Jeffrey Toobin says in “The Run of His Life: The People V. O.J. Simpson” that, “It was the last leak in the case-from the sheriff 's deputies guarding the jury to their colleagues guarding Simpson: O.J. was going to walk”(429). It might have been the last leak, but it was one too many in the trial of Orenthal James Simpson. Simpson was a famous football player which brought a lot of national attention upon him. Every major network covered the trial. But, did the media play a bigger role than some may have anticipated? The trial of The People vs OJ Simpson was not necessary conducted by jurors, but by the media by use of leaking news and yellow journalism.
Many authors had agreements and disagreements about the media 's role. Authors such as Mary Melton in “How High-Speed Car Chases Became a Citywide Pastime in Los Angeles” makes an interesting case by arguing that over 5000 car chases happen in California and that the media over reacted on this one because it was a famous athlete. Authors such as Richard L. Fox, Robert W. Van Sickel, and Thomas L. Steige in “Tabloid Justice: Criminal Justice in an Age of Media Frenzy”, argue that the trial was literally the trial of the century. Derek H. Alderman argues in “TV News Hyper-Coverage and the Representation of Place: Observations on the O. J. Simpson Case” that the media spent a enormous amount of time covering the trial. My argument agrees with there’s and is that they spent a lot of time on the trial and use strategic
The people directly involved with this case are Judge Lance Ito, the prosecution lawyers, Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden, the defense lawyers, Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro and Robert Blasier , the jury and the defendant, O.J. Simpson. The families of the victims have also been present in the courtroom, as well as other spectators and news media. This case has heard one hundred and twenty witnesses over a nine month period.
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.
blood on O.J.'s Bronco door, on the console, on the interior side of the door, a
On February 26, 2012, an apparently innocent teenager was shot as he walked home through his neighborhood late at night. The Trayvon Martin killing and trial has recently been one of the primary topics covered by the media in America. The response to the news coverage of the case has been staggering. Students have organized hoodie marches and created Facebook groups to protest the unjustified murder of the young man. However, is the American public as well informed as it pretends to be? Americans have an unsettling susceptibility to manipulation from the media. In 1991, a similar event occurred in the case of the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, where Supreme Court nominee, Clarence Thomas, had his personal affairs put on display for
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.
A close friend Robert Kardashian, agrees that O.J Simpson was responsible for the deaths of Nicole and Ron. Bobltz explained how Kardashian believed that O.J did it, “Kardashian told Walters how evidence presented by the prosecution caused him to seriously consider whether his friend murdered his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman” (Bobltz). Even a close friend of O.J Simpson was debating weather or not he was actually guilty. Robert Kardashian was even O.J Simpsons lawyer. After the case was over, even O.J Simpsons closest friends and business works dropped O.J’s deals. Gacia explains all the deals that were dropped, “While he was still in jail, Simpson had signed a $20 million pay-per-view TV deal to help pay for his exorbitant legal fees, but that deal quickly fell through once he was acquitted. Shortly after, his long-term talent agency dropped him, and he was banned from ever stepping foot at his beloved golfing country club La Riviera. Simpson was even chased out of his neighborhood after his estate was papered with posters calling him the ‘Brentwood Butcher’” (Gacia). The fact that even the closest people to O.J believed that he murdered Nicole shows how much evidence was found. Even his most trusted workers dropped his deals and left him. Most people would be quiet after they were just accused of murder. Swift explains how un shy O.J Simpson was after the case,
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”.
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
The proponents of cameras in the courtroom also believe that televised trials would educate the public on courtroom procedure and rules of the court. The media believes that as the viewers watch real trials on television, they would become more aware of the rules of the court and they would become more aware of the basic procedures courts have to follow. An example of how cameras in the courtroom would educate the public would be the all famous O.J. Simpson trial. The O.J. Simpson trial educated the public on rules of evidence with the “bloody glove” display, the cross-examination of key witnesses with the examination of Mark Furman, and what role the judge plays in the process. The media believes that if cameras where not allowed inside O.J. Simpson trial, then the public for the most part would still not understand the true workings of the court system. Kimberlianne Podlas note that televised trials will educate the public by giving them a reference for what the court system is, “its fairness, and who the arbiters of justice are” (Podlas, 2001). Podlas also explains that the O.J. Simpson trial lead more people to watch and gain a understanding and respect for the judicial system as well as gaining knowledge of the legal concepts and burdens of the system (Podlas, 2001).
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
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.