The O.J. Simpson Trial

[Aikmaniac]

With the FX series beginning next week, my interest was piqued again to revisit the trial.

I was a sophomore in high school when the verdict of not guilty was reached. I do remember quite a bit of the trial as my friends and I liked to discuss it at school. Of course my parents were glued to the TV.

To this day, I still believe he is guilty, but the poor prosecutors and LAPD evidence gaffs were taken apart by the Dream Team defense.

Anyhow I'd like to read your thoughts on the trial and maybe generate some discussion while keeping within the forum guidelines.

Here is a creepy promo of the FX series coming up on 2/2.

 

[YosemiteSam]

My thoughts? He and Cosby should share a cell.

 

[Dodger12]

One of those cases where the evidence, especially DNA evidence, pointed to one man but folks were looking for a reason to acquit and they got it from the glove debacle and Mark Fuhrman who may have been the biggest goat of them all. That case and trial split the country right down racial lines and that's all I'm going to say about that for not going too far down that path although it's hard to talk about the OJ trial and keep race completely out of it.

 

[Longboysfan]

My thoughts? He and Cosby should share a cell.

4 ever.

 

[JoeKing]

One of those cases where the evidence, especially DNA evidence, pointed to one man but folks were looking for a reason to acquit and they got it from the glove debacle and Mark Fuhrman who may have been the biggest goat of them all. That case and trial split the country right down racial lines and that's all I'm going to say about that for not going too far down that path although it's hard to talk about the OJ trial and keep race completely out of it.

That case didn't spit the country down racial lines, it only revealed the split that already existed and still exists to this day.

 

[JoeKing]

My thoughts? He and Cosby should share a cell.

So you don't believe in the U S Constitution and due process?

 

[JD_KaPow]

So you don't believe in the U S Constitution and due process?

Huh?

Not to speak for Sam, but I, for one, think both of them are guilty as sin and should be locked away for life.

I also think that the legal system shouldn't run according to my whims.

Both things can be true at the same time.

 

[Fritsch_the_cat]

I don't think OJ did it himself, but he well could have had it done. The prosecution screwed the pooch. When you have the man that invented DNA evidence examination say "something isn't right" and the lead detective plead the fifth when asked if he planted evidence, you should lose the case.

 

[JoeKing]

Huh?

Not to speak for Sam, but I, for one, think both of them are guilty as sin and should be locked away for life.

I also think that the legal system shouldn't run according to my whims.

Both things can be true at the same time.

So you are another that can be counted as a non believer in the U S Constitution and due process?

 

[JD_KaPow]

So you are another that can be counted as a non believer in the U S Constitution and due process?

Not sure how you arrived at that conclusion, considering that I said exactly the opposite.

 

[JoeKing]

Not sure how you arrived at that conclusion, considering that I said exactly the opposite.

No, you talked out of both sides of your mouth. Either you believe in due process and it's findings or you do not.

 

[JD_KaPow]

No, you talked out of both sides of your mouth. Either you believe in due process and it's findings or you do not.

Wow. This is so completely wrong I don't even know where to start. The Constitution and due process have nothing to do with my opinions. They are about putting in place a system that keeps my opinions and biases out of legal processes to the extent possible. I can (and do) believe very strongly in due process, and also believe that the legal system sometimes arrives at incorrect or unfair outcomes. I can't imagine that anyone doesn't believe that. The idea that I have to believe in or agree with the OUTCOMES of due process is, frankly, really scary: it reeks of thoughtcrime. What's important is that I believe that everyone deserves due process, that we ACCEPT the outcomes of that process, and that we as a society are vigilant to preserve the principles of due process.

 

[JoeKing]

Wow. This is so completely wrong I don't even know where to start. The Constitution and due process have nothing to do with my opinions. They are about putting in place a system that keeps my opinions and biases out of legal processes to the extent possible. I can (and do) believe very strongly in due process, and also believe that the legal system sometimes arrives at incorrect or unfair outcomes. I can't imagine that anyone doesn't believe that. The idea that I have to believe in or agree with the OUTCOMES of due process is, frankly, really scary: it reeks of thoughtcrime. What's important is that I believe that everyone deserves due process, that we ACCEPT the outcomes of that process, and that we as a society are vigilant to preserve the principles of due process.

So are you saying you don't agree with the outcome but accept it?

 

[JD_KaPow]

So are you saying you don't agree with the outcome but accept it?

What outcome are we talking about? The original OJ trial? Absolutely. I believed then and believe now that OJ was guilty (heck, he's as much as confessed his guilt). But the system ran its course, he was acquitted, and that's the way it goes. That's the whole point of our Constitution-based society: we have outcomes that not everyone agrees with but everyone accepts. It's why we don't have an armed revolution every 4 years. We believe in the sanctity of the process, even as we hate some of the outcomes.

 

[Iago33]

I don't see why people want to revisit it. It was a bad chapter in American history that was badly written to boot. I can only imagine how bad it would be recycled by TV writers.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

Would have been better on Lifetime.

 

[JoeKing]

What outcome are we talking about? The original OJ trial? Absolutely. I believed then and believe now that OJ was guilty (heck, he's as much as confessed his guilt). But the system ran its course, he was acquitted, and that's the way it goes. That's the whole point of our Constitution-based society: we have outcomes that not everyone agrees with but everyone accepts. It's why we don't have an armed revolution every 4 years. We believe in the sanctity of the process, even as we hate some of the outcomes.

I had no preconceived opinion of OJ's guilt or innocents before the verdict and I accept the verdict. Likewise, I have no preconceived opinion about Bill Cosby. Civil unrest happens when people do not accept the verdict, so we have what we have. Too many today no longer believe in constitutional law or the concept of due process.

 

[Aikmaniac]

I always wondered why the Bronco chase was not allowed to be examined and discussed during the trial.

Blood everywhere, on the Bronco, obviously at the crime scene, and at his house. How much more of a slam dunk do you get as a prosecution team?

Yes, the glove debacle. Why Dardin chose to experiment with that in the court room is just dumbfounding. You would think Marcia Clark and company would have halted that approach.

 

[blindzebra]

I know a cop that was taking a criminology course and their case file was the Simpson case. There was so much evidence that never got presented by the prosecution and the DA screwed up by moving the case downtown...O J's peers were not lower middle class, with little to no education which is what the jury turned out to be.

This guy said that the luminol tests on his Bronco lit up like a Christmas tree, there was blood everywhere both his and both victims. There was an empty swiss army knife box in his bathroom. The disguise, 7k in cash, and his suicide note that was all but saying I did it never came into evidence because the idiot prosecutors thought it would add sympathy for Simpson.

 

[blindzebra]

I had no preconceived opinion of OJ's guilt or innocents before the verdict and I accept the verdict. Likewise, I have no preconceived opinion about Bill Cosby. Civil unrest happens when people do not accept the verdict, so we have what we have. Too many today no longer believe in constitutional law or the concept of due process.

The only color that matters in our legal system is green. People with money can get off even when they are guilty, poor people can get found guilty even if they are innocent.