From: Jean
Date: 9/28/01
Time: 7:58:01 PM
News by email Prosecutor won't call O.J. Simpson's children in road-rage trial By Catherine Wilson Sun-Sentinel Posted September 28 2001, 4:28 PM EDT MIAMI -- O.J. Simpson's two younger children will not be called as prosecution witnesses in their father's road-rage trial but will be asked to give testimony in advance, the prosecutor said Friday. Depositions of the children, Sydney, 15, and Justin, 12, will be taken before Simpson's trial begins Oct. 9, Assistant State Attorney Abbe Rifkin said at a pretrial hearing. A deposition is sworn testimony taken before a trial. It sometimes can be presented at trial.
The prosecution did not say why the children's testimony was being taken beforehand. The children were in his SUV on Dec. 4 when he allegedly grabbed motorist Jeffrey Pattinson's glasses. He faces felony auto burglary and misdemeanor battery charges. Pattinson has said he heard a girl shouting, "No, Daddy, no, Daddy, no!" when Simpson reached into his car. Simpson, who was not present for the pretrial proceedings, has refused to discuss settling his case. If convicted, he is unlikely to face any jail time; instead, a judge could order counseling. Asked whether the defense would call the children as witnesses, Simpson attorney Yale Galanter said decisions on witnesses will be made after the prosecution rests its case. Both sides have reviewed Pattinson's 800-page divorce court file from 10 years ago. Rifkin acknowledged her office went over it last December before deciding whether to charge Simpson. "Is there anything in there that would cast a shadow or a doubt on the victim's credibility? There was not," Rifkin told Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy. Pattinson told police he slammed on his brakes and honked his horn at a black Lincoln Navigator after he saw it run a stop sign in Kendall, where Simpson now lives. Simpson got out, confronted him through the open driver's window and scratched him while taking his glasses, Pattinson said. Simpson acknowledges the two men argued but denies any wrongdoing. The former football great was acquitted of criminal charges in the 1994 deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. A civil jury later found him liable in the slayings and ordered him to pay $33.5 million