FUHRMAN TAKES THE FIFTH

As more than 100 NAACP demonstrators gathered outside the courtroom chanting: "Play the whole tape! Play the whole tape!" Mark Fuhrman asserted his right to remain silent when asked by O.J. Simpson defense attorneys if he had planted or manufactured any evidence in the murder case against the ex-football star. Fuhrman, whose racially charged history has become the primary focus of the Simpson case, replied, "I assert my Fifth Amendment privilege." Fuhrman's testimony that he found a bloody glove on O.J. Simpson's estate is a key component of the prosecution's case. While the jury was not in the courtroom to hear the devastating exchange, the impact on public perceptions of the trial is bound to be explosive. James Willwerth reports from the courtroom: "The chanting of the crowd outside seemed like an ominous threat that unless O.J. walked, then there would be more race riots in Los Angeles."