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Did OJ Simpson really do it? This question has a lot of controversy. Before OJ Simpson was arrested he was involved in a car chase with his friend Al Cowlings. Simpson was supposed to turn himself in but instead he kidnapped his friend in his truck and tried to flee threatening to kill himself while his friend drove. While this was happening Simpson lawyer read a letter to the media written by Simpson, “First everyone understand I had nothing to do with Nicole’s murder. Don’t feel sorry for me. I’ve had a great life.(Bosco 17) This almost sounds like a suicide note. Why write a suicide note if you innocent? The media got involved with this slow car chase and they got some of Simpsons friends to talk him into turning himself in.
This car chase and everything involved was not brought up at all during the trial. Fleeing and threatening to kill himself seemed like a desperate act of guilt. Simpson showed up at his first court appearance on June 21 and he pleaded not guilty to the two murders. A jury was formed right away to see if there was enough evidence to press charges on OJ Simpson. Two days later on June 23, the jury was dismissed because there was so much media coverage on this case and they did not want the jury to be influenced by it. The new jury was also likely to be influenced by the media.
A week long hearing took place and finally a California court superior judge ruled that there was enough evidence to try OJ Simpson for the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman. At his second court appearance, on July 23, Simpson pleaded in a confident and defiant tone: “Absolutely, one hundred percent, not guilty.”(Jones 4) Leading the murder investigation was veteran LAPD detective Tom Lange. What followed in 1995 were 134 days of televised testimony in a very public criminal trial.
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Many people in the trial became celebrities due to this exposure, including Judge Lance Ito. This court case was so famous that when a poll was done it showed that 74% of Americans could identify Kato Kaelin but only 25% knew who the Vice President was. (Jones 8) Another poll that showed results that 91% of the television viewing audience watched it and 142 million people listened on radio and watched television as the verdict was delivered. (Jones 8) The trial began on January 25, 1995.
Lead prosecutor Marcia Clark argued that Simpson killed his ex-wife in a jealous rage. The prosecution opened its case by playing a 9-1-1 call Nicole Brown Simpson had made on January 1, 1989 in which she expressed fear that Simpson would physically harm her. (Bosco 7) The prosecution also presented dozens of expert witnesses on subjects ranging from DNA fingerprinting to shoe print analysis, and what they concluded placed Simpson at the scene of the crime. A limousine driver, Allan Park, who was to drive Simpson to the LAX airport said that he could not contact anyone through the intercom at Simpson’s gate when he arrived at 10:35 p.m. Around 10:50, he saw a large figure enter the house, some lights came on, and Simpson answered the gate’s intercom. They then loaded some bags into the limo and left for the airport at 11:15. (Jones 9) He also stated that he had seen a parked vehicle when they pulled away but he wasnt sure. His testimony was rejected because of his uncertainty regarding the parked vehicle.
Conclusion
Simpson hired six very expensive, high-profile lawyers, including Barry Scheck, Robert Shapiro, Robert Kardashian, F. Lee Bailey, Johnnie Cochran, and Alan Dershowitz. Simpsonlawyers argued that Simpson was the victim of police racism and they also argued that the evidence was not properly handled and was contaminated by several people. Simpson’s defense team, who was later named the “Dream Team” by reporters, argued that LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman had planted evidence at the crime scene. Police evidence collector Dennis Fung also faced heavy scrutiny because he did not properly secure and collect the evidence.
References
- Jones, Thomas, The O.J. Simpson Murder Trial: Prologue
- http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/simpson/index_1.html.Bosco, Problem of Evidence. New York: William Morrow & Co. 1996. Joseph. A
