The OJ Simpson Trial Final Report

A football Legend is accused of double murder. The Los Angeles Police actually had a warrant out for his arrest but couldn't find him until he decided to turn himself in. Who can forget the now infamous slow car chase in which Simpson was sitting in the back of the Bronco with a gun pointed to his head. It's a Hollywood media circus. The American public was just immediately hypnotized for month after month. The case revealed racial divide that remains unhealed more than a decade later. Everyone had completely different opinions as to what the outcome should be. The questions, the answers, this is the story behind the OJ Simpson trial. Did he do it or not? See if you can decipher this true Hollywood mystery.

Los Angeles, June 13th, 1994. At 12:45 AM, sirens pierced the air in the affluent neighborhood of Brentwood. A handful of police officers search the home at 845 South Bundy drive. Two bodies lie near the entrance of this modest condominium building. The female victim is 35 year old Nicole Brown Simpson, ex wife of football legend and media personality OJ Simpson. The male victim is later identified as 25 year old Ronald Goldman. Police find crucial pieces of evidence: Shoe prints, a trail of blood leaving the scene, a blue knit cap, and a now infamous blood stained glove. The amount of evidence raises an immediate question: What does the crime scene indicate about the killings? At 4:05 AM, LAPD Homicide Detective Phillip Vanatter arrives at the scene.

He says that anyone that had any connection with these victims is a potential suspect, so obviously OJ was, at that point , a potential suspect. At 5:00 AM, Vanatter, his partner Tom Lang, along with Detectives Ronald Phillips and Mark Fuhrman drive to OJ Simpson's estate, two miles away on Rockingham Ave. They want to inform Simpson of his ex wife's death before the media hears of the story. At Simpson's home the Detectives buzz the intercom at the front gate but no one answers. Vanatter says they saw lights on in the house, and there were cars in the driveway and it looked like someone was home. While he waits, 42 year old Detective Fuhrman notices a white Ford Bronco parked on the street outside the estate. He runs the license plate and learns the Bronco belongs to Simpson. Fuhrman spots what he thinks is blood on the handle on the driver's side door.

After 45 minutes with no one answering the intercom, Vanatter tells Fuhrman to jump over the wall that surrounds the estate to open the front gate for the other Detectives. This brings up another question: Why do police enter the premises before speaking with Simpson? Shortly before 6:00 AM, Simpson's 25 year old Daughter Arnelle, who lives in a guest house answers a knock at her door. She helps the Detective's get in touch with her Father. Just hours earlier he flew to Chicago to attend a golf tournament. Detective Phillips calls the Hotel and asks to be put through to Simpson's room. Phillips tells him about his ex wife's death. Simpson says he will take the next flight back to Los Angeles. About 15 minutes later, Detective Fuhrman tells Detective Vanatter he's found something interesting on a narrow walkway on the inside perimeter of the estate.

He tells Vanatter that he will never believe what I have found and to go with him. He and Vanatter find the now infamous bloody glove. The bloody glove is strikingly similar to the one found at the crime scene a couple of hours ago. Then, Detective makes another discovery. He was standing in the driveway and sees a trail of red spots dotting the pavement. He declares the estate a crime scene. At 7:10 AM LAPD criminalist Dr. Dennis Fong begins collecting blood evidence at Simpson's estate. At 12:10 PM, Simpson arrives at his Brentwood home from his Chicago trip. Police are waiting for him. Simpson agrees to an interview at the LAPD headquarters. The session is tape recorded. Simpson tells Detectives the last time he saw his ex wife was on the night of the murders at their 9 year old Daughter's dance recital.

The rest of the interview goes like this:
Vanatter: What time was that yesterday?
Simpson: It ended about six thirty or quarter to seven, you know something like that.
Vanatter: So what time do you think you got back home, actually, physically got home?
Simpson: Seven something.
Vanatter: And then you left and..?
Simpson: You know I, I, I.. When I.. I am trying to think, did I leave?
Vanatter: How did you get the injury on your hand?
Simpson: I don't know. At the first time.. I know I had it when I was in Chicago and all, but at the house I was just running around.
Simpson gives a vague account about his whereabouts from the time of his recital to the time of his departure to catch an 11:45 PM flight to Chicago. This brings up yet another question. Why don't the Detective press Simpson for definitive answers?

At 2:07 PM, after 32 minutes of questioning, the interview ends. Simpson voluntarily provides a blood sample before leaving. LAPD criminalist compare blood samples collected from the crime scene against the samples Simpson gave police. On June 15th, DNA tests confirm that drops of Simpson's blood are at the murder scene. Also, a mixture of his and both victims blood are on the glove that was found at his estate. OJ Simpson is now the LAPD's prime suspect. At 8:30 AM on June 17th, the day after Nicole's funeral, police contact Simpson's attorney, Robert Shaperio, and tell him they have a warrant for his client's arrest. Shaperio asks that Simpson be allowed to surrender at 11:00AM. This brings of the question: Why don't police arrest Simpson immediately? Simpson fails to show. Just before 2:00 PM police announce that Simpson is a fugitive. Three hours later, Simpson's friend, Robert Kardashian goes on National television and reads what sounds like a suicide note that Simpson has wrote.

The note says "I can't go on. No matter what the outcome, people will look and point. I can't take that." At 6:35 PM, Orange county Sheriff's deputy Larry Pool spots a white Bronco heading north on the Santa Anna freeway. Al Cowling, Simpson's friend and a former Buffalo Bill's teammate, is at the wheel. Cowling stops his Bronco in the middle of the highway. Officer Pool approaches with his gun drawn. Cowling begins yelling out the window. Deputy Pool says he wanted to convey to us that he had OJ in the car and that he was in the back with a gun to his head. Then Cowling speeds away. Just after 7:00 PM, Networks break in their programming, including an NBA finals game, to broadcast live the low speed car chase. Nearly 95 million Americans tune in. At 7:26 PM, Detective Tom Lange reaches Simpson reaches Simpson on his cell phone.
The conversation goes like this:
Lange: "Just throw the gun out the window and nobodys going to get hurt".
Simpson: "I am the only one that deserves..."
Lange: "You don't deserve that'
Simpson: "I am gonna get hurt".
Lange" You do not deserve to get hurt. You do not deserve to get hurt".

Cowling drives at 40 MPH north on Interstate 45. He appears to be heading to Simpson's Brentwood home. KNBC reporter Conan Nolan covered the pursuit from the Interstate. He says it was the most chaotic, bizarre and surrealistic scene he has ever witnessed in Southern California. People had assembled on the overpasses. He says he is not sure how it's possible but there were people who had made signs. The crowd cheers on "The Juice", a nickname from his football days that plays off Simpson's initials. This brings up the question? Why is Simpson receiving such a strong show of support? After a 60 mile chase, Cowlings exits Interstate 405 and makes his way to Simpson's estate. News choppers swarm overhead. At 8:53 PM, Simpson finally surrenders. He is given a glass of Orange Juice to drink while he phones his Mother. At 10:20 PM, Simpson is taken to the LA county jail and placed on suicide watch. Police arrest Al Cowlings for aiding and abetting a fugitive. They find nearly $9,000 in cash in his pockets.

In the Bronco they find Simpson's passport, a change of underwear, and a fake moustache and beard. The evidence mounts in the case against OJ Simpson. But a so called "Dream Team" will come to his rescue. Defense Attorney Robert Shaperio assembles what the press dubs The Dream Team". It consists of F. Lee Bailey, a famed Attorney with experience trying murder cases, two DNA trial experts, Barry Sheck and Peter Newfeld, and renowned Harvard law professor, Alan Dershowitz, an expert in appellate law. Alan says the average person obviously doesn't get a team like this. But OJ Simpson isn't your average person. He had money and he had fame. Also among the Attorneys Shaperio hires is law professor Gerald Uelmen. He says the dream team was anxious to get the case before a jury. He says that pushing the case to get it to a jury was the most important tactical move the defense made. This raises the question: Why is the defense in such a hurry?

Facing down the dream team is a group of prosecutors from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office led by Marcia Clark. One thousand reporters from radio, television, and newspapers seize on every aspect of the story from the attorneys to the victims to the accused himself. Conan Nolan says celebrity, race, and privilege all came into play. The man who was on trial was a person that millions of people had watched for years and loved. On June 22nd, five days after OJ Simpson's arrest and in response to media requests, the Los Angeles City Attorney releases a recording of a 911 call to police made by Nicole Brown Simpson a year earlier.
It goes like this:
Brown: "He's back. Please?"
911 Operator: "OK, What does he look like?"
Brown: "He's OJ Simpson, I think you know his record. He just drove up again. Could you send somebody over?"
911 Operator: "Wait a minute."

On July 18th, Simpson adds yet another to the team. Johnny Cochran has defended celebrities before, like Michael Jackson. Seven days later, on July 25th, the New Yorker magazine runs an story by Jeffery Toobin. Toobin reveals the defense teams strategy, which is that a racist LAPD Detective planted evidence to frame Simpson. Acting on a tip Toobin found court records showing Detective Mark Fuhrman sued the city of LA in the 1980s. He's on a disability pension. Fuhrman claimed he is dangerously unbalanced due to the stress of police work and made racist statements during his psychiatric evaluation. He says he had found statements he had made talking about niggers and whatnot and thought WOW this is pretty inflammatory stuff. But the city ruled that the city ruled the he was exaggerating his problems and he remained on the force. Toobin then sought out Robert Shaperio. Shaperio told Toobin the defense team knew about Fuhrman's case against the city and he outlined the defense team's conspiracy theory.

Shaperio told Toobin that they thought Fuhrman planted the glove at OJ's house. Toobin knew that he had a real story then. It becomes a racial drama in LA with a history of racial problems. To prepare for jury selection, the prosecution team's jury expert, Dr. Donald Vincent, asks mock jurors how they feel about key players in the case. His findings are that black women are more sympathetic to OJ Simpson than to his ex wife, Nichole Brown Simpson. Black mock jurors described Robert Shaperio as smart and called Marcia Clark "A Bitch". The jury consultant gave prosecutor William Hodgman and his team advice. Dr. Vincent told him to try not to have black jurors on the panel. This was shortly after the Rodney King trial in which the officers involved in his beating, which was caught on tape, were acquitted and that left bad feelings about the LAPD in the city at that time.

But prosecutors don't follow Vincent's suggestions. This gives rise to the question? Why do they ignore their own jury consultant's data? At the same time, the defense predicts that the prosecution will focus on Simpson's history of domestic abuse and try to stack the jury with women. This brings up the question: Which side will benefit from having women on the jury? As the defense prepares for jury selection their consultant, Richard Gabriel, asks his own panel of mock jurors for their impressions of the LAPD. He finds that those who have had negative experiences with police are more sympathetic with OJ Simpson and those with negative experiences tend to be black. He says that African Americans that they interviewed said that they had a much more skeptical view about how the LAPD gathered evidence and how they jumped to conclusions. On December 8th, the court announces 12 jurors. The final panel includes one black man, one Hispanic man, two white women, and eight black women.

During jury selection, five members of the final panel cited negative experiences with the police and five thought using force on a family member was acceptable. On January 24th, seven months after his arrest, the trial of OJ Simpson begins. It's rare that a murder trial of this magnitude gets to trial this quickly. Reporters from more than 100 news outlets descend on the courthouse to cover the trial. Inside the courtroom, a single camera captures the proceedings and provides live coverage on three cable networks. The Simpson jurors won't have access to any of the media coverage as they are sequestered for the duration of the trial. In the first part of the prosecution's opening statement, Deputy District Attorney, Christopher Darden, tells the jurors that Simpson is a wife beater who spiraled out of control. This elicits the question: Why does the prosecution lead with domestic violence? Then Darden's colleague, Marcia Clark, delivers her opening remarks.

She reviews DNA results that reveals each of the blood drops leaving the murder scene was Simpson's. On January 25th, Johnny Cochran delivers the defense opening statement. For two days he rebuts the prosecution and tells the jurors that the DNA evidence can't be trusted. Over the next 23 weeks the prosecution builds its case against Simpson. On March 9th, 1995, LAPD Detective Mark Fuhrman takes the witness stand. Lead prosecutor Marcia Clark is certain that the defense will portray Fuhrman as a racist cop who planted evidence. That brings up the question: Knowing that the defense would portray Fuhrman as a racist, why did the prosecution put Fuhrman on the stand? For three days Clark establishes that the police found critical evidence at Nicole Brown Simpson's house before Fuhrman arrived. Then she asks Fuhrman about the glove he found at the estate. On March 15th, defense Attorney F. Lee Bailey crosses examines Mark Fuhrman.

He zeros in on whether the Detective has made racial slurs in the past ten years. Mark Fuhrman denies it to the bitter end. On April 3rd, LAPD criminalist, Dennis Fong takes the stand. It is his first of nine days of testimony. Defense Attorney Barry Sheck focuses on lax LAPD collection measures that could have lead to inaccurate DNA test results. On June 15th, prosecutor Christopher Darden makes a dramatic request. He asks OJ to try on the gloves found at Bundy and at Rockingham. He does this against the advice of fellow prosecutor Marcia Clark because he doesn't know how the demonstration will turn out. Neither glove appears to fit. Jeffery Toobin says it was just an obviously terrible idea to let Simpson try on the gloves. It was so bad it was almost silly. Darden later said he ached with regret at what the glove incident might have done to the case. On July 6th, after presenting 488 exhibits and 58 witnesses, the prosecution rests.

There was no mention of the Bronco chase, the passport, or the disguises found in the vehicle after Simpson's arrest. This leads to the question: Why isn't the evidence from the Bronco chase ever mentioned in court? The next day, Saturday July 7th, the defense team receives an anonymous tip about a series of audio tapes on which Detective Mark Fuhrman repeatedly makes racist remarks. The tapes belong to Laura Hart McKinney, a screenwriter who interviewed Fuhrman over the course of several years. The defense wants to play the tapes in court. On September 5th, after a long legal battle over the admissibility of the tapes, Judge Lance Ito allows the defense to play two short snippets. On it Fuhrman says "They don't do anything. They don't go out and initiate contact with some 6'5" nigger that's been in prison for seven years pumping weights". This means that Fuhrman is caught in an outright lie. Race is so much a part of this case and that was devastating to the prosecution's case.

On September 26, closing arguments begin. Prosecutor Christopher Darden contends that DNA evidence and Simpson's history of domestic violence prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the standard required for conviction in any criminal case. On September 27th, Johnny Cochran delivers the defense team's closing argument. He sums up the prosecution's glove demonstration by saying "If it doesn't fit you must acquit". Then he tells the jury that the police conspired to frame Simpson. All of this plays out on live television. Coverage has drawn an average of more than 2,000,000 viewers a day but the 11th question is: Had the jury and the television viewers seen the same trial? At 9:00 AM on October 2nd, after an eight month trial and testimony from 150 witnesses, the jury begins deliberations. Less than four hours later they have a verdict. Judge Lance Ito announces that it won't be revealed until the next morning.

At 10:00 AM on October 3rd, an estimated 150,000,000 tune in to live coverage and a crowd of more than 1000 people gather outside the courthouse. Simpson was found not guilty on both counts. KNBC reporter Conan Nolan is standing outside the courthouse. He says a huge roar went up from the crowd. He says it sounded like he had just made a touchdown back at his days at USC after one of his touchdowns. Camera's show black audiences cheering while white audiences are visibly upset. The question then is: What do these images reveal? More than a decade after OJ Simpson's acquittal, provocative questions remain about the trial, the evidence, and whether justice prevailed. The answer to the first question "What did the crime scene indicate about the killing", is that authorities say that it showed that Ronald Goldman interrupted the murder of Nichole Brown Simpson. Detective Vanatter says that when you have someone walk in on you while you are killing someone that throws your plan off entirely.

Which is why, he says they have a knit cap and a glove and all that blood. LAPD Forensics lad concluded that Simpson's blood was found at the crime scene, in his Bronco, and at his estate. During the trial the defense zeroed in on LAPD's collection methods that they claim could have caused contamination. Peter Arenella is a UCLA law professor who served as a legal commentator for ABC news during the trial. He says that the defense strategy succeeded in undercutting the prosecution's best evidence. He says that what they had to do was to confuse the jury, to show the jury that mistakes were made, and then lean on the theme of not only corruption but also of incompetence. On the night of the murders Vanatter and three other Detectives surveyed the crime scene and went to Simpson's home to notify him of his ex wife's death. There Mark Fuhrman scaled the fence and later announced he'd found the bloody glove.

So the answer to the question "Why did police enter the premises before speaking with Simpson" is because Detectives say they were concerned that there might be another crime scene. When Fuhrman found the bloodstain on the Bronco outside the estate Detectives became alarmed. Fuhrman jumped the fence to let the other Detectives in to investigate. Vanatter says they don't know whether they have someone injured or killed there or whether they have someone being held hostage there. They don't know what's going on. Defense Attorney's, however say this is nothing more than an illegal search. Gerald Uelman says they did not have a warrant and the story they cooked up about being worried about someone else being hurt is just that, a cover story. At 12:10 PM the next day, June 13th, when Simpson returned home from his trip to Chicago, he willingly went to police headquarters to answer some questions. During the interview provided only vague information.

The answer to the question "Why didn't the Detectives press Simpson for more definitive answers?" is that they wanted to keep Simpson cooperative. Vanatter says they knew they had to get blood and fingerprints and knew that Simpson could have refused and simply walked out at any time so they went easy on him in hopes he would cooperate which he did. But critics say the Detectives were so differential during the interview that prosecutor's dubbed it "The fiasco" and decided not to introduce it at trial. Jeffery Toobin says that was the real outrage of this investigation. That is that he was treated with kid gloves and not that he was treated like a thug. On June 17th, 1994, the OJ Simpson took a dramatic turn. Simpson was supposed to turn himself into the LAPD at 11:00 AM. When he didn't police announced he was a fugitive. The answer to the question "Why didn't police immediately arrest him?" is that police didn't think he was a flight risk.

After police called Simpson in Chicago the morning after the murders, he voluntarily returned to Los Angeles, talked to Detectives and provided a blood sample. Police believed Simpson would continue to be cooperative. Deputy District Attorney William Hodgman says the decision not to arrest Simpson immediately may have been a mistake. Conan Nolan says that OJ Simpson volunteered for fundraisers for LAPD and their Union. So all indications are that they loved him and they gave him every break imaginable. The unusual way in which the LAPD treated Simpson led to one of the most watched moments in television history. At 7:00 PM, television stations began broadcasting images of the Bronco chase. Simpson was inside with his friend Al Cowlings at the wheel. Along the way, crowds followed the Bronco and waved signs from overpasses, many of which were cheering his flight. The answer to the question "Why did Simpson receive such a strong show of support? is that Simpson had a unique relationship with the public.

He had successfully made the leap from football star to TV pitchman. Simpson's appeal had transcended cultural and racial lines. UCLA Law Professor Kimberly Williams Crenshaw says that the public regarded Simpson as race neutral. She also says he was always the one who was seen as the one who had crossed over because hey he was just like the guy next door even though he was black. Conan Nolan says he was considered part of whatever group he was appealing to at that time. Asians didn't see him as African American nor did whites nor did Hispanics. He was uniquely OJ Simpson. But as much as Simpson was accepted by various racial groups, his relationship with the black community was tenuous. He had distanced himself rather significantly from the black community. During the civil rights movement when other players were speaking out, raising their clenched fist salute, OJ was noticeably quiet. On June 17th, 1994, Simpson was charged with two counts with two counts of murder.

He had the right to a speedy trial defined in California as being within sixty days after being arraigned. Most defendants waive that right to allow their legal team ample time to prepare for trial. Simpson's team made sure it had the resources to proceed quickly. The answer to the question "Why was the defense in such a hurry?' is that they wanted to limit the evidence the prosecution would have against Simpson. Given the time it took to utilize the most discriminating DNA analysis, William Hodgeman says they weren't even sure they would have enough time to get all of their blood evidence analyzed in time for trial. While the prosecution raced to get all of its' evidence tested, their jury consultant prepared by questioning the beliefs of a mock jury. He found that African American jurors, especially black females were sympathetic to Simpson.

The answer to the question "Which side benefited from the female jurors? is obviously OJ. The answer to the question "Why did prosecutors ignore their own jury consultants data?" is that Marcia Clark had felt that she had always been able to build a rapport with black female jurors. From her courtroom experience, Clark knew that female jurors sometimes view victims of domestic violence with disdain. But Clark was confident she could persuade them to feel sympathetic to the abused Nicole Brown Simpson. The answer to the question "Which side benefited from having women on the jury? is obviously the defense. After the trial, one juror said they did not believe the prosecution's theory about domestic violence. Another juror said she didn't think the evidence amounted to much. When the trial opened on January 24th, 1995, prosecutors began their case with domestic violence.

The answer of the question "Why did they lead with this evidence?" is that they were trying to sway females on the jury and to remove any presumption of innocence because of Simpson's celebrity status. William Hodgeman says this was a saga of domestic violence which culminated in a murder. Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree, who was a legal commentator during the trial says this strategy was a mistake. He says they thought that if we just bring out the domestic violence it would knock his celebrity status off its' pedestal. The answer to the question "Did the television viewers and the jury see the same trial?" is no, the viewers saw and heard much more of the case. Defense Attorney Gerald Uelman says that difference helps explain the public's reaction to the not guilty verdict. The public got to see a lot of things that the jury didn't see, stuff that wouldn't even be admissible.

Viewers, for example, learned about the contents of Nicole Brown Simpson's diary which detailed Simpson's abuse but had been ruled as hearsay by Judge Ito and thus the jury didn't hear about it. People who followed the trial by tuning in to news coverage only saw an edited version of the day's proceedings. Other evidence not presented at trial was in the infamous White Bronco chase along the Los Angeles Freeway. The answer to the question "Why wasn't evidence from the chase presented in court?" is that the prosecution believed that it would help the defense. If evidence found in the Bronco after the chase had been presented, so too could the taped phone calls to a suicidal Simpson made by Detective Lange.

That conversation went like this:
Simpson: "I wanna be with Nicole, that's all I'm gonna do."
Lange: "Hey Listen."
Simpson: "That's all I'm trying to do."
Lange: "Think about everybody else, alright?"
Simpson: "I just can't do it right here on the freeway. I couldn't do it in a field. I want to do it at her grave. I want to do it at my house."

William Hodgeman says the conversation would have helped the defense and made the jury perhaps feel sorry for him. The States case would also be undermined by one of its' own witnesses. Detective Mark Fuhrman's testimony about his use of racist language was discredited when the defense played an audio tape of him using such language. He in fact perjured himself. The answer of the question "Why did prosecutors put Mark Fuhrman on the stand?" is that they believed that their would be a gaping hole in their theory of the case if he didn't testify. He was the initial finder of the bloody glove at Rockingham so his testimony was necessary and they did not feel a need to hide from his history. But after the trial, jurors said once they had learned on the stand, they dismissed the rest of his testimony during deliberations. After less than four hours of deliberation on October 3rd, 1995, the not guilty verdict was announced.

Since that day, scenes of Americans reacting to the verdict have become iconic television imagery. The answer to the question "What did the images reveal?" is in part, the reactions reflected the racial beliefs about the American justice system. Alan Dershowitz says arguments about police planting evidence are going to be less well received by white suburban communities that has never had experience except good ones with the police than will African American communities in urban areas that have had less than pleasant experiences with the police. Immediately after the verdict, polls translated this divide into stark numbers. According to a CBS news poll, 75% of whites surveyed believed Simpson was guilty while 78% of blacks polled believed that Simpson was innocent. Shante` Morgan, a former reporter for Copley News service, who covered the trial says the reason the crowd cheered at the verdict was because they felt that for once the justice worked in favor of the black man.

She says that the verdict symbolized that for once they won a victory using the same judicial system that had sent so many other African Americans to prison unfairly. Others believe the cheers were for Johnny Cochran. Kimberle` Crenshaw says that the way the media covered the trial, encouraged an us vs them view of the case. The answer to the final question "Why did the defense want to bring race front and center in the trial" is because defense Attorney's wanted to capitalize on LA's long history of racial conflict and police brutality going back decades. In August, 1965, the nearly all black neighborhood of Watts exploded into violence after residents believed white officers unfairly targeted a black motorist during a traffic stop. In 1988, the department was accused of racial profiling after listing half of all blacks in Los Angeles as gang members. In 1992, rioting broke out again following the the acquittal of white police officers in the beating of Rodney King.

Writer Jeffery Toobin says that this defense strategy raised ethical issues. The legal legacy and the effect this case has had on race relations continue to be debated more than a decade after the verdict. This was the longest jury trial ever in California. Simpson's legal fees are estimated at $10,000,000. The trial cost LA County taxpayers an estimated $9,000,000. The case also served as a launching pad for a new breed of reporters. According to Peter Arenelle, we now have a whole industry of TV legal pundits. Since the Simpson case, Investigators have changed the way evidence is handled. Forensics Labs have standardized their procedures for DNA testing. California criminal law also changed after this case. During the trial Nicole Brown Simpson's diary and the statements she made were ruled inadmissible. Eleven months after the verdict, California enacted a law that allowed this kind of evidence into future trials. Christopher Darden left the District Attorney's office after the trial in 1995.

Two years later, so did Marcia Clark. In 2002, Johnny Cochran retired from trying criminal cases and three years later died of an inoperable brain tumor. On the day of his acquittal, Simpson's legal team and Simpson's family held a press conference. Simpson's son read a statement by his Father. The statement read "I will pursue, as my primary goal in life the killer or killers of my wife Nicole and Mr Goldman. After the trial, Simpson claimed the private investigators and volunteers were following up on leads and searching for new evidence in the case. In 2004, however, Simpson said he had stopped the search. He cited a desire to focus on raising his children. In May 1995, the family of victim Ronald Goldman filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against OJ Simpson. The Brown family did the same a month later. Civil trials have a lower standard of proof than criminal trials. On February 4th 1997, a predominantly white jury in Santa Monica, California found Simpson liable for the death of Ronald Goldman.

It also found he committed battery against Nicole Brown Simpson that resulted in her death. The civil trial featured evidence that hadn't been introduced at the murder trial, including photographs of Simpson wearing shoes that matched prints at the crime scene. Simpson was ordered to pay $33,500,000 but he promptly moved to Florida where the homestead act where it is illegal for authorities to seize his home to pay debts. And California law makes his retirement ($25,000/month) from the NFL virtually untouchable and he hasn't made a payment to date. Since the trial Simpson has had several brushes with the law. In 2001 he was found not guilty of Battery and auto burglary charges. In 1998, Simpson discussed the murder with Esquire magazine. He said "Even if I did do this, it would have been because I lived her very much, right?". In November 2006, a book by Simpson titled "If I did it" and a TV special on the on the murder was cancelled due to public outrage.

Now we all know what happened in Las Vegas but that is for another story. The question now is did he do it or not and if not him then who?