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The controversial legal aspects of the oj simpson case
The controversial legal aspects of the oj simpson case
Problems with the oj simpson case
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On the late afternoon of June 17, 1994, news channels across the nation were broadcasting live helicopter news coverage of a white Ford Bronco driving on the Los Angeles 404 freeway. This image of this vehicle leading police on a 90-minute low-speed car chase captured everyone's attention. The driver of this soon to be famous vehicle was Allen Cowlings, long time friend of the passenger who was wanted by the police. In the back seat of the Ford Bronco was Orenthal James Simpson (O.J.) reportedly with a gun to his head while speaking to a Detective of Los Angeles Police Department. Simpson was the main suspect in a murder case and he was scheduled to turn himself over to the police to be arrested for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown …show more content…
Orenthal James Simpson. Simpson was charged with two counts of murder with special circumstances and Simpson pleaded not guilty to all charges to became the most famous murder defendant in US history. According to the book O. J. Simpson Facts and Fictions: News Rituals in the Construction of Reality, So began the “Trial of the Century.” This case had all of the necessary elements to keep people watching: celebrities, tragedy, violence, minority, racism, spectacle, controversy, suspense, and resolution. Throughout the case, observers of the trial would combine these elements in interesting ways to set in their mind of Simpson’s innocence or guilt, while not considering all of the actual evidence. This was Simpson public trial (Hunt 33). By November 3, 1994, the jury is finally selected and consists of four men and eight women: eight black, one Hispanic, one white, two of mixed race. On January 24, 1995, Simpson's criminal trial begins. With courtroom cameras giving a live feed to TV station the public had full access to all the court proceedings and Simpson case became the nation's newest and best soap …show more content…
The case did have many memorable scenes and blunders that the media reviewed and scrutinized continuously even to this day. The prosecution released 911 tape recordings from a few years earlier of Nicole Simpson detailing accounts of spousal abuse from her husband Simpson. At one point during the case, the prosecution's main witness was declared a hostile witness during questioning making the prosecution look incapable of handling their witnesses and presenting their case. To add more damage to the prosecution's case, one of the main LAPD Detectives who found a bloody glove at Simpson's residence during the investigation was accused of being a racist and asked if he ever tampered with evidence. While under questioning from the defense the detective invoked his Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination and refused to answer any questions. The defense was also able to multiple technical mistakes made by the forensics team on this case to suggest contamination of the crime scene and cast doubt on any of the DNA evidence. On June 15, 1995, the prosecutor had Simpson put on the bloody glove which was believed to be worn by the killer, only to see that the glove did not fit on Simpson’s hand. Simpson's defense attorneys jumped on this development and used this scene of the glove not fitting as their mantra in convincing the jurors of Simpson's innocence
On January 24, 1995, after half a year of multiple configurations including the selection of the jury, and the decision if the media was to be allowed in the courtroom and many other factors, the trial had finally begun. Prosecutor Christopher Darden started the trial by depicting Simpson as a possessory
The job of a criminal lawyer is quite difficult. Whether on the defense or the prosecution, you must work diligently and swiftly in order to persuade the jury. Some lawyers play dirty and try to get their client off of the hook even though they are guilty without a doubt. Even though the evidence is all there, the prosecution sometimes just can’t get the one last piece of the puzzle to make the case stick and lock the criminal up. Such is the case Orenthal James Simpson.
The funeral for the two victims was held on June 16th, 1994. O.J attended the funerals along with Nicole Simpson’s family and Ronald Goldman’s family. Shortly after, on June 17th, O.J was arrested and charged with first degree murder. Simpson immediately pleaded “100% not guilty’” on July 22nd, and the trial officially began on July 24th, 1994 (Linder 1). Because the jury was made up of mostly blacks, many outsiders believed that it would affect final decision of the jury. “O.J is free and so are we!” and “Live with it!” Were many of the comments blurted out during the many days of the trial (Elias 22). Judge Lance A was assigned to the case.
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
After a lengthy two hundred and fifty-two-day trial “not guilty” were the words that left the world in shock. O.J Simpson was your typical golden boy. He had it all, the nice car, the football career, and his kids. Unfortunately, this all came to an end when two bodies came to be spotted deceased in Nicole Browns front yard and was a gruesome sight. O. J’s ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman both found with brutal stab marks. Unfortunately, all his glory days now brought to an end, he went from playing on the field to begging for his freedom when becoming the main suspect of their murders. Since this trial has not only altered the way Americans viewed celebrities, but it also racially divided society,
Simpson. The first thing that can be noted is he is a football player and to be a football player one has to be a male. Most football players tend to show signs of aggression, which is an additional characteristic in the case that leads me to believe he violently attacked and killed his wife and one of her good friends. The next important evidence to note was the fact that O.J.’s football glove was found at the scene with blood spatters on it. Even though the agreed to turn himself in, he fled in the white Bronco. If he was not guilty then why did he flee. Even if he was innocent, that was one of the poorest decisions he could have made making him look guilty. What is actually interesting to me is the fact the limousine driver saw a man looking like Simpson at 10:56, when he rang the doorbell at 10:25 the time he was supposed to be there and there was no answer. O.J. had sufficient amount of time to execute his wife and her friends before going in the limo to catch a ride to the airport. The fact the O.J. had a cut on his hand was because Ronald Goldman was fighting for his life trying to escape and wounding Simpson
The New York Times bestseller book titled Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case examines the O.J. Simpson criminal trial of the mid-1990s. The author, Alan M. Dershowitz, relates the Simpson case to the broad functions and perspectives of the American criminal justice system as a whole. A Harvard law school teacher at the time and one of the most renowned legal minds in the country, Dershowitz served as one of O.J. Simpson’s twelve defense lawyers during the trial. Dershowitz utilizes the Simpson case to illustrate how today’s criminal justice system operates and relates it to the misperceptions of the public. Many outside spectators of the case firmly believed that Simpson committed the crimes for which he was charged for. Therefore, much of the public was simply dumbfounded when Simpson was acquitted. Dershowitz attempts to explain why the jury acquitted Simpson by examining the entire American criminal justice system as a whole.
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 O. J. Simpson Trial 1995 Professor Shea Criminology CCJ1001 July 26, 2017. It was the night of June 12, 1994, a woman and her long-time male friend were murdered in cold blood. The victims, Nicole Brown Simpson, her neck cut so savagely it almost severed from her body and Ronald Goldman, stabbed repeatedly, nearly 30 times. The accused, her ex-husband and football star, Orenthan James Simpson, better known as O.J. Simpson. During the trial, a trial that consisted of 150 witnesses, lasted 133 days and cost in the ball park of 15 million dollars, there were many questions asked and even more questions left unanswered (Douglas).
The murders occurred between 10:15 p.m. and 10:40 p.m., this is based on testimony from prosecution and defense witnesses who heard barking from the area of the crime scene. Ms. Simpson's blood-covered pet Akita was found shortly before 11 p.m. Nicole Brown was found stabbed multiple times in the head and her throat was cut. Ron Goldman is assumed to have come upon the crime in progress and was also stabbed more than thirty times.
Also the prime suspect had other charges pending against him such as possession of illegal substances and the homeowner of the vacant crime scene said the man was a recovering addict. During the conversation with the officers Johnson refused to give up his DNA sample. The man profess he had not commit any murders and did not commit any crimes regarding the matter. Officers then compel him to give his DNA sample with a warrant compelling him to follow the order. Moreover, after the crime was committed it was discovered that Johnson try to sell one of the victims’ cell phone. He was trying to get rid of the evidence that could implement him on the crime. Witness came forward to verify this story that Johnson indeed try to sell the cell phone for cash. In addition, witness said that Johnson try to be the pimp of the victims that he was
The People vs. Hall and Dread Scott Decision both were very interesting cases. Their similarities zoomed to expose the preamble of the Constitution and make the authors of it think over what they meant by "all men are created equal." This question is still present today, are all men created equal? Or does it mean by men, the white Americans with European decent?
Things only got worse when it was alleged that he transported and planted one the gloves on the Simpson estate, and the defendants legal team stating the officer wanted to frame Simpson because he was black and he disliked blacks an considering the jury was made up of mostly minorities this helped O.JSimpson even more.(2015) The key to winning a case apart from collecting evidence there must be a clear way to paint a picture that the people of the jury can understand whether or not you done the crime one must be convincing. Even though Simpson’s blood was on majority of the evidence collected it was argued that he was framed along with the contamination of evidence even if he had done it his team used all the weaknesses exposed by police involved in the case to paint a picture of innocence to the jury which proves perception of wrongdoing as persuasive to a jury as actual wrongdoing. I am sure with O.J Simpson being acquitted of the charges left a bad taste in the mouth of both police and some people in the legal field. There were too many mistakes made by the people that were tasked with the duty of collecting evidence and also in the department of how the evidence was handled but there are many lessons to be learned in every mistake the obvious one would be to not make the same ones
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
Fairchild, H. & Cowan, G (1997). Journal of Social Issues. The O.J. Simpson Trial: Challenges to Science and Society.