SIMPSON TRIAL BATTLE SHAPES UP AROUND BLOOD EVIDENCE

Blood was the focus of the first day of preliminary hearings held to report evidence the prosecution has gathered against O.J. Simpson in the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The defense worked today to have key evidence thrown out, including a blood-stained glove, and blood found on the seats of Simpson's Bronco. Simpson's attorneys claim the police gathered the evidence without a search warrant. Much of the day in court was also spent haggling over how much evidence the defense can have in order to conduct its own tests, including a comic episode of how much hair would be plucked from Simpson's head. More serious is the blood issue, with DNA tests ongoing to determine if the blood splattered on Simpson's car and in his house matches that of Nicole and Ronald. "Looming on the horizon is an enormous forensic battle over DNA evidence," says TIME's Los Angeles Bureau Chief Jordan Bonfante. DNA testing has been upheld by one California appeals court, but two others have