O.J. Simpson Murder Trial
On October 3 of 1995, the verdict was read that Orenthal James Simpson was not guilty, and was able to walk free out of the Los Angeles courthouse (1). Sixteen months earlier O.J. Simpson’s wife, and one of her friends (Ron Goldman) were found dead outside of their house in Los Angeles (1). Instantly the news broke out, and not long after O.J. Simpson was where the investigation would lead to. This was very surprising to everyone in America as O.J. was one of the most popular athlete/actors in the nation. The police would get a warrant for the arrest of O.J. Simpson, but when the time came for him to surrender, he would have other plans (3). Simpson would lead a police chase that would be watched by millions of people around the world, and that would last all day, until he finally surrendered peacefully that night(3).
The O.J. Simpson double murder trial would go down as the most watched on television and maybe one of the most controversial trials to date. Simpson would be able to pay for and get one of the best law teams of all time, which would end up helping him tremendously. Throughout the trial many controversial matters would come about including: a glove that did not fit Simpson, a highly racist detective, and a jury that some would see was highly lopsided.
The infamous gloves in the trial were found on the murder scene with blood from Nicole Brown, Ron Goldman, and the man on trial himself, O.J. Simpson (4). There had been pictures of O.J. wearing gloves just like these although, he and his team of lawyers were saying that they were not his. When the time came for Simpson to try them on, they did not fit, and he made sure to do this in front of the jury, as seen in the picture above.
The detective that played a pivotal role in the ruling of the case was a detective by the name of Mark Fuhrman. Mark Fuhrman, who helped with the investigation, said the word “nigger” 40 times in a tape that was found and used by the “Dream Team” to further their argument that O.J. was innocent (2).
The tapes that were used influenced the jury in a big way. Many people believe that the jury was biased and in turn was a major reason as to how O.J. was set free. The jury consisted of nine blanks, two whites, and one Latino (2). This obviously helped O.J. as African Americans had already believed that the LAPD were racist, especially after the Rodney King incident only a few years earlier. The fact that the jury only deliberated over a 252 day trial for 5 hours even furthered my reasoning as to how they played a major role.
These factors in the case helped O.J. Simpson walk free out of the courtroom. The trial was one that was watched all over the nation by millions of people. Although, the most important thing that happened was that two people at a young age sadly and tragically lost their lives.
Sources:
- Toobin, Jeffrey. The Run of His Life. New York: Random House, 1996.
- Fiske, John. Epilogue Simpson The Juice Is on the Loose. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1996.
- Newton, Jim, and Shawn Hubler. “Simpson Held After Wild Chase: He’s Charged With Murder of Ex-Wife, Friend.” LA Times, June 18, 1994.
- Mueller, Christopher B. “Introduction: O.J. Simpson and the Criminal Justice System on Trial.” University of Colorado Law Review 67, no. 4 (1996): 1–22.
