How The Media Negatively Impacted The Simpson Murder Case

The jury really didn’t seem to remember the most important piece of information which was that the defendant’s blood was actually found at the crime scene. Bugliosi said “From the moment O.J. Simpson became a suspect in this double murder case, it was in the air, perhaps as in no other case within

On May 4th, 1994, the Goldman family sues O.J. A lot of Simpson’s personal items, such as his trophies and cars were seized. On November 6th 1996, the jury was composed of nine Whites, one Black, one Hispanic, and an Asian. A photographer claims to have taken a picture of Simpson in 1993 wearing Bruno Magli shoes, which were the same ones that were worn by the killer of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman. O.J completely denied the picture; which led the photographer to release to the jury over 30 pictures of Simpson in the shoes. Also, on November 11th, pathologists thought that the scars and scratches on O.J’s hands may have been caused by the victim’s finger nails when trying to resist being stabbed to death. However, Simpson claimed that he might have gotten the cuts and scars on his wrists by “rassling” with his son. (http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/index/nns171.htm)

Lundman (2003) pointed to the fact that “not all murders…are selected for coverage by news media (358).” And, that “when murders are selected, some receive frequent and prominent attention, while others receive infrequent and obscure coverage (358).” In fact, during the time frame of George Zimmerman’s trial there were other murders involving race and gender. One can only wonder then, “do some homicides therefore receive more attention and others less because of the race and gender of the actors involved (Lundman, 2003, 358)?”

against a black person, held more weight truthfully in the jurors eyes, a problem we are still

In an attempt to counter the racist claims of the defense, the jury was selected and was mostly African American females (Gaines 2001). The district attorney of Los Angeles believed that an all white jury would be ineffective if Simpson were to be found guilty (Thernstrom & Fetter 1996). This outcome of the jury selection upset the Caucasian population because they felt as though the jury selection gave Simpson the upper hand in the trial regardless of the fact that the jury was majority female. The defense counsel was able to control the jury, in a sense through instilling in their minds that the LAPD was in fact racist. At the trial’s conclusion approximately 83% of blacks believed that Simpson was guilty, whereas only 37% of whites believed that Simpson was guilty (Thernstrom & Fetter 1996). These allegations also pushed the evidence collected from the crime to be discredited as well.

The case also was racially important in the way the community accepted the verdict. Much of the white community saw the overwhelming amount of evidence against OJ and came to their conclusion that he was guilty. On the other hand, the Black community who was more than aware of racial prejudice by the police chose to protect their own. The two communities took the not guilty verdict in completely separate ways; the White community was outraged that who they saw as a murderer was set free, and the Black community was enthusiastic that the man they saw as innocent was not wrongly convicted. Another similarity between the situations is racist police.

Can racial bias have an effect on the verdict of being guilty or innocent? The American judicial courtroom has been comprised of the nation’s many greatest racial discriminatory cases over the past century, but the most racially upstanding case, when referring to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird includes The Scottsboro Trials. Both stories uprise in the 1930s, displaying a white supremacist mindset, which two cases fall into the conviction of rape. The Scottsboro case started on a train to northern Alabama to southern Tennessee, when nine African American boys, ranging in ages from 13-19, allegedly raped two “innocent” Caucasian women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. Racial discrimination uprises in American judicial system when shown in To Kill a Mockingbird and The Scottsboro Trials through the racial prejudice within the jury in the courtroom, easy accessibility to target African Americans, biased accusations, as well as the social pressure to serve in one’s defense.

A large contributor to the bias in the trial was the public’s bias. Before the trial began it was

10:58pm Allan Park sees a shadowy figure. When asked to describe this figure, he says the person was about 6 feet tall and approximately 200 pounds walking across the driveway towards the house.

Simpson was acquitted of the murder of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman, but there were no cold hard facts that he was innocent. The jury consisted of nine black jurors, one hispanic, and two whites. Many believe that race had a huge part in Simpson getting off. Three years prior to the

However, I think the most important people that this trial concerned were the families and friends of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The families of the victims were probably the most interested in the long eleven month trial. They had to patiently wait around for the verdict and they all wanted O.J. to be punished for what they believed he did. The second most important key public is O.J. Simpson’s family and friends. He was the one main suspect, and everyone he cared about was awaiting the verdict. They had to sit around and watch him run from the police during a speed chase on TV, and they had to pray he wasn’t guilty. Lastly, I think the entire population of America at the time were huge key publics. Although the case didn’t necessarily involve them in anyway, they helped make the trial as huge as it was. If people weren’t constantly watching the trial on TV or were concerned about it at all, it would not have been as big of a deal. They were the key to the popularity of it

The O. J. Simpson double murder case, also titled “People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson was a trial in which James O.J Simpson, a former National Football League player was convicted at the Los Angeles County Superior Court of two murder offenses on June 12, 1994. He was accused of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, a restaurant waiter at Mezzaluna. The trial spans for a period of eight months. The opening statements were read on January 23, 1995, whereas the verdict, which left Simpson a free man, was declared on October 3, 1995. “The Trial of The Century,” as it is commonly known, has been described as the most publicized trial in history. However, before Simpson could be arrested and prosecuted, they had to go through an investigation process with the implementation of some techniques used by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) as this essay illustrates.

The next process in the Justice system, a Grand Jury indictment, was interrupted. OJ Simpson hired a top notch team of defense and appellate lawyers to defend him in this case and they were able to get the Grand Jury dismissed from this case due to the massive media coverage. They claimed that the jury was prejudiced toward the defendant because of the readily available information about the case. In lieu of the Grand Jury trial a probable cause hearing was conducted. With that, the judge in this hearing felt that enough evidence did exist for a criminal trial and OJ Simpson was arraigned on July 29th 1994. At his arraignment OJ pleaded not guilty, specifically stating that he was “one hundred percent not guilty”.

Dershowitz explains that two very different Simpson trials were carried out: the trial before the jury and the trial before the public (Dershowitz 140). Dershowitz also supplies the strong assertion that television coverage of a trial brings “greater accuracy, less bias, and more direct observation of the trial” (Dershowitz 147).

The OJ Simpson case has been hailed "The Trial of the Century." One of the longest running court trials in history, this case was filled with conspiracy, controversy, and the power of celebrity. The biggest part of the trial was the evidence. The submission of the blood samples, the DNA testing, and the articles of clothing made the case what it was. Amidst all the accusations of planted evidence and conspiracy plans against Simpson, the jury and Judge Ito had to try to sift through and find Simpson guilty or not guilty.