Nightline (ABC) - 1995-01-23
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Read a transcript preview of “Nightline (ABC) - 1995-01-23” from malgent, uploaded on 2026-01-16.
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Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)
[0:00] and channel 2 on your side.
[0:09] >> January 23rd, 1995.
[0:14] >> We asked the court if number one, Mr.
[0:16] Simpson could participate by giving a
[0:18] brief portion of the opening statement.
[0:20] >> It was supposed to be the first day of
[0:22] opening statements.
[0:24] >> There may be times and will probably be
[0:25] times I'd like Mr. Simpson to be able to
[0:27] approach the jury to demonstrate certain
[0:29] things I think are very relevant.
[0:31] >> Instead, it turned into a day
[0:33] prosecution called trial by ambush.
[0:38] >> What this is really is just an attempt
[0:40] to ask the court's leave to allow the
[0:42] defendant to testify without being
[0:44] cross-examined.
[0:45] >> Tonight, the state versus OJ Simpson.
[0:49] The trial lurches forward.
[1:00] This is ABC News Night Line reporting
[1:03] from Washington. Ted CPP.
[1:07] >> It was late in the afternoon, Los
[1:09] Angeles time, before Judge Lance Itto
[1:11] finally got to lay down the legal rules
[1:13] of the road for the jury in the OJ
[1:16] Simpson trial. That had been scheduled
[1:18] to happen this morning to be followed by
[1:20] opening statements. First the
[1:22] prosecution, then the defense. Instead,
[1:25] the jurors remain sequestered for almost
[1:28] the entire day, making them among the
[1:30] only people in America not to have
[1:33] access to a spectacle in mindbending
[1:35] court theatrics. Today, it was mostly
[1:38] the defense team playing games, one last
[1:41] minute tactic after another, a veritable
[1:44] army of new witnesses that had
[1:46] apparently materialized over the
[1:48] weekend. a videotape of news clips that
[1:51] the defense wanted to include in its
[1:53] opening statement. An alibi witness who
[1:56] could place OJ Simpson so