhrman while still keeping the former > officer's files closed. > > Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of murdering his former > wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. > A year later, in a wrongful death civil trial, the > former football star was found responsible for the > slayings and ordered to pay $33.5 million. > > A Justice Department is still conducting a civil inquiry > into whether anyone's civil rights were violated by the > LAPD as a whole. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
