Defense denies O.J. glove tampering

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LOS ANGELES, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Members of O.J. Simpson's Los Angeles defense team denied allegations the famed bloody glove that led to his acquittal on murder charges had been tampered with.

Lawyer Shawn Holley, part of Simpson's defense team, told the Los Angeles Times the allegation that the late Johnny Cochran, the lead defense attorney, tampered with crucial evidence was "false, malicious and slanderous."

Alan Dershowitz, who also worked on the case with Cochran, told the Times the allegation of tampering with the glove was "a total fabrication."

Simpson was found innocent in 1995 of the murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman after he tried on the glove in the courtroom and found it to be too small for his hand. Cochran later told the jury in his closing arguments, "If it does not fit, you must acquit."

But prosecutor Chris Darden told a law school audience he believed Cochran somehow tore the lining of the glove to that Simpson's fingers would not go all the way in. During the trial, prosecutors called a witness who testified the glove also likely shrunk because it had been exposed to moisture.

But Holley said Darden was still trying to deflect blame for losing the high-profile case. "Almost 20 years later, it seems Mr. Darden is still trying to exculpate himself from one of the biggest blunders in the history of jurisprudence," he said.