Current:Home > ScamsCalifornia law bars ex-LAPD officer Mark Fuhrman, who lied at OJ Simpson trial, from policing -CapitalCourse
California law bars ex-LAPD officer Mark Fuhrman, who lied at OJ Simpson trial, from policing
View
Date:2025-04-13 21:08:43
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman who was convicted of lying on the witness stand in the O.J. Simpson trial three decades ago, is now barred from law enforcement under a California police reform law meant to strip the badges of police officers who act criminally or with bias.
Fuhrman, who is white, was one of the first two police detectives sent to investigate the 1994 killings of Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles. The slayings and Simpson’s trial exposed divisions on race and policing in America.
Fuhrman reported finding a bloody glove at Simpson’s home but his credibility came under withering attack during the trial as the defense raised the prospect of racial bias.
Under cross-examination, Fuhrman testified that he had never made anti-Black racial slurs over the previous 10 years, but a recording made by an aspiring screenwriter showed he had done so repeatedly.
Fuhrman retired from the LAPD after Simpson’s 1995 acquittal and at age 72 his return was doubtful. The decertification was likely meant to make clear that California will not tolerate such officers.
The former detective was charged with perjury and pleaded no contest in 1996. He went on to become a TV and radio commentator and wrote the book “Murder in Brentwood” about the killings.
Simpson was later found liable for the deaths in a separate civil case, and then served nine years in prison on unrelated charges. He died in Las Vegas of prostate cancer in April at the age of 76.
Fuhrman declined to comment Friday when reached by phone.
“That was 30 years ago. You guys are really up to speed,” he told an Associated Press reporter.
When told that The San Francisco Chronicle had reported that his decertification became formal in May, he replied “good for them, have a nice day,” before hanging up.
The California decertification law was passed in 2021 in the wake of the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and took effect in 2023. The law came 18 years after lawmakers stripped that power from a state police standards commission. That left it to local agencies to decide if officers should be fired, but critics said they could often simply get a job in a different department.
Online records show that the state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training decertified Fuhrman on May 14 based on a government code that includes ineligibility based on a prior felony conviction. Roughly 100 officers have been decertified since 2023.
The records show Fuhrman was last employed by the LAPD in 1995. The police department did not immediately return a request for comment Friday.
The record did not specify whether Fuhrman had any convictions besides the perjury and a spokesperson for the agency said she did not have additional information available Friday.
Fuhrman’s decertification was first reported Friday by The San Francisco Chronicle.
__
Associated Press Researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.
veryGood! (28)
Related
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Lawsuit over death of autistic man in a Pittsburgh jail alleges negligence, systemic discrimination
- Iranian film director Dariush Mehrjui and his wife stabbed to death in home, state media reports
- Wisconsin Republicans withhold university pay raises in fight over school diversity funding
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- Tyga Seeking Legal and Physical Custody of His and Blac Chyna’s Son King
- 2 people accused of helping Holyoke shooting suspect arrested as mother whose baby died recovers
- Montana judge keeps in place a ban on enforcement of law restricting drag shows, drag reading events
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- EU leaders seek harmony at a virtual summit after cacophony over response to the Israel-Hamas war
Ranking
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- 'Devastating': Colorado father says race was behind school stabbing attack on Black son
- How much is that remote job worth to you? Americans will part with pay to work from home
- After Goon Squad torture of 2 Black men, Mississippi sheriff trying to escape liability
- Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
- How Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's Daughter Willow Reacted to Bombshell Book Revelations
- Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh elected to be an International Olympic Committee member
- Israeli video compilation shows the savagery and ease of Hamas’ attack
Recommendation
Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
A 1981 DeLorean with only 977 miles on it was unearthed in a Wisconsin barn
Who is Jim Jordan, House GOP speaker nominee?
Timothée Chalamet Addresses Desire for Private Life Amid Kylie Jenner Romance
Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
Suzanne Somers' Husband Alan Hamel Details Final Moments Before Her Death
Gen. David Petraeus: Hamas' attack on Israel was far worse than 9/11
NASCAR rescinds Ryan Blaney Las Vegas disqualification; restores playoff driver's result