Christopher A Darden

Escalating their attack on the prosecution team in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, defense attorneys said Tuesday that they have filed a motion asking Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito to remove one of the government lawyers from the case. The motion was filed late Monday under seal, but Simpson's attorneys said outside court Tuesday that they are seeking the removal of Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher A. Darden, who was added to the Simpson prosecution team last week.

For Christopher A. Darden, the past two days have been a personal triumph after a year of wrenching adversity as the only African American on the team prosecuting O.J. Simpson. Darden's tightly focused and compelling closing argument won praise from attorneys and community leaders, who said Darden had erased at least some of the scars he has acquired while trying to prove that Simpson is a double murderer.

Weeks of flaring tempers and increasingly caustic courtroom exchanges in the murder trial of O.J. Simpson peaked Thursday with the judge citing Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher A. Darden for contempt, then backing down after Darden grudgingly apologized.

Text of exchanges Thursday involving Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito and Deputy Dist. Attys. Christopher A . Darden and Marcia Clark. These first comments occurred in a sidebar conference called to discuss the prosecution's objections to a line of questioning by Simpson attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.: Cochran: They obviously haven't tried any cases in a long time and obviously don't know how, but this is cross-examination.

This isn't about love at first sight. It's about love at 72nd sight, and under some of the most stressful, adrenalin-pumping conditions imaginable. Or it's not love, as the case may be. But tongues and tabloids have been wagging with speculation about the supposed after-hours liaison between O.J. Simpson prosecutors Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden. In the Nov. 13 issue of People magazine, columnist Mitchell Fink reports that Darden says he'll marry Clark when her divorce comes through.

Members of the O.J. Simpson defense "dream team" were back in action 17 years after the legendary murder trial, this time defending the name of their late colleague, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. It all started last week in New York, when former Simpson prosecutor Christopher A. Darden alleged to a law school audience that Cochran tampered with the infamous "bloody glove," a key piece of evidence in the murder case. During the trial in the stabbing deaths of Simpson's former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Lyle Goldman, Simpson tried on bloody gloves.

Of all the characters in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, Christopher Darden was by far the most interesting, complex and difficult. Difficult certainly describes my acquaintance with him when I was writing about that long, long ordeal. Sometimes, when we ran into each other outside the courtroom, he'd tell me my commentaries were just plain ignorant. On another occasion, he asked my opinion about an interview he'd given to a journalist and listened to me as if he thought I was intelligent.

Some of the key events Thursday in the O.J. Simpson murder trial: * SUMMARY: Stunned by late defense disclosures of witnesses and by the sudden illness of Deputy Dist. Atty. William Hodgman, prosecutors asked for a one-month delay in the trial. Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito did not seem inclined to grant that request, but said he would consider that proposal-- as well as other prosecution suggestions for punishing the defense-- and would try to rule by this afternoon.

"You did a beautiful job. Please don't let this make you lose faith in our system. Please don't let this deter you from doing the job you are so qualified to do." --Chief prosecutor Marcia Clark, thanking her staff **** "We came here in search of justice. You'll have to be the judges. I'm not sure whether any of us found it." --Prosecutor Christopher A. Darden **** "But it was clear ... that this was an emotional trial. Apparently, their decision was based on emotion that overcame the reason."

Brian "Kato" Kaelin said during a televised interview Friday that he believes O.J. Simpson killed his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. Last month, Kaelin told attorneys pressing wrongful death lawsuits against Simpson that Nicole Simpson thought the former football star would kill her. But Kaelin's comments Friday marked the first time he has publicly stated that he believes Simpson murdered her.