Stephen Valerie was a UCLA MBA student who happened to board American Airlines flight 668 from Los Angeles to Chicago on the night of June 12, 1994 — the same flight as O.J. Simpson. Called by the defense and examined by Johnnie Cochran, Valerie testified that he had never seen Simpson before that night and boarded just as the gate was closing around 11:40 PM, offering a civilian account of Simpson's movements and demeanor during a critical window in the timeline. Christopher Darden handled the cross-examination, but Valerie's testimony was contained to a single day, suggesting the prosecution found limited ground to challenge his account.