From: Debra Conway Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy.jfk Subject: Plaintiffs Bash Photo Expert Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 16:30:17 -0800 Organization: JFK Lancer Productions & Publications ===================================================================== To all: Long-time JFK Researcher David Lifton played a major part in O. J. Simpson case today assisting the prosecuting attorney Peter Gelblum. Watch MSNBC "Internight" at 5:00pm (pacific) tonight where Lifton and others will discuss the cross examination of Robert Groden. Groden is testifing for the defense. Debra Conway Read also below sent by Tom Hudson: ==================== --- begin forwarded text ====================== Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 15:28:27 -0500 Subject: Plaintiffs Bash Photo Expert The Associated Press By MICHAEL FLEEMAN Associated Press Writer SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) -- The photo expert who testified that a picture of O.J. Simpson wearing Bruno Magli shoes was a fake was attacked Friday as a conspiracy-loving flake with no qualifications to examine photographs. The cross-examination of Robert Groden became so pointed that defense attorney Dan Leonard stood and complained loudly, ``This is character assassination.'' The judge then admonished plaintiffs attorney Peter Gelblum to stop loading his questions with nasty insinuations that hadn't been proved. ``Now let's cut out that type of question,'' Superior Court Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki said. Groden, a key Simpson witness, branded as a fake a picture purporting to show Simpson wearing the same kind of rare Bruno Magli shoes as the killer who attacked Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. In the cross-examination, Groden acknowledged: He was a high school dropout who never took or taught a photographic course. Nearly all of his professional life has been dedicated to investigating an alleged conspiracy surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy. His JFK-related work included narrating a Dallas tourist attraction in which people are driven along the Kennedy motorcade route in a vintage limousine. He was discharged from the military as part of a cover-up because a sergeant had beaten him. He doesn't belong to a single professional group dedicated to authenticating photographs -- and he doesn't even know the names of any such groups. He is being sued by somebody for allegedly using their video footage without permission in a videotape Groden has been selling on the street. Groden, who has neither a college degree nor special training in photography, has told jurors he learned about faking photos when he worked as a photo optical technician in the advertising industry. The defense portrayed him as an expert in the Kennedy assassination. He also served on a government photography panel that investigated the assassination. The sharpest exchanges came when Gelblum suggested Groden had been accused of stealing photographs from the government and that part of his work experience described in a resume pertained to testifying in depositions dealing with the alleged theft. Leonard objected to the questions, sneering at Gelblum and saying: ``It has nothing to do with the photos in this case. Ask him about the photos in this case.'' Leonard demanded that the judge admonish Gelblum. Gelblum then demanded the judge admonish Leonard. ``I think I'll admonish both of you to stop your outbursts,'' Fujisaki said. After a sidebar discussion that was so heated most of it could be heard in court, the judge told jurors they should not consider Gelblum's questions as evidence and there was no proof that Groden sold anything. Before cross-examination, Groden wrapped up his direct testimony by again questioning the authenticity of a 1993 photo purporting to show Simpson wearing a pair of the same rare shoe model as those that left blood imprints near the bodies of Simpson's ex-wife and her friend. The courtroom lights were turned off and Groden pointed to a blowup of the picture on a TV screen, saying the picture showed signs of brush stroke or other retouching techniques. Simpson was not in court and was not expected to testify Friday. Defense attorneys had hoped to give Simpson the last word before sending the jury away for a two-week holiday. A decision on the custody battle over Simpson's children Sydney, 11, and Justin, 8, was being released in Fullerton late this afternoon. After Friday's testimony in the wrongful death lawsuit, the jury takes off two weeks for the holidays, returning Jan. 6. AP-NY-12-20-96 1424EST Copyright 1996 The Associated Press. ------------------------- end forwarded text --------------------------