O. J. Simpson Trial Analysis

Evaluation

For the most part, I think the key messages and PR techniques were successful. This trial was so controversial, not just because Simpson was a celebrity, but because of the ‘insufficient’ evidence, race, and the final verdict. Allowing the cameras in the courtroom was the best way for the key messages to be presented. Everyone watching was able to see the truth of the case. They were able to see the body language and facial emotions of the judge, Simpson, the families or the victims, the jurors, and the witnesses. It is so much more powerful being able to see and hear something so controversial. Everyone was able to form stronger opinions about whether to not they thought Simpson was guilty. Televising the police chase was crucial

to a lot of people because they wondered why Simpson was running away if he wasn’t guilty. Seeing this chase live in action generated suspense across America.
Although the key messages and PR techniques were successful in my opinion, O.J. Simpson could have done better to improve the situation in which he had gotten himself into. He kept telling everyone he was innocent, so why did he run from the police and not surrender? I am not going to talk about whether or not I think he is innocent or guilty, but if you say one thing, your actions should back up your words. No matter scared or emotional he was, if he wanted to show that he was innocent, then he should have surrendered. This was his first and biggest mistake. His second mistake was that he changed his alibi. At first he said that he was asleep during the murder. It was later said the he was hitting golf balls outside his home (NewsOne Staff, 2016). Another huge mistake he made that did not help his cause was the fact that he wrote a book titled “If I Did It,” where he wrote in detail about how he would have hypothetically killed them. An excerpt from the book reads: “If I had actually done it… I would have brought my good gloves that day. I would have thought it was shame they shrunk when I left them out on the patio, but I would have brought them just the same. They were my lucky gloves, and I would have needed them cause I was going to stab my slut of a wife… hypothetically” (NewsOne Staff, 2016). All of these things make him appear guilty, which was the opposite of what he claimed to be.
I do not think that O.J.

Simpson has won back the trust of the public or restored a positive image. As of 2016, there is an all time of people who think that Simpson is guilty. It has been about twenty years since he was found not guilty, yet so many people do not believe this. According to the Washington Post (2016), about 83% of white Americans said that they are ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ sure of his guilt. About 57% of black Americans agreed. These numbers were not as high as when the trial was first happening, or even ten years ago. After the trial, Simpson has had many more legal issues. According to a CNN timeline (2013), Simpson was found liable for damages in a civil wrongful death lawsuit and ordered to pay $33.5 million to Goldman, Nicole Brown Simpson estates. There was an alleged road-rage incident in which he was involved in, in 2001. In 2007, Simpson and five other men were arrested and charged with felonies. A year later, the jury finds hind guilty go kidnapping, armed robbery, conspiracy, coercion, burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to nine to thirty-three years in prison at the state prison in Lovelock in Nevada. He’s still a criminal now and getting to trouble, which doesn’t necessarily look good for his

reputation.
If I had to describe O.J. Simpson and the trial in one word, I would use the word infamous. I do not want to biased with my own opinion about him and whether to not I find him guilty. I think this is a word that both sides can agree on. As stated before, this was the “Trial of the Century”, and literally everyone paid attention to Simpson, but not in a good way. He was a murder suspect who was found not guilty. The ‘real murderer’ is still unknown to this day.