O. J. Simpson trial
| People v. O. J. Simpson | |
|---|---|
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| Court | Los Angeles County Superior Court |
| Full case name | People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson |
| Decided | October 3, 1995 |
| Verdict |
Not Guilty in violation of Penal Code Section 187-A, a felony upon Nicole Brown Simpson, a human being. Not Guilty in violation of Penal Code Section 187-A, a felony upon Ronald Lyle Goldman, a human being. |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Lance Ito |
Not Guilty in violation of Penal Code Section 187-A, a felony upon Nicole Brown Simpson, a human being.
The O. J. Simpson murder case (officially titled People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson, or People v. O. J. Simpson) was a criminal trial held at the Los Angeles County Superior Court, in which former National Football League (NFL) player and actor O. J. Simpson was tried on two counts of murder for the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend and restaurant waiter Ron Goldman on June 12, 1994. The trial spanned eleven months, from the jury's swearing-in on November 9, 1994. Opening statements were made on January 24, 1995, and the verdict was announced on October 3, 1995, when Simpson was found not guilty of murder on both counts. According to the USA Today, the case has been described as the "most publicized" criminal trial in history.
Simpson was represented by a very high-profile defense team (also referred to as the "Dream Team"), which was initially led by Robert Shapiro and subsequently led by Johnnie Cochran. The team also included F. Lee Bailey, Alan Dershowitz, Robert Kardashian, Shawn Holley, Carl E. Douglas, and Gerald Uelmen. Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld were two additional attorneys who specialized in DNA evidence.
Deputy District Attorneys Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden believed they had a strong case against Simpson, but Cochran was able to convince the jurors that there was reasonable doubt about the DNA evidence (a relatively new form of evidence in trials at the time), including that the blood sample evidence had allegedly been mishandled by lab scientists and technicians, and about the circumstances surrounding other court exhibits. Cochran and the defense team also alleged other misconduct by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), related to systemic racism. Simpson's celebrity status, racial issues, and the lengthy televised trial riveted national attention on the so-called "trial of the century". By the end of the criminal trial, national surveys showed dramatic differences in the assessment of Simpson's guilt or innocence between black and white Americans.
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