The Controversial OJ Simpson Murder Trial - Essay Example

Homicide Investigation Name Institution Course Lecturer Date There exist various murder investigations that have been controversial. The investigative processes need to be very clear and professional in the way it is handled. A careful and intelligent examination of the scene of crime followed by thorough investigations must be effected. This includes the investigator’s professional and medical evacuation of various pieces and bits of evidence. This essay focuses on the controversial OJ Simpson Murder Trial that involved the Deaths of Nicole-Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Key elements of the investigative process are identified. In addition, the flaws of the police investigative process are identified. Suggestions to how the failures that were noted in this investigative process could have been overcomed, and also prevented in the future homicide investigations are given. The OJ Simpson Murder Trial involved the trial of O. J. Simpson on double murder counts of Ronald Lyle Goldman (a waiter) and Nicole Brown Simpson (his ex-wife). The bodies were found murdered at Nicole’s home. The police accumulated enough evidence that linked Simpson to the murder and hence obtained a warrant for his arrest. The evidence that was highly relied on includes articles of clothing located at the residence of Mr Simpson, hair samples on the bodies and the scene of crime. In addition, there were bloody footprints of shoes that were similar to those he owned which pointed at Simpson as a key suspect. Another piece of evidence was that the suspect issued a note to the media that had been interpreted largely as a suicide note. He later surrendered to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). (Morrison, 2010) The case was moved to the Criminal Courts building from the Santa Monica following the preliminary hearing. This was as a result of a security concern and perceived damages to the Santa Monica Courthouse. The reason for this movement was however seen by many as a precautionary measure against racial protests or riots. This movement was most probably politically driven and not an autonomous court decision. This is evident due to the heavy security put in place by the government throughout the case period and especially at the time of the judgement. (Conley, Rabinowitz & Hardin, 2010) DNA matches were identified. This invoved two RFLP tests involving blood at the crime scenes and that one that was found on two black socks found at OJ’s bedroom. This was hopefully one of the most compelling testimonies. A great probability linking Simpson to the scene of crime following the matches was identified. However, most of the evidence that was presented was questioned and opposed by the defence. The evidence on the DNA test was contested and disapproved on the basis of the samples taken having been mishandled by the police technicians. The ruling was made by twelve juries after the months of numerous witnesses and deliberations, and compensations given to the families of the murder victims. OJ Simpson was declared not guilty in both murder counts. Throughout this process, there was a high media coverage on the proceedings of the case which was a controversial issue (Visser & Hampikian, 2012). This investigation process had its own failures. To begin with, the judgment was contested after the parents of the murder victim, Ronald, filed civil lawsuit against OJ. Important evidence that had not been presented in the Criminal trial was given. OJ failed when subjected to a lie detector test. Some of the identifiable failures here were linked to evidence gathering, excessive media coverage, the integrity concerns on the police officers and the handling of the evidence (Nirider, Tepfer & Drizin, 2012). As a result, the initial interview was considered as very incompetent. The officers involved did not make fundamental enquiries that would be considered fruitful. This information was considerably unhelpful and hence was not introduced as evidence by either side of the trial. Some of the evidence that was introduced in the civil trial was very important yet had not been availed earlier in the criminal trial. This evidence led to OJ being identified as the one behind the death (Williams, 2013). Another major concern here is on the handling of the evidence by the technician police. The blood samples which were tested and likely to be one of the major pieces of evidence were discredited on the basis of being mishandled. The gloves that were presented as evidence were also contested on the basis of the questionable integrity of the Mark Fuhrman. This evidence was therefore contested. The movement of the case to the Criminal Courts building from the Santa Monica may also have been linked to racism tensions. This follows the Los Angeles, California racial issues of the early 1990s. There were considerable tensions of the American-African community of Los Angeles and the LAPD (Dung & Thang, 2010). This raises a concern of the possibility of the case being influenced by these issues. Linked to this is the coverage of the media. This was a wide coverage from the tragic death discovery, the trial and the post-trial period. Various reactions were presented to the white and the black races. The predominance was a jubilant black people and a disappointed white people especially after the trial. The concern here is the possibility of media interference by raising tensions following the debates and other means employed during the coverage (Bunker, 2013). The failures that were identified in the OJ Simpson Murder Trial could have been evaded. This would have been so if various issues were considered and correct measures taken on time. This is particularly with reference to the failures identified above. The homicide crime scene is very fundamental in the investigation process. Things like the autopsy results, accounts from direct eye witness, statements taken from the suspects and traces of evidence found at the scene of the crime should be handled with care. According to Foley (2010), the handling of the evidence coupled with the evaluation requires high level of professionalism. This is so especially because successive investigations are dependent on the initial actions. A faulted start may most likely imply a faulted end. The handling of the blood samples for DNA test in this case was questionable. What may have been very critical evidence was turned down. This can be avoided by engaging professionalism and care as samples are being handled in the entire process. The initial interrogations of OJ by the LAPD proved to be very unreliable whereas it is expected to have shed a lot of light against which further claims would be counterchecked. The fact that OJ failed in lie detector test presented in the Civil Trial shows that inconsistencies would have been identified earlier had the initial interrogations been very reliable. The integrity of the investigators needs to be unquestionable in all aspect. This enhances the credibility of the information presented. Mark Fuhrman evidence was contested on the basis of his racist connected comments. The evidence presented in a case needs to be very relevant and thorough in coverage. Incomplete set of information will definitely give loopholes for the presented information being discredited. This is so even in the event of the evidence being termed as reliable. As seen in this Civil Trial, complete evidence relating to the case had not been presented. For instance, the shoes that Simpson had denied to own were shown to be his through a photo presented in the case (Fryer, Harms & Jackson, 2013). The other issue to be concerned about here is the media coverage of a homicide investigation. There is a need to regulate this especially when the case is highly contested. The pressure attached to this case on the basis of race definitely hiked with the coverage. Issues such as racism concerns can to some extent be external factors that hinder the effectiveness of a trial process. The Civil Trial successfully led to satisfactory conclusions partly due to the restricted coverage which ensured minimal interference (Battaglia, 2011). This essay has focused on the controversial OJ Simpson Murder Trial that involved the Deaths of Nicole-Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The failures identified and the remedies that could have been adopted given are linked to poor evidence handling and interference during court proceedings. This is useful to consider even for the sake of other related cases in the future. As this essay has identified, this homicide investigations may have been flawed. There importance of being careful and professional from the beginning of an investigation to the end cannot be underestimated as indicated by the impact of such actions in this trial. References Battaglia, N. A. (2011). Casey Anthony Trial and Wrongful Exonerations: How Trial by Media Cases Diminish Public Confidence in the Criminal Justice System, The. Alb. L. Rev., 75, 1579. Bunker, M. D. (2013). Justice and the media: Reconciling fair trials and a free press. Routledge. Conley, T. D., Rabinowitz, J. L., & Hardin, C. D. (2010). OJ Simpson as shared (and unshared) reality: the impact of consensually shared beliefs on interpersonal perceptions and task performance in different-and same-ethnicity dyads. Journal of personality and social psychology, 99(3), 452. Dung, P. M., & Thang, P. M. (2010). Towards (Probabilistic) Argumentation for Jury-based Dispute Resolution. COMMA, 216, 171-182. Foley, M. (2010). Serializing racial subjects: The stagnation and suspense of the OJ Simpson saga. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 96(1), 69-88. Fryer Jr, R. G., Harms, P., & Jackson, M. O. (2013). Updating Beliefs with Ambiguous Evidence: Implications for Polarization (No. w19114). National Bureau of Economic Research. Morrison, T. (2010). Birth of a nation'hood: Gaze, script, and spectacle in the OJ Simpson case. Random House LLC. Nirider, L. H., Tepfer, J. A., & Drizin, S. A. (2012). Combating Contamination in Confession Cases. Schwabauer, B. A. (2010). Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act: The Cold Case of Racism in the Criminal Justice System, The. Ohio St. LJ, 71, 653. Visser, R., & Hampikian, G. (2012). When DNA Won't Work. Williams, R. (2013). The OJ Simpson Trial. Xlibris Corporation. Read More