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The O.J. Simpson Trial 1995
Professor Shea
Criminology CCJ1001
July 26, 2017
It was the night of June 12, 1994, a woman and her long time male friend are murdered in cold blood. The victims, Nicole Brown Simpson, her neck cut so savagely it was almost severed from her body and Ronald Goldman, stabbed repeatedly, nearly 30 times. The accused, her ex-husband and football star, Orenthan James Simpson, better known as O.J. Simpson. During the trial, a trial that consisted of 150 witnesses, lasted 133 days and cost in the ball park of 15 million dollars, there were many questions asked and even more questions left unanswered (Douglas).
For decades now, including the years 1994 and 1995, the time of the O.J. Simpson murder
Why those who commit crime, do what they do. One theory that may be relatable in the Simpson murder trial is rational choice theory or RCT. rational choice theory states that criminals make a rational, conscious, and at least partially informed choice to commit a crime. When criminals think that the benefit of committing the crime will outweigh the cost if they get caught, they make a choice to commit said crime. There are two varieties of rational choice theory. One, situational choice theory, which is an extension of rational choice theory and two, routine activities theory or RAT, which states that the daily routine or patterns in ones’ activities make it much easier for an individual to become a victim of crime. The theory is, crime is more likely to happen when a criminal and their victim come together in the absence of authority (Schmalleger). A situation made easier to come by when the criminal knows the victim’s daily routines or patterns. In regard to the O.J. Simpson trial, this would have been a task easily accomplished. As the victim’s ex-husband and someone who was knowledgeable of Nicole Brown Simpsons daily routine it would have been extremely easy for Simpson to place her in a specific place at a specific time. Unfortunately for Ronald Goldman, he happened to be returning a pair of sunglasses at that time, and became a victim
Simpson mirror the steps take many times before in other criminal trials. The justice system follows a set of procedures leading up to each trial. They investigate the crime at hand. This investigation usually consists of a search only made possible when there is probable cause. After an investigation, a suspect is arrested which is again only possible if the police have probable cause to believe the individual committed the crime. Next, comes prosecution of the defendant by the state attorney, then incitement, the filing of information by prosecution to decide whether to proceed to trial. Followed by arraignment, which is the plea of guilty or not guilty, pretrial detention, plea bargaining, trial, and sentencing (Process of Criminal
Things only got worse when it was alleged that he transported and planted one the gloves on the Simpson estate, and the defendants legal team stating the officer wanted to frame Simpson because he was black and he disliked blacks an considering the jury was made up of mostly minorities this helped O.JSimpson even more.(2015) The key to winning a case apart from collecting evidence there must be a clear way to paint a picture that the people of the jury can understand whether or not you done the crime one must be convincing. Even though Simpson’s blood was on majority of the evidence collected it was argued that he was framed along with the contamination of evidence even if he had done it his team used all the weaknesses exposed by police involved in the case to paint a picture of innocence to the jury which proves perception of wrongdoing as persuasive to a jury as actual wrongdoing. I am sure with O.J Simpson being acquitted of the charges left a bad taste in the mouth of both police and some people in the legal field. There were too many mistakes made by the people that were tasked with the duty of collecting evidence and also in the department of how the evidence was handled but there are many lessons to be learned in every mistake the obvious one would be to not make the same ones
The job of a criminal lawyer is quite difficult. Whether on the defense or the prosecution, you must work diligently and swiftly in order to persuade the jury. Some lawyers play dirty and try to get their client off of the hook even though they are guilty without a doubt. Even though the evidence is all there, the prosecution sometimes just can’t get the one last piece of the puzzle to make the case stick and lock the criminal up. Such is the case Orenthal James Simpson.
In 1994 Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman were both found dead in the courtyard of her condominium. They both had been stabbed profusely; with Nicole’s husband Orenthal James Simpson, NFL star, seeming to be the killer. O.J. displayed some very suspicious behavior to the police. There had been past incidents of him being to physical with her and threatening her life which came to a shock to the country. To Most before this incident he was seen as a role model and look up to by many. O.J. Simpson had showed little to no emotion or concern once he found out about her death, and he showed no surprise when they said he was a suspect ("101 PIECES"). It shocked the country at first to see that O.J. Simpson could possibly
The funeral for the two victims was held on June 16th, 1994. O.J attended the funerals along with Nicole Simpson’s family and Ronald Goldman’s family. Shortly after, on June 17th, O.J was arrested and charged with first degree murder. Simpson immediately pleaded “100% not guilty’” on July 22nd, and the trial officially began on July 24th, 1994 (Linder 1). Because the jury was made up of mostly blacks, many outsiders believed that it would affect final decision of the jury. “O.J is free and so are we!” and “Live with it!” Were many of the comments blurted out during the many days of the trial (Elias 22). Judge Lance A was assigned to the case.
O.J. Simpson, a great football hero, made the mistake of his lifetime that becomes the most notorious criminal case ever. Growing up on the West Coast wasn’t serene for Simpson because he was surrounded by gangs. In his high school and college years he quickly rose to be a great football player. During his time he played football in college, he was awarded the Heisman Trophy. After he became an elite athlete in college, he was drafted by the Buffalo Bills. He stayed with them for eight years, then transferred to the San Francisco 49ers (Knapp 1). Simpson met Nicole Brown at Daisy, an upscale Beverly Hills club. The two fell head over heels for each other and got married on February 2, 1985. During their marriage, Simpson inflicted many
After a lengthy two hundred and fifty-two-day trial “not guilty” were the words that left the world in shock. O.J Simpson was your typical golden boy. He had it all, the nice car, the football career, and his kids. Unfortunately, this all came to an end when two bodies came to be spotted deceased in Nicole Browns front yard and was a gruesome sight. O. J’s ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman both found with brutal stab marks. Unfortunately, all his glory days now brought to an end, he went from playing on the field to begging for his freedom when becoming the main suspect of their murders. Since this trial has not only altered the way Americans viewed celebrities, but it also racially divided society,
On January 24, 1995, after half a year of multiple configurations including the selection of the jury, and the decision if the media was to be allowed in the courtroom and many other factors, the trial had finally begun. Prosecutor Christopher Darden started the trial by depicting Simpson as a possessory
On June 13, 1994, Nicole Brown, ex-wife of O.J. Simpson, was found murdered alongside Ronald Goldman (Dershowitz 19). Chapter one of Reasonable Doubts describes how many people jumped to the conclusion that O.J. carried out the murders. Incriminating evidence emerged that more than pointed to Simpson’s guilt (Dershowitz 21). Soon enough, media reports claimed that Simpson would be charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Simpson’s reluctance to be peacefully taken into custody was illustrated by his famous Los Angeles free-way chase that ended in his eventual surrender (Dershowitz 23). Dershowitz chose to join the defense team when offered the opportunity, claiming that the case could greatly educate people, especially his Harvard law students, on...
The racial problem exists in many forms within the criminal justice system and most of this racial disparity can be attributed to the practices of the prosecution and more particularly the police. The unequal treatment of blacks within the justice system becomes evident through various forms of police misconduct such as excessive use of force against blacks, harassment, planting and falsifying evidence and police perjury. Most of these issues were brought to question in the criminal court case against O. J. Simpson, who was arrested and charged with the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman.
The people directly involved with this case are Judge Lance Ito, the prosecution lawyers, Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden, the defense lawyers, Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro and Robert Blasier , the jury and the defendant, O.J. Simpson. The families of the victims have also been present in the courtroom, as well as other spectators and news media. This case has heard one hundred and twenty witnesses over a nine month period.
A crime being committed is the first event to initiate our criminal justice system. On June 12th 1994 a double murder was reported at the residence of Nicole Brown Simpson the ex-wife of the then beloved Orenthal James (OJ) Simpson. It was discovered that Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman had been brutally murdered and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) began their investigation, this being the second step in our criminal justice system.
OJ “The Juice” Simpson is clearly responsible for the tragic deaths of his wife Nicole Brown, and Ron Goldman.There are more than enough proof that suspect that the verdict of this should be reconsidered.The shoes print which were indeed Simpson’s,blood marks that were left on OJ’s car the blood spots left on his gloves,his suicide note.All of these were compelling facts that OJ was the murdered.However due to the miscarriage of justice Simpson was unfortunately found not guilty.Wealth played a major role for the conclusion of the verdict, OJ had a very good legal team that raised questions over much of the evidence and testimony against him. If the average person were charged of crimes that OJ has committed, he/she couldn't afford the lawyers and staff to mount the defense OJ could.
An experiment by Gerhard Blickle, and Alexander Schlegel attempted to recreate results of Collins and Schmidt’s study about psychological influences on white-collar crime. The experiment involved personality tests on 150 managers currently working in German corporations and 76 white-collar criminals. They compared the personality results of the criminals to the non-criminals, much like Collins and Schmidt’s experiment in the United States of America. Blickle and Schlegel found that white-collar crime offenders were more hedonistic (Blickle et al., 2006). Hedonistic individuals are those who engage in the pursuit of pleasure. According to the Rational Choice Theory, individuals commit crimes when they perceive the reward is greater than the punishment. For those who tend to pleasure seek, crime would seem the most rational choice. The crime’s reward is worth the possible punishment to these individuals. Blickle and Schlegal also found that narcissistic tendencies were more common in white-collar criminals (Blickle, et al., 2006). Narcissism is described as having overindulgent self interest and care for one’s appearance. These traits can add to the temptations of criminal activity. Caring for only oneself would allow illegally soliciting money from
Orenthal James Simpson. Simpson was charged with two counts of murder with special circumstances and Simpson pleaded not guilty to all charges to became the most famous murder defendant in US history. According to the book O. J. Simpson Facts and Fictions: News Rituals in the Construction of Reality, So began the “Trial of the Century.” This case had all of the necessary elements to keep people watching: celebrities, tragedy, violence, minority, racism, spectacle, controversy, suspense, and resolution. Throughout the case, observers of the trial would combine these elements in interesting ways to set in their mind of Simpson’s innocence or guilt, while not considering all of the actual evidence. This was Simpson public trial (Hunt 33). By November 3, 1994, the jury is finally selected and consists of four men and eight women: eight black, one Hispanic, one white, two of mixed race. On January 24, 1995, Simpson's criminal trial begins. With courtroom cameras giving a live feed to TV station the public had full access to all the court proceedings and Simpson case became the nation's newest and best soap
... Simpson Trial is a real life example of how once the crime is determined, courts follow a fair trial system and then corrections follow. Again, I will take up this example and will try to explain how I think the justice prevailed in this case.