O.J. Simpson

O.J. Simpson

Biography
One of the most well-known trials that have ever taken place in the U.S. was the trial of Orenthal James Simpson, better known as O.J. Simpson was born on July 9, 1947. He began an energetic football career at the University of South Carolina. O.J. was the first player to be selected in the professional football draft of 1969 after receiving the Maxwell Award and the Heisman Trophy. He joined the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League. After nine seasons with the Bills, he was traded to the San Francisco 49ers. He retired from the NFL in 1979, the same year he met seventeen-year-old waitress Nicole Brown. He married her in 1985. Throughout their marriage, Nicole told her friends that Simpson beat her, but O.J. denied this, claiming that any injuries she had were simply a product of playful wrestling. Nicole and O.J. divorced in 1992.

Murder
On June 12, 1994, the bodies of O.J. Simpson’s former wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman were found dead outside her condominium in Los Angeles, California. Simpson’s children were asleep upstairs. The police gave O.J. until 11:00 A.M. on June 17 to turn himself in, even though if he was convicted he might face the death penalty. They started searching for him when he didn’t show up at the station. At 6:45 that evening, one officer found him in his car with a gun to his head. A very slow and lengthy chase then ensued, with Simpson leading the police to his house. They arrived at 8:00 P.M. O.J. emerged from his car forty-five minutes later, and was arrested.

Trial
The prosecutorial lawyer, Marcia Clark, argued that Simpson was jealous of his wife and had killed her in his rage. Simpson’s team of lawyers, who would later be nicknamed the “Dream Team”, maintained that Simpson had been a victim of police fraud, with detective Mark Fuhrman as the perpetrator. They claimed that he was a racist and had used a derogatory term to describe Simpson. Fuhrman denied that he had ever called Simpson that name, but the defense located tapes of the event. Fuhrman then pleaded the Fifth Amendment. Also, O.J. was instructed to put on a glove that was found at the scene of the crime, but it was much too small. Johnnie Cochran then declared, “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” The prosecutors then attempted the argument that the glove had shrunk after the blood dried.
Because of the prosecuting team’s confidence that he would be convicted, many people were shocked when O.J. Simpson was pronounced not guilty on October 3, 1995. While most white Americans believed that O.J. was definitely guilty, polled black Americans thought that convicting him would be condoning police misconduct.
During a civil trial on February 4, 1997, O.J. was found responsible for the deaths of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman, and was fined over thirty-three million dollars in damages. O.J. then moved to Miami, Florida, where a person’s dwelling cannot be taken away to collect a debt.

-page author: Kyle
-left photo courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/
-right photo courtesy of http://ilx.p3r.net/