Murder trial of O. J. Simpson
1995 US criminal trial / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson was a criminal trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court, in which O. J. Simpson, the National Football League (NFL) player and actor, was tried and acquitted for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. The two were stabbed to death outside Brown's condominium in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles on June 12, 1994. The trial spanned eleven months, from November 9, 1994,[1] to October 3, 1995.
People v. Simpson | |
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Court | Superior Court of California for and in the County of Los Angeles |
Full case name | The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson |
Submitted | June 17, 1994 |
Started | January 24, 1995 |
Decided | October 3, 1995; 28 years ago (1995-10-03) |
Verdict | Not guilty in violation of Penal Code Section 187(a), a felony upon Nicole Brown Simpson, a human being. Not guilty in violation of Penal Code Section 187(a), a felony upon Ronald Lyle Goldman, a human being. |
Charge | First-degree murder with special circumstances (2 counts) |
Case history | |
Subsequent action(s) | Civil lawsuit filed by the Brown and Goldman families; Simpson was found responsible by a preponderance of the evidence for both deaths on February 4, 1997. |
Court membership | |
Judge(s) sitting |
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Opening statements were made on January 24, 1995.[2] Though prosecutors argued that Simpson was implicated by a significant amount of forensic evidence, Simpson was ultimately acquitted of both murders on October 3.[3][4][5] Commentators agree that the defense capitalized on anger among the city's African-American community toward the Los Angeles Police Department, which had a history of racial bias, and whose actions had inflamed racial tensions in major incidents two years prior, to convince the majority-Black jury to acquit Simpson.[6][7][8] The trial is often characterized as the trial of the century because of its international publicity, and been described as the "most publicized" criminal trial in history.[9]
Simpson was formally charged with the murders on June 17 after investigators found a blood-stained glove on his property. When he did not turn himself in at the agreed time, he became the subject of a low-speed police pursuit while riding in a Ford Bronco SUV owned and driven by his friend Al Cowlings.[10] TV stations interrupted coverage of the 1994 NBA Finals to broadcast live coverage of the pursuit, which was watched by around 95 million people.[11] The pursuit and Simpson's arrest were among the most widely publicized events in American history.
Simpson was represented by a high-profile defense team, referred to as the "Dream Team", initially led by Robert Shapiro,[12][13] and subsequently directed by Johnnie Cochran. The team included F. Lee Bailey, Alan Dershowitz, Robert Kardashian, Shawn Holley, Carl E. Douglas, and Gerald Uelmen.
While Deputy District Attorneys Marcia Clark, William Hodgman, and Christopher Darden believed they had a strong case, the defense team persuaded the jury there was reasonable doubt concerning the DNA evidence.[3] They contended that the blood sample had been mishandled by lab scientists and technicians,[14] and that the case had been tainted by LAPD misconduct related to racism and incompetence, noting actions of Detective Mark Fuhrman. The use of DNA evidence in trials was new, and many did not understand how to evaluate it.
The trial was considered historically significant for the wide division in reaction to the verdict by the public.[15] Observers' opinions of the verdict were largely related to their ethnicity; the media dubbed this the "racial gap".[16] A poll of Los Angeles County residents showed most African Americans thought that the "not guilty" verdict was justified, while the majority of whites thought it was a racially motivated jury nullification,[17][18] by the mostly African-American jury.[19] Polling in later years showed the gap narrowed since the trial; more than half of polled black respondents expressed belief Simpson was guilty.[20] In 2017, three jurors who acquitted Simpson said that in retrospect they would still vote to acquit, while one said he would vote to convict.[21]
After the trial, Goldman's father filed a civil suit against Simpson. In 1997, the jury unanimously found Simpson responsible for the deaths of both Goldman and Brown.[22] The Goldman family was awarded compensatory and punitive damages totaling $34 million ($63.6 million in 2023 dollars), but received a small portion of that. In 2000, Simpson left California for Florida, one of the few states where personal assets, such as homes and pensions, cannot be seized to cover liabilities that were incurred in other states.