LOS ANGELES -- Defense witnesses who claim they have evidence that could exonerate O.J. Simpson include heroin addicts, thieves, felons and "a court-certified pathological liar," a prosecutor said Thursday.


Arguing that the prosecution should get a trial delay to further investigate defense witnesses whom they learned about at the last minute, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Darden cast doubt on the credibility of some of them.


Darden didn't indicate which defense witness was a "certified" liar. Superior Court Judge Lance Ito gave prosecutors until this afternoon to submit arguments on the late witnesses and what sanctions or other remedies they were proposing to the judge.


The jury was not on hand to hear Darden's comments.


Defense attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. had been scheduled to wind up his defense opening statement Thursday. The dispute over witnesses left the scheduling of that statement undecided.


On Wednesday, Deputy District Attorney William Hodgman expressed outrage Wednesday when Cochran, while claiming that prosecutors ignored evidence in their rush to incriminate Simpson, mentioned witnesses and evidence to the jury without giving proper warning to prosecutors.


Hodgman repeatedly objected during Cochran's opening statement. Then he accused defense attorneys of suddenly unloading the information -- some of which was gathered in June -- in a last-minute ambush. Both sides are legally required to share information in a timely manner.


Hodgman was not at Thursday's hearing. A few hours after Wednesday's session, he complained of chest pains and was taken to California Medical Center. He was in good condition and resting comfortably Thursday.


Simpson is accused of killing his former wife and her friend.


Cochran delivered the first part of his opening statement to the jury Wednesday, revealing details of the defense strategy for the first time.


Cochran promised that defense witnesses would say police ignored their accounts of activities the night of the murders. One woman saw four men -- some in knit ski hats -- fleeing Ms. Simpson's neighborhood, Cochran said.


Prosecutors say a knit cap found near the bodies contained hairs similar to Simpson's and his slain ex-wife.


Cochran told jurors that the prosecution's "trail of blood" was a false path forged by investigators who ignored witnesses and overlooked blood that didn't fit their theory that Simpson was the killer.


Cochran said blood scraped from under Nicole Brown Simpson's fingernails didn't match her blood, Simpson's or Ronald Goldman's.


"There were trails that lead toward innocence and they were not pursued," Cochran said.


Countering prosecution allegations that Simpson stalked and beat his ex-wife, Cochran portrayed Simpson as a generous, caring family man. He also painted Simpson as an ex-athlete so hampered by football injuries that he was physically incapable of the crimes.


To hammer away at that point, he had Simpson stand before jurors and pull up his left pant leg to expose a scarred knee. Simpson also displayed a scarred middle finger, and Cochran said Simpson's hands were so painful the day of the killings that he couldn't shuffle a deck of cards.


The woman who says she saw four men fleeing Ms. Simpson's neighborhood, Mary Anne Gerchas, was one of the witnesses whom prosecutors claim they should have been told about.


The defense also handed over 13 other witness statements, including those from a passenger who sat next to Simpson on his flight back from Chicago the morning after the murders; a roller skater who claimed to see someone hiding in the bushes near the murder scene; an employee of the restaurant where Goldman worked; and a man who shook hands with Simpson in the hours after the murders and noticed no cuts on Simpson's hand.


Cochran suggested several possible alternatives to the prosecution theory, even one in which Ms. Simpson was not the killer's target.