Clifford L. Linedecker - O.J. a to Z. The Complete Handbook To The Trial Of The Century

The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the authors copyright, please notify the publisher at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.

Contents

A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author is indebted to many people for important roles played in the preparation, presentation and accuracy of this book.

Special thanks go to my agent and packager Tony Seidl and to editorial consultant John P. Holms at TD Media Inc. for their performances in creating, editing, and design consultation on the book. A special mention is also due to Tom Dunne at St. Martins Press, without his vision and faith in me there would have been no book.

Thanks also to Lorenz Skeeter and Tim Cooper at Figure 5 Design for crashing this one while maintaining an exceptional design and Carl Rips Meltzer for additional editorial support.

O.J. and Nicole

D EDICATION

To the men, and women and children of America who are victims of family violence.

With each thrust of that knife into her body and into Rons body there is a release and he stabs and he cuts and he slices until that rage is gone and until these people are dead. And after that rage is gone he is better.Deputy DA Christopher Darden. Speaking during summations

Remember these words. If it doesnt fit you must acquit.Chief Defense Attorney Johnnie Cochran. Speaking during summations.

Nicole Brown Simpson. 19591994.

Always in Our Hearts.

Gravestone inscription.

INTRODUCTION

Hurricanes ripping through the Caribbean islands and bearing down on the U. S. mainland.

American aircraft dropping bombs on Bosnian Serbs followed by warnings from the White House that U. S. ground troops might soon be committed as well.

A host of wannabe presidents hitting the campaign trail in quest of the big prize in Washington that was shimmering seductively only a few months in the future.

Disclosure of serious marital difficulties for Elizabeth Taylor with husband Number 8 (seven if Richard Burton is counted only once.)

All were stories of concern to some Americans at different times during 1995, but nothing dominated the headlines and evening newscasts like the O.J. Simpson trial.

Many people believe as well, that nothing touched such seminal concerns and worries or was destined to have such an impact on so many national problems and aspects of American life. The trial was a microcosm for many of the most critical problems faced by the nation as Americans prepare to move into the 21st century.

The deep racial divisions that separate Americans was a constant from the very beginning.

Two beautiful people dead:

A stunning blonde mother of two who although born in Germany, grew up as the quintessential California girl and married into a life of privilege.

A handsome young waiter who was Jewish and was just beginning to move into the challenging world of professional male modeling after following his family from Chicago to Southern California.

Their accused killer? The ex-husband of the woman; a legendary sports hero, sports broadcaster, advertising pitchman and movie actorwho was black.

Concern for racial sensitivities, especially in the wake of the Rodney King riots three years earlier have made some experts suggest that juries be replaced by judges or other professionals possibly resembling some kind of paralegals. If that occurred, it would require a constitutional amendment to do away with the right of a defendant to be judged by a jury of his or her peers.

Acceptance of courtroom cameras might become one of the first outside casualties of the most recent so-called Trial of the Century. Before the Simpson case captured the imagination of the nation, the controversial concept seemed to be gradually gaining ground.

It wasnt long however before courtroom cameras became one of the favorite whipping boys of many Americans, who found themselves both entranced by the televised proceedings inside the courtroom, and repelled by the circus atmosphere it seemed to be playing such a pivotal role in fostering.

The judge presiding over the case of Susan Smith, the mother who drowned her two sons in South Carolina, showed no hesitation in banning courtroom cameras at the trial. He cited the outrageous goings-on in Los Angeles in making the decision. In San Antonio, courtroom cameras were also banned at the trial of the woman accused of murdering Tejana singer, Selena. There, in a clear reference to the Simpson trial, the prosecutor declared he didnt want to become the Marcia Clark of South Texas.

The press, which converged on the trial more than 1,000-strong, has also entered a period of self-examination while criticism is heaped on it from outside the profession. Pack journalism, checkbook journalism, a rush-to-judgment, and false reports and other miscues and excesses plagued the media from the very beginning of the case.

The Los Angeles Police Departmentand through an unfortunate guilt by association, law enforcement officers throughout the countrywere among the biggest casualties.

At first, they were criticized in some circles for giving the suspect star treatment; including but not restricted to, allowing him to slip out of their hands and lead the bizarre convoy of black-and-whites during the dramatic slow-speed 60-mile-pursuit along Los Angeles area freeways that was witnessed on television by millions of Americans.

Then the defense ferociously attacked them in the courtroom with accusations ranging from conducting a sloppy investigation, to carrying out a sinister police conspiracy aimed at framing the defendant for the double murders. Mark Fuhrman took most of the heat, but others including a fellow detective, police evidence and laboratory technicians, even the county coroner and his staff shared in the condemnation.

One of the immediate positives resulting from the investigation and trial was an increased awareness of domestic violence, and the devastation it works on its victims, including children in families where beatings of one spouse or the other have become a way of life. One of Nicole Brown Simpsons sisters, especially, has become a dedicated advocate and eloquent spokesman for battered women.

Too many friendships were shattered, and careers and lives of people caught in the backwash from the murders and trial were devastated. The psychic toll the ordeal wreaked on millions of other fascinated observers whose ties to the tragedy were less personal is still to be computed. But there is no question everyone was affected, or will be affected, in some way or another.

When the jury filed into the courtroom for the last time, to deliver its verdict at the conclusion of the trial America was virtually stopped in its tracks.

The cost in lost man-hours to businesses was staggering. Telephone calls dropped by 60-percent; power demands abruptly soared because of the terrible drain on electricity from so many TV sets being turned on at once; and the professional baseball playoffs which were just moving underway on the East Coast were ignored.