Evidence Collection and Simpson Trial O.J. Simpson an actor and Hall of Fame running back was on trial from November 2nd 1994, until January 24th 1995. Simpson was being tried on two counts of 1st degree murder. The victims of the case were Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Lyle Goldman. The one victim was O.J.’s ex-wife and her friend was the other victim. The crime was carried out, outside Nicole’s home in Los Angeles. The victims were stabbed to death. The trial also took place in Los Angeles. The general public found much controversy and much racial tension whole following the trial The investigation was careless. Two witnesses were inadmissible after they sold their encounters to the press. Evidence was haphazardly collected, and logged. The victim’s body was contaminated by a blanket from her home, after it was used to cover the body. A finger print gathered from the scene was misplaced. Items were bagged incorrectly. Some evidence was bagged together, and other evidence was bagged before drying. Blood was incorrectly logged, and could not be accounted for. “The person who drew the blood could only guess he had taken 8ml; only 6 could be accounted for by the LAPD” (Crime Library, Securing the Evidence). This evidence became inadmissible into the trail. The murder weapon was never found, adding to the prosecution’s difficulty to prove …show more content…
the defendant guilty without reasonable doubt. Jones 2 Forensic evidence was displayed quite poorly in court.
Evidence was explained too scientifically and did was not comprehended by the jury. Some evidenced lacked measurements in photos. The defense questioned the individualization of items. The defense said the shoes, matching the bloody footprints, were massed produced and could the footprints could not be individualized to Simpson’s shoe. Another item questioned is exemplified from John Cochran’s famous line “If the glove doesn’t fit you must acquit.” The defendant’s lawyer insists that the glove cannot be individualized to O.J. Simpson, due to the fact that it doesn’t
fit. The double homicide was never settled in criminal court. Simpson was acquitted of the two criminal offenses. O.J. Simpson was the main suspect, however since the conclusion of trial there have been a few people suspected or claiming to have done the double homicide, including O.J. Simpson’s son and a death row criminal. None of these suspects have been tried. The Brown’s and Goldman’s had won a civil case against O.J. for wrongful death. The families won millions of dollars in the trial. The murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman were never solved in criminal court. However despite being acquitted in criminal court, O.J. lost and had to pay reparations to the two families for wrong death in civil court. The irresponsible collecting, handling, and logging, of evidence, could have affected the controversial verdict. This case will be infamous for a long time. “The Case of The Century” follows precedents such as evidence must be handled correctly, and a defendant must be proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Casey Anthony trial has been arguably the most controversial case since the trial of O.J. Simpson and has been speculated over ever since the verdict had been given in July of 2011. It was decided by a jury of her peers that Anthony was not guilty of murder, for the death of her daughter Caylee. Many believe that Anthony should have been found guilty however, very little Americans actually comprehend the justice system.
One of the most coveted trials in terms of popularity and media attention the O.J Simpson trial which took place between 1994 and concluded on October 2,1995 with O.J Simpson being acquitted of charges laid upon him during the Murder Trial Due to handling of physical evidence and questions over whether Mark Fuhrman planted the bloody glove at the scene to frame O.J. so in an attempt to understand how a deviation from standard operating procedures in the handling of physical evidence can affect the outcome of a criminal trial; One most first understand evidence and how to preserve it. When the crime scene technician took blood samples from Simpson’s Ford Bronco (1996) she used a cotton swab to take samples; but instead of using
...on’s blood was found at the scene of the crime. There may be ways to plant such evidence, but it would be rather difficult to draw blood from a man without him realizing it and planting it at the scene of a crime. I also would have expressed that O.J. had a motive to kill his ex-wife, as well as a history of violent outbursts towards her. With all of the evidence that the prosecution had at their disposal, they should have been able to pin the murder on O.J. beyond a reasonable doubt. Everything pointed to O.J. and showed that he was the murderer. The only thing the prosecution was not able to do was fit the bloody glove on O.J’s hand. The only issue is, the glove was made of leather and had been soaking in blood prior to being found. When leather is soaking in a liquid, it tends to shrink. If only the prosecution had realized this, the case would have been theirs.
In 1994 Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman were both found dead in the courtyard of her condominium. They both had been stabbed profusely; with Nicole’s husband Orenthal James Simpson, NFL star, seeming to be the killer. O.J. displayed some very suspicious behavior to the police. There had been past incidents of him being to physical with her and threatening her life which came to a shock to the country. To Most before this incident he was seen as a role model and look up to by many. O.J. Simpson had showed little to no emotion or concern once he found out about her death, and he showed no surprise when they said he was a suspect ("101 PIECES"). It shocked the country at first to see that O.J. Simpson could possibly
During the time that O.J was on trial for the murders of Nicole and Ronald, everyone who was following the hearing had a deep sense of fear and pity. They were fearing that the man they once adored and aspired to be like was actually capable of committing such an inconspicuous crime. Also, due to the accusations of the murder, the viewers were also feeling in the sense of pity, in both sadness and disappointment. The acts that O.J Simpson was accused of caused the audience to feel disappointed in his actions, as well as sadness towards his family. The accusations developed about O.J left people who didn’t even personally know him in tears. People were so sad about his downfall. The accusation led to the fact that O.J left his family with no mother and technically no father, as he’d be spending time in prison. Furthermore, since he was found not guilty, there was a large part of the audience that felt a sense of release and emotion, and some felt bad that he was ever accused of this, but rather he just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Due to the fact that O.J and Nicole were separated for a couple years before she died, Nicole had made new friendships, and there was no proof that someone new that she met could have caused this crime and tried to frame Simpson, due to his past accused abuse
Because Simpson was the prime suspect, the judge legally ordered searches on O.J’s house as well as the crime scene. The goal was to find proof that he did commit the crime, by finding DNA or items. Shortly after the searches and tests began, evidence was found. DNA from the crime scene matched the DNA of O.J. Although proof was found, Simpson continued to plead not guilty. Surprisingly enough, O.J st...
On the night of the deaths, Fuhrman went to O.J. Simpson’s house and supposedly unveiled a glove that he believed took part in the murders. When the evidence of the glove was presented in court, Simpson was asked to put it on and unexpectedly the glove didn’t fit. People then began to believe that Mark was setting Simpson up and was trying to frame him.
On June 22nd, 1994, one of the most high-profile crimes to hit the media will occur at the home of one of the most adored football players in American history. O.J. Simpson was at one time considered to play the lead role of The Terminator, but producers thought the public wouldn 't be convinced that he could be a robot on a murder spree on film. O.J. was that likable that no one could believe he could be a killer, and people today still don 't believe it.
The defense succeeded at instilling reasonable doubt in the jurors’ minds. A major difference between the defense and prosecution, as stated by Dershowitz, was that the defense relied on factual evidence and scientific experts while the prosecution utilized witnesses that casted a shadow of doubt upon the whole jury (Dershowitz 97). Dershowitz claimed the prosecution knew they had falsities in their case, but kept them in order to win the case (Dershowitz 96). In all, though many people viewed Simpson as a guilty man, the allegations of police perjury and investigative errors allowed the defense to exploit and capitalize on the faults carried out by the prosecution and ultimately implant reasonable doubts in the minds of the jurors.
However, when put into context with both criminal cases, whether justice is served can be determined. In the O.J. Simpson trial, holding a trial by jury benefited the defendant not justice. The defense team was able to convince the jury into believing that he was not guilty using emotional appeal. This verdict of this case shocked the American people who were not swayed by the defense and looked strictly at the incriminating evidence that determined O.J. was the murderer (Pitts, 199). However this could not have been said for the jury who ignored the facts and voted on the basis of race. Because of existing racism in the United States and distrust in rulings against African Americans, bias existed within the black jurors. While America knew O.J. Simpson was guilty of murder, the trial by jury failed to bring forth justice. For that reason, this case became historical because it demonstrated the failure of the court system (Lassiter,
Twenty-one years ago, over ninety-five million people turned their television sets to local and cable news channels to watch a historic car chase through Los Angeles. The police were chasing a famous football player and actor by the name of Orenthal James (OJ) Simpson as he sat in the back seat of a 1993 white Ford Bronco holding a gun to his head. The owner of the Bronco and long-time friend Al (A.C.) Cowlings was driving, aiding and abetting the fugitive. Five days before the famous car chase OJ Simpson was accused of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in front of her residence. The low-speed chase lasted two hours and ended in front of Simpson’s home without incident. With Simpson captured and behind bars, the stage was set for the trial of the century. The evidence in Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman’s
OJ “The Juice” Simpson is clearly responsible for the tragic deaths of his wife Nicole Brown, and Ron Goldman.There are more than enough proof that suspect that the verdict of this should be reconsidered.The shoes print which were indeed Simpson’s,blood marks that were left on OJ’s car the blood spots left on his gloves,his suicide note.All of these were compelling facts that OJ was the murdered.However due to the miscarriage of justice Simpson was unfortunately found not guilty.Wealth played a major role for the conclusion of the verdict, OJ had a very good legal team that raised questions over much of the evidence and testimony against him. If the average person were charged of crimes that OJ has committed, he/she couldn't afford the lawyers and staff to mount the defense OJ could.
People all around the world took interest in the trial. The one prominent reason that media affected the most was by making the trail a race issue. The reason behind this negative affect by news casters was mainly to gain publicity and ratings. Secondly, the media coverage may also affect the juror’s opinion by extensive media coverage, where media started publishing stories without verifying the facts. Obviously, when the juror goes home and watch news regarding the race problem, he/she might change their viewpoint due to the news being shown. (Linder, 2000). Charles J’ Ogletree Jr., professor at Harvard Law School, saw the media coverage as an annihilation of U.S. legal system. (Jr., 2005). When the verdict came in OJ’s favor, a divided population rose and made it a race
...lled believed the verdict was right (“The Trial”). Another reason this trial has been important to the American judicial system and overall history is because although there was much evidence pointing to Simpson for committing the murder, he did have some of the best attorneys in the business and that showed the American public that possibly money or even celebrity status could get you out of murder. People began to think that if money has something to do with whether or not you’re guilty of something, poverty will ensure you injustice (“OJ”). The case brought into question fundamental tenets of U.S. law as the presumption of innocence, the adversarial trial, and the right to trial by jury (Kronenwetter). Many people believe that you can not understand the law system until you understand the O.J Simpson trial, and it is a trial that will always be remembered (“OJ”).
Fairchild, H. & Cowan, G (1997). Journal of Social Issues. The O.J. Simpson Trial: Challenges to Science and Society.