A closed-door look at the 'dream team'

Miniseries details maneuverings, machinations in Simpson trial

O.J. Simpson's defense team: Bruno Kirby as Barry Scheck, Ron Silver as Robert Shapiro, Ving Rhames as Johnnie Cochran and Christopher Plummer as F. Lee Bailey

By Jim Moret
CNN Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- My involvement with the O.J. Simpson murder case began June 12, 1994, the day the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were discovered outside her Brentwood condominium. I became CNN's O.J. anchor on June 17, the day Simpson took off on his infamous slow-speed chase that led police along a network of LA highways to his mansion. I also happened to be the network's only West Coast anchor.

In addition, I was (and am) a licensed California attorney, so what followed from that day was a year-and-a-half legal saga in which I anchored CNN's gavel-to-gavel coverage of Simpson's criminal trial, which ended in October 1995 with his acquittal on charges of murdering his estranged wife and her friend.

Later, I also sat in the anchor's chair when CNN provided extensive coverage of his civil trial, in which the former football star in January 1997 was found responsible for their deaths.

	SCHEDULE
'An American Tragedy' airs Sunday, November 12 at 9 p.m ET and concludes Wednesday, November 15 at 9 p.m. ET

This weekend, CBS will air the first of two installments of "An American Tragedy," a miniseries based on a book of the same title by Lawrence Schiller, who also directed the movie.

Most of America - indeed, much of the world -- followed the criminal trial on TV, but never was privy to what went on beyond the cameras. Schiller offers an inside view of the drama that unfolded behind closed doors among Simpson's so-called "dream team" of lawyers -- the strategy sessions, the political battles, the bitter fights.

Schiller recently sat down at CNN's bureau here to discuss the movie, the trial and Simpson, a onetime star who no longer shines so brightly.

CNN: Many people lived through the trial and feel they know it, but you felt there was another story people didn't know?

The CBS miniseries, "An American Tragedy," is based on Lawrence Schiller's best-seller about the O.J. Simpson case

Lawrence Schiller:Schiller: I felt that what the public knew is what they saw on television, and what you see on television is not the real story. It's what the television editors want you to see, or what Judge (Lance) Ito allowed you to see in the courtroom...

But there was a major story behind this trial, and it was the story of the lawyers -- how these five lawyers came together to defend Simpson, how they dealt with the evidence, how they dealt with each other. How they stabbed each other in the back when they needed to. How they operated like an eel sliding in and out. Playing each other off of each other. To me that was the big story.

CNN: Once people see this film, how do you expect them to feel about the judicial system?

Schiller: Well, ... the more educated you are, the better informed you are, you'll draw your own conclusions. You'll say, "I want to change the laws. This is what I don't like," or you'll say, "Next time I go to an attorney, I know what's really happening with my case."

CNN: Part of the trick with the film is in casting.

Schiller: When you have an ensemble cast, you're going to have to shape that cast. Obviously, Ving Rhames (who plays lead attorney Johnnie Cochran) is not the peacock, or the funny guy that the real Johnnie Cochran is, but he's something very, very important. He brings a presence to this story.

... Ron Silver (who plays attorney Robert Shapiro) has completely submerged himself into the role. You know he went out with Robert Shapiro; they bummed around together, they had dinner together. ... I think they even went shopping together. He probably could have borrowed Robert Shapiro's suits for the movie if he needed to.

CNN: You felt compelled to have people read the script before making the movie?

Schiller: Look, this was not a secret. The book was published four years ago, the paperback three years ago. The script was no different than the original book. So I sent it to lots of people: Dan Petrocelli, an attorney who represented Fred Goldman (father of Ronald); I sent it to journalists to read it; I invited people over. A lot of people made some very small suggestions, good ones.

CNN: What about former L.A. police officer Mark Fuhrman, whose taped conversation about racist tactics in the police department played such a role in the trial? Did you send the script to him?

Schiller: Oh yes. Fuhrman is no different than Dan Petrocelli. I sent it to him up in Idaho. I said, "You got any problems, anything that was misrepresented?" He said, "No, it's the historical fact. That's the way it came down and you've reported it correctly." So I just went with it.

CNN: Shapiro does not necessarily come across as a truly sympathetic character in this movie.

Ving Rhames as Johnnie Cochran and actress Diana LaMar as Marcia Clark

Schiller: You know, I don't think anyone comes off as good or bad; they come off what they are.

CNN: The lawyers perhaps thought they were in a precarious position, because they'd represented Simpson, and Simpson himself did not want this film made.

Schiller: That's what he (Simpson) said when he filed a (court) complaint, yes.

CNN: What was the genesis of that?

Schiller: It kind of mystifies me. Anything with O.J. Simpson is kind of a mystery, because he's this elusive star that worries about his persona and image. But four years ago, when the book was published, he didn't file an action then. When the paperback was published, he didn't file.

Why he decided to file now, I can only speculate. I can only say that I think some of the lawyers may have joined in supporting this action out of self-preservation because if they didn't take Simpson's side they might have been censored by their own bar associations for talking to a journalist so openly and freely.

CNN: Were you surprised with the high level of choreography that went on with these attorneys behind the scenes?

Schiller: I was astounded when I first got involved in Simpson's legal affairs... It gave me a window in to what was going on. It wasn't until two months after the trial that I started to interview all the lawyers one by one.

By the way, there were a lot of lawyers who didn't want to talk to me. Some of the attorneys deeply involved did. Some of these attorneys gave me interviews and right at the outset of these interviews said, "There's attorney-client privilege." As the tape recordings go, I said "Look, I don't want you to breach any attorney-client privilege. You tell me what you want to tell me and don't tell me what you don't want to tell me."

CNN: In hindsight, are you surprised how much this trial changed the lives at the people that it touched?

Norman Mailer adapted Lawrence Schiller's best-selling novel for the CBS mini series

Schiller: I was surprised by how much it divided America. For the first time since the Vietnam War, America was divided and along racial lines. That surprised me. I was surprised by how black America adopted O.J. Simpson as their leader -- someone they didn't really think about or care about, and someone who didn't really represent their point of view or care for them on a long-term basis.

But when this trial came about, when O.J. Simpson was accused of committing this crime, black America adopted O.J. Simpson, and that divided this country along racial lines. White America said he was guilty, black America said he was innocent, (with) neither side knowing what the evidence was.

CNN: You get a sense that it wasn't so much about the lawyers seeking the truth, but rather seeking the verdict they wanted.

Schiller: Of course. They were hired to get O.J Simpson off. They were hired to get him off whether he's guilty or not. É That's what this is about. O.J Simpson went to the best lawyers, he got the best lawyers, he paid his two dollars and he got off.

CNN: What do you hope people seeing this will walk away with?

Schiller: I think it will educate people about what was really going on behind the scenes, and not just take for granted what they saw on television. ... I think it will make people think about the system, and whether changes are required. I'm not saying they are required, but I hope it will start a dialogue in areas that don't exist.

I think there are tremendous, oh-my-gosh moments in this film. ...I think its going to be an eye-opener in this film to see how the defense manipulated facts in O.J Simpson's house. How they manipulated surroundings to make it seem more black for this black jury. How the defense withheld evidence and information from the prosecution, which was against California law, and how they got away with it. I think its going to be an eye-opener how attorneys push the envelope to see how far they can go without breaking the law, or violating the ethics of their business, but how far (they) go to win irrespective of guilt or innocence.

CNN: You talk about divisions along racial lines. Was this the design of the defense?

Schiller: Oh, there's no question. Robert Shapiro starts very early on, a month into the case ... by saying Mark Fuhrman was a racist. He leaked it to the media. (Shapiro) took several members of the media out to lunch to try and sell them the story and only one or two of them bit.

The story has many layers: What black America thought of O.J. Simpson before this tragic incident and what they thought of him after. It deals with black racism, and white racism. We all have a little bit of it, whether we'd like to admit or not. That's what the film is all about.

Five years later, O.J. Simpson says Los Angeles Police scandal has relevance for his own case
October 4, 2000
O.J. tries to block TV movie
August 16, 2000
O.J. Simpson takes his case to the Web
July 21, 2000
O.J. Simpson courtroom adversaries look back at 'trial of the century'
June 13, 2000
The O.J. Simpson case + 5 years: Where are they now?
June 11, 1999

CBS: An American Tragedy

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