Case Analysis : Simpson Murder Case

On June 12, 1994, the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were found dead at her home in Brentwood, CA. Orenthal James Simpson, or O.J. Simpson was notified of their deaths and immediately taken into custody for questions. Upon the collection of various pieces of evidence from the crime scene, all avenues pointed to Simpson as the culprit for the double murder. The conclusion of Simpson criminal trial resulted in his acquittal. There were various reasons for this acquittal. The most prominent reasons include accusations of racism, evidence contamination, and the lack of faith in DNA profiling. This paper will discuss the issues that arose with the trial in depth and offer an explanation and solution to resolving issues

Soon later the police finally picked up enough evidence to get a warrant for his arrest. Simpson and his lawyer Robert Shapiro both agreed that he will turn himself in at 10:00 am on June 17. Simpson didn’t go at the time he was given so the policemen and Robert Shapiro went to Simpsons home and discovered that he disappeared and left a letter saying "Don't feel sorry for me. I've had a great life, great friends. Please think of the real O. J. and not this lost person.  Thanks for making my life special. I hope I helped yours. Peace and love, O. J." (Linder). Policemen and his lawyer thought it was a suicide letter. Until someone in Orange County saw Simpson riding a white bronco and immediately called the police. Only a couple of minutes later police cars and helicopters were chasing him, they followed Simpson all the way to his front gate of his house. Policemen saw that he was wearing a fake beard and had $8,750 in cash, loaded gun, and a passport, days later he was on his first day of the trial. On Tuesday, Jan 24, 1995 was the first day of the trial, Judge Lance Ito open to the people in the courtroom that he will be expecting to see some good lawyering skills for the case. Christopher Darden who open the trial said that Simpson was and abusive and a jealous husband to Nicole B. Simpson.

The O.J. Simpson trial was one of the most distinguishable cases in American history. Many Americans tuned into the bronco chase on June 17, 1994 when Simpson was the main suspect for the murder of Nicole Brown-Simpson, O.J.’s ex-wife, and her friend Ronald Goldman, which occurred a few days prior (Lamb, 1994). O.J. Simpson was the murder suspect for the double homicide of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman. He was a retired professional football player who resided in California. He was one of the black entertainers of the 1990’s along with Oprah, Michael, Wesley, and Spike. Through these entertainers, it was shown that there is opportunity to succeed for black men and woman in society (White, 1995). The number one question on everyone’s mind was not if O.J. was innocent or guilty, but whether he would be found guilty or just walk away. Other questions on the mind of American’s was did he actually commit the crime?

Nicole had been stabbed numerous times in the head and neck, there were also defensive wounds found on her hands. In the article, “O.J. Simpson crime scene photos: Warning Graphic Images ” an autopsy report revealed how Nicole and her friend Ronald’s bodies were found. In the article it states that Nicole , “...had an incised wound of neck... Incisions, left and right internal jugular veins. Transection of thyrohyoid membrane epiglottis, and hypopharynx. Incision into cervical spine. Multiple stab wounds of neck and scalp (total of 7)... injuries of hands, including incised wound, right finger of right hand (defensive wounds). Scalp bruise, right parietal.” The article also described Ronald’s body: “...found with a sharp force wound of neck,

In 1985 the same year he was put in the NFL hall of fame, Simpson had met and would later marry in the same year Nicole Brown. Nicole had complained that Simpson was physically abusive. On 1989 during a New Year’s Eve party they had a physical fight, on which Simpson had allegedly threatened to kill her. During an interview with ESPN concerning the fight Simpson had said “We had a fight. We were both guilty. No one was hurt. It was no big deal, and we got on with our life.” Brown eventually filed for divorce in

Nicole’s wounds were so severe that she bled out not long after the attack (Birnkworth). Goldman went to Nicole’s house to deliver some eyeglasses Nicole’s mother had forgotten at Mezzaluna, which is where Ronald worked (Mueller). It is believed that O.J. went to Nicole’s condo to kill her, however Ronald Goldman showed up and ruined the plans of O.J. Simpson (Bensons). Therefore, Ronald Goldman is considered an accidental murder victim (Bensons). Goldman fought for himself and Nicole, he put up a strong fight (Birnkworth). Nicole on the other hand, went down quickly (Birnkworth). Plenty of evidence was found at the crime scene. A left bloody glove, footprints, five drops of blood that wasn’t either of the victims,

“JURY ORDERS O.J. TO PAY $25 MILLION Judgment Added to $8.5 Million Awarded Last Week in Damages Compiled From News Services.” JURY ORDERS O.J. TO PAY $25 MILLION Judgment Added to $8.5 Million Awarded Last Week in Damages Compiled From News Services, 11 Feb. 1997. SIRS Knowledge Source, sks.sirs.com/webapp/article?artno=0000016691&type=ART. Accessed 11 Feb. 1997.

"You never know someone until you've seen them behind closed doors". Orenthal O.J. Simpson lived a rough life growing but, instead of that taking over his life he decided to make a change by becoming a football hall of fame, actress/tv star and later being turned to a serial killer. Was the killing done out of love or spight? Or did he even do it?

At 12:10 a.m. on June 13, 1994, the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were found by Los Angeles Police brutally murdered. Steven Schwab, a neighbor of Nicole, was out with his dog late at night going for a walk. While they were walking, Schwab came across a dog with blood on its paws. The dog followed Schwab back to his house, neighbors of Schwab Sukru Boztepe and Bettina Rasmussen offered to keep the dog overnight. The dog, named Kato was barking and running around all night. The couple decided to let the dog out and see what he was so wound up about. Kato led the couple to Nicole's house where they found Nicole and her boyfriend, Ron, dead.

time and Simpson wasn’t there. He was seen walking into his house after the time of the murder. He made

Do you know what a unsolved mystery is it is a case or trial that has never been solved. Have you ever heard of oj simpson's case he was accused of murdering his ex wife nicole brown simpson and her friend. He also had ten other charges some were kidnaping and armed robbery. Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman were found dead in los angeles on June 12, 1994.

The murders occurred between 10:15 p.m. and 10:40 p.m., this is based on testimony from prosecution and defense witnesses who heard barking from the area of the crime scene. Ms. Simpson's blood-covered pet Akita was found

Another cunning piece of evidence was the bloody glove found behind Nicole's house, that had fit O.J.'s hand and supposedly had blood in it, but when it was time to call the glove as evidence in the court room, there was no blood. This leads us into question about whether or not racism played a role in the lengthiest trial in United States history. With the help of a strong team of forensic experts, the lawyers were able to identify irregularities in the conduct of the investigation by LAPD detectives and forensic specialists. For example, one of the detectives Philip Vannatter, had carried a sample of Simpson's around with him for hours: and some of the blood taken from Simpson was unaccounted for. After much investigation, the defense team found evidence that Mark Fuhrman, the detective who allegedly found the bloody glove in Simpson's yard, was a raving racist who, contrary to his claim on the stand, frequently used the word “nigger” and had bragged about framing blacks, especially those involved

Their first set of evidence, and possibly the best part of attaching the three to each other that night, was the blood. There were approximately 22 submissions of blood evidence found at the Bundy Condo (murder scene), Rockingham (Simpson's residence), and in the Bronco (Simpson's vehicle). All of which were a match to either Brown, Goldman, Simpson, or a mixture of the three. All figures of the blood samples were found in the testimonies of Dr. Robin Cotton, laboratory director at Cellmark Diagnostics Inc. and Gary Sims, senior criminalist with the California Department of Justice DNA laboratory (Toobin).

One of the main reasons that Simpson's trial was sensationalized was because he was a celebrity. Thus, it can be argued that Simpson's celebrity status was one of the reasons the trial was televised. Gerald Uelmen (2010), law professor and co-counsel for the defense in Simpson's trial, comments, "[T]he cameras were a mistake because they affected the behavior of all the trial participants, judge, lawyers, and, most regrettably, witnesses. Building upon what was broadcast, tabloids and other media outlets began to attempt to take advantage of the attention Simpson's case was generating. Uelmen (2010) continues,