The racial earthquake that spread through the home televisions, and car radios of America on January 25th 1995 caused nationwide turmoil. O.J. Simpson was a rising superstar athlete, and actor at the time of his trial for the Double Murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. The opposing opinions on the case spread like wild fire and opinions on his innocence differed greatly. The trial’s impact on media, forensics, and society has forever changed America. Born on July 9th 1947 in San Francisco, California, Simpson had anything but an easy childhood. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, at the age of 2 his parents divorced, leaving him and his three siblings to be raised by their now single mother. …show more content…
She had taken photos of her injuries as proof of the abuse and had several witnesses when she filed for divorce. Shortly after the divorce O.J. began stalking Nicole and threatening her. In one journal entry she wrote that she was “extremely frightened” that he would fulfill his threats and kill her (Brown). She also claimed that he had changed immensely and had “become a monster” (Brown). Word of her diary spread onto News Reports and into interviews, people were able to hear first-hand what she thought through the media.
Nicole Brown, and Ronald Goldman were found lifeless inside Nicole’s Los Angeles Brentwood residency on June 12th 1994. O.J. Simpson was made a suspect of the murder after the police investigation, on June 17th he was asked to surrender by 11 a.m., Simpson did not arrive as asked and instead fled. He was tracked down later in the day after he made a call from his cell phone while on the Santa Ana Freeway. The police pursued Simpson’s white Ford Bronco for more than two hours down streets and freeways. The slow speed chase was broadcasted on Television until Simpson finally surrendered at his
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was found not guilty by the jury “the reactions to the verdict split along racial lines blacks for the most part celebrated and whites, formerly his biggest supporters, felt Simpson got away with murder”(Archer). Many colored supporters felt relieved to see a black man found “not guilty” as the court was often racist. The topic has once again re surfaced with O.J.’s upcoming release on October 1st, this year from a Nevada correctional facility. Simpson “was sentenced to 33 years at the Lovelock Correctional Center after being convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery” in 2008 (Kreps). Two years previous to his conviction O.J. Simpson published a book which he originally titled “O.J. Simpson: If I Did It” which was a hypothetical account of how he would have committed the double murder. After a Publishing deal fell through the books rights were awarded to the Goldman family, who retitled the work “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer”. Upon reading the book many old suspicions, conspiracy theories, and arguments were rekindled. The Trial of the Century was reborn, and the topic was nationwide once
The Casey Anthony trial has been arguably the most controversial case since the trial of O.J. Simpson and has been speculated over ever since the verdict had been given in July of 2011. It was decided by a jury of her peers that Anthony was not guilty of murder, for the death of her daughter Caylee. Many believe that Anthony should have been found guilty however, very little Americans actually comprehend the justice system.
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.
O.J Simpson should have been found guilty due to his violent actions on June 12th, 1994. There were many actions or causes that led up to his violent act. The main and most known cause of Simpson’s act was “infidelity”. Simpson’s wife Nicole Simpson had been spending too much time with a man by the name of Ronald Goldman. When O.J became suspicious, he took immediate action.
During the time that O.J was on trial for the murders of Nicole and Ronald, everyone who was following the hearing had a deep sense of fear and pity. They were fearing that the man they once adored and aspired to be like was actually capable of committing such an inconspicuous crime. Also, due to the accusations of the murder, the viewers were also feeling in the sense of pity, in both sadness and disappointment. The acts that O.J Simpson was accused of caused the audience to feel disappointed in his actions, as well as sadness towards his family. The accusations developed about O.J left people who didn’t even personally know him in tears. People were so sad about his downfall. The accusation led to the fact that O.J left his family with no mother and technically no father, as he’d be spending time in prison. Furthermore, since he was found not guilty, there was a large part of the audience that felt a sense of release and emotion, and some felt bad that he was ever accused of this, but rather he just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Due to the fact that O.J and Nicole were separated for a couple years before she died, Nicole had made new friendships, and there was no proof that someone new that she met could have caused this crime and tried to frame Simpson, due to his past accused abuse
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,
It took the jury four hours to determine this fact. Since this case was highly publicized, this case made many Americans question the quality of the criminal justice system since everything was pointing to Simpson however he was considered not guilty. A whole year and twenty days pass before we hear the next thing in this case. A civil trial meets to see if Simpson should be held financially liable for what happened at his house. It took the jury forty-one days to hear all one hundred and one witnesses’ statements and they came to an agreement the Simpson did kill Nicole and Ronald with oppression and malice. After the civil trial meet the verdict became once again widely debated amongst the legal experts and the public
When the trial was happening, I had no idea who he was until the trial started. I had my Dad tell me all the details of who he was, and everything else I learned was from watching television. I was young, but I still knew that racism was awful. I looked upon the television to Simpson sitting in the trial and just thought, "Oh, okay." I know it 's hard to believe, but I wasn 't brought up to believe race had anything to do with whether people judged based on race, but this case was a 101 course in proving I was oblivious to the real world. However, what I did hear based on pure evidence was that this guy totally did it. There was too much evidence that proved he was involved, and the only reasonable doubt that was brought into the case was purely based on race.
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 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.
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).
Twenty-one years ago, over ninety-five million people turned their television sets to local and cable news channels to watch a historic car chase through Los Angeles. The police were chasing a famous football player and actor by the name of Orenthal James (OJ) Simpson as he sat in the back seat of a 1993 white Ford Bronco holding a gun to his head. The owner of the Bronco and long-time friend Al (A.C.) Cowlings was driving, aiding and abetting the fugitive. Five days before the famous car chase OJ Simpson was accused of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in front of her residence. The low-speed chase lasted two hours and ended in front of Simpson’s home without incident. With Simpson captured and behind bars, the stage was set for the trial of the century. The evidence in Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman’s
The murders occurred between 10:15 p.m. and 10:40 p.m., this is based on testimony from prosecution and defense witnesses who heard barking from the area of the crime scene. Ms. Simpson's blood-covered pet Akita was found shortly before 11 p.m. Nicole Brown was found stabbed multiple times in the head and her throat was cut. Ron Goldman is assumed to have come upon the crime in progress and was also stabbed more than thirty times.
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
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
Fairchild, H. & Cowan, G (1997). Journal of Social Issues. The O.J. Simpson Trial: Challenges to Science and Society.