American Crime Story (2016) s01e09 Episode Script
Manna from Heaven
HOST: Today, in Trial O.
J lawyers argued over whether the former Heisman winner is an arthritic cripple incapable of murder.
He has bad knees, arthritis and limited mobility.
He may look like Tarzan, but he moves like Tarzan's grandfather.
HOST: After that, the jury got a peek at an exercise video Simpson taped just two weeks before the murders.
Aw, break it all the way down! - Feel it in the knees! - (phone ringing) Yeah.
Love that intensity! - And if you're working out with your wife - Hello.
McKENNA (on phone): Is this Laura Hart McKinny? Yes.
How may I help you? The Laura Hart McKinny who used to live in Los Angeles, who has tapes of LAPD Officer Mark Fuhrman? How did you find me? I'm an investigator working for O.
J.
Simpson.
We believe our client is innocent and your tapes could really help him.
Well, I don't want to help him.
Look, I was just writing a screenplay about the LAPD.
I met Mark, and I interviewed him for research.
So there are tapes.
What does he say? How inflammatory is it? I never asked to be a part of this.
(line goes dead) CHRIS: So, on the night of the murders, you were in an alleyway behind Bundy Drive and you heard a commotion near Nicole Brown Simpson's condominium? (French accent): Yes.
I-I heard two men arguing.
The first man said, "Hey, hey, hey!" and the second man yelled at him.
Uh, he was hard to understand.
CHRIS: And did the second voice sound as if it was older, more mature than the first? Calls for speculation, Your Honor.
Sustained.
Foundational.
All right, then.
The second voice that you heard, it sounded like the voice of a black man, is that correct? - Object to, Your Honor! I object! - Sustained.
JOHNNIE: This is ridiculous! Sustained.
Mr.
Darden, where are you going with this? CHRIS: Your Honor, I was asking in good faith.
We know that the witness told a friend that he heard the angry yell of an older man who sounded black.
I resent that statement, Your Honor! You cannot tell by somebody's voice whether they are black.
That is a racist statement and entirely inappropriate.
Your Honor, yeah, I am offended that in America, in 1995, that we have to endure this kind of thinking.
All right, I didn't make the statement.
The witness did.
Oh, please, Mr.
Darden! I if this is the witness' statement, then he is the racist, not me.
But that is what you're suggesting.
JOHNNIE: Hey, hey, hey! I suggest nothing! - Oh, yes, you did! - I did not.
- Yes, you did.
- Don't put words in my mouth! And that has created a lot of problems for myself and for my family.
You continually make statements about me and race, Mr.
Cochran Wait.
Wait, all right, stop it, both of you! This is all improper.
And I'm so mad at both of you guys right now, I'm about to hold the two of you in contempt.
Let's take a recess so you can cool off.
We will resume in 15.
(gallery murmurs quietly) What was that? He is so cynical.
I mean, of course there's such a thing as a "black voice.
" - There are accents, speech patterns - I know that.
But look what happened.
His witness was failing, so Johnnie threw a racial stink bomb to deflect attention.
That guy saw a Bronco near Bundy.
He heard two men arguing outside the condo.
But now the jury has completely forgotten that.
Is it true? Yeah.
Tapes exist.
I think they're really ugly.
They have phrases like, uh (clears throat) Stuff like "Get niggers.
" "Frame niggers.
" "Plant evidence.
" SHAPIRO: Jesus Christ.
- Can we confirm the authenticity? - McKENNA: I've asked around.
Her lawyers have shopped the tapes to London papers, TV tabloids they've heard snippets.
Supposedly there's an offer on the table for 250 grand.
Hmm.
Why doesn't she sell? KARDASHIAN: Well, that's the strange part.
She doesn't actually care about the money.
She'd rather sell her screenplay.
She's a screenwriter.
Or, well, a wannabe screenwriter.
She was living in L.
A.
She couldn't make a living, so she moved to North Carolina to teach screenwriting.
I don't understand.
How can you teach screenwriting if you can't sell a script? Oh, Barry, Barry (overlapping chatter) Gentlemen, you are missing the point.
I don't care who she is or what she does.
What matters are these tapes.
We must get them.
"Get niggers"? "Frame niggers"? That takes my breath away.
These tapes will allow Mr.
Simpson to walk free.
Well, let's not get too cocky.
I mean, we haven't heard them.
Look, lucky breaks don't just fall from the sky.
Oh, yes, they do, Mr.
Scheck.
God brought us these tapes.
There is something much larger at play here.
This is manna from heaven.
What is the defense doing? They got Ito to sign a subpoena for what? 13 hours of tape in North Carolina.
I don't follow.
Who is this woman? It just makes no sense why Fuhrman would blab to an unemployed screenwriter.
Why would Fuhrman do anything? I'm not gonna pretend like I'm surprised.
Whatever's on these tapes scares me.
Well, maybe it's meritless.
Fiction.
Just Fuhrman and this writer playacting.
The defense has been obsessed with creating stories for the jury, and lawyers resort to stories to distract from the facts You know, Marcia, people like stories.
It helps them make sense of things.
Shit.
Now who can deny there isn't a higher power watching over us? (cheering) I spent my life fighting for a cause and then, in the biggest case of all time, with the whole world watching, a magical piece of paper appears.
Well, we still need to get a judge in North Carolina to enforce the subpoena.
A small technicality.
I will venture forth to secure our bounty.
SHAPIRO: Well, obviously, I will accompany you.
I mean, I discovered Fuhrman, for God's sake.
I mean, I invented him.
Hang on, Bob.
I won every Fuhrman motion.
Gentlemen, we still have a case here in L.
A.
I don't understand.
Why do more than two people have to get on the plane? Then it should be me.
I have a winning record in that jurisdiction.
I tried over 200 cases there.
JOHNNIE: 200? Really? When? Seems like yesterday.
But understand this: things change really slowly down South.
And I know the Carolinas like I know the caramel color in a single-barrel apple brandy, sipped over the blush of the morning sunrise.
Oh, come on.
Really? I hired all of you.
You know, whatever.
I don't grovel.
Just make sure you put my name on the brief.
Thank you, Bob.
(birds singing) This is it.
All right, let's go.
(sighs) Here are the transcripts.
The judge will see you gentlemen shortly.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, sir.
My friend, I can taste victory.
Yes.
Yes.
- Shall we? - Yes.
It's unbelievable.
It's horrible.
Horrible we can sell.
Look, the bastard is nailed.
Dead.
He directly contradicts the trap I laid - when he testified.
- Lee it's more than that.
It's evil.
But this is what black people have always known.
And now it's right here.
(taps on binders) For everyone to hear.
(Bailey sighs) Your Honor, it would be a travesty if these tapes were not allowed into the O.
J.
Simpson trial.
These tapes are tangible evidence of the Los Angeles Police Department's racism.
They are a revelation of truth.
May I approach the bench, Your Honor? No, you cannot.
(man in gallery chuckles) (chuckles) Your Honor, with all due respect, we ask you to enforce this subpoena and compel Ms.
McKinny to turn over the tapes.
It is important, it is imperative, it is indispensible that we return them to California.
Thank you, Your Honor.
Mr.
Cochran, there are no TV cameras in my courtroom.
There's no need for gratuitous alliteration.
Your request is denied.
These tapes are not material to your case.
Who is that man to say that they are not relevant?! - Johnnie - Those tapes are proof of the systematic civil rights violations.
What black people have always known.
And what white people have never understood.
Johnnie, calm down.
We'll just file an emergency appeal.
And this time let me do the talking.
What? Mr.
Cochran, take a good look where you're standing.
We're in the South.
Haven't you noticed the smell of mint julep and condescension in the air? Right behind you, there's a statue of a Confederate soldier holding a rifle.
With all due respect, I don't know if you play as well in Dixie.
(sighs) BAILEY: Your Honors, may I state first of all what a pleasure it is to be practicing law once again in the great state of North Carolina.
My heart gladdens with the promise of justice when I stand in one of the original 13 colonies.
From the great Smokey Mountains to the Pamlico Sound, I know that fair consideration will be offered to all who set foot in a Tar Heel tribunal.
As the Bible tells us, "Seek, and ye shall find," and I thank the Lord for helping us to find these terribly troubling tapes.
The court has received the tapes and transcripts.
I will arrange for my clerk to make you copies.
I presume it'll take a good amount of time for all of you to wade through the materials and decide how much, if any, you want to introduce.
Oh, we'll want to introduce plenty, Your Honor.
- Maybe all of them.
- Your Honor, we will fight that.
Mark Fuhrman consulting on a screenplay has no bearing on a murder trial.
This is just more of the defense throwing conspiracy mud at the wall and seeing what sticks.
JOHNNIE: Oh, it'll stick.
It'll stick with the jury, it'll stick with the public.
"The public.
" What do they have to do with this? The truth, Marcia, they have a right to know.
This isn't a smoking gun in the Simpson case.
This is a smoking gun for the United States.
Your Honor, I anticipate this will be just a pro forma request.
Actually, Mr.
Cochran, I wouldn't jump to any conclusions.
I need to review precedent and make a determination.
Until then, you and your assistants may review the tapes.
But other than that, they are to remain sealed.
You understand? Sealed.
FUHRMAN: See, if you did it like they teach you in the Academy, you'd never get a fucking thing done.
If the suspect doesn't talk, you give him a shot in the stomach with your stick, and you say, "Listen, boy, I'm talking to you.
" Or you just grab 'em by the hair and you keep punching 'em until they go down.
See, people don't want niggers in their town.
People don't want Mexicans.
They don't want anybody but good people, and any way you can do to get them out, that's fine.
We have no niggers where I grew up.
LAURA: Do you still use the choke hold? FUHRMAN: No, we had to eliminate it, because a bunch of niggers down in the south of L.
A.
complained.
Now, these niggers started a bunch of organizations, because all the niggers got choked out and killed.
The longer this trial goes, the little your numbers drop.
I know.
If we get to the March primary and people are still talking about O.
J.
Simpson, there's something seriously wrong with this world.
(chuckles) (tapping on window) Oh, God, think my numbers are about to fall even lower.
Excuse me for a second.
All right.
What? Has Ito ruled on the tapes? Not yet.
And we're fighting to keep them out.
But while we were reviewing them, we heard something unexpected.
You should sit.
This is bad.
No, I know, he hates Mexicans, he uses the "N" word, he's a sexist pig.
He utters every racial slur known to man.
MARCIA: Yes, that is all true, but there's sort of an O.
Henry twist.
Somebody he hates that none of us saw coming.
(scoffs) Okay.
FUHRMAN: I hate this woman, you know the type dyed blonde, one-inch roots, slumped shoulders, a pouch big enough to hide cats in.
She's the only marsupial on the police force.
- Peggy barely worked in the field.
- Wait, whoa.
- (Laura talking indistinctly) - Peggy? Is he talking about Peggy York, Ito's wife?! FUHRMAN: It sickens me that she's a captain.
I refuse to take orders from her.
She's as far from a policeman as I've seen.
Hell, she's as far from a woman as I've seen.
She just sucked and f What did he just say? CHRIS: He says that she sucked GIL: Is he saying that-that Oh, I cannot believe this! Jesus! Our star witness insulting the judge's wife! Yep, not only does Fuhrman hate blacks, he hates Peggy York, the highest ranking woman in the LAPD.
- Didn't she sign the affidavits? - MARCIA: Sure when Ito was assigned to the case, Peggy claimed she had no memory of any dealings with Fuhrman.
Which seems hard to believe since we learned she reprimanded him for writing "KKK" on a Martin Luther King poster.
Oh, God.
Oh, God.
Oh, God.
So, which means she can be called as a material witness, in which case, Ito has to disqualify himself, which means we're looking at a mistrial.
That's $6 million of taxpayer money.
One year of work.
We're looking at a mistrial? Shit, the constituents will freak out.
This screams gross incompetence.
Marcia, let's take a deep breath here.
Do we want a mistrial? Start over.
Learn from our mistakes.
Do it without Fuhrman.
We are in perilous waters.
The prosecution can manipulate this situation.
Marcia and Chris are in trouble, their case is dying.
Suddenly, they get thrown a life preserver, Peggy on tape.
So they game it, Ito gets tossed for the conflict, they get a new trial.
Jesus, a complete do-over.
W-Wait a minute, try the case again? We-we can't, we can't live through this again.
And they could move the trial back to Santa Monica, get a white jury.
BAILEY: And this time they don't call Fuhrman, the LAPD doesn't get tarnished, and the tapes never get played.
The scenario is unthinkable.
We are this close to them being admitted.
Does Ito even know yet? My wife is mentioned on these tapes? MARCIA: Yes, Your Honor.
And it's quite derogatory.
Terrible things.
SHAPIRO: Uh, it's a delicate situation for all of us.
Delicate how? The interactions Fuhrman described, given their explosive vocabulary, would seem to make it hard for Peggy to forget him.
So the implication is that Peggy lied so that I could be on this case.
(Ito sighs) This whole situation is toxic.
(clears throat) All right, I don't want there to be any insinuation that we tried to keep this contained, so this conversation should continue in open court.
Thank you.
If you'll excuse me.
Your Honor.
(door opens, closes) A concern has been raised regarding the court's ability to be fair and impartial.
It could be argued that the court would not want the court's wife to be embarrassed.
And what's unfortunate is that things are said about people all the time, things that are not accurate, not kind, disparaging.
I love my wife dearly and I am wounded by criticism of her, as any spouse would be.
And, uh I think that it would be reasonable to assume that that could have some impact.
Women who work in male-dominated professions, I think, are tougher than most.
And if they are successful, they are almost always targets for this kind of treatment.
There is also an argument that this court, in ruling, might be motivated to punish Detective Fuhrman for making these statements about his wife.
So it cuts both ways.
This may be a conflict for me, which could trigger a mistrial, so I think that another judge has to determine whether or not this case can remain before this court.
(gallery exclaiming) This is insane.
You couldn't get away with this plot twist in an airport paperback.
CHRIS: So what should we do? Chris, I've been thinking about this constantly.
The problem is, it's too risky.
If it's perceived that we pushed for mistrial, it would trigger double jeopardy, and in that version, O.
J.
walks.
Can you imagine the public reaction? What, you think I wouldn't want a do-over? I would love to do over all of my mistakes.
Do over my life, do over my marriage.
We have to plow forward.
Oh Your Honor, we don't want to leave our court.
We fought to get the tapes.
They are hard evidence.
The district attorney's star witness was caught lying under oath.
He committed perjury.
Now, the part that relates to the judge's wife is very, very small.
And because we don't want a mistrial, we propose that the tapes be given to Judge Ito with that part redacted.
Well I'm going to require time to review this constellation of tapes and transcripts and records.
Only after I have a comprehensive understanding can I make a decision.
(gallery murmuring) (elevator bell dings) Gotta wait for this judge to get a "comprehensive understanding.
" How long? Things cannot be left to whim.
Cochran, you have to trust the system.
- We need to turn up the pressure.
- Pressure?! You want to turn up the pressure?! This city is about to explode! We have enough pressure! Mmm I told you not to use Fuhrman! Now, how many times did I say it? "He's damaged goods.
" I mean, I said it and I said it, but you just didn't take me seriously.
You know, you put me on this trial because you wanted a black face, but the truth is, you never wanted a black voice.
(exhales) JOHNNIE: Good afternoon.
I'd like to introduce members of our coalition.
Miss Geraldine Washington, president of the local NAACP, Mr.
John Mack, head of the Urban League, Mr.
Danny Bakewell of the Brotherhood Crusade, and the esteemed Reverend Frank Higgins of the Baptist Ministers Conference.
Can we give them all a round of applause as our speaker of the hour comes to the podium? (applause, whoops) We demand an immediate federal and state investigation of these tapes.
- Yeah! - Yeah! Right! We demand full disclosure to calm a community unsettled by the reports of their content.
- Right.
- Yeah! - It goes way beyond O.
J.
- Yeah! People are angry that these tapes confirm what we've always known.
- Yeah! - Yeah.
Racist officers unjustly imprison, beat and kill African-Americans and other people of color.
- (whooping) - My God, this is terrible.
I tried to stop him.
I want our leaders to listen and to listen very carefully.
Release these tapes.
(cheering) Because this community is a powder keg capable of repeating the actions of 1992.
- Release the tapes.
- Release the tapes! - (chanting): Release the tapes! - Release the tapes! Jesus.
Johnnie's threatening another riot.
LEADER: Release the tapes! ALL: Release the tapes! - Release the tapes! - Release the tapes! - LEADER: Release the tapes! - Release the tapes! Release the Juice! REPORTER: In the O.
J.
Simpson trial, the court handed down a decision that Judge Ito will be able to rule on the Mark Fuhrman tapes.
A hearing is scheduled for today and a ruling is expected soon on the highly controversial and incendiary tapes.
Your Honor, this issue can be decided with dispatch.
We will present portions of that transcript that are relevant to the credibility of Detective Fuhrman.
30 occasions in which he uses the word "nigger" in a racially offensive context and which directly contradict the testimony he presented under oath.
And we will also present an additional 17 extracts where Detective Fuhrman speaks, with personal experience, about police misconduct, planting of evidence, commission of perjury, and the presentation of cover-ups and false testimony in court proceedings.
This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do as a prosecutor.
I don't want to be in the position of defending Mark Fuhrman.
My job is to defend Ron and Nicole.
The victims.
But the bottom line is not Fuhrman.
It's the concrete evidence.
The defense just wants to inflame the jury so they forget about the facts and vote emotionally.
I hope this very cynical view will be proven wrong and the jury will rise to the occasion and say, "No.
We are going to look at the evidence.
" Because the rest of this stuff is irrelevant.
I submit these cases numerous cases where racial epithets were deemed immaterial.
I beg of you, Your Honor, act on precedent.
Do not let the jurors hear these tapes.
I am begging you from my soul.
(one set of footsteps echoes) FUHRMAN: Any nigger driving a Porsche who doesn't have a $300 suit on, you can always stop Anything out of a nigger's mouth, the first five sentences is a lie.
People don't want Mexicans.
They don't want anybody but good people.
LARRY KING: Doesn't Ito have an impossible decision on his hands? EXPERT: The judge has no choice.
He has to play the tapes.
They exist.
LARRY KING: I don't envy the guy.
I mean, pardon my French, but he-he's screwed either way.
All rise.
Department 103 is now in session, the Honorable Lance A.
Ito presiding.
Good morning.
Over the recess, I've had the opportunity to contemplate the issues at hand.
Now, I have not yet decided what tape excerpts are appropriate for the jury to hear.
However, I think that there is an overriding public interest in the defense's offer.
And I don't want there to be any impression that the court would ever suppress any information.
These tapes have become a matter of national concern.
Many entities have asked that they become public.
So what I'm going to suggest is that the defense play its presentation to the court in its entirety.
(congregation clamoring) "National concern"? This is a double homicide, - Your Honor, not Iran-Contra! - JOHNNIE: Ms.
Clark? The court in its wisdom has made a determination.
Why do we have to broadcast this? Truth, Ms.
Clark, the truth.
The court hides nothing from the people.
- The truth? - Nothing.
You've presented a defense that is based completely on lies and deceptions! Just teasing the public, the media by throwing them bits of the tapes.
Inflaming the public's passions in an attempt to exert political pressure over His Honor.
In an attempt to pressure the court into admitting in the Fuhrman tapes.
Mr.
Darden! This case is a circus! And the defense has made it into a circus.
And the court has allowed them to walk all over Mr.
Darden, you are close to being held in contempt! Well, I should be held in contempt! (defense team laughing) There is nothing funny here! Mr.
Darden.
Chris, calm down.
Don't.
ITO: Mr.
Darden! Mr.
Darden! I am warning you.
A good piece of advice take three deep breaths, then contemplate what you are about to say next.
I would like counsel, Your Honor.
All right, Mr.
Darden, you can have counsel.
Do you wish to call your counsel at this time, Mr.
Darden? I would like to be heard on behalf of Mr.
Darden, Your Honor.
Ms.
Clark, do you represent Mr.
Darden in this matter? I don't know if I'm legally entitled to.
But I would like to be heard.
Mr.
Darden is simply responding to the unfair events that have occurred in this courtroom today and other days.
The court has been exploited by counsel for cross-purposes.
Ms.
Clark, I think perhaps you need to take ten deep breaths, for you also are about to be held in contempt.
Shall I take off my watch and jewelry? Your Honor? Perhaps some of my comments may have been, um, uh, somewhat inappropriate.
I apologize to the court.
I meant no disrespect.
All right, Mr.
Darden, I accept your apology.
I apologize to you for my reaction as well.
You and I have known each other for a number of years, and I know that your response was out of character, so thank you.
Thank you, Your Honor.
PROTESTORS: No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace Yeah, yeah.
Let's go, after you.
- Johnny.
- No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace Thank you for coming.
Yes, no justice, no peace.
No justice, no peace.
FUHRMAN: I had 66 allegations of brutality.
Like, two of my buddies were shot and ambushed.
I was first unit on the scene.
Four suspects ran into an apartment in the projects.
We kicked the door down, I grabbed a girl that lived there, grabbed her by the hair and stuck a gun to her head, and used her as a barricade.
I walked up and I said, "I've got this girl.
"I'll blow her fucking brains out if you come out with a gun.
" I held her, then I threw the bitch down the stairs.
- LAURA: Can we use that in the story? - Sure.
FUHRMAN (chuckles): It hasn't been seven years.
Statute of limitations.
I have 300-something pages of internal affairs investigation just on that one incident.
We basically tortured those guys.
We broke their bones until their faces were mush.
There was blood all the way to the ceiling and finger marks, like they were trying to crawl out.
It was unbelievable there was blood everywhere.
How do you intellectualize when you punch the hell out of a nigger? He either deserves it or he doesn't.
Falsifying a report? Whatever.
That's putting a criminal in jail.
That's being a policeman.
Does that police station have the smell of niggers? They've been beaten and killed in there for 30 years.
Immediately after we beat those guys, we found a garden hose in the back.
We had blood all over us.
With a dark blue uniform, you don't see it.
But we had to wash our hands.
It looked like red paint.
We cleaned our badges.
We cleaned our faces.
Then we went out to direct traffic.
What happened in there.
This is now the Fuhrman trial.
This is not a trial about the man that murdered my son! We came to this court months ago You know, I just realized something.
What's that? Mark Fuhrman's initials are MF.
I guess that's funny.
But I don't feel like laughing.
(deep breath) It seems like like it's all over.
Ito could save our asses.
He could decide it's all irrelevant and not let the jurors hear anything.
Come on, Marcia.
They'll hear.
A couple conjugal visits is all it takes.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN (on TV): Number of instances in which he seems to be bragging about the worst police misconduct.
He seems to be bragging about the fact that he is a bad police officer.
I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you.
You deserved better.
I know I'm too stubborn.
I always refuse to back down.
It's a problem.
(both laugh) I shouldn't have bet on Fuhrman.
Well if we're apologizing then I'm sorry as shit about those gloves.
Guess we should've listened to each other.
I got some work to do.
JOHNNIE: These tapes expose the ugly reality of the LAPD.
It can never again be denied.
And we only hope and pray that Chief Williams (knocking) follows through on his promise of change.
Eh, I trust that's enough for your story.
And thank you.
- What? - Ito is releasing the decision.
(chuckles) Yes.
Come on, come on, come on.
No, Give me.
Give me.
Give me.
No.
- No.
- No.
No, it's a nightmare.
Ito shafted us.
He's disallowing all the beatings, all the manufacture of evidence.
My God, he's only allowing in two sentences.
"We have no niggers where I grew up.
And that's where the niggers live.
" - All Ito cares about is the perjury! - The perjury, yes! Fuhrman testified that he didn't say the word.
So two sentences prove otherwise.
What about the other 13 hours?! Uh, "The-The-Their value "is overwhelmingly outweighed by the danger of undue prejudice.
" "Prejudice" that's a hell of a word to use.
Bring the whole team down here and call up every network! Shawn, dry them tears, girl.
Let's go! 13 hours of tapes down to two sentences.
In the history of American jurisprudence, never Johnnie, stop! You're turning this into a referendum.
Now, granted, it's a mixed decision, but Ito's given us enough to work with.
Bob, you're blind.
He's knocked out the manufacturing of evidence.
That's what gets us to the planted glove.
Now, look, I appreciate your passion.
But we've been hired to defend a client, not to burn down a city.
Now, I'm sorry that you're disappointed, and I understand No, you don't! That's impossible.
There is no way you can understand what this is like, Bob.
It's one of the cruelest, unfairest decisions ever rendered.
It lends credence to all those who say the criminal justice system is corrupt.
Now, Judge Ito is misleading this jury.
Now, all the world knows who Mark Fuhrman really is, except our jury.
Our jury will be left in the dark.
O.
J.
Simpson has been wrongly accused and framed, and the cover-up continues.
Now, I know that many people share in our anger, but the citizens of Los Angeles should remain calm.
(footsteps approach, ice cubes clink) Here, baby.
Thank you.
I'm still trembling.
I'd I'd hoped to accomplish so much.
Johnnie you have.
Johnnie, you have.
Those two lines say plenty.
I feel like I failed.
All those hours of tape and the jury will only hear 12 words.
But the world they heard the whole truth.
The hell with O.
J.
Simpson.
He is an imperfect vessel, but you you got your message out there.
I'm proud of you, Johnnie.
(men and women shouting indistinctly) Boo! (shouting) We call Detective Mark Fuhrman to resume the witness stand.
(camera shutters clicking) (footsteps echoing) It's hard to be hated by both sides.
It takes a man of certain character.
ITO: All right.
Good afternoon, Detective.
Good afternoon, Your Honor.
You are reminded, Detective, that you are still under oath.
- Mr.
Cochran, you may proceed.
- Thank you, Your Honor.
Detective Fuhrman, was the testimony you gave at the preliminary hearing in this case completely truthful? I wish to assert my Fifth Amendment privilege.
Detective Fuhrman, have you ever falsified a police report? I wish to assert my Fifth Amendment privilege.
Detective Fuhrman, is it your intention to assert your Fifth Amendment privilege with respect to all questions I may ask? Yes.
- Your Honor, may I have a moment? - Of course.
Thank you.
(whispering) Your Honor, can we curtail this performance piece? The witness has already made clear that he will not answer any further questions.
Actually, Your Honor, may I ask just one last question? - Thank you.
- Oh.
Detective Fuhrman did you plant or manufacture any evidence in this case? I assert my Fifth Amendment privilege.
(gallery murmuring) (clears throat quietly) No further questions, Your Honor.
Thank you.
(chuckles) Johnnie is a genius! Did you see what happened in there? (laughing): Oh, man! Fuhrman framed me! He framed me! That was something, huh? That was a real success for the defense.
Well, I won't be wearing these much longer.
(laughing) Oh, man, that was magical! Johnnie's got charisma, man.
Whoo! Oh.
That was something! Oh! (chuckling) Bobby, have a good night, huh? Wow Wow.
(cuffs clicking) ASSISTANT: Marcia! I've been looking for you.
The ruling just came in.
The ruling? What did Ito do now? Ito? No.
The ruling on your divorce.
I got primary custody.
So you got everything.
J lawyers argued over whether the former Heisman winner is an arthritic cripple incapable of murder.
He has bad knees, arthritis and limited mobility.
He may look like Tarzan, but he moves like Tarzan's grandfather.
HOST: After that, the jury got a peek at an exercise video Simpson taped just two weeks before the murders.
Aw, break it all the way down! - Feel it in the knees! - (phone ringing) Yeah.
Love that intensity! - And if you're working out with your wife - Hello.
McKENNA (on phone): Is this Laura Hart McKinny? Yes.
How may I help you? The Laura Hart McKinny who used to live in Los Angeles, who has tapes of LAPD Officer Mark Fuhrman? How did you find me? I'm an investigator working for O.
J.
Simpson.
We believe our client is innocent and your tapes could really help him.
Well, I don't want to help him.
Look, I was just writing a screenplay about the LAPD.
I met Mark, and I interviewed him for research.
So there are tapes.
What does he say? How inflammatory is it? I never asked to be a part of this.
(line goes dead) CHRIS: So, on the night of the murders, you were in an alleyway behind Bundy Drive and you heard a commotion near Nicole Brown Simpson's condominium? (French accent): Yes.
I-I heard two men arguing.
The first man said, "Hey, hey, hey!" and the second man yelled at him.
Uh, he was hard to understand.
CHRIS: And did the second voice sound as if it was older, more mature than the first? Calls for speculation, Your Honor.
Sustained.
Foundational.
All right, then.
The second voice that you heard, it sounded like the voice of a black man, is that correct? - Object to, Your Honor! I object! - Sustained.
JOHNNIE: This is ridiculous! Sustained.
Mr.
Darden, where are you going with this? CHRIS: Your Honor, I was asking in good faith.
We know that the witness told a friend that he heard the angry yell of an older man who sounded black.
I resent that statement, Your Honor! You cannot tell by somebody's voice whether they are black.
That is a racist statement and entirely inappropriate.
Your Honor, yeah, I am offended that in America, in 1995, that we have to endure this kind of thinking.
All right, I didn't make the statement.
The witness did.
Oh, please, Mr.
Darden! I if this is the witness' statement, then he is the racist, not me.
But that is what you're suggesting.
JOHNNIE: Hey, hey, hey! I suggest nothing! - Oh, yes, you did! - I did not.
- Yes, you did.
- Don't put words in my mouth! And that has created a lot of problems for myself and for my family.
You continually make statements about me and race, Mr.
Cochran Wait.
Wait, all right, stop it, both of you! This is all improper.
And I'm so mad at both of you guys right now, I'm about to hold the two of you in contempt.
Let's take a recess so you can cool off.
We will resume in 15.
(gallery murmurs quietly) What was that? He is so cynical.
I mean, of course there's such a thing as a "black voice.
" - There are accents, speech patterns - I know that.
But look what happened.
His witness was failing, so Johnnie threw a racial stink bomb to deflect attention.
That guy saw a Bronco near Bundy.
He heard two men arguing outside the condo.
But now the jury has completely forgotten that.
Is it true? Yeah.
Tapes exist.
I think they're really ugly.
They have phrases like, uh (clears throat) Stuff like "Get niggers.
" "Frame niggers.
" "Plant evidence.
" SHAPIRO: Jesus Christ.
- Can we confirm the authenticity? - McKENNA: I've asked around.
Her lawyers have shopped the tapes to London papers, TV tabloids they've heard snippets.
Supposedly there's an offer on the table for 250 grand.
Hmm.
Why doesn't she sell? KARDASHIAN: Well, that's the strange part.
She doesn't actually care about the money.
She'd rather sell her screenplay.
She's a screenwriter.
Or, well, a wannabe screenwriter.
She was living in L.
A.
She couldn't make a living, so she moved to North Carolina to teach screenwriting.
I don't understand.
How can you teach screenwriting if you can't sell a script? Oh, Barry, Barry (overlapping chatter) Gentlemen, you are missing the point.
I don't care who she is or what she does.
What matters are these tapes.
We must get them.
"Get niggers"? "Frame niggers"? That takes my breath away.
These tapes will allow Mr.
Simpson to walk free.
Well, let's not get too cocky.
I mean, we haven't heard them.
Look, lucky breaks don't just fall from the sky.
Oh, yes, they do, Mr.
Scheck.
God brought us these tapes.
There is something much larger at play here.
This is manna from heaven.
What is the defense doing? They got Ito to sign a subpoena for what? 13 hours of tape in North Carolina.
I don't follow.
Who is this woman? It just makes no sense why Fuhrman would blab to an unemployed screenwriter.
Why would Fuhrman do anything? I'm not gonna pretend like I'm surprised.
Whatever's on these tapes scares me.
Well, maybe it's meritless.
Fiction.
Just Fuhrman and this writer playacting.
The defense has been obsessed with creating stories for the jury, and lawyers resort to stories to distract from the facts You know, Marcia, people like stories.
It helps them make sense of things.
Shit.
Now who can deny there isn't a higher power watching over us? (cheering) I spent my life fighting for a cause and then, in the biggest case of all time, with the whole world watching, a magical piece of paper appears.
Well, we still need to get a judge in North Carolina to enforce the subpoena.
A small technicality.
I will venture forth to secure our bounty.
SHAPIRO: Well, obviously, I will accompany you.
I mean, I discovered Fuhrman, for God's sake.
I mean, I invented him.
Hang on, Bob.
I won every Fuhrman motion.
Gentlemen, we still have a case here in L.
A.
I don't understand.
Why do more than two people have to get on the plane? Then it should be me.
I have a winning record in that jurisdiction.
I tried over 200 cases there.
JOHNNIE: 200? Really? When? Seems like yesterday.
But understand this: things change really slowly down South.
And I know the Carolinas like I know the caramel color in a single-barrel apple brandy, sipped over the blush of the morning sunrise.
Oh, come on.
Really? I hired all of you.
You know, whatever.
I don't grovel.
Just make sure you put my name on the brief.
Thank you, Bob.
(birds singing) This is it.
All right, let's go.
(sighs) Here are the transcripts.
The judge will see you gentlemen shortly.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, sir.
My friend, I can taste victory.
Yes.
Yes.
- Shall we? - Yes.
It's unbelievable.
It's horrible.
Horrible we can sell.
Look, the bastard is nailed.
Dead.
He directly contradicts the trap I laid - when he testified.
- Lee it's more than that.
It's evil.
But this is what black people have always known.
And now it's right here.
(taps on binders) For everyone to hear.
(Bailey sighs) Your Honor, it would be a travesty if these tapes were not allowed into the O.
J.
Simpson trial.
These tapes are tangible evidence of the Los Angeles Police Department's racism.
They are a revelation of truth.
May I approach the bench, Your Honor? No, you cannot.
(man in gallery chuckles) (chuckles) Your Honor, with all due respect, we ask you to enforce this subpoena and compel Ms.
McKinny to turn over the tapes.
It is important, it is imperative, it is indispensible that we return them to California.
Thank you, Your Honor.
Mr.
Cochran, there are no TV cameras in my courtroom.
There's no need for gratuitous alliteration.
Your request is denied.
These tapes are not material to your case.
Who is that man to say that they are not relevant?! - Johnnie - Those tapes are proof of the systematic civil rights violations.
What black people have always known.
And what white people have never understood.
Johnnie, calm down.
We'll just file an emergency appeal.
And this time let me do the talking.
What? Mr.
Cochran, take a good look where you're standing.
We're in the South.
Haven't you noticed the smell of mint julep and condescension in the air? Right behind you, there's a statue of a Confederate soldier holding a rifle.
With all due respect, I don't know if you play as well in Dixie.
(sighs) BAILEY: Your Honors, may I state first of all what a pleasure it is to be practicing law once again in the great state of North Carolina.
My heart gladdens with the promise of justice when I stand in one of the original 13 colonies.
From the great Smokey Mountains to the Pamlico Sound, I know that fair consideration will be offered to all who set foot in a Tar Heel tribunal.
As the Bible tells us, "Seek, and ye shall find," and I thank the Lord for helping us to find these terribly troubling tapes.
The court has received the tapes and transcripts.
I will arrange for my clerk to make you copies.
I presume it'll take a good amount of time for all of you to wade through the materials and decide how much, if any, you want to introduce.
Oh, we'll want to introduce plenty, Your Honor.
- Maybe all of them.
- Your Honor, we will fight that.
Mark Fuhrman consulting on a screenplay has no bearing on a murder trial.
This is just more of the defense throwing conspiracy mud at the wall and seeing what sticks.
JOHNNIE: Oh, it'll stick.
It'll stick with the jury, it'll stick with the public.
"The public.
" What do they have to do with this? The truth, Marcia, they have a right to know.
This isn't a smoking gun in the Simpson case.
This is a smoking gun for the United States.
Your Honor, I anticipate this will be just a pro forma request.
Actually, Mr.
Cochran, I wouldn't jump to any conclusions.
I need to review precedent and make a determination.
Until then, you and your assistants may review the tapes.
But other than that, they are to remain sealed.
You understand? Sealed.
FUHRMAN: See, if you did it like they teach you in the Academy, you'd never get a fucking thing done.
If the suspect doesn't talk, you give him a shot in the stomach with your stick, and you say, "Listen, boy, I'm talking to you.
" Or you just grab 'em by the hair and you keep punching 'em until they go down.
See, people don't want niggers in their town.
People don't want Mexicans.
They don't want anybody but good people, and any way you can do to get them out, that's fine.
We have no niggers where I grew up.
LAURA: Do you still use the choke hold? FUHRMAN: No, we had to eliminate it, because a bunch of niggers down in the south of L.
A.
complained.
Now, these niggers started a bunch of organizations, because all the niggers got choked out and killed.
The longer this trial goes, the little your numbers drop.
I know.
If we get to the March primary and people are still talking about O.
J.
Simpson, there's something seriously wrong with this world.
(chuckles) (tapping on window) Oh, God, think my numbers are about to fall even lower.
Excuse me for a second.
All right.
What? Has Ito ruled on the tapes? Not yet.
And we're fighting to keep them out.
But while we were reviewing them, we heard something unexpected.
You should sit.
This is bad.
No, I know, he hates Mexicans, he uses the "N" word, he's a sexist pig.
He utters every racial slur known to man.
MARCIA: Yes, that is all true, but there's sort of an O.
Henry twist.
Somebody he hates that none of us saw coming.
(scoffs) Okay.
FUHRMAN: I hate this woman, you know the type dyed blonde, one-inch roots, slumped shoulders, a pouch big enough to hide cats in.
She's the only marsupial on the police force.
- Peggy barely worked in the field.
- Wait, whoa.
- (Laura talking indistinctly) - Peggy? Is he talking about Peggy York, Ito's wife?! FUHRMAN: It sickens me that she's a captain.
I refuse to take orders from her.
She's as far from a policeman as I've seen.
Hell, she's as far from a woman as I've seen.
She just sucked and f What did he just say? CHRIS: He says that she sucked GIL: Is he saying that-that Oh, I cannot believe this! Jesus! Our star witness insulting the judge's wife! Yep, not only does Fuhrman hate blacks, he hates Peggy York, the highest ranking woman in the LAPD.
- Didn't she sign the affidavits? - MARCIA: Sure when Ito was assigned to the case, Peggy claimed she had no memory of any dealings with Fuhrman.
Which seems hard to believe since we learned she reprimanded him for writing "KKK" on a Martin Luther King poster.
Oh, God.
Oh, God.
Oh, God.
So, which means she can be called as a material witness, in which case, Ito has to disqualify himself, which means we're looking at a mistrial.
That's $6 million of taxpayer money.
One year of work.
We're looking at a mistrial? Shit, the constituents will freak out.
This screams gross incompetence.
Marcia, let's take a deep breath here.
Do we want a mistrial? Start over.
Learn from our mistakes.
Do it without Fuhrman.
We are in perilous waters.
The prosecution can manipulate this situation.
Marcia and Chris are in trouble, their case is dying.
Suddenly, they get thrown a life preserver, Peggy on tape.
So they game it, Ito gets tossed for the conflict, they get a new trial.
Jesus, a complete do-over.
W-Wait a minute, try the case again? We-we can't, we can't live through this again.
And they could move the trial back to Santa Monica, get a white jury.
BAILEY: And this time they don't call Fuhrman, the LAPD doesn't get tarnished, and the tapes never get played.
The scenario is unthinkable.
We are this close to them being admitted.
Does Ito even know yet? My wife is mentioned on these tapes? MARCIA: Yes, Your Honor.
And it's quite derogatory.
Terrible things.
SHAPIRO: Uh, it's a delicate situation for all of us.
Delicate how? The interactions Fuhrman described, given their explosive vocabulary, would seem to make it hard for Peggy to forget him.
So the implication is that Peggy lied so that I could be on this case.
(Ito sighs) This whole situation is toxic.
(clears throat) All right, I don't want there to be any insinuation that we tried to keep this contained, so this conversation should continue in open court.
Thank you.
If you'll excuse me.
Your Honor.
(door opens, closes) A concern has been raised regarding the court's ability to be fair and impartial.
It could be argued that the court would not want the court's wife to be embarrassed.
And what's unfortunate is that things are said about people all the time, things that are not accurate, not kind, disparaging.
I love my wife dearly and I am wounded by criticism of her, as any spouse would be.
And, uh I think that it would be reasonable to assume that that could have some impact.
Women who work in male-dominated professions, I think, are tougher than most.
And if they are successful, they are almost always targets for this kind of treatment.
There is also an argument that this court, in ruling, might be motivated to punish Detective Fuhrman for making these statements about his wife.
So it cuts both ways.
This may be a conflict for me, which could trigger a mistrial, so I think that another judge has to determine whether or not this case can remain before this court.
(gallery exclaiming) This is insane.
You couldn't get away with this plot twist in an airport paperback.
CHRIS: So what should we do? Chris, I've been thinking about this constantly.
The problem is, it's too risky.
If it's perceived that we pushed for mistrial, it would trigger double jeopardy, and in that version, O.
J.
walks.
Can you imagine the public reaction? What, you think I wouldn't want a do-over? I would love to do over all of my mistakes.
Do over my life, do over my marriage.
We have to plow forward.
Oh Your Honor, we don't want to leave our court.
We fought to get the tapes.
They are hard evidence.
The district attorney's star witness was caught lying under oath.
He committed perjury.
Now, the part that relates to the judge's wife is very, very small.
And because we don't want a mistrial, we propose that the tapes be given to Judge Ito with that part redacted.
Well I'm going to require time to review this constellation of tapes and transcripts and records.
Only after I have a comprehensive understanding can I make a decision.
(gallery murmuring) (elevator bell dings) Gotta wait for this judge to get a "comprehensive understanding.
" How long? Things cannot be left to whim.
Cochran, you have to trust the system.
- We need to turn up the pressure.
- Pressure?! You want to turn up the pressure?! This city is about to explode! We have enough pressure! Mmm I told you not to use Fuhrman! Now, how many times did I say it? "He's damaged goods.
" I mean, I said it and I said it, but you just didn't take me seriously.
You know, you put me on this trial because you wanted a black face, but the truth is, you never wanted a black voice.
(exhales) JOHNNIE: Good afternoon.
I'd like to introduce members of our coalition.
Miss Geraldine Washington, president of the local NAACP, Mr.
John Mack, head of the Urban League, Mr.
Danny Bakewell of the Brotherhood Crusade, and the esteemed Reverend Frank Higgins of the Baptist Ministers Conference.
Can we give them all a round of applause as our speaker of the hour comes to the podium? (applause, whoops) We demand an immediate federal and state investigation of these tapes.
- Yeah! - Yeah! Right! We demand full disclosure to calm a community unsettled by the reports of their content.
- Right.
- Yeah! - It goes way beyond O.
J.
- Yeah! People are angry that these tapes confirm what we've always known.
- Yeah! - Yeah.
Racist officers unjustly imprison, beat and kill African-Americans and other people of color.
- (whooping) - My God, this is terrible.
I tried to stop him.
I want our leaders to listen and to listen very carefully.
Release these tapes.
(cheering) Because this community is a powder keg capable of repeating the actions of 1992.
- Release the tapes.
- Release the tapes! - (chanting): Release the tapes! - Release the tapes! Jesus.
Johnnie's threatening another riot.
LEADER: Release the tapes! ALL: Release the tapes! - Release the tapes! - Release the tapes! - LEADER: Release the tapes! - Release the tapes! Release the Juice! REPORTER: In the O.
J.
Simpson trial, the court handed down a decision that Judge Ito will be able to rule on the Mark Fuhrman tapes.
A hearing is scheduled for today and a ruling is expected soon on the highly controversial and incendiary tapes.
Your Honor, this issue can be decided with dispatch.
We will present portions of that transcript that are relevant to the credibility of Detective Fuhrman.
30 occasions in which he uses the word "nigger" in a racially offensive context and which directly contradict the testimony he presented under oath.
And we will also present an additional 17 extracts where Detective Fuhrman speaks, with personal experience, about police misconduct, planting of evidence, commission of perjury, and the presentation of cover-ups and false testimony in court proceedings.
This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do as a prosecutor.
I don't want to be in the position of defending Mark Fuhrman.
My job is to defend Ron and Nicole.
The victims.
But the bottom line is not Fuhrman.
It's the concrete evidence.
The defense just wants to inflame the jury so they forget about the facts and vote emotionally.
I hope this very cynical view will be proven wrong and the jury will rise to the occasion and say, "No.
We are going to look at the evidence.
" Because the rest of this stuff is irrelevant.
I submit these cases numerous cases where racial epithets were deemed immaterial.
I beg of you, Your Honor, act on precedent.
Do not let the jurors hear these tapes.
I am begging you from my soul.
(one set of footsteps echoes) FUHRMAN: Any nigger driving a Porsche who doesn't have a $300 suit on, you can always stop Anything out of a nigger's mouth, the first five sentences is a lie.
People don't want Mexicans.
They don't want anybody but good people.
LARRY KING: Doesn't Ito have an impossible decision on his hands? EXPERT: The judge has no choice.
He has to play the tapes.
They exist.
LARRY KING: I don't envy the guy.
I mean, pardon my French, but he-he's screwed either way.
All rise.
Department 103 is now in session, the Honorable Lance A.
Ito presiding.
Good morning.
Over the recess, I've had the opportunity to contemplate the issues at hand.
Now, I have not yet decided what tape excerpts are appropriate for the jury to hear.
However, I think that there is an overriding public interest in the defense's offer.
And I don't want there to be any impression that the court would ever suppress any information.
These tapes have become a matter of national concern.
Many entities have asked that they become public.
So what I'm going to suggest is that the defense play its presentation to the court in its entirety.
(congregation clamoring) "National concern"? This is a double homicide, - Your Honor, not Iran-Contra! - JOHNNIE: Ms.
Clark? The court in its wisdom has made a determination.
Why do we have to broadcast this? Truth, Ms.
Clark, the truth.
The court hides nothing from the people.
- The truth? - Nothing.
You've presented a defense that is based completely on lies and deceptions! Just teasing the public, the media by throwing them bits of the tapes.
Inflaming the public's passions in an attempt to exert political pressure over His Honor.
In an attempt to pressure the court into admitting in the Fuhrman tapes.
Mr.
Darden! This case is a circus! And the defense has made it into a circus.
And the court has allowed them to walk all over Mr.
Darden, you are close to being held in contempt! Well, I should be held in contempt! (defense team laughing) There is nothing funny here! Mr.
Darden.
Chris, calm down.
Don't.
ITO: Mr.
Darden! Mr.
Darden! I am warning you.
A good piece of advice take three deep breaths, then contemplate what you are about to say next.
I would like counsel, Your Honor.
All right, Mr.
Darden, you can have counsel.
Do you wish to call your counsel at this time, Mr.
Darden? I would like to be heard on behalf of Mr.
Darden, Your Honor.
Ms.
Clark, do you represent Mr.
Darden in this matter? I don't know if I'm legally entitled to.
But I would like to be heard.
Mr.
Darden is simply responding to the unfair events that have occurred in this courtroom today and other days.
The court has been exploited by counsel for cross-purposes.
Ms.
Clark, I think perhaps you need to take ten deep breaths, for you also are about to be held in contempt.
Shall I take off my watch and jewelry? Your Honor? Perhaps some of my comments may have been, um, uh, somewhat inappropriate.
I apologize to the court.
I meant no disrespect.
All right, Mr.
Darden, I accept your apology.
I apologize to you for my reaction as well.
You and I have known each other for a number of years, and I know that your response was out of character, so thank you.
Thank you, Your Honor.
PROTESTORS: No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace Yeah, yeah.
Let's go, after you.
- Johnny.
- No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace Thank you for coming.
Yes, no justice, no peace.
No justice, no peace.
FUHRMAN: I had 66 allegations of brutality.
Like, two of my buddies were shot and ambushed.
I was first unit on the scene.
Four suspects ran into an apartment in the projects.
We kicked the door down, I grabbed a girl that lived there, grabbed her by the hair and stuck a gun to her head, and used her as a barricade.
I walked up and I said, "I've got this girl.
"I'll blow her fucking brains out if you come out with a gun.
" I held her, then I threw the bitch down the stairs.
- LAURA: Can we use that in the story? - Sure.
FUHRMAN (chuckles): It hasn't been seven years.
Statute of limitations.
I have 300-something pages of internal affairs investigation just on that one incident.
We basically tortured those guys.
We broke their bones until their faces were mush.
There was blood all the way to the ceiling and finger marks, like they were trying to crawl out.
It was unbelievable there was blood everywhere.
How do you intellectualize when you punch the hell out of a nigger? He either deserves it or he doesn't.
Falsifying a report? Whatever.
That's putting a criminal in jail.
That's being a policeman.
Does that police station have the smell of niggers? They've been beaten and killed in there for 30 years.
Immediately after we beat those guys, we found a garden hose in the back.
We had blood all over us.
With a dark blue uniform, you don't see it.
But we had to wash our hands.
It looked like red paint.
We cleaned our badges.
We cleaned our faces.
Then we went out to direct traffic.
What happened in there.
This is now the Fuhrman trial.
This is not a trial about the man that murdered my son! We came to this court months ago You know, I just realized something.
What's that? Mark Fuhrman's initials are MF.
I guess that's funny.
But I don't feel like laughing.
(deep breath) It seems like like it's all over.
Ito could save our asses.
He could decide it's all irrelevant and not let the jurors hear anything.
Come on, Marcia.
They'll hear.
A couple conjugal visits is all it takes.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN (on TV): Number of instances in which he seems to be bragging about the worst police misconduct.
He seems to be bragging about the fact that he is a bad police officer.
I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you.
You deserved better.
I know I'm too stubborn.
I always refuse to back down.
It's a problem.
(both laugh) I shouldn't have bet on Fuhrman.
Well if we're apologizing then I'm sorry as shit about those gloves.
Guess we should've listened to each other.
I got some work to do.
JOHNNIE: These tapes expose the ugly reality of the LAPD.
It can never again be denied.
And we only hope and pray that Chief Williams (knocking) follows through on his promise of change.
Eh, I trust that's enough for your story.
And thank you.
- What? - Ito is releasing the decision.
(chuckles) Yes.
Come on, come on, come on.
No, Give me.
Give me.
Give me.
No.
- No.
- No.
No, it's a nightmare.
Ito shafted us.
He's disallowing all the beatings, all the manufacture of evidence.
My God, he's only allowing in two sentences.
"We have no niggers where I grew up.
And that's where the niggers live.
" - All Ito cares about is the perjury! - The perjury, yes! Fuhrman testified that he didn't say the word.
So two sentences prove otherwise.
What about the other 13 hours?! Uh, "The-The-Their value "is overwhelmingly outweighed by the danger of undue prejudice.
" "Prejudice" that's a hell of a word to use.
Bring the whole team down here and call up every network! Shawn, dry them tears, girl.
Let's go! 13 hours of tapes down to two sentences.
In the history of American jurisprudence, never Johnnie, stop! You're turning this into a referendum.
Now, granted, it's a mixed decision, but Ito's given us enough to work with.
Bob, you're blind.
He's knocked out the manufacturing of evidence.
That's what gets us to the planted glove.
Now, look, I appreciate your passion.
But we've been hired to defend a client, not to burn down a city.
Now, I'm sorry that you're disappointed, and I understand No, you don't! That's impossible.
There is no way you can understand what this is like, Bob.
It's one of the cruelest, unfairest decisions ever rendered.
It lends credence to all those who say the criminal justice system is corrupt.
Now, Judge Ito is misleading this jury.
Now, all the world knows who Mark Fuhrman really is, except our jury.
Our jury will be left in the dark.
O.
J.
Simpson has been wrongly accused and framed, and the cover-up continues.
Now, I know that many people share in our anger, but the citizens of Los Angeles should remain calm.
(footsteps approach, ice cubes clink) Here, baby.
Thank you.
I'm still trembling.
I'd I'd hoped to accomplish so much.
Johnnie you have.
Johnnie, you have.
Those two lines say plenty.
I feel like I failed.
All those hours of tape and the jury will only hear 12 words.
But the world they heard the whole truth.
The hell with O.
J.
Simpson.
He is an imperfect vessel, but you you got your message out there.
I'm proud of you, Johnnie.
(men and women shouting indistinctly) Boo! (shouting) We call Detective Mark Fuhrman to resume the witness stand.
(camera shutters clicking) (footsteps echoing) It's hard to be hated by both sides.
It takes a man of certain character.
ITO: All right.
Good afternoon, Detective.
Good afternoon, Your Honor.
You are reminded, Detective, that you are still under oath.
- Mr.
Cochran, you may proceed.
- Thank you, Your Honor.
Detective Fuhrman, was the testimony you gave at the preliminary hearing in this case completely truthful? I wish to assert my Fifth Amendment privilege.
Detective Fuhrman, have you ever falsified a police report? I wish to assert my Fifth Amendment privilege.
Detective Fuhrman, is it your intention to assert your Fifth Amendment privilege with respect to all questions I may ask? Yes.
- Your Honor, may I have a moment? - Of course.
Thank you.
(whispering) Your Honor, can we curtail this performance piece? The witness has already made clear that he will not answer any further questions.
Actually, Your Honor, may I ask just one last question? - Thank you.
- Oh.
Detective Fuhrman did you plant or manufacture any evidence in this case? I assert my Fifth Amendment privilege.
(gallery murmuring) (clears throat quietly) No further questions, Your Honor.
Thank you.
(chuckles) Johnnie is a genius! Did you see what happened in there? (laughing): Oh, man! Fuhrman framed me! He framed me! That was something, huh? That was a real success for the defense.
Well, I won't be wearing these much longer.
(laughing) Oh, man, that was magical! Johnnie's got charisma, man.
Whoo! Oh.
That was something! Oh! (chuckling) Bobby, have a good night, huh? Wow Wow.
(cuffs clicking) ASSISTANT: Marcia! I've been looking for you.
The ruling just came in.
The ruling? What did Ito do now? Ito? No.
The ruling on your divorce.
I got primary custody.
So you got everything.