SIMPSON TAKES THE STAND : DENIALS CONCLUDE TENSE DAY.

Byline: Fred Shuster and Anne Burke Daily News Staff Writers

O.J. Simpson gazed evenly at jurors in his civil trial Friday and claimed it was ``absolutely not true'' that he slashed his ex-wife and her friend to death.

``You went to Nicole's condo and you killed her,'' plaintiff's attorney Daniel Petrocelli insisted in the climax of a tense day of courtroom exchanges.

``That's absolutely not true,'' Simpson said.

``And you killed Ronald Goldman,'' the attorney snapped.

``That's absolutely not true,'' Simpson said grimly, his seat turned toward jurors and addressing all his answers in their direction.

The panel members stared back.

Simpson repeated in a firm voice that it was ``absolutely not true'' as Petrocelli mapped out the plaintiffs' theory of the killings.

``Between 9:35 p.m. and 10:55 p.m., there is not a single human being that you can identify that saw you?'' the attorney asked.

``That is absolutely true,'' Simpson said.

Petrocelli took Simpson through the day of the killings, detailing his phone calls to model Paula Barbieri, his trip to a dance recital where his daughter performed, his encounter with Nicole Brown Simpson and her family and his exclusion from a dinner party afterward.

He questioned Simpson about a trip to McDonald's with house guest Brian ``Kato'' Kaelin, then made a series of accusations about the missing 80 minutes after Simpson arrived home and before a limousine took him to the airport.

Petrocelli ended the long-awaited first day of his inquiry by accusing Simpson of dripping blood in his Ford Bronco and on his driveway.

``That's absolutely untrue,'' Simpson answered.

Superior Court Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki then recessed the trial until Monday. As reporters rushed from the courtroom, Simpson stepped from the witness box, wrapped an arm around his sister, Shirley Baker, and mouthed the phrase, ``All right.''

Earlier, Simpson denied under oath that he ever beat his ex-wife in the years leading up to the killings.

``This is a woman I love today,'' Simpson said. ``I have always loved her.''

Confronted by a larger-than-life photograph of Nicole Simpson's bruised and battered face, a tense Simpson said his ex-wife actually hit him repeatedly during their relationship.

``There was one very physical altercation,'' Simpson said, referring to a highly-publicized incident on New Year's Day 1989.

Asked to explain each bruise, Simpson said the welts and red marks happened after he ``rassled'' with his ex-wife as he tried to push her out of their bedroom.

``I don't know exactly how the injuries took place,'' Simpson said.

``How many times in the course of the fight did you hit Nicole?'' Petrocelli asked.

``Never,'' Simpson said.

``How many times did you slap Nicole?''

``Never,'' Simpson said.

``How many times did Nicole hit you?'' Petrocelli asked.

``Numerous times,'' Simpson answered.

As for the swollen marks on his ex-wife's face after the 1989 fight, Simpson at one point said: ``A lot of this redness would normally be there at night when she picks her face.''

But later, in describing the 1989 incident, he said: ``I had her in a headlock.''

Petrocelli offered to let Simpson demonstrate on him, but defense attorney Robert Baker objected and the judge refused to allow the demonstration.

Petrocelli refused to allow Simpson to ramble in answering and Simpson frequently seemed exasperated. He sighed, tensed his shoulders, breathed hard and even clenched his fists during the confrontation with Petrocelli, attorney for relatives of Ronald Goldman.

Simpson's testimony came 2-1/2 years after his ex-wife and her friend Goldman were slashed to death and just over a year after Simpson was acquitted of criminal charges in the slayings. He is now being sued by Nicole Simpson's estate and by Goldman's parents and sister.

The 49-year-old ex-football star never testified in his criminal trial but is obligated to tell his story in civil court.

Inside the packed Santa Monica courtroom, Fred Goldman sat with his attorneys while other family members of the victims, including Nicole Simpson's mother and sister, were seated in the gallery along with reporters from around the world.

During testimony, Kim Goldman, Ronald Goldman's sister, removed her glasses and propped her chin on top of the gallery railing, looking hard at Simpson.

Simpson also testified that he tried to persuade his then-wife to stay with him after she demanded a separation in 1992. That May, he said, he began a relationship with Barbieri.

``I began getting on with the rest of my life after Nicole told me she had found a guy she was interested in,'' Simpson said, adding that his ex-wife ``incessantly'' pursued him during that period and followed him to Mexico and called him repeatedly.

Eventually, the couple agreed to try once again and Simpson broke up with Barbieri.

Petrocelli asked Simpson whether he and Nicole Simpson were monogamous during their reconciliation.

Staying monogamous was implied but not practiced, he said.

``Basically, she went out when she wasn't with me and I went out when I wasn't with her,'' he said. ``I think we wanted to be, but she wasn't and I wasn't.''

Simpson will take the stand again Monday.

E! expands coverage

The E! Entertainment Television re-enactment of O.J. Simpson's testimony Friday in the civil trial against him will appear on television Monday from 5 to 9:30 p.m. and will be repeated at 10 p.m.

E! has been re-enacting the civil trial on a one-day-delay basis. The show has been extended from an hour to an hour and a half for Simpson's testimony.

Stephen Wayne Eskridge plays Simpson, Greg Agnew is the host and Charles Rosenberg the legal analyst.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--color) A 1989 photo of Nicole Brown Simpson was displayed for jurors.

(2--color) O.J. Simpson, with candy in his mouth, jokes with a member of the media during a break from testifying Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court in Santa Monica.

Associated Press 

Box: E! expands coverage (see text)