Groden epilogue

after O.J. S*pson, former foctball and TV cOemercial star, was acquitted

of-m4derine his former wife and the you/gman,whe was murdered with her, both O ,

families filti a civil action aeaieet ilimmefdamages from -R._

AKose murders. One of the items of alleged e ence in the crib case were -e/

shererinte in blood at the scene of the murders. They were said to have been

made by ,3runo jagli shoos. h'impson eisti stated he had not worn any Bruno Jeagli 44.mpsoele survivors and those of

shoes. The lawyers for "icolo arown-Litesonrand ;1.,oneld Goldman ercduced a.shoto. _ —t. ( . , . ,_. . :

., :' 'H - 1. = '' .', Je ,

graph st.id to be of 'jimpson wearing Bruno lee 4i shaec.-Lonr: aft er this manuscript .44.,,,,

was completed 4roden appeared as a witness for 6impson. then testified that

-,/ the ehotogYleh wao a faze. Then he las dross-ex, (3 His testimoey began before 44cirrelo

Christina.; onliednesday, December 18, 199o. AA4,01:).) 41,4016 JWAMIAm.

was resumed after the Christmas

,Under oath in that testim6-Ry he was also a liar. &I) Wiefe'te.54aLtite,)e-it"'l Lieel

r\I! There should be no minunderetakking of the meanine of "liar," The Random

mouse unabridged dictionary defines I, liar ax simply as flame who tells lies."

It has more and longer descriptions o lie." For ou-reurposee the first two

suffice:

lie: 1, a false statement made .:ith the deliberate intent to deceive;

an intentional untruth; a fa 'echoed. 2 Something intended to er serving

to coevey a false impression." -1Pirst

The picture in question wseeel*alished by the supereaket tabloid, The

fAAgnel Etalrer.I.Lfter Greden alleged the picture was a fake rth EnciArer 44 MCP - G .e.A ,,,,

wont after him hard. The main4headliee on its story in az Denary 7, 19;07 N L.."

issue is "O.J.'spOTO Llie:E.:T IS elJLI!IrThe subhead is," His ex-buo4sboss L

::--)

recess.

The transeript of feat testimony adds a dimension to groden. .%.fe

e have seen him 3..f--laortreyed as a 'el i. and as a subject-matter ieeorpus.

24.

)1 The la :iy ia er shod hAve agked him to c..„:111ain that ninvolvonent," and whether

ha was zaythe that h.: :mots five boolm. (.16 aia not.

Eroden epilogue-2

say S: 'He's a nut 6: a li r -his head. is full of nonsense.' $`

law professor u. ',jobert Blaney, who had been 4 Ou-

chief counnel and sa staff direcu the House ssassins connittee It had used

1 uroden as a photogratnhic consultant. TheDnauirer quotes Blalney as telling it that

"If Groden told me it was 12 noon, I woc"Id at my watch. I worIldba3ver

rely on him for a factual answer." ".4,...(1f414A,e, E'C wirer, the lawyers, Blakey and just about all others who were not of

As we have seen, that intended insult is really a compLiment.1/4-01 aAdju/yLd

At the beginning of his testino ny, when questioned by Sirapson's lawyer, Dan It

;oonard, and asked. Nianat .how are you presentely employnd?" the hindi-school

dropout Groden replied, "I'm a writer."

Later, under cress enrs.lination, when asked how -1,1811y bool.lho had written,

Gitden's evasive response is that ho was involved in five books. L4

%that we have exanined that bearT, his unue is hardly the writing of books.

It is a collection of nothing but captions, and they are, as we have seen, not

daoeridable at all.

(roden is not a writer nod he had virtually nothing to4to woth those other ..--

I

lbocini with which ho was associated so those who wrote them could uoe his pictures

and seek to commercialise his suplosed At subjectti-natter expertise that does

not exist.

th course of seeldng to accredit `-'rod.en Leonard asked him about the

noose comnittce for which he had worked.. Groden not even give a straighT

ansner when asked t7-at cc.anr_i---esttee was." fr

/ A. The House Assassination Committee or the House Committee on Assassinations, as it was formerly known, was an organization or group formed by Congress to investigate the work of the Warren Commission. They were to

1 study the Warren Report, to question witnesses that may not have been questioned by the Warren Commission, and to determine the accuracy or fallacy of the Warren Commission report.

The quotation is of Hote .uprip

that description referred to 4oden an "a conspiracy nut."

72(

2X

Except .I-Lat tic co:_1:-zitte ,..A;'7i,:7.,7->;;; -at, 1.0.;:1113::. than "formed) by the don,7ess,

as all coa4ttees of thl et mess ar:?, not a uord of thi:-; is true. aGain the

el unenclinc ignor. nee.

3 f oLs

Gr. Ep -

Grodeo has as little connection with rending as he does with writing.

&lob 40Cong-essional committee is created by a resolution. That resolution states

what. the committee is to do. Each coomittce prints its resolution in its hearing-544Jr ( 4

The committee for which uroden worked was not created "to investigate the work 9

of the Warren. ennmiRsion." Nor was it created "to study the 'o;arren Repeet or

"to determine thc.aocuracy of fAllgicy of the warren Commission report."

Tide was Uteden being (=rodeo, ignorant and masing it up as he goes.

That colinittee was created to conduct two investigati4s, not the one that Y

can be interpreted as reflecte whatcproden said. It was to mr,rxmwt conduct its

cen investigations of not only the assassination of Pre.7ident .IC/ e ay but also

what Gp:oden, who wOrkod for it for several year did not the assassination

of 1,1artin Lutherg, Jr.Onitthe ang assassination alone, aside from the

7- committee'si official .J2port it published thi4en volumes of hearings on

the -ing assassittion alone.

He spent years wotldng for tiat csmmittee and did not known what it was

supposed to do!

Groden was asked by plaintiff's coLmsel ''eter Gelblum how much he was paid

/ for e- idlip that picture and testifying about it. Groden said he had, until

then, •een 4u, Gel alum then -asd asked,"That's pretty serious wiz 1

moneyVor you, ism it, "r. Groden, 4S8,000?" r IP

At r;:ally, no," was Urodens false response. As Callum hinted at in aalpling .J/

next,"Well, as recently as a few months ago, were you spending some of your

time out on the stmeet in DePey Plaza hawking videotapes?"

"I was selling ay videotapes, yes," Groden admitted.

named again, "Now, why donii4 you tell th,2 jury what you do for a laving?"

Groden lied agag! ayiag, "I'm a writer."

Iter-b

3A

Actually, most of hiS lifc Grodch had been otroloyed either in photo labs

or in ropairinj, .:Jhoto equine:ant'

,4 fols

over one a, his two videotapes. One suit

Cr Ep 4

3S\

4.ct

3e:Ades quite literally trying to sell hi 4dlotape to passersby cpin J!4__

')ealey Plaza Groden was part of a difk"erent rcialization and exoloitation

of •thn. assassin-4tion, ,.that he referred to as a limousine tour of th e motorcade L-r

route the day of the asses -,tion.

Actually, Groden

was aboutabout false allegations in it. .other was /hiS use of pictures he had no

right to use. 41/41 /14' 11410-40 d4,44/I474H/m,e'a,1

On his alleged expertise in "deto mining the authenticity of a photograph"

the fifty-one year old Grode5:17-had lie one such job, fourteen years_6714:::: 40,w?

for The Enovirer,irmAd dia"11 /14A1A117

In seeldng TO accredit bin elf as an expert 4:roden had stated,"i've been

called twice to testify before the Assassination Record lsic)eview Board" (it is

Recorda). Asized what it is he again was grossly ignorance and;;;eve an answer that

was not true. this followed:

41,1.40 •'

Q. What is the Assassination Record Review Board? A. The Assassination Record Review Board does an investigation is going on now to try to determine what issues relating to the assassination, photographic and documentary, should be released to the public. Q. You didn't testify, you didn't give expert testimony before them about altered photographs, did you? A. I believe I did. Q. Well, in fact, sir, you were deposed twice by the Assassination Records Review Board relating to your theft of photos from the government when you worked in the House Select Committee, correct? MR. LEONARD: Objection. That There's a lack of foundation. It's

rfit tp_g argumentative. I'd asked to approachla this point. Q. (BY MR. GELBLUM) Isn't that correct? THE COURT: Overruled. You can answer yes or no. A. No, that is not. If you're asking if I stole photographs from the government, the answer is absolutely no. Q. (BY MR. GELBLUM) I'm asking you the subject of what you put on your resume is your testimony before the Assassination Records Review Board, it was not expert testimony, it was depositions that you were required to submit to about the subject of your theft of government documents, correct?

5L.

assassination 1;0 had not the remotest idea where any governamt 6tgency hadTh:7 record. iv

had not disclosed or tihat those records are.

Gr Eo 5

In his usual perpetual state of inorance and with his ustip1 up...d.r,g it all

up as he goes ,boclen was.-..tioletnt of the actual ournose of -iflat board. It as , as

a matter of las, by order of the Gong.-ess, to see to it that all possible

(.1 assassination records were disclosed by all agencies. yt ea was not to Afdtermine

4F-thee they "shouli be released." The Congres:-, had decided that and had ordered

that they be released.

IVA( Grade ' stateent that he gave "el:pert testimony" is like-Jisa false. "S-

113i Devito his deni-ls there is no question about it, 11. stole photo when

he worked for t: .t committee. cs, Aqq7

',Then G b_um /eked Gooden about the "tabloid" (he was refer7ing to the

scandalsheet weekly, the supermarket tabloid:

Q. Okay. In December 1991, sir, didn't you sell autopsy photographs of John F. Kennedy to the ''Globe" tabloid? A. I did not. Q. Okay. Did you enter into a contract with the "Globe" to sell autopsy photos of John F. Kennedy for $50,000, sir? A. I did not. Q. Do you recognize what I'm putting in front of you now? MR. LEONARD: Your Honor, I object, not relevant. THE COURT: Overruled. (Witness is handed magazine.) A. Yes, I recognize it. Q. What is it? A. It a copy of the "Globe" dated December 31, 1991. Q. (BY MR. GELBLUM) And the cover story is about autopsy photos of John F. Kennedy, correct? A. That is correct. MR. GELBLUM: I'd like to mark next in order, a contract between you and the "Globe" for the sale of those photographs. Q. (BY MR. GELBLUM) Is that what that is, sir? (Witness reviews document.) A. Would you repeat the question. Q. Yes, sir. MR. GELBLUM: What's the number on that? THE CLERK: 2286. (The instrument herein described as a copy of appendix to hearings was marked for identification as Plaintiffs' Exhibit No. 2286.) Q. (BY MR. GELBLUM) Exhibit 2286, that's a contract between you and the "Globe" bearing your signature on page 2, for $50,000 to sell autopsy

0 photographs of John F. Kennedy to the "Globe," isn't it, sir? A. No, it is not.

14, Q. Okay. Ls your nameon it? A. Yes, it is. Q. Okay. And you're agreeing to sell some photographs for $50,000? A. No, I'm not. Q. What are you agreeing to do, sir? A. To give them exclusive rights to a story about autopsy photographs being faked and to consult with them for the writing of such a story. Q. Okay. And you gave them the photographs to use in the story? A. I allowed them to use the photographs in the story. Q. You were paid $50,000 for that, right? A. Yes. Q. So you didn't sell them the photos; you just sold them the right to publish the photos? A. I sold them the rights to the story and allowed them to use the photographs in the stotito prove a point. Q. Those are some of the photos you obtained from the House Select

-------1

Committee when you were there? A. That's correct. 1 Q. Those are autopsy photos of John F. Kennedy, right?

C....- A. That's correct.

Clelblum.issed a point in not ask inc L'roden what leal right he had to 71aVe

those autopsy photornphs akwell as how he cot them. ne had no richt to then and

could have Cotten then only as the result of a theft.

•

David ' ' ton had alrepriate and uointed comment on this wh©n he unloaded 1LL

on fGroden an ompusery

himself seem more iaport

Gr on nth him with his dishonest e::planation of what he cot that $50,000 for.

built himself up a little first:

Li fIon has spent most of his life seekimc to make

put 44 others do: n4 aw the real on )ortunity

On Friday, 12/20/96, I sat in the second row and watched the cross examination of Robert Groden by Goldman family attorney Peter Gelblum.

I personally spent hours with the plaintiff's attorneys, and ended up going to court with them that morning, sitting next to Peter Gelblum's wife, in the second row, right behind Fred Goldman. •

As a long time resident of Los Angeles--a city I really love (and someone who resides, as a matter of fact, just 1.5 blocks from where these two murders take. place), I don't want to see someone attempt to literally "invent" reasonable doubt; to create the appearance of a gigantic conspiracy to "frame Or -- a message sent to the jury at the criminal trial---and attempt again to do that same sort of thing, only now, at the civil trial, with this photograph.

After maLing =self i Dertant an howin;::; ho pull he had to not

only hay ,.;0,2117-1-q-t courk.roc out so close to the principals, he had this connentA,

which begins with his omphazds on hi:: importance as ropr4sented by sitting

uf_th_thOse who were doing the suing:

Sitting in the second row, I was incredulous at Groden's explanation. He is claiming that Globe paid him $50,000 for his "story", and that the photographs were provided free! (That is like a prostitute claiming: "Oh no your honor. I never had illegal sex. These men paid me the money to talk to me, to tell me the problems they were having in their marriages, and in their lives in general. As for the scx---that was free!"

?Lifi.on'd conment is

Simpsonts lawYbrs must have felt desl'arate in calling ''roden. , they called

him as an' expert witness without any checidng, on some/o's word. 5cy.:!one like maybe

sliver atone, Who was high on 'roden from the uses he made of him in and in pre-

bOn'

j046sparate or not, they got Micked in the tedth, ainbson with them.

Without Lifeden and his ss, has lies, hi 5 exaczerations, his oier':Yo-

resent:at:Wm and-1141es evasior, all of which attracted attention and daended --e441141-

and'...:bntf.al, it all rested one a picture published by the supermarket

tabloid +hat, like al_L, was not T'Ukti , • Afp, am.-NI 1f1 ,i4/S1 a tract.A to tnoce nee:: 1r, kartbeuh

rer:-_rded /AN, Ar

asletradziplq. The attqntion Groden Ih44A CzYvi P/0 ' ti IT 3 Z--01-f, led to furthe-2 se5rches for such piotire

pictures and lot thirty of them, P11 of better quality, all by a -2rofessio:fal

photog..pher, were remembered fro_ y e7rlier when aimspon was at a buffalo

p-_ ofessioTiOl football game. -,,ebuttinz Groden also involved nrofrssionals who

had what Groden did not havem the prover educationar;rain

professional exporieqace. ss In effect g.;:oden made t ose sh the central part of

of case. The plaLltiffs endepl the cast.. imrrediately after the effective rebuttals

they were able to brecent b the jury. That left those shoe.3 in th:, front of the minds

of those jurors, the last thirk Simpson's lawyers wanted and what the lawyers for

the elatatiffs might well have preferred. ) They elided the case January 16, ten days aiterthe recess ended.

(etia i•6' 4 lt/lIt'(it parine for his racartzpaliator-iTlirish hit movie, In.-