The OJ Simpson trial is a very complicated legal case. The case went from being about the murder of Nicole Brown and Ron Howard to about the LAPD and race. It is very clear from the evidence presented that OJ committed the murders, but the case shifted towards the talk about race and revenge.
OJ Simpson might just be the luckiest man in the world (Until it all went downhill in the early 2000’s). The timing of his court case, and the location might have just saved him from a conviction of the murders and a life sentence.
A little background - Only a year prior to OJ’s trial, the Rodney King trial and the LA Riots had happened. These events changed/cemented how a vast majority of people, especially black Americans, viewed the LAPD, and many were very upset King did not receive justice a year prior. This was a major blow to the black community, so when the OJ trial came around, many blacks, including some selected to the Jury, believed this was their chance to finally beat the system that had suppressed them for so many years.
Although the odds seemed stacked against OJ, he was able to pull through with his “Dream Team” of lawyers assembled due to his fame and wealth and because of some crucial mistakes made by the prosecuting team.
The defense really focused on race, and centered their entire argument around Officer Furham and his racist past. This was a genius move by the defense. Since all they had to do to win was place reasonable doubt in the mind of the Jury, by targeting the detective who found the bloody murder glove at OJ’s house and had a past history of being racist (multiple uses of racial slurs and crude actions), they could show the jury that there was at least some chance he could have planted the evidence. Considering many of the steps taken by the LAPD throughout the whole investigation were somewhat sketchy (not following correct procedure, moving blood of suspect to OJ’s house, etc), and the Jury already had a strong dislike for the police, the defense effectively did their job.
The prosecution made many crucial mistakes as well which helped solidify the case for the defense. First, they made OJ try on the infamous leather glove. Not only had the leather glove shrunk because of the blood, but OJ had been off his tendonitis medication for a few days causing his hands to swell. Prior to the glove fiasco, the prosecution did not understand the audience of their Jury while presenting DNA evidence. Since many of the Juror’s were older and had not had the proper education DNA in school, it was a fairly new concept to most of them. Instead of having it put in simple terms so the jury could understand, the prosecution explained it in the most scientific way possible, just further confusing the Jury.
Through extensive review of this case, I believe that if OJ had been anyone else, or was tried today under the same conditions but without the mistakes made by the prosecution and defense alike, he would have been convicted on every account.
I agree. I feel like the circumstances are really what allowed OJ to get away with murder. Had the trial been a few years later, or had he not been such a celebrated football star, the outcome would be much different. Even though the case became extremely radicalized, I still believe that the system did work considering other circumstances. Although he is quite clearly guilty, the crucial evidence stacked against him was faulty, and the police and prosecution were proven to have collected evidence incorrectly among other errors. In the American Justice System, we expect that if evidence is unclear or unreliable that we will not be convicted for it and this is exactly what ultimately saved OJ Simpson.
ReplyDeleteThis case today would (I hope) be decided as guilty. This whole case was done at the wrong time, with the wrong jury, with a lot of screw ups. The wording and the way evidence was presented by the prosecution made it so OJ seemed like less of fault than he actually was. I wonder if a not as famous black man tried for this case would have turned this case into racial injustice. It would definitely not, therefore I agree with your statement that OJ is one of the luckiest people.
ReplyDeleteThese are some very good points Trip, and I agree with them. The situations and timing that he was put in was the entire reason he was found innocent. One of the Jurors in the documentary even admitted that it was pay back for the Rodney King verdict. They weren't focused on if OJ killed 2 people, they wanted justice for the black people even thought everything else was pointing to guilty. If you had the trial today or even 5 years ago the verdict might hopefully have turned out differently. After all this being said I do agree with you that OJ is one of the luckiest men alive
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