THE former football star O.J. Simpson could not explain in court yesterday how the blood of his murdered exwife and a friend were found in his car or what he did on the night of the killings.
It was the second day that Simpson (49) took the witness stand in the wrongful death civil suit filed against him by family members of the victims. He invoked his right not to testify during the criminal trial, in which he was acquitted of the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, whose bodies were found outside her home.
Even if found liable in the civil suit, he would not have to face prison but could be forced to pay millions of dollars in damages.
The plaintiff's lawyer, Mr Daniel Petrocelli, asked Simpson at yesterday's hearing in Santa Monica, California, to explain cuts police found on his hand and blood from the victims that was found in his car and home.
"You don't have any explanation for that blood," said Mr Petrocelli. "No," responded Simpson.
Simpson appeared relaxed and cool under questioning, sometimes looking past Mr Petrocelli and turning to the jury to deliver his answers.
Asked to explain the DNA, or genetic prints, of blood drops at the scene of the crime matching his as well as blood samples in his Ford Bronco and his home matching those of his ex wife, he offered none.
"You have no explanation for the blood of Nicole found on the carpet of your Bronco?" he was asked and replied: "No." He added that he could not explain how Ron Goldman's blood ended up in his Bronco and said he had "no explanation" for three cuts band seven abrasions found on his left hand by a doctor on June 15th, 1994.
During the criminal trial, Simpson's lawyers persuaded a largely black jury that a white Los Angeles Police Department detective planted the evidence to frame Simpson for the murders. But the judge in the civil case has refused to allow defence lawyers to suggest such a frame up scenario without proof to support it.
This is a critical point in the trial for Simpson, who has undergone tough, hostile questioning from lawyers. Not only what he says but how he says it will determine his credibility with the jury.