A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
One of the key figures in the 1995 O.J. Simpson murder trial has died. LA police Detective Mark Fuhrman became a polarizing witness in a trial that mesmerized much of the country. He was 74 years old. Here's Steve Futterman reporting from Los Angeles.
STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: During the O.J. Simpson criminal trial, no one outside of Simpson himself was more controversial than the lead LAPD detective, Mark Fuhrman. He was the one who found the key piece of evidence - the bloody glove that the prosecution claimed Simpson dropped outside his home after the killings of his ex-wife and her friend took place. There was no conviction in the criminal trial, although Simpson was later found liable in a civil trial. This was Fuhrman's testimony.
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MARK FUHRMAN: It appeared a dark leather glove. It appeared to be somewhat moist or sticky. I didn't touch it, but it appeared that parts were sticking to other parts of the glove.
FUTTERMAN: Defense attorneys had a much different view. They claimed that there was never a bloody glove and accused Fuhrman of planting it. They later suggested that Fuhrman held racist views. They were able to present audiotapes from years before with Fuhrman using racist slurs, including the N-word. Loyola Law School professor and former prosecutor Laurie Levenson reported on the trial of Simpson, a former football player-turned-actor.
LAURIE LEVENSON: Using Mark Fuhrman and some of the racial slurs that he had made before, the defense - and especially Johnnie Cochran - were able to effectively argue that what he testified to couldn't be believed. And the jury went with the defense.
FUTTERMAN: At the trial and before the audiotapes with the racial slurs were played, Fuhrman testified that he had not used the N-word during the previous decade.
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F LEE BAILEY: Are you therefore saying that you have not used that word in the past 10 years, Detective Fuhrman?
FUHRMAN: Yes. That's what I'm saying.
FUTTERMAN: A year after Simpson was acquitted, Fuhrman pleaded no contest to charges of perjury. He was sentenced to three years' probation. Later, he moved to Idaho, wrote several books and became a talk show host. Fuhrman always insisted he didn't plant the bloody glove.
For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles.
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