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.

  • deegeese@sopuli.xyz
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    5 months ago

    On the one hand it’s a good law and I understand why the reporter would want a comment from Fuhrman.

    On the other hand that was 30 years ago and he’s been retired for a long time and clearly DGAF.

    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.