February 6, 1996
Web posted at: 6:30 p.m. EST
From Correspondent Charles Feldman
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- A transcript of O.J. Simpson's deposition in the civil wrongful death lawsuit filed against him shows at least one contradiction of what he said Monday in a live one-hour telephone interview with CNN.
A copy of the transcript was obtained by CNN.
The obvious discrepancy is in Simpson's explanation about why a fake beard and goatee were found in his Ford Bronco after the highly publicized "low-speed chase" that preceded his arrest.
In the deposition, given under oath, Goldman family attorney Daniel Petrocelli asked him, "Besides hats and sunglasses, had you ever worn any other disguises in public for the purpose of concealing your identity?" Simpson responded, "Halloween. Other than that, no."
But during a call Monday to CNN's "Burden of Proof" -- a legal analysis show -- Simpson suggested he had used disguises before. "This would not be the first time I resorted to this, taking my kids to Disneyland and stuff," he said.
Also raising questions, but not strictly contradictory, were Simpson's statements about limousine driver Alan Park's testimony in the murder trial.
Park told prosecutors that when he showed up to take Simpson to the airport on the night of the murders, Simpson didn't appear for some time, and when he finally did, he told Park he had overslept.
During his deposition, Simpson said he never told Park he had overslept. In yesterday's CNN broadcast, Simpson said, "I'm at home. I'm watching TV. I may have been dozing a little bit."
Simpson was acquitted last October of the June 12, 1994, murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. He did not testify at the trial. The civil suit was filed after that verdict, and Simpson began his deposition last month. It was postponed because of a scheduling conflict and is to resume in two weeks.
According to the transcripts obtained by CNN, Simpson said he was never jealous of Nicole's dating habits and said he never stalked her.
Simpson, who once pleaded no contest to charges of spousal abuse, also said he never hit Nicole. He said he bruised her in 1989, but only in an attempt to protect himself.
"I had her by the shoulders and the head, and was trying to pull her off," Simpson said, according to the transcripts.
Petrocelli interrupted, "Like in a headlock?"
"Yeah, sort of in a headlock," Simpson answered.
Simpson said in the deposition that he "loved Nicole" but "didn't want to live with her." It was his love for her that compelled him to try to visit her grave on the morning he was supposed to turn himself into the police, he said.
Simpson said he never made it to the grave site because police were blocking the entrance to the cemetery when he arrived.
He and his friend, Al Cowlings, then left the cemetery, and the slow-speed police chase followed. In the deposition, Simpson said the $10,000 he had with him during the chase was for his children, and that much of it was in the form of checks, not cash.
And Simpson told lawyers questioning him that he had thought about committing suicide.
"I was feeling a lot of pain, and I wanted it to stop," Simpson said.
"And what was the cause of that pain?" Petrocelli said.
"Losing Nicole," Simpson replied.
When the questioning turned directly to evidence in the case, Simpson repeatedly claimed he had no explanation as to why hair and blood evidence allegedly links him to the crime.
The deposition illustrated that Simpson sometimes answered questions against the wishes of his attorney, Robert Baker, who at one point asked, "Am I a potted plant?"
In his deposition, Simpson said he had not used illegal narcotics from January to June 1994.
CNN also obtained a copy of the deposition given in December by Simpson's former girlfriend, Paula Barbieri. In it, she said she left Simpson a phone message at 7 a.m. the day of the murders to tell him she was breaking up with him.
Under oath, Barbieri said that later in the day she received three messages from Simpson in which he said he had received her message.
On CNN Monday, Simpson said he never received a call or message from Barbieri.
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