OJ Simpson: Trials and Aftermath | Granted parole

[SteveJ]

I've always been interested in the 1994-95 case, and wondered about Cafites' opinions on the same. To kick off, here's a (hopefully) interesting article from the 10th anniversary of the verdict:

A Nation Divided?

The trial played into some of America's key obsessions. "It had celebrity, a brutal murder, race. Nicole was a blonde, there were racist cops - it had everything," says Salim Muwakkil, a senior editor for the Chicago-based magazine In These Times. "It was an extravaganza."

The thrust of the defence was not so much that OJ was innocent, but that he could not be proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. And if OJ was on trial, so was the LAPD.

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/03/usa.garyyounge

Overview:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson_murder_case

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Way to make me feel old, Steve.

But yeah, guilty as they come in that one though not proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The police had a shocker as well, they smelled blood (not to mention celebrity) and got wood, thereby forgetting to stick to proper procedure, which screwed them in the end.

 

[JustAFan]

As time as gone on the racial divide over OJ being guilty or innocent has decreased, as more and more people become convinced he was guilty, people of all races. At least according to a couple of articles I read and the polls they conducted.

 

[SteveJ]

Way to make me feel old, Steve.

Sorry, mate.

I was raised on Dominick Dunne's fascinating writing about the case (although DD - for personal reasons, partially - was terribly biased against Simpson, I feel); however, his work really underlines what a farcical circus the trial was.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Sorry, mate.

I was raised on Dominick Dunne's fascinating writing about the case (although DD - for personal reasons, partially - was terribly biased against Simpson, I feel); however, his work really underlines what a farcical circus the trial was.

Oh er..just noticed your OP says "10th anniversary of the case"

It was indeed a circus. That circus started the moment the police chase was broadcast live for hours upon hours.

At this time I'd like to take a moment to remember Al Cowlings and Kato Kaelin, two bit part players whose moment of fame that came out of this case has since passed.

 

[SteveJ]

Yeah, it's now the 20th anniversary of the crime but I thought the article from the 10th was a good 'un to post.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Yeah, it's now the 20th anniversary of the crime but I thought the article from the 10th was a good 'un to post.

Ah yes, forgive me, it's still early here in Canada...also I'm pretty old now, apparently.

 

[Nanook]

I think the fact that 9 of the 12 jury members were African American was a massive factor in him being found not guilty.

 

[Miscemayl]

Wow, 20 years already?! Feeling my age.

He definitely did it but not guilty because they couldn't prove it beyond reasonable doubt.
What is he doing these days?

 

[Nanook]

Wow, 20 years already?! Feeling my age.

He definitely did it but not guilty because they couldn't prove it beyond reasonable doubt.
What is he doing these days?

I think he's in jail, I'm sure he tried to steal back some of his memorabilia which he auctioned off years before.

 

[Miscemayl]

Thanks, had no idea

 

[mic.m]

I understand most African Americans didn't really like O.J but they supported him simply because they were tired of the racist police and justice system. This happened a few years after the Rodney King incident and the LA riots. O.J got away with murder before George Zimmerman.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Probably irrelevant but how good was he as a player? An all time great or just another good player?

All time great.

 

[JustAFan]

Probably irrelevant but how good was he as a player? An all time great or just another good player?

Fantastic player, got to watch him a number of times in person, being that I am not too far from Buffalo. All time great as long as you just consider football talent.

First idiot coach he had in the NFL tried to convert him to a wide receiver. WTF.

 

[JustAFan]

 

[George Owen]

He will pay in his next life. Karma is not racist.

 

[Nobby style]

Guilty as sin.

Outrage at him getting away with it.

Special cracker outrage at an African American "getting away with it", especially daunting was the in-your-face and effective use of the race card by the "uppity" Jonny Cochran, which did expose Mark Furman and and the rotten L.A.P.D. Ironic thing, OJ was one of the most cracker-friendly African Americans possible.

First sighting of a Kardashian . . . and many things to come.

 

[JustAFan]

He will pay in his next life. Karma is not racist.

He played for the Buffalo Bills and is now in jail for other crimes. Karma got a little bit of a start on paying him back already.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

 

[SteveJ]

There are myriad racial twists to the Simpson tale, but they all begin with his whiteness. He was white America's favourite un-negro, as raceless a black man as you could find. He led a white life, with a white wife, in an expensive white neighbourhood; he had escaped his blackness as effectively as he'd slipped tackles in his football prime.

It is the endurance of this outrage in the mainstream reading of the Simpson trial that indicates just how unresolved the core issues remain. For instance, the very term 'race card' is questionable. As Cochran's statement to The Observer contends: 'It suggests that race is something that can be frivolously used or bandied about as if in some sort of card game. The truth is, racism and discrimination are serious problems that unfortunately exist in many segments of society, including the Los Angeles Police Department.' That is to say, that while colour-blind courts are an attractive aspiration for the majority, minorities must often be pragmatic about the realities of race. By this token, the 'race card' is always in play for black America.

More:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,1221017,00.html

 

[adexkola]

I was only a kid, but I remember my mom and dad watching the car "chase" on TV. Let's take a moment and reflect on the fact that if OJ Simpson was "Orenthral the bus driver" instead, the cops would have run him off the road, dragged him out of the car, given him a good licking with their baton sticks, and then hauled him off to jail. He got off easy.

 

[Grinner]

The horrific racism of the LAPD should never be discounted in all of this. Maybe the one good thing to come out of this case was further exposure of this.

 

[adexkola]

Wasn't the racism shown clearly in the Rodney King incident a year prior to? And by this time NWA, Ice T and Ice Cube were waxing lyrical about the LAPD for years. I guess maybe it was just broadcasted to a wider audience.

Another thing that came to mind. OJ was the archetype of an "Oreo cookie", white in all but appearance. He didn't really associate with the black community. I'm not a fan of that term, and he was/is free to associate with whoever he wanted. However it left a bad taste in the mouth of many black folk when he turned around and used the race card in the trial. It infuriated white people more though, because to them he was the example of the black kid turned good. "We're doing well with this post-racial thing, look at OJ!". Only for him to turn around and "allegedly" kill his ex wife.

What's one guilty black man set free, compared to the tens of thousands of black men locked up on punitive drug charges, a significant proportion of them made up? California's 3 strike law was a disaster. So I'm not shedding any tears at OJ getting off. Karma fecked him (no vaseline) with the civil trial and his subsequent imprisonment for the robbery. But it's amazing how people point at that case as an example of the court system gone wrong.

And that trial brought the name "Kardashian" into prominence. That period was cursed.

 

[Grinner]

We also got to see Marcia Clark's tits.

A grim time for all concerned.

 

[JustAFan]

Thanks Grinner I had blotted them from my memory....until now.

 

[JohnDoe]

I think we all remember Johnnie Cochran's famous Chewbacca defense as well.

 

[acnumber9]

I think we all remember Johnnie Cochran's famous Chewbacca defense as well.

Why the hell was he even talking about Chewbacca?

 

[Archie Leach]

Why the hell was he even talking about Chewbacca?

Why would an eight foot tall wookie live with three foot tall ewoks on the planet Endor? IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE!

 

[Moriarty]

Wasn't the racism shown clearly in the Rodney King incident a year prior to? And by this time NWA, Ice T and Ice Cube were waxing lyrical about the LAPD for years. I guess maybe it was just broadcasted to a wider audience.

Another thing that came to mind. OJ was the archetype of an "Oreo cookie", white in all but appearance. He didn't really associate with the black community. I'm not a fan of that term, and he was/is free to associate with whoever he wanted. However it left a bad taste in the mouth of many black folk when he turned around and used the race card in the trial. It infuriated white people more though, because to them he was the example of the black kid turned good. "We're doing well with this post-racial thing, look at OJ!". Only for him to turn around and "allegedly" kill his ex wife.

What's one guilty black man set free, compared to the tens of thousands of black men locked up on punitive drug charges, a significant proportion of them made up? California's 3 strike law was a disaster. So I'm not shedding any tears at OJ getting off. Karma fecked him (no vaseline) with the civil trial and his subsequent imprisonment for the robbery. But it's amazing how people point at that case as an example of the court system gone wrong.

And that trial brought the name "Kardashian" into prominence. That period was cursed.

Thanks for reminding us pal. I remember Shapiro introducing him little knowing that his spawn would have their mugs plastered over every supermarket tabloid 20 years later.

One of the cable channels (Bio?) had a two-hour special on the trial last Sunday. It was either that or the redneck monster hunters so I watched OJ. Wish I hadn't.

And that was the first time I heard the term "Oreo". You're right. Cursed it was.

 

[Raoul]

The OJ case was the ugly intersection of a number of problematic issues in American society in the mid 90s.
- First you had a popular athlete, presenter, and actor who could do no wrong murdering his ex-wife and her friend. A problem in and of itself.

- Second, the use of the race card in society. Time magazine famously published a cover in which it made OJ appear blacker, the stacking of a racially imbalanced jury, OJ's use of the black power salute as he exited the courtroom (despite previously not doing much for the black community), F Lee Bailey's one Marine to another interrogation of Mark Fuhrman in which Fuhrman was portrayed as a racist for using the N word on tape years earlier).

- Third, the ability of a wealthy individual to use an army of lawyers to get an acquittal, while leveraging racial tensions to his advantage.

- Four - The unsavory spectacle of a small platoon of defense lawyers using all sorts of creative legal maneuvers to get a murderer off the hook, then using the trial publicity as a career vehicle to bigger and better things.

The list goes on.....

 

[Nobby style]

. . . as well as whites (and their team of lawyers) had so often been able to use their power and privilege to get out of legal problems since the US began. Or better yet, to stack juries, fudge evidence, beat out confessions etc against poorly defended blacks . . . but oh boy, a black man using "privilege" and you got another thing on your hand. A black man using traditional "white privilege" tactics, now you gotta problem son. And add to that, yet another glowing example being exposed of what black America has always known about police forces.

Oh dear, the race card. This cracks me up. White America has a political party (used to have two), traditional power structures, an extremely powerful and aggressive Fox News network, talk radio all over America, but bust me britches, if Rev Al or Jesse Jackson show up, or Jonny Cockran, you've got a problem with conservative white America. That evil race card that's turning the white man into a victim. Oh the horror . . . the horror.

I realize the whole injustice of the trial and Simpson's obvious guilt and the abuse that the "race card" can bring, but there's that whole pandora's box of a black man gittin away with it. Just as we've seen conservative America with Obama, that disgusting racial past and traditional male white privilege is not going away easily nor lying down. Even if it is: Whites 2,465, 221 vs Blacks 43 in the getting away with it department, that's about 40 too many for blacks. Thank god this mind set is changing, but it's still got a long way to go and plenty of defenders.

 

[SteveJ]

'Thing is, it's all very well for someone like me to think: 'Why can't people rise above the race/police history & just consider each case on evidence alone, the aspect that is surely most important?'; but then, I've never been the victim of racism or persecution.

 

[An Irish Red]

Special cracker outrage at an African American "getting away with it", especially daunting was the in-your-face and effective use of the race card by the "uppity" Jonny Cochran, which did expose Mark Furman and and the rotten L.A.P.D. Ironic thing, OJ was one of the most cracker-friendly African Americans possible.

You have issues.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

'Thing is, it's all very well for someone like me to think: 'Why can't people rise above the race/police history & just consider each case on evidence alone, the aspect that is surely most important?'; but then, I've never been the victim of racism or persecution.

Shut up or I'll ban you ye Welsh twat!

How was that?

 

[SteveJ]

No wonder people always blame Canada!

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

We're used to being hated, yeah.

 

[adexkola]

. . . as well as whites (and their team of lawyers) had so often been able to use their power and privilege to get out of legal problems since the US began. Or better yet, to stack juries, fudge evidence, beat out confessions etc against poorly defended blacks . . . but oh boy, a black man using "privilege" and you got another thing on your hand. A black man using traditional "white privilege" tactics, now you gotta problem son. And add to that, yet another glowing example being exposed of what black America has always known about police forces.

Oh dear, the race card. This cracks me up. White America has a political party (used to have two), traditional power structures, an extremely powerful and aggressive Fox News network, talk radio all over America, but bust me britches, if Rev Al or Jesse Jackson show up, or Jonny Cockran, you've got a problem with conservative white America. That evil race card that's turning the white man into a victim. Oh the horror . . . the horror.

I realize the whole injustice of the trial and Simpson's obvious guilt and the abuse that the "race card" can bring, but there's that whole pandora's box of a black man gittin away with it. Just as we've seen conservative America with Obama, that disgusting racial past and traditional male white privilege is not going away easily nor lying down. Even if it is: Whites 2,465, 221 vs Blacks 43 in the getting away with it department, that's about 40 too many for blacks. Thank god this mind set is changing, but it's still got a long way to go and plenty of defenders.

What I was trying to say, only better and more coherent.

 

[JustAFan]

How popular was OJ really before the murder and trial? He had some endorsements including Hertz Rental Car, but that was not unusual for a former athelete. He was in some movies, but never carried any as the star, at best a co-star. Done a few TV movies and pilots. He had done some announcing for the NFL on ABC and CBS. Certainly he was well known, considered to be among the best who ever played American Football. But lets say he had disappeared from the public view (without the murders and trials ever taking place) would anyone have really noticed that much?

Other than talks about him as a football players, I can't remember anyone I know talking about OJ the actor, the celebrity, etc before the murder and trial took place.

 

[Raoul]

. . . as well as whites (and their team of lawyers) had so often been able to use their power and privilege to get out of legal problems since the US began. Or better yet, to stack juries, fudge evidence, beat out confessions etc against poorly defended blacks . . . but oh boy, a black man using "privilege" and you got another thing on your hand. A black man using traditional "white privilege" tactics, now you gotta problem son. And add to that, yet another glowing example being exposed of what black America has always known about police forces.

Oh dear, the race card. This cracks me up. White America has a political party (used to have two), traditional power structures, an extremely powerful and aggressive Fox News network, talk radio all over America, but bust me britches, if Rev Al or Jesse Jackson show up, or Jonny Cockran, you've got a problem with conservative white America. That evil race card that's turning the white man into a victim. Oh the horror . . . the horror.

I realize the whole injustice of the trial and Simpson's obvious guilt and the abuse that the "race card" can bring, but there's that whole pandora's box of a black man gittin away with it. Just as we've seen conservative America with Obama, that disgusting racial past and traditional male white privilege is not going away easily nor lying down. Even if it is: Whites 2,465, 221 vs Blacks 43 in the getting away with it department, that's about 40 too many for blacks. Thank god this mind set is changing, but it's still got a long way to go and plenty of defenders.

An excellent use of the race card to dismiss the actions of a murderer. I'm sure the Fred Goldman and the Brown family would feel tremendous comfort hearing this.

 

[Raoul]

How popular was OJ really before the murder and trial? He had some endorsements including Hertz Rental Car, but that was not unusual for a former athelete. He was in some movies, but never carried any as the star, at best a co-star. Done a few TV movies and pilots. He had done some announcing for the NFL on ABC and CBS. Certainly he was well known, considered to be among the best who ever played American Football. But lets say he had disappeared from the public view (without the murders and trials ever taking place) would anyone have really noticed that much?

Other than talks about him as a football players, I can't remember anyone I know talking about OJ the actor, the celebrity, etc before the murder and trial took place.

He was all over the Hertz commercials alongside Arnold Palmer. He also did a lot of work for NBC (iirc) Sports on their NFL coverage, and also had a modest role in the Naked Gun. His main claim to fame was his epic college and NFL career - winning the Heisman then having a the reputation of one of the NFLs best RBs with the Bills.