Mr. Simpson’s Day In Court

Wednesday morning I was late, at least later than the past two days and arrived right at 7 a.m. Already a line of journalists was forming on the steps leading into the south entrance of the Regional Justice Center. As soon as I arrived, Howard Stier a producer at Entertainment Tonight approached me with a question followed by Chuck Henry of KNBC. Other media crowded around me and I held another impromptu press conference before entering the building.

Kathy, one of the first people I hired in 2005 to work part-time at the information booths inside, took the media seating list and went down the line. She was joined by Amanda and Wendy from Court Administration. Tuesday we started taking down the names of media that wanted to sit inside the hearing and limited media access to two people per media outlet.?Ç Some media wanted more than two people in the courtroom, but we decided to hold down the number to allow the public to attend the hearing also. Courtroom 1A seats 113 people, and with all the media we expected we could fill half of the room and open up the rest to the public. To be safe, I asked Wayne Slater our AV Tech to link up courtroom 1B with 1A and provide a video feed.

Wayne really went beyond the call of duty and made a lot of friends in the process. He spent Tuesday night creating a radio microphone-level XLR loop line that could accommodate 10 radio reporters who wanted to plug into the audio. After the hearing, radio people were singing Wayne's praises and taking pictures of the hookup to share with other courts.

The courthouse opens at 7:15 a.m. and media were escorted through the security scanners and then everyone entering the courtroom was hand-wanded by the Marshals.?Ç We took extra precaution to ensure no weapons entered the building or the courtroom.?Ç At 7:45 a.m. everyone was seated. To reduce the spectacle factor, I requested the Marshals seat Entertainment Tonight Correspondent Marsha Clarke on the left side of the courtroom out of the camera's line of sight and opposite from where Mr. Simpson was seated. The current case had nothing to do with what happened in Los Angeles and the court requested I maintain decorum in the courtroom.

I addressed the media and explained what would happen. I also asked them to turn off their camera phones, as everyone seemed to be snapping photos of themselves and Mr. Simpson's family. I repeated this request three more times before the proceeding started. Everyone was ready and by 7:55 a.m. I indicated that the court would start on time.

In this case, I knew that the court needed to do some housekeeping that would require two judges to sit on the bench in courtroom 1A. When the arrest warrant was requested the prior Friday, the court generated a number associated with the case. When Mr. Simpson was arrested Sunday, a second case number was generated when he was booked into the jail. During the week as more suspects were detained, new numbers were generated resulting in multiple numbers for the case.?Ç Only when a complaint was filed did we know the case would be assigned to the lowest number, which was assigned to Judge Joe Bonaventure. On Monday, Judge Nancy Oesterle had told the media that Judge Ann Zimmerman would hear the 72-Hour Arraignment, because she was assigned the number that was generated on Sunday. The court consolidates these multiple numbers as a standard procedure down to the lowest number. The plan was for Judge Zimmerman to take the bench, announced the change in judges and consolidate the cases. Then Judge Bonaventure would take the bench and proceed with the arraignment. At the last minute, Judge Zimmerman suggested Judge Bonaventure do both and so we proceeded with Judge Bonaventure. Some of the media speculated this would happen, but it became very clear as Judge Zimmerman's name tag was replaced and her staff left the courtroom.

Judge Bonaventure explained the change in judges and proceeded with the arraignment. He outlined the charges and asked Mr. Simpson if he understood them. The District Attorney had stipulated to a set bail amount and the parties presented the arraignment to the judge. While Judge Bonaventure could have increased the bail amount, he agreed to the stipulated bail setting and read it into the record. After offering some stipulations and directing some instructions to the defendant, the hearing ended and court was adjourned. The whole thing took up most of the hour but only required about 10 minutes to accomplish from start to finish.

The media swarmed me asking questions while the family waited inside the courtroom. The television media began breaking down and a few print photographers complained that I had not allowed them inside the courtroom. I also prevented them from taking pictures inside the courthouse and requested that they leave. At about this time they were leaving anyway because Mr. Simpson's attorneys Yale Galanter and Gabriel Grasso were walking briskly toward the exit.?Ç Once outside they were swarmed by media and they had to push their way to the mic stand located on the sidewalk.

I answered a few more media questions and explained the American justice system to a reporter from Canada.?Ç I then asked the television crew to finish and exit the courtroom.?Ç After a few minutes, I walked outside to see if I was needed on the street.

The sidewalk was crowded with people. While I was inside a circus atmosphere had grown with people giving away donuts and bottles of orange juice labeled Free OJ. A couple of guys dressed as cavemen were promoting a show at the Golden Nugget and there were three or four people with various signs promising that "Jesus can save you." Intermixed with all of this were tourists snapping photos and promoters holding posters of unknown pop singers looking for some publicity.?Ç On the street Galanter and Grasso were surrounded by people including a professional heckler from what I later learned was the Jimmy Kimmel Show. Kimmel's Jake Byrd was doing his best to interrupt the attorneys as they attempted to answer questions.

We had decided not to manage this press event and had placed it on the sidewalk, but I clearly could see that perhaps this was one area that we should have considered managing better.

This circus went on for another 30 minutes or so and soon ended with the cameras and the people retreating to their satellite trucks and taxi cabs. Mr. Simpson had been arraigned and now there was some peace, even if it only lasted for a few minutes. I spoke to a few more media and went inside. A few minutes later the phone started ringing again, and I went to work answering their questions.

Last updated by Michael S. Sommermeyer at September 24, 2007.