“The trial of the century” they called it. “The juice” is who they loved. And Orenthal James Simpson was a cold blooded murderer who walked free.
How does a man that abuses, threatens and finally murders his wife get acquitted? Well that’s just how the justice system works. I know its a relatively insensitive statement but it is definitely true. It doesn’t matter, whether the prosecution or defense has more evidence or witnesses than the other it all comes down to who can sway the jury with the way they articulate and voice their claims.
During the O.J. Simpson trial the prosecution had heaps of evidence that could convict O.J. Simpson to life imprisonment and possibly even the death penalty however due to several mistakes in judgement, inner turmoil and a strong defense that questioned the authenticity of every claim that the prosecution’s witnesses made, the prosecution fell short and lost a war.
Now what groundbreaking evidence did the prosecution actually have? Firstly, They had proof that Nicole was a victim of domestic abuse, O.J. being the abuser. 911 calls made my Nicole claiming “he’s going to beat the sh-t out of me.” and pictures of her bruised face that she kept in a safety deposit box in case anything actually happen to her were evidence enough to show us that O.J. had a temper that often resulted in Nicole getting physically hurt. O.J. had even threatened Nicole saying “You ever see Marcus again, I will kill you.” when he thought that she was cheating on him with Marcus Allen. This would therefore give O.J. motive to kill Nicole and her boyfriend Ron Goldman.
Secondly, Prosecution had DNA evidence that put O.J. at crime scenes of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman. This was the most important piece of evidence to the prosecution according to me as it was also said that the blood found at the scenes other than the victims blood was of one person only and only 1 in 170 million people have that blood composition and O.J. Simpson was one of them. Furthermore, O.J. had a cut on his middle finger on his left hand therefore indicating how his blood was found at the crime scenes. Thirdly, The fact that there were literally no other suspects other than “The Juice” himself was astounding and incriminating by itself. They also had witnesses and the bloody gloves found at the crime scene that incriminated O.J.
All this being said, O.J. Simpson’s lead attorney was Johnnie Lee Cochran who was a high profile lawyer, had firm views against racism and constantly tried to uplift the African American community. His first move as lead attorney was playing what came to be known as “the race card” he claimed that if a Caucasian male was in the same place as O.J. Simpson he would not be treated the same way that O.J. was, which was guilty until proven innocent rather than innocent until proven guilty. Cochran built his entire case on the race card and therefore rallied several African Americans to stand by O.J. which created a clear rift in society among the people of color and the whites. Although the defense played the “race card” at every opportunity they got and shot down every witness the prosecution called to the stand by portraying them as unreliable, they did not have any strong claims against O.J.’s death threats to Nicole, the incriminating DNA evidence other than saying it was planted and did not even bring any new suspects to the stand. The only other crucial piece of evidence that made their weak case incredibly strong was when O.J. tried on the gloves at the murder scene and they did not fit. Cochran was a man that loved giving the public something poetic and so he coined the phrase “if the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” and so the gloves became the centerpiece of their defense.
I believe that the main differences between Marcia Clark who was the lead attorney on the prosecution side and Johnnie Cochran was the fact that the media portrayed Marcia as a villain out for blood and Johnnie as a preacher. Marcia and the prosecution made blunders that were monumental, for example keeping their key witness as Mark Fuhrman who was eventually their downfall. On the other hand Johnnie and the members on his team were extremely calculative.
To me, O.J. Simpson was guilty. His first words in the courtroom to his lawyers after seeing the jury were “Guys, if this jury convicts me, maybe I did do it”. There was no remorse, no fear. The jury had all the evidence they needed. They just didn’t want it to be true because this case transformed into a race battle that was originally a trial for 1st degree murder.
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