Oj Simpson: Travesty Of Justice
Essay Preview: Oj Simpson: Travesty Of Justice
Report this essay
Many people throughout the years have called the O.J Simpson trial “The Trial Of The Century”. The intense media scrutiny surrounding the case overshadowed the obvious outcome that should have followed. The real issue at hand was whether or not O.J Simpson had brutally murdered Nicole Brown Simpson, his ex-wife, and Ronald Goldman, her friend. Many may believe that justice was served in the trial. However, this is not the case in my opinion. Many errors were committed during the course of this trial. The jury was selected in an improper manner. The trial was held in downtown Los Angeles, as opposed to a smaller venue, which would have negated the media impact. Judge Lance Ito allowed Simpson’s defense team to use racial issues in the trial, which unfairly influenced the jury’s final verdict. The prosecution also failed to introduce several key pieces of evidence that would have placed Simpson near the scene of the crime and further implicated his guilt. Prosecutor Marcia Clark at one point stated to the jury, “You may not like me for bringing this case. I know I’m not winning any popularity contests for doing so” (Bugliosi 28). Chris Darden, Clark’s assistant on the case also implored to the jury, “Nobody wants to anything to this man. We sure don’t. This is nothing personal, but the law is the law.” The prosecution itself was intimidated by the presence of Simpson. He gained popularity in his days as a Hall of Fame football player and comedic actor and commercial pitchman. Simpson appeared in the Naked Gun film series and also filmed numerous commercials for the Hertz rental car company. Before Simpson turned himself into police custody, he attempted to make a getaway from being prosecution. On June 17, 1994, the infamous “White Bronco” chase captured the attention of a national television audience. Simpson had planned to flee the country with over eight thousand dollars in cash on his person, a fake passport, and a disguise. Simpson had also penned what was believed to be a suicide note as well. He had intentions of killing himself before the police or any authorities even reached him. During the trial, Simpson’s lawyers constantly proclaimed his innocence whenever they felt it was needed. Would an innocent man attempt to escape justice? Would an innocent man attempt to kill himself? These are questions that I believe most of the public who sided with Simpson did not even bother to consider into fact. They had let the notions of planted evidence and racial discrimination dominate the notions that Simpson was innocent. In the pages to follow, I will break down exactly how the Simpson trial was lost and illustrate how a conviction against Simpson could have been obtained.
The selection of the jury was very flawed from the outset. A jury normally consists of an impartial panel of twelve people, male and female, which has no foreknowledge of the trial they are chosen to serve. This jury believed the rhetoric that Johnnie Cochran and the rest of Simpson’s “Dream Team” fed them. When Simpson tried on the bloody leather gloves in court, Cochran shouted, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit” (Bugliosi 92). What the jury failed to realize was that Simpson was wearing latex gloves on his hands already and the leather gloves were worn from the moisture of the elements and the blood soaked into them. They would noticeably shrink on Simpson’s hands. This is the exact effect that the defense team wanted to display to the jury. Another interesting note was that no one bothered to help Simpson put on the gloves. By acting alone, he could simply say that the gloves didn’t fit, and he did not have to answer to anyone. Even more startling is the fact that Simpson was on television years earlier with those exact same gloves, which were a very rare type that were only sold during one season. The manufacturer of the gloves stated that only a limited number of pairs were produced.
The DNA evidence and the ignorance of its significance is another glaring error the jury committed during the trial. Drops of Simpson’s blood were found at the murder scene, in his home, and in his Ford Bronco. The defense contended that LAPD officers, namely Detective Mark Fuhrman among others, took the sample of Simpson’s blood and planted it in the various locations. This would require a high level conspiracy on the part of all investigators involved. Many officers close to the investigation would be forced to lie and go along with Fuhrman’s alleged plot to plant evidence. The defense also tried to paint Officer Fuhrman as a racist, claiming he planted the evidence because Simpson was a black man and he had a problem with that. Johnnie Cochran did his best to illustrate why Fuhrman was a racist by playing an audiotape of a discussion Fuhrman had with a television writer about a potential show involving police officers. On the tape, Fuhrman used numerous racial and ethnic slurs and spoke negatively about black people. His alleged hatred of black people would lead Fuhrman to compromise his own duties, according to Cochran. Racism and the alleged planting of evidence had no level basis in the trial at all. Issues of racial prejudice had no bearing on whether Simpson committed the murders or not. If it were even possible that blood evidence could be planted, there would have been other officers who under oath would have been compelled to testify to what they saw in regards to this.
The actual analysis on the Simpson’s blood itself was quite revealing. Tests of the blood found at the rear gate of the crime scene matched the samples that Simpson later gave to the police. A PCR and RFLP test were both used. The PCR test is less precise in nature, but can be used on smaller amounts of blood. This PCR test can also be used on blood that has become worn to the elements, as the crime scene blood was. The tests results showed that only one person in 240,000 could carry the genetic marker found in three of the five drops tested. The RFLP test was even more precise showing that only one in 170 million people had the marker that appeared in those blood samples. O.J. Simpson was one of those people. Another RFLP test on blood found at the rear gate showed that only one person in 57 billion could have the genetic marker that was found there. This figure is roughly ten times the current population of the world. Another important fact to consider is that Simpson’s blood was found in two other locations. Not only was blood found at the crime scene, blood was also found in his Ford Bronco and his home. This leads to a logical conclusion