SIMPSON LAWYERS SUM UP : STATEMENTS EVOKE POETRY OF 2 STYLES.

Byline: Fred Shuster and Anne Burke Daily News Staff Writers

O.J. Simpson had neither the time nor the motive to kill his ex-wife, and the case against him amounts to ``character assassination,'' the football great's lawyer argued in court Wednesday.

Attorney Robert Baker told jurors during closing arguments that police manufactured a case against his client based on lies and bungled evidence. He insisted the plaintiffs failed to prove their case.

``They have no murder weapon, they have no eyewitness, they have no clothes, they have no shoes,'' Baker said.

Rather than the stalker and angry spurned lover portrayed by the plaintiffs, Baker said Simpson was a kind ex-spouse who brought Nicole Brown Simpson soup in bed when she was ill.

Baker played off defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran Jr.'s, ``If it doesn't fit, you must acquit'' rhyme from Simpson's criminal trial:

``I'm no poet, but obviously if you don't have time, you most certainly could not have committed this crime.''

Baker's final summation to the jury came after a dramatic and teary-eyed finale to the plaintiffs' case.

In a darkened courtroom, jurors watched an eerie home movie in which Ronald Goldman and his father sing and play inflatable guitars at a family member's bat mitzvah.

As the tape played, Fred Goldman and his daughter, Kim, 25, collapsed in tears, and squeezed hands. A few jurors appeared to become emotional.

Simpson, in a taupe suit, took notes on a yellow legal pad, as he did during his own lawyer's presentation.

The video ended with a freeze-frame of father and son, guitars poised midair. Goldman family attorney Daniel Petrocelli, almost whispering, read a 16th century poem:

``My lovely living boy/my hope/my happiness/my love/my life/my joy.''

Petrocelli concluded: ``Fred Goldman's lovely living boy is no more.''

The victims' families are suing Simpson, who was acquitted on murder charges in October 1995, for monetary damages.

None of the plaintiffs' lawyers specified how much money they are seeking, leaving that decision up to the jury.

Baker mentioned the trial's stakes during his closing argument.

``This isn't a fight for justice, it's a fight for money,'' he said.

Baker did not mention the photographs of his client apparently wearing Bruno Magli shoes. He said that the plaintiffs have ignored abundant evidence of police wrongdoing in the case, and the case boiled down to ``law enforcement vs. O.J. Simpson.''

Baker said Simpson was too busy to stalk his ex-wife, was not angry about their failed reconciliation, and was not in a dark mood at daughter Sydney's dance recital.

Harking again to the criminal trial, O.J. Simpson held aloft his left hand, as Baker talked about how difficult it would be for a tight-fitting glove to slip off.

Baker's summation continues today.