F. Lee Bailey says O.J. 'absolutely didn't do it'

F. Lee Bailey has defended plenty of guilty people, but he swears O.J. Simpson isn't one of them. "He absolutely didn't do it," the celebrated defense attorney still insists. Bailey, who grew up in Waltham, attended Harvard, and lives now in Lynn, is talking for the first time about his involvement in the Simpson case. Why? Because he's got a book to promote, of course. Called "When the Husband Is the Suspect: From Sam Sheppard to Scott Peterson - The Public's Passion for Spousal Homicides," the book includes a section on Simpson and the so-called "trial of the century." (There's also a chapter on Wenham dermatologist Richard Sharpe.) Bailey, who helped discredit former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman's testimony about the bloody glove, says defending O.J. proved to be a bad decision, both personally and professionally. "It's the worst thing that's ever happened to me," he said yesterday. "It caused a free fall. People turned on me. Some of my best friends, lawyers and judges, treated me like [expletive]." But don't think Bailey regrets springing Simpson. "I certainly believe the guy didn't do it," he said, "and any intelligent analysis of the case comes up with that conclusion." So why do most people disagree? "Because the reporting on the case wasn't good," he said. "People were told every day, 'He's guilty.' "

There are, in fact, second acts in American lives. Just ask Pam Wechsler. A former homicide prosecutor in Boston, Wechsler is one of the writers of "Canterbury's Law," the new Fox legal drama that's winning enthusiastic reviews from critics. (The show, created by Raynham native Dave Erickson and starring Julianna Margulies, debuted this week.) A Quincy native, Wechsler attended Harvard and BU Law School before becoming an assistant Suffolk County District Attorney, taking her marching orders from DAs Newman Flanagan and Ralph Martin. (Before heading to Hollywood to write, Wechsler also worked for state Attorney General Tom Reilly and US Attorney General John Ashcroft.) "I think my past as a prosecutor helps me tremendously," said Wechsler, whose father is retired Harvard professor Henry Wechsler. "There's a certain familiarity with the language and what goes on behind the scenes that's very useful in putting this show together." While she prosecuted countless cases, Wechsler's most famous involved the MIT fraternity where a student died of alcohol poisoning in 1997. (She basically put the frat out of business.) "Fifteen years is a long time and prosecuting homicides got pretty grim," Wechsler told us yesterday. "It's nice to be able to do something lighter with it."

As makers of custom cakes, Jessa Sahakian and Michelle Ryan would be mortified if something happened to one of their confections. But when they were asked to whip up five towering wedding cakes to be used as props for the new Matthew McConaughey film, "The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," well, that seemed just fine. "Something happens to the cake," Ryan said. "We can't say what, but you wouldn't want it to happen to your wedding cake." The owners of Yum Bunnies Cakery in Belmont were called by the film's special effects department and asked to make the 5-foot-tall cakes for a wedding reception scene that shot a few days ago in Wellesley.

The Registry of Motor Vehicles is sending Red Sox players specialty mini-Fenway Park license plates that will correspond with the number on their jerseys. The state is issuing the plates to raise money for the mini-Fenway planned for Quincy. First baseman Kevin Youkilis has already offered up his No. 20 plate to raise money for his charity, Hits for Kids. Pitcher Curt Schilling has made arrangements to do something similar with his No. 38 tag. After a brief inspection at the Registry's Quincy office today, the plates will be shipped to Fort Myers, Fla., where former Sox pitcher Luis Tiant will hand them over to the players.

The anti-casino crowd has enlisted comedian Jimmy Tingle to make its case. In a video unveiled yesterday on Casino Free Mass's website, Tingle takes Governor Deval Patrick to task for supporting slots. "We should bet on the state, not on the casinos," says Tingle. "Families don't have enough problems with taxes, tolls, tuition, war, terrorism, alcohol and drugs, we need grandma to be addicted to slot machines." Maybe the pro-Casino crowd can get a Vegas act like Don Rickles to respond.

Tom Brady and girlfriend Gisele Bundchen showed up at the opening of the Ermenegildo Zegna store in Manhattan the other night. Back from their post-Super Bowl sojourn to Costa Rica, the Pats QB and his supermodel sweetheart were snapped engaging in a rare public display of affection. Also in the house were Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning, "Today" host Matt Lauer, former Giants running back Tiki Barber, NBC president Jeff Zucker, and singer Duncan Sheik.

"On Broadway" director Dave McLaughlin has a friend in Joe O'Donnell. The Boston Culinary Group CEO recently watched McLaughlin's movie with his family, and he liked it. That's good because O'Donnell owns two dozen movie theaters around New England. "I told Dave I'd put him in my theaters wherever he wants," O'Donnell said this week. Much obliged, McLaughlin made last night's "On Broadway" screening at the Regal Fenway a benefit for the Joey Fund, which O'Donnell established in 1986 to find a cure for cystic fibrosis.

Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.