"If the glove does not fit, you must acquit."
"If the glove does not fit, you must acquit." These were the words of Jonnie Cochrane, one of the lawyers that were part of O.J Simpson's so-called "Dream Team." O.J. Simpson was charged with the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. On the night of June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown's dog walker, who lived a few streets away from Brown, discovered Brown's dog barking in the street. The dog walker saw that the dog had blood on its legs and tried to walk the dog back to the location he was before, but the dog resisted. Then, Nicole Brown's neighbor offered to take care of the dog until Nicole returned for her. After some time, the dog began to get agitated at Nicole's neighbors, and they decided to take the dog back to the location he was found. As they approached the street, the dog stopped at the dead bodies of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown outside Nicole Brown's condominium. Upon examination by the police, they found that Nicole had been stabbed multiple times in the neck with little resistance.
Additionally, they found that Ron Goldman was stabbed multiple times in the body and chest with little resistance. The front door to Brown's condominium was open, and there were no signs of a break-in. The authorities believe that Nicole Brown Simpson was the only target of the assailant, but Ron Goldman was also killed to avoid any witnesses to the crime. Near the body of Ron Goldman, the police discovered a left-hand extra-large Aris Isotoner light leather glove.
The Arrest of O.J. Simpson
After finding the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, LAPD commander Keith Bushey ordered 4 detectives led by Mark Fuhrman to go to the house of O.J. Simpson and inform him of Nicole's death. They were also told to let him know that he needed to pick up the former couple's children, who were asleep during the murders, after spending 30 minutes at O.J.'s estate with no response. The detectives scaled the estate's fence and unlocked the door, knowing they could justify entering the estate without a search warrant because of exigent circumstances. In this case, it would be out of fear that someone inside might be injured. When inside the premises of the Simpson Estate, Det. Fuhrman discovered a blood-stained right-hand Aris Isotoner light leather glove, which was determined to be a pair with the left-hand glove found next to the body of Goldman. With this glove, probable cause allowed authorities to issue an arrest warrant for Orenthal James Simpson for the murder of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.
The Prosecution
The trial began on January 24, 1995, as Judge Lance Ito presided over the trial. The prosecution was led by Deputy District Attorneys Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden. Prosecutors Hank Goldberg and William Hodgman have successfully prosecuted high-profile cases and assisted Clark and Darden. Additionally, two prosecutors who were DNA experts, Rockne Harmon and George "Woody" Clarke, were brought in to present the DNA evidence in the case. Their focus was to prove to the jury that there had been a history of domestic violence where O.J. would physically assault Nicole. They would use this to portray O.J. as a short-tempered and violent man who killed Nicole due to events that angered him. They theorized that O.J. was mad at Nicole for not inviting him to a dinner she attended the night of the murder.
Furthermore, when O.J. returned home, he found a message from his then-girlfriend (Paula Barbieri) in which she broke up with him. Finally, they claimed that O.J. went to Nicole's condominium to reconcile their relationship, and when Nicole declined, it broke the last straw, and O.J. killed her in rage. They assumed the assailant's motive to kill Ronald Goldman was only to avoid any witnesses of the crime, the police had concluded based on their investigation.
The Defense
The defense team of O.J. Simpson was a star-studded group of lawyers nicknamed "The Dream Team." This team was initially led by Robert Shapiro and subsequently led by Johnnie Cochran. The team included F. Lee Bailey, Alan Dershowitz, Robert Kardashian, Shawn Holley, Carl E. Douglas, and Gerald Uelmen. The focus of the defense team was to prove that the multiple pieces of DNA evidence that linked O.J. Simpson to the murder were unreliable and contaminated. The defense repeatedly argued that the DNA testing results were unusable because the police were "sloppy" in collecting and preserving it from the crime scene. Two criminalists who collected evidence did admit to making several mistakes during evidence collection, which included not always changing gloves between handling evidence items, packaging and storing the evidence items using plastic bags rather than paper bags as recommended, and keeping them in the police van, rather than a refrigerated van for seven hours after collecting the samples. The defense used this as precedence and argued that the mistakes made by the police would allow bacteria to degrade all of the "real killer(s)" DNA and make the samples more susceptible to cross-contamination in the LAPD crime lab. The defense also looked to plant reasonable doubt in the jury's minds by alleging that the detectives who investigated initially and were assigned this case conspired to frame O.J. Simpson because of his race. They presented a tape of a phone call made by Mark Fuhrman, the first detective that went inside the Simpson estate and the detective who found the second (right) leather glove. In this tape, Mark Fuhrman can be heard using the n-word and other racially derogatory terms which portray him as a racist. The defense team used this tape as a foundation to claim that the detectives investigating this case were led by Fuhrman to frame O.J. Simpson for the murder of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.
Last but not least, the defense championed the phrase, "If the glove does not fit, acquit." During the infamous moment when O.J. Simpson tried to wear the leather gloves in court, they didn't fit. While people attribute this to the sun causing the gloves to shrink. Others claim that O.J. didn't commit the murder. But this begs the question, how did one glove end up at the Simpson estate?
The Verdict
Before the verdict was read on national television, Los Angeles prepared for race riots if a guilty verdict was read. Police officers were placed on 12-hour shifts and were prepared to face riots similar to the 1992 L.A. riots. But on October 3, 1995, Orenthal James Simpson was acquitted of all charges concerning the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. With an estimated 100 million people watching, the feelings were mixed about the verdict. Many had believed that a guilty man had just walked free, while others firmly believed that an innocent man just escaped a crime he was framed for. But why did the jury think that O.J. Simpson was innocent? Robert Shapiro admitted that the defense played the "race card." I think that had a profound impact on the verdict. The trial contained a predominantly African American jury, with eight women and four men. So an argument made by many experts suggest that the defense tried to appeal to the African American jurors (who made up most of the jury) by portraying O.J. Simpson as another black man who was gonna be a victim of a racially biased system. And while the judicial and policing system is systemically racist, the defense seemed to exploit this to get O.J. acquitted of a crime he may have actually committed.
Well written, Suraj. I have read any number of articles on the O.J. Simpson trial, and it's still difficult to say whether O.J. was the one who committed the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.
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