O.J. SIMPSON. . . THREATS AGAINST NICOLE, FRIENDS REVEALED

New evidence of domestic violence involvingO.J. Simpsonand his wife and testimony about his threats against Nicole Brown Simpson's friends surfaced today as Judge Lance Ito moved closer to making critical decisions about the evidence the jury in the murder case will ultimately hear. The admissibility of 59 incidents of domestic violence at the hand of O.J. Simpson against his wife were reviewed during today's hearing -- closed to the now sequestered jury. Among the most incriminating evidence: that Eddie Reynoza, who worked on a movie with O.J. Simpson, told investigators that Simpson became angry at the mention of Nicole Simpson's boyfriends, threatening to "cut their ((expletive)) heads off" if he found them driving his cars.The outburst could provide a strong motive for the double slayings because the second victim, Ronald Goldman, drove Nicole Simpson's Ferrari. Other incidents under question include one in Nicole Simpson's journal, in which she writes that her husband "continued to beat me for hours," and another involving a limousine driver who remembers O.J. beating his wife in the back of the car. Defense attorney Gerald Uelman argued against admitting the evidence, methodically dismissing each of the incidents as either unbelievable, irrelevant or hearsay.TIME law reporter Andrea Sachssays the evidence is crucial. "This will be the most important evidence in the case," Sachs says. "DNA is science and numbers. But this evidence is about matters of the heart that jurors can understand. This could have a devastating impact and change minds to convict."