Simpsons Murder Trial - Term Paper Example

? O.J Simpson’s Murder Trial By Due O.J Simpson is a retired American professional football player. He started playing football during his childhood and did really well. He played running back in 1967 and 1968 for the University of Southern California. He was a part of the historical game between USC and UCLA in 1967. His touchdown in the fourth quarter tied the game and PAT was the decider. This match is regarded as one of the greatest football games of the 20th century. He failed to win the Heisman Trophy as a junior in 1967 but won the Walter Camp Award in the same year. He is also known for his world record breaking run in the USC sprint relay quartet at the NCAA track championships in Provo, Utah. In 1968, he won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp Award. He also holds the record for the Heisman's largest margin of victory. Being American Football League's Buffalo Bills' first overall pick in the 1969 Common Draft, he was also the first professional football player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. He also holds the record for the highest yards-per-game average in a single season. He was a great figure in the world of sports and is idolized by many sportsmen. He was also inducted to Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. O.J Simpson also starred in some movies. His career ranges from dramatic to comedic movies. His dramatic movies include The Cassandra Crossing, Capricorn One, The Klansman and The Towering Inferno. His comedy movies include The Naked Gun Trilogy and Back to the Beach. He had a good career in movies and had a successful run in acting in ads one of which was about a comic book. He quickly sprang up to status of a celebrity with a huge following. He started his own film production company called Orenthal Productions in 1979. NBC was considering airing his series called Frogmen but the project was cancelled when he was arrested for murder. Known mostly due to his career in professional football and being a respected commentator, everything related to O.J Simpson was of public interest. On June 13, 1994, O.J Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were found murdered outside Brown's Bundy Drive condo in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles, California. O.J Simpson immediately became the prime suspect of the crime due to some evidence that included a 911 call made by Nicole Brown on January 1, 1989 in which she informed the police that O.J Simpson would hurt her physically. Simpson could be heard yelling in the background of that call. The two were divorced 2 years prior to the murders. Simpson was not located immediately after the incident. There were speculations that he might have committed suicide after a letter by him was presented by his friend, Robert Kardashian, who was also one of his defense lawyers. He was, however, spotted later when one of his friends was being pursued. A low-speed chase ensued as Simpson threatened to commit suicide. 8 hours later, the chase ended and Simpson agreed to surrender to the police. He was allowed to speak to his mother before his arrest. He spent one hour with her. (F. Lee Bailey & Jean Rabe, 2008) On June 20, 1994, Simpson pleaded not guilty to both murders when he was arraigned. The grand jury that was called initially to determine whether to indict Simpson for murders was dismissed on June 23 as there were qualms about the attainment of an unbiased result. Media had excessive coverage regarding this case and it was suspected that the initial jury might lose its objectivity. Jill Shively and Jose Camacho testified in the court with Jill saying that she saw Simpson’s car in the vicinity of the place of incident and Jose identifying the fact that he sold a knife to Simpson which was quite similar to the one that was used in the murders. They sold their stories to newspapers and were not presented in the court as witnesses afterwards. (L. Jones, Thomas, n.d) On July 7, it was ruled that Simpson was to be brought to trial for murders due to availability of sufficient evidence. Simpson very boldly pleaded not guilty on his second arraignment. The case was moved from Santa Monica to the Criminal Courts Building in Downtown Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Superior Court due to security concerns after preliminary hearings. The media still had a substantial amount of coverage but the members of the jury were put out of the eye of the camera. Simpson wanted to get through the trial as quickly as possible and get acquitted. Therefore, he hired a team of what seems to be the best available attorneys at that time. His team included F. Lee Bailey, Robert Shapiro, Alan Dershowitz, Robert Kardashian, Gerald Uelmen, Carl E. Douglas and Johnnie Cochran. Uelman was the dean of law at Santa Clara University at that time. The prosecution had a strong case against Simpson and the DNA evidence that they had against Simpson looked to be undeniable and fully credible. In order to defend himself against the impressive arsenal of DNA evidence, he hired Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld. These attorneys were specialists of DNA evidence. Their attempt of nullifying the DNA evidence was not futile. Their claim of Simpson’s being a victim of police fraud was pivotal in the final verdict of the case. They also claimed that the collection of DNA evidence was not done carefully due to which the evidence was contaminated. (Barry Meier, 1994) Simpson had to bear the cost of US $3 to $6 million in this case. The lead attorney in the prosecution was Marcia Clark who is a well known prosecutor in America. She was accompanied by Christopher Darden, Gil Garcetti, Hank Goldberg, William Hodgman, Lisa Kahn, (DNA coordinator) and Cheri Lewis. The criminal trial of Simpson began on January 25, 1995, with the prosecution not asking for a death penalty but for a sentence to life in prison. The prosecutor Christopher Darden argued that Simpson was enraged in jealousy and killed his ex-wife. The aforementioned 911 call from Nicole Brown was used by the prosecution to open its case. They produced a number of expert witnesses, DNA fingerprints, and blood and shoeprint analysis to prove that Simpson was present at the scene of the crime. The prosecution presented the court with a lot of evidence that Simpson had a repeated history of physically abusing his ex-wife. He did that in a state of great anger which at last led him to murder his ex-wife and her friend. The defense countered with a fact that there are a lot of women who are abused by their life partners but only a tiny fraction of them are murdered. The prosecution had a very strong case as they had the DNA evidence that seemed enough to get a conviction. From the physical evidence that they had, they hypothesized that Simpson drove to Nicole’s house in his Bronco on the evening of June 12, 1994 with an intention to kill her. He knocked on her door or made some noise outside her house that prompted her to open her door. At that point, Simpson grabbed her and deprived her of an opportunity to scream or call for help. He attacked her with a knife. Ron Goldman arrived at the scene during the assault and Simpson attacked him too. He stabbed him numerous times in the neck and chest while choking him with his other hand. Then he proceeded towards wounded Nicole and slit her throat when she was lying on the floor facing downward. Then, as three drops of Simpson’s blood were found on the scene, the prosecution surmised that he left a trail of blood from the condo to the alley behind it. (William Thompson, 2004) Prosecution argued that Simpson was last seen in public at 9:36 p.m. on the evening that murders took place when he returned to his house with Brian 'Kato' Kaelin, a family friend. Simpson was not seen again until 10:54 p.m., an hour and 18 minutes later, when he left his house, got into a limousine and went to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to fly to a Hertz convention in Chicago. It was unanimously agreed that the murders took place between 10:15 and 10:40 p.m. The prosecution purported that Simpson drove his white Bronco five minutes to and from the crime scene. They presented a witness in the area of Bundy Drive who confirmed that he saw a car similar to Simpson's Bronco speeding away from the area at 10:35 p.m. Allan Park, the limousine driver, testified that he arrived at Simpson's estate at 10:25 p.m. He did not see Simpson's white Bronco when he was driving past the parking curb. He assured that he was at the correct house as he had seen the house number. The prosecution proved that Simpson’s car was parked very close to the house number on the following morning. They asserted the fact that if Simpson’s car was present at his house at 10:25 on June 12 as Simpson had stated, Allan Park must have seen it. After driving around for a while to determine the best spot for parking the limo, Park buzzed the intercom at 10:40 and got no response. The house seemed to be empty and it was dark except for a faint light that came from Simpson’s bedroom on the second floor. Park, therefore, tried to get Simpson’s number from his boss. Approximately at 10:50, Kato Kaelin heard three thumps against the outside wall of his guest house. Kaelin went outside to investigate and preferred to have a look from a fair distance at the place where the thumps came from. He walked to the front of the property where he saw Allan Park’s limo outside the gate. Park confirmed seeing "a tall black man" of Simpson's height and build enter the front door of the house from the driveway area. The lights of the house went on and Simpson answered Park’s call. He told him that he had overslept but he would be at the front gate soon. Kaelin and Park helped Simpson with his luggage and both testified that Simpson looked a little worried during that time. On the contrary, the other witnesses like the ticket clerk at the airport reported normal behavior from Simpson. (Testimony of Allan Park, 1995) Another witness named Rosa Lopez, a neighbor's Spanish-speaking housekeeper, testified that she saw Simpson’s car parked outside his house at the time of the murders. She was produced as a witness by the defense to reinforce Simpson’s claim that he was home at the time of the murders. However, Simpson’s claim was not consistent. Initially, he purported to have been asleep during the time of murders but later his attorneys changed the story and said that Simpson was busy packing for Chicago. Lopez’s testimony was nullified by the efforts of prosecution when she accepted the fact that she could not have been sure about the time when she saw Simpson’s car. The prosecution also brought some other facts into court’s knowledge. A pair of Simpson’s socks had blood stains on them. The DNA analysis revealed that the blood was undoubtedly of Nicole (William Thompson, 2004). The blood found near and inside Simpson’s Bronco was found to be containing traces of Simpson’s, Nicole’s and Goldman’s blood. Goldman’s shirt had a hair on it that was African-American. The left-hand glove, found outside the premises of Nicole’s house, was soaked in blood. That blood was found to be a mixture of Simpson’s, Nicole’s and Goldman’s blood. It was, however, later argued by the defense that a glove was indeed found but there was nothing else found that could lead to that glove e.g. a trail of blood. Particles of Goldman’s hair were also found on the glove (USA Today, 1996). The left-hand glove at the crime scene and the right-hand glove at Simpson’s house were found to be a match. A photo was also shown in which Simpson was wearing the same pair of gloves. Simpson had a history of physically hurting Nicole and it was cross-checked by the police which also showed pictures of Nicole’s bruised and battered face. The defense argued that Simpson was not able to carry out such a stunt because he was not in that kind of shape. He was suffering from chronic arthritis. It was argued that Ron Goldman was a stout man and he could not have gone down without putting up a fight. Especially, if the assailant was Simpson, there was a fair chance that Goldman would have overpowered him. However, the prosecution showed a video to the court in which it could be seen that Simpson was still in a very good shape and he was not very weak. The fact about the physical abuse that Simpson practiced on Nicole was corroborated by Nicole’s sister who testified that Simpson used to hold Nicole against a wall and then through her out of their house after an argument. Her testimony was repeatedly interrupted by the defense. Returning to the events of the night of the murder, the prosecution called a witness named Karen Lee Crawford. She was the manager of the restaurant where Nicole ate that Sunday night. She testified that Ron Goldman left the restaurant at 9:50 after his shift was over and he had to go to Nicole’s house to drop her eyeglasses which she lost in the restaurant. Some witnesses that lived in the neighborhood of Nicole testified hearing a loud and distinctive barking almost at the time of the murders. Neighbor Steven Schwab testified that he was taking his dog for a walk when he found an Akita dog wandering and its paws were blood-stained. It was agitated too but was found uninjured in an examination by Steve. He took the dog to his friend Sukru Boztepe. Boztepe testified that the dog became more agitated when he took it in his house. He took it out for a walk at 11 p.m. at which point, the dog led him to the crime scene where he found Nicole’s dead body. He flagged a patrol car and notified the police of the crime. The police officer, Robert Riske, was the first officer at the crime scene. He confirmed finding a dead woman lying face down and in a puddle of blood on the walkway that led to her house. She was wearing a black dress and was barefoot. He also confirmed seeing Ron Goldman's dead body lying on its side beside a tree. In his investigation of the crime scene a white envelope was found which was later proven to contain Nicole's glasses that had been left at the restaurant. Other findings included Goldman's beeper, a black leather glove, and a dark blue knit ski cap on the ground near the bodies. On February 12, 1995, the judge, jurors, prosecutors, and defense lawyers traveled into Brentwood to make an inspection of the crime scene. They afterwards went to Simpson's Rockingham estate. One dark leather glove was found at the crime scene in the exact same place about which Kaelin testified about hearing three thumps on the night of the murder. Nicole had bought two pairs of that type of gloves for Simpson in 1990. The glove contained DNA evidence of Simpson, Nicole and Goldman. Also, the other glove at Simpson’s house contained a strand of blond hair that was similar to that of Nicole’s. (USA Today, 1996) On June 15, 1995, the defense asked the prosecution to ask Simpson to put on the leather glove that was found at the place of the murders. The prosecution refrained from doing that because the glove was frozen and unfrozen several times. It had lost its original shape and size. However, they were persistently arguing that if the glove was in its original shape, it would have fitted perfectly. On constant demand from the defense, Simpson tried on the glove which did not fit. It was too tight for him. Later on June 22 1995, the prosecution explained that it was not advisable for Simpson to try on the glove because he had arthritis and due to the medication that he was taking, the glove might have caused inflammation in his hands. They also stated that the glove had lost its original shape and size and could not fit as it had shrunk. They presented a photo in which Simpson was wearing a similar type of glove and it was fitting fine in his hand (USA Today, 1996). As mentioned above, three drops of blood were found which were proved to be of O.J. Simpson. The prosecution argued that they were dripped on the crime scene after Simpson attacked Goldman and suffered cuts on his middle finger of his left hand. The police confirmed the prosecution’s story. However, the defense argued against it as none of the gloves found had any cuts on them. Also, all the witnesses denied having seen any cuts on Simpson’s hands at the time of the crime. The testimony regarding the blood marks and the glove was given by Mark Fuhrman. He is reported to have problems in the past concerning racism. His role in O.J Simpson’s case was seen with great skepticism by the defense. They alleged that Fuhrman may have taken the glove from the crime scene and planted it on Simpson’s estate to frame him because he was an African-American (Barry Meier, 1994). The prosecution contended that Fuhrman could not have taken the second glove from the crime scene because he was not present at the crime scene before two hours of investigation had passed. In those two hours, none of the officers had found a second glove at the crime scene. The defense stated that Fuhrman’s testimony was biased and his indication that a strand of hair similar to Nicole was found with the glove was not reliable. The defense asked Fuhrman whether he had planted the evidence. He clearly denied having done that and when he was asked again, he the pleaded the Fifth Amendment. He took it to defend himself against self-incrimination by avoiding further questioning after his integrity was challenged. (L. Jones, Thomas, n.d) The prosecution argued that the police could not have framed Simpson because they had opportunities to arrest him before but they did not. Even in the case of murder, the police waited for five days before they arrested Simpson. They argued that it was a proven fact that Fuhrman was a racist but it must not detract the court from the evidence that proved that O.J. Simpson was guilty (L. Jones, Thomas, n.d). On the other hand, the defense made Fuhrman’s role a pivotal point in the case. Cochran called Fuhrman "a genocidal racist, a perjurer, America's worst nightmare and the personification of evil." The defense mentioned several other instances where Fuhrman’s racist behavior proved detrimental to African-Americans. Fuhrman later pleaded “no contest” to felony charges of perjury, which arose from his testimony in Simpson's trial. The defense stood firm on the point that Simpson was framed by the police who incorporated the incriminating evidence at the crime scene and near Simpson’s house. There were too many loopholes in the investigation process by the authorities. Eight CCs of blood were taken from Simpson for investigation and 1.5 CCs of that blood were lost. The LA County District Attorney's Office and the Medical Examiner's Office were not able to explain how this happened. Dennis Fung, LAPD criminalist and the evidence collector for the case, was heavily criticized by the defense as he admitted to have lost a few drops of blood on a fence near the bodies and not using rubber gloves while collecting some of the evidence. The blood stained socks were found but there was no explanation that why there was blood on the socks. The defense argued that the stains were placed on the socks. Dr. Henry Lee of the Connecticut State Police Forensic Science Laboratory mentioned that it was possible that the procedure of collection of socks could have caused contamination. (Barry Meier, 1994). The jury returned a verdict of “not guilty” at 10 am on 3 October 1995. It had arrived at the verdict earlier but Judge Ito postponed the announcement due to security reasons. Simpson was not convicted in the criminal court but he was sued in the civil court for wrongful deaths of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman. The suit was brought by Fred Goldman, father of late Ronald Goldman. Simpson was unanimously found liable for both wrongful deaths and of battery against both Nicole and Goldman. He was ordered to pay $33,500,000 in damages. Protected by California Law, Simpson’s pension from NFL was not included in the settlement of judgment. There are a lot of doubts about the O.J Simpson’s murder trial. A fair proportion of public thinks that he was guilty for both the murders. Many regard his acquittal as miraculous and dramatic. It is also known as the trial of the century. There have been many apparent confessions and alternate theories to the reality of the murders. These days, O.J Simpson is serving time in the prison for 33 years with a possibility of parole in 9 years. References 1. Bailey, F. Lee & Rabe, Jean. (2008). When the Husband is the Suspect. New York: Forge. 2. L. Jones, Thomas. (n.d). O. J. Simpson. Tru TV. Retrieved from http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/famous/simpson/index_1.html. 3. Meier, Barry (1994-07-09). Simpson Team Taking Aim at DNA Laboratory. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/07/us/simpson-team-taking-aim-at-dna-laboratory.html. 4. N.A. (1996-10-18). List of the evidence in the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/index/nns25.html. 5. N.A. (1995). Testimony of Allan Park. Simpson Trial. Retrieved from http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Simpson/parktest.html. 6. Thompson, William. (2004-06-05). Proving the Case: The Science of DNA: DNA Evidence in the O.J. Simpson Trial. Week 17. L.A: Court TV. Read More