The Rough Guide to True Crime by Rough Guides

Author:Rough Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781405381390
Publisher: Rough Guides
Published: 2011-08-18T16:00:00+00:00

The Trial(s) of O.J. Simpson

O.J. Simpson appears in court, trying on the infamous pair of gloves.

Orenthal James Simpson was born in San Francisco in 1947 and was once best known for his feats on the American football field, earning a Heisman Trophy for his athletic achievements as a tailback for the University of Southern California. The New York Times said of him that he was “adored by college and professional football fans for the dazzling displays of speed, power and finesse that made him impossible to catch and even harder to bring down”. In 1969, he began a stellar ten-year career in the National Football League, playing first for the Buffalo Bills and then for the San Francisco 49ers. Known as “The Juice”, O.J. was the first running back in the league’s history to gain two thousand yards in a single season (1973). He was a legend in the sport and, after he left it, an entertainment star. He was a TV football commentator, a frequent endorser of products and a successful actor, perhaps best known for comic turns in the Naked Gun trilogy of cop-show spoofs.

But in 1994, everything changed. Once again he was known for being hard to catch – only this time it wasn’t a football game. Accused of murder, O.J. was supposed to turn himself in to Los Angeles police on 17 June 1994. He didn’t show. An Orange County patrol car spotted his car driving south on Interstate 405. A TV news helicopter was called to cover the low-speed chase. All afternoon and into the evening, the car’s progress was followed by TV audiences. NBC interrupted basketball coverage to broadcast the pursuit. By the time he pulled up at his home, twenty news helicopters were recording events as they unfolded. O.J. was soon in custody. He would go on trial accused of stabbing to death Nicole Brown Simpson (from whom he had divorced in 1992) and Ronald Goldman. The pair were found on the evening of 12 June 1994. Nicole had been brutally hacked and was almost decapitated. Ron was found with a series of wounds that police later agreed showed that his killer had taunted him before ending his life.

In what has been called the “Trial of the Century”, the case against O.J. Simpson played out in front of millions in their living rooms on their TVs. The trial mesmerized viewers. Among other things, the public would learn that defence lawyers for ordinary citizens are quite different from those for the rich and famous. But this was a trial which divided the nation in many ways – and particularly in terms of race. As the trial continued, it became clear that while white Americans often believed O.J. to be guilty, black Americans thought him innocent. The case, the state of California versus Orenthal James Simpson, cost more than $20 million to try in Clark County District Court in downtown Las Vegas.

The investigation of O.J. Simpson began just after midnight on 13 June 1994, when

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.