LAPD Testing Knife Found in Former OJ Simpson Residence
PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT, CNN, WASHINGTON, D.C.: Welcome back. I'm Pamela Brown. The infamous O.J. Simpson murder trial is capturing the attention of the American public once again. Los Angeles police say they have acquired a knife that was reportedly found at Simpson's former estate. CNN's Paul Vercammen take a look at this mysterious new development.</s>CAPT. ANDRE NEIMAN, LAPD: I was really surprised.</s>PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN: A shocking discovery in the murder case involving O.J. Simpson, a knife reportedly found more than a decade ago on the football star's former estate, just surfacing after being obtained by police in the last month from a retired LAPD officer.</s>NEIMAN: He claimed that an individual, who claimed to be a construction worker, provided him with this knife, claiming that it was found on the property.</s>VERCAMMEN: The retired officer says the construction worker supposedly worked on the property. This could have been around the time of its demolition in 1998, three years after Simpson was acquitted of murdering ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman.</s>REPORTER: Please describe the knife, the condition it was in, how long the knife is, if you found anything on it? Possibly dried blood?</s>NEIMAN: Yeh, I, I don't have that information and the investigators have asked that we not be very descriptive about the knife.</s>VERCAMMEN: Detectives will say forensic testing is underway for blood, DNA, even fingerprints, but police are holding back details as they vet whether or not this is all a hoax. Investigators want to know why the officer, who says he was given the knife while working security on a movie set, waited so long to turn in the knife.</s>NEIMAN: I would think that an LAPD officer, if this story is accurate as we're being told, would know that anytime you are - you come into contact with evidence, that you should and shall submit that to investigators.</s>VERCAMMEN: The surprising revelation comes as there's a renewed fascination with all things O.J., brought on by the FX series, "The People versus O.J. Simpson."</s>ACTRESS: He got away with beating her; he is not going to get away with killing her.</s>VERCAMMEN: Even President Obama commented on the news today.</s>PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Well, I thought it might be useful to take a small break from the spectacle of the political season, and now I gather O.J., to focus on something that really matters to the American people.</s>VERCAMMEN: For the Goldman family, the development isn't something they want to address, saying it only creates more unnecessary hype and encourages the media circus. O.J. Simpson remains in a Nevada prison after being convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery in Las Vegas. Most legal experts say Simpson can never be retried for the two murders.</s>BROWN: The weapon used in the double murders is a mystery to this day. Other knives have surfaced over the years, but none were found to have links to this crime. I want to bring in CNN legal analyst, Joey Jackson. Joey, what a strange story. Really everyone is talking about this. You know, since Simpson can't be retried for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, how significant is this discovery?</s>JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY AND LEGAL ANALYST, CNN: Good morning, Pamela. You know, it depends who you ask, but let's start here, and let's start with your open, which was "mysteriously." And so, you know, I hasten to add that, you know, it may very well be that this story is credible, but is it coincidental that you have this FX series that's capturing the nation about O.J. And on the heels of this FX series, we have a revelation about a knife. And so, you know, in terms of the veracity of the story, you have to question. And then you get to the issues you mentioned.</s>BROWN: Mm-hmm.</s>JACKSON: And then you look at the evidentiary value of the knife itself. And if you look and establish that timeline, any attorney, no matter what this knife reveals based on the testing, will attack, attack, attach because of chain of custody. What do you do with evidence? You preserve it, you safeguard it. And if this evidence has been laying around everywhere for all these years, really, how much value would any evidence that's unearthed from this knife really have?</s>BROWN: And I want to get to that in just a second, just the fact that it's been so long for this to be turned over. But just say, hypothetically -- we know it's a long shot - hypothetically it turns out that this is the murder weapon and, and there's some link to O.J. Simpson, would there be any way around double jeopardy?</s>JACKSON: There's no way at all around double jeopardy. The interesting thing about the laws, Pamela, is that they inure to the benefit of any defendant that's tried. And what do I mean? To the extent that he's been tried and acquitted, that is a jury has said not guilty, he's done. There's nothing else that you can do in terms of going after him.</s>BROWN: OK, so right now forensic testing is reportedly underway. I mean I think everyone's really just anxious to know what the results are, even though there's a lot of skeptics. How long will it take, you think?</s>JACKSON: You know, I'm surprised, if there was a rush on it, that they really haven't or don't have the information they need now. Remember that the knife was apparently turned over by this former L.A.P.D. detective on February 8th. And so now, potentially, if you put a rush on it and you test it, you should have the information that you need. But, again, it's very skeptical. Remember O.J., the incident happened June of 1994. He was acquitted in October of 1995. This L.A.P.D. detective apparently retired in '98. He gets the knife in 2003.</s>BROWN: Uh-huh.</s>JACKSON: He puts it in a tool box, and then all of a sudden it appears multiple years later.</s>BROWN: OK, I got to ask you quickly on that note. Very quickly. Could he be charged with withholding evidence, considering it has been all these years?</s>JACKSON: You know, that certainly is a concern because, as an officer, you - or even a former officer - you're a custodian of that information. Somebody comes to you, Pamela, and they give you something, your job is to protect and to preserve that, and to safeguard that and to turn it in. And so, now that he has it, and he didn't turn it in for so many year, he certainly could face some type of tampering or evidentiary charge in the future.</s>BROWN: Very bizarre. Joey Jackson, thanks for breaking it down for us. We appreciate it.</s>JACKSON: A pleasure. Have a great day.</s>BROWN: Thanks, you too. And just ahead on "New Day," Marco Rubio taking the stage at CPAC in just a few hours from now, as his rival for the presidency, Donald Trump, decides to back out of his appearance at the last minute. We'll talk about the impact to voters.