Race Issues In The O. J. Simpson Trial

The book that I am going to introduce is Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O.J. Got Away With Murder, written by Vincent Bugliosi, and was published on June 17, 1996. We all know that Nichole Simpson and Ronald Goldman were stabbed to death and their bodies were discovered on June 12, 1994 early morning. It was said that after a car chase, O.J. was found with $9,000 I cash, his passport, disguise, and a gun. O.J. Simpson who is her ex-husband was acquitted October 3, 1995, for their deaths in a trial that riveted the nation and divided people along racial differences. In 1997, he was ordered to pay a little over $33 million for their deaths. O.J. Simpson is still serving time in prison for things like kidnapping, robbery, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, and numerous other charges. Mr. Bugliosi sums up five reason why the case was lost. Those five can be labeled as the jury, the change in venue or settings, the judge allowing the defense to play the race card, the stupidity of the prosecution throughout the trial, and lastly the summation of what should really have been done. But in honesty when the media started reporting about this case it was already falling apart.

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

The O.J. Simpson trial was one of the most recognizable cases in American History. It went on for 9 months. At 12:10 am on June 13, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were found murdered right outside of Bundy drive condo in Brentwood. Evidence found in the scene led the Police to suspect that O.J. Simpson was the murderer. Although the prosecution pointed to the evidence of the case Simpson lawyers argued that the police bungle the investigation and planted evidence. An examination of the case is that one of the policemen was racist and planted evidence in the scene to accuse O.J. Simpson of being the murderer.

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?

Known around the world as O. J., famous celebrity Orenthal James Simpson was arrested and convicted for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her mistress, Ron Lyle Goldman. Although Simpson denied any participation in the crime, the FBI found numerous evidence that proved hands down that he was the murderer. After a trial that lasted more than eight months, he was acquitted and was able to go home. Personally, I feel that the jury made the wrong decision.

Imagine a police chase being broadcasted on tv for millions of people to see, a man who is running now with a gun, money, and a disguise less than twenty four hours after his ex wife and new lover were murdered. Now he is being arrested and tried with their murders and against all evidence pointing towards the rest of his life in prison, he is released after 16 months of awaiting a verdict. Well this isn’t a soap opera and that isn’t Sonny Corinthos, that is your favorite athlete, former heisman trophy winner and celebrity, Oj Simpson. On October 3rd 1995, Oj Simpson was found innocent of killing Nicole Simpson and her believed lover Ron Goldman in one of the most controversial and corrupt court cases ever. Many people

Due to a lack of evidence, the LAPD wrongly accused Simpson of murdering Brown and Goldman. The glove that was supposedly worn by the killer did not fit Simpson. CBS news team said, “The leather glove seemed too tight for Simpson to put on easily, especially over the latex gloves he wore underneath.”. The black leather glove had to fit Simpson for him to be guilty but it was way to tight and could not

Simpson and this trial would definitely be considered a crisis, a crisis that undercut the beliefs of our society. The public knew that Brown and Simpson didn’t have the best marriage, but I do not think that anyone believed that O.J. was capable of something as horrible as this. After a New Year’s Eve party in their home in 1989, he pleaded no-contest to charges of beating Nicole. Mr. Simpson's spokesman issued a statement that the couple kind of ignored the situation and said, "We got into an argument which escalated and the police were called. Fortunately, neither one of us required any medical treatment” (Janofsky, & Rimer, 1994). However, there was a police report that said that the officers arrived and heard Nicole scream “He’s going to kill me!”. She also had a black eye, bruises and a cut lip (Janofsky & Rimer, 1994). Maybe some people weren’t surprised that Simpson ended up being the only suspect for the murders. Maybe it came to a complete shock to others and this situation destroyed their beliefs of who they thought O.J. Simpson really was. People had many nice things to say about him, but it turns out that you never really truly know someone. Don Ohlmeyer, who was a former Monday Night Football producer spoke highly of him and said that his friends and fans were drawn to him because go his engaging personality and friendliness. He said, “If you had a problem at four o’clock in the morning, he would always be there” (Janofsky & Rimer, 1994). Overall, it is

On June 13, 1994, bodies of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman were found at Nicole’s apartment in Los Angeles. The police arrived, investigated and fairly fast looked at Nicole Brown's ex husband who is O.J. Simpson, the football star, as a suspect for the murders. Four days later an arrest warrant was made out, and this lead to the famous television live breaking news that O.J. Simpson was leading police on a slow chase in his white Ford Bronco, and later his arrest. Millions of people watched this. On July 8, 1994, there was the first hearing that decided if there was enough evidence to proceed with the trial. It was decided there was enough evidence. The process of selection started in September and completed in November. The jury was sequestered in the middle of

After searching the homes of O.J. Simpson and Nicole Simpson we came up with much evidence to use in prosecuting O.J. Simpson. First off, the previous history of violence in the Simpson home was considered evidence. On October 25th, 1993, Nicole called 9-1-1 asking for someone to be sent to her home, because O.J. had broken in and was violently yelling at her and banging on her bedroom door. But this was not the first case of domestic violence in their home. On January 1st, 1989, police were called to Simpson’s Rockingham address where Nicole was claiming that O.J. was saying to Nicole

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.

This essay is purposed for the evaluation of the provocative case, The State of California vs. Orenthal James Simpson, more commonly referred to as O.J. Simpson. On the 12th of June, 1994 the homicide of Nicole Simpson, O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife, occurred at her home. Reports of a body sprawled out the front of Nicole Simpson’s house were made through a 911 call. On arrival, police made the discovery of Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman’s dead bodies outside the house. The review of this investigation will be achieved through; Assessment of the key aspects of the process of investigation. Evaluation of the main investigative flaws made throughout the investigation. Identifying strategies to prevent these flaws from happening in

On June 17, 1994 when police charged Orenthal James Simpson, Brown's ex-husband, and after leading police on a 60 mile low speed chase down the highways of southern Los Angeles in his friend Al Cowling's white Bronco, was arrested and jailed without bail, the story became even more complicated. This was when the police knew this would not be just any murder case. This was OJ Simpson, the famous football player, this would be complicated. Their only hope of conviction was the evidence that would place him as the murderer.

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,

In 1995, O.J. Simpson, a popular sports player and public figure, was accused of the double homicide of Ron Goldman and his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. Within the following months, the trial became increasingly popular as the celebrity’s case deepened. Due to its popularity, the case revealed many aspects that shocked and confounded the public. Consequently, the issue of race arose within what was viewed as the most shocking component of the trial: the verdict. As the infamous O.J. Simpson verdict reached America, the reaction caused a polarizing effect on the racial view of Simpson between white and black communities.