murder trial of O. J. Simpson

{{Main|Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman}}

Brown met Simpson in 1977 when she was 18 and working as a waitress. Simpson and Brown married on February 2, 1985 and had two children together. Their marriage was described as involving domestic violence, with Brown writing that Simpson had beaten her on multiple occasions.

On June 12, 1994, Brown and Goldman were murdered outside Brown's condominium. Simpson was charged with the murders and after failing to turn himself in to police on June 17, he became a fugitive. A low-speed chase was broadcast live on television as Simpson fled in his white Ford Bronco SUV with friend Al Cowlings before surrendering to authorities at his Brentwood estate.

On June 20, Simpson was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to both murders and was held without bail. The following day, a grand jury was called to determine whether to indict him for the two murders but was dismissed on June 23, as a result of excessive media coverage that could have influenced its neutrality. Instead, authorities held a probable cause hearing to determine whether to bring Simpson to trial. California Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy-Powell ruled on July 7{{nbsp}}that there was sufficient evidence to bring Simpson to trial for the murders. At his second arraignment on July 22, when asked how he pleaded to the murders, Simpson firmly stated: "Absolutely, one hundred percent, not guilty."{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFK_Hpb-HIY |title=OJ Simpson pleads not guilty to murder charges |language=en |access-date=1 August 2024 |via=www.youtube.com}}

Jill Shively testified to the grand jury that soon after the time of the murders she saw a white Ford Bronco speeding away from Bundy Drive in such a hurry that it almost collided with a Nissan at the intersection of Bundy and San Vicente Boulevard, and that she recognized Simpson's voice. She talked to the television show Hard Copy for $5,000, after which prosecutors declined to use her testimony at trial.{{cite magazine |title=Pulp Nonfiction |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |url=https://ew.com/article/1994/07/08/commercializing-oj-simpson-scandal/ |access-date=December 6, 2008 |first=Albert |last=Kim |date=July 8, 1994 |archive-date=December 4, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204185730/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,302832,00.html |url-status=live }} In 1995, Shively had falsely claimed actor Brian Patrick Clarke had assaulted and stalked her.{{Cite web |date=1994-06-28 |title=Ex-Wife's Father Raises Doubt on Simpson Alibi : Court: He sets phone call earlier than coroner did. Prosecutors also face hurdle--they lack murder weapon. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-28-mn-9589-story.html |access-date=2024-08-09 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}

Jose Camacho of Ross Cutlery provided store receipts showing Simpson had purchased a 12-inch (305 mm) stiletto knife six weeks before the murders. The knife was recovered and determined to be similar to the one the coroner said caused the stab wounds. The prosecution did not present this evidence at trial, after Camacho sold his story to the National Enquirer for $12,500. Tests on the knife determined that an oil used on new cutlery was still present on the knife, indicating it had never been used.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/mark-fuhrman-people-v-oj-simpson|title=Mark Fuhrman Slams The People v. O.J. Simpson for Political Correctness|first=Joanna|last=Robinson|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=March 7, 2016|access-date=October 28, 2019|archive-date=September 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922191019/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/mark-fuhrman-people-v-oj-simpson|url-status=live}}

Former NFL player and pastor Rosey Grier visited Simpson on November 13 at the Los Angeles County Jail. A jailhouse guard, Jeff Stuart, testified to Judge Ito that at one point Simpson yelled to Grier that he "didn't mean to do it", after which Grier had urged Simpson to come clean. Ito ruled that the evidence was inadmissible as being protected because of clergy-penitent privilege.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ocregister.com/2013/11/13/deputy-heard-oj-simpson-confess-maybe/|title=Deputy heard O.J. Simpson confess – maybe|website=Ocregister.com|date=November 13, 2013|access-date=February 20, 2022|archive-date=February 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220071115/https://www.ocregister.com/2013/11/13/deputy-heard-oj-simpson-confess-maybe/|url-status=live}}

At first, Simpson's defense sought to show that one or more hitmen hired by drug dealers had murdered Brown and Goldman – giving Brown a "Colombian necktie" – because they were looking for Brown's friend, Faye Resnick, a known cocaine user who had failed to pay for her drugs.{{cite web|url=https://www.romper.com/p/how-did-faye-resnick-get-famous-her-testimony-in-the-oj-simpson-trial-wasnt-the-only-thing-that-put-her-on-the-map-6065|title=How Did Faye Resnick Get Famous? Her Testimony In The O.J. Simpson Trial Wasn't The Only Thing That Put Her On The Map|website=Romper.com|date=February 23, 2016|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=September 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930201047/https://www.romper.com/p/how-did-faye-resnick-get-famous-her-testimony-in-the-oj-simpson-trial-wasnt-the-only-thing-that-put-her-on-the-map-6065|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.romper.com/p/faye-resnick-videos-addressing-the-drug-cartel-theory-on-the-people-v-oj-simpson-shows-just-how-complicated-the-case-was-7255|title=Faye Resnick Videos Addressing The Drug Cartel Theory On 'The People V. O.J. Simpson' Shows Just How Complicated The Case Was|website=Romper.com|date=March 16, 2016|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=September 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930201046/https://www.romper.com/p/faye-resnick-videos-addressing-the-drug-cartel-theory-on-the-people-v-oj-simpson-shows-just-how-complicated-the-case-was-7255|url-status=live}} She had stayed for several days at Brown's condo until entering rehab four days before the killings. Ito ruled that the drug killer theory was "highly speculative" with no evidence to support it.{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/07/28/Judge-denies-OJ-lawyers-request/4635806904000/|title=Judge denies O.J. lawyers' request|website=UPI.com|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=September 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930201046/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/07/28/Judge-denies-OJ-lawyers-request/4635806904000/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|title=Ito Bars Simpson Team's Attempt To Link Drug Dealers To Killings|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/07/14/ito-bars-simpson-teams-attempt-to-link-drug-dealers-to-killings/6b80d0d8-504b-406f-812d-1eb5ef3e1047/|last2=Adams|first1=Nell|last1=Henderson|first2=Lorraine|date=July 14, 1995|newspaper=The Washington Post|url-access=subscription|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=October 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001010140/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/07/14/ito-bars-simpson-teams-attempt-to-link-drug-dealers-to-killings/6b80d0d8-504b-406f-812d-1eb5ef3e1047/|url-status=live}} Consequently, Ito barred the jury from hearing it and prohibited Christian Reichardt from testifying about his former girlfriend Resnick's drug problems.{{cite web|url=https://www.inquirer.com/archives/|title=Archives|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=May 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503175854/http://articles.philly.com/2010-09-25/sports/24977799_1_team-woodbury-sterling-high-school|url-status=live}}{{full citation needed|date=January 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-07-13-9507140105-story.html|title=Testimony of Resnick Barred|work=Chicago Tribune|date=July 13, 1995|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=September 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930201043/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-07-13-9507140105-story.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/24/us/simpson-prosecutor-incurs-ito-s-wrath-over-tirade.html|title=Simpson Prosecutor Incurs Ito's Wrath Over Tirade|last=Margolick|first=David|date=February 24, 1995|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=September 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930201042/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/24/us/simpson-prosecutor-incurs-ito-s-wrath-over-tirade.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/14/us/simpson-judge-bars-use-of-drug-killing-theory.html|title=Simpson Judge Bars Use Of Drug-Killing Theory|last=Margolick|first=David|date=July 14, 1995|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=September 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930201043/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/14/us/simpson-judge-bars-use-of-drug-killing-theory.html|url-status=live}}

Rose Lopez, a neighbor's Spanish-speaking housekeeper, stated on August 18 that she saw Simpson's Bronco parked outside his house at the time of the murders, supporting his claim he was home that night. During cross-examination by Clark, Lopez admitted she was not sure what time she saw Simpson's Bronco but the defense still intended to call her. However, a taped July 29 statement by Lopez did not mention seeing the Bronco but did mention another housekeeper was also there that night, Sylvia Guerra. Prosecutors then spoke with Guerra, who said Lopez was lying and claimed the defense offered both housekeepers $5,000 to say they saw the Bronco that night. When Ito warned the defense that Guerra's claim as well as the earlier statement not mentioning the Bronco and the tape where Clark claims "that [Lopez] is clearly being coached on what to say" would be shown to the jury if Lopez testified, they dropped her from the witness list.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/02.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123094702/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/02.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 23, 2008|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week: Week 2|date=January 23, 2008|access-date=February 15, 2020}}{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/03.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080205095745/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/03.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 5, 2008|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week: Week 3|date=February 5, 2008|access-date=February 15, 2020}}{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/04.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209202308/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/04.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2008|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week: Week 4|date=February 9, 2008|access-date=February 15, 2020}}{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/05.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209202313/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/05.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2008|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week: Week 5|date=February 9, 2008|access-date=February 15, 2020}}{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/06.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209202318/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/06.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2008|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week|access-date=February 15, 2020}}

{{blockquote|When the trial began, all of the networks were getting these hate-mail letters because people's soap operas were being interrupted for the Simpson trial. But then what happened was the people who liked soap operas got addicted to the Simpson trial. And they got really upset when the Simpson trial was over, and people would come up to me on the street and say, 'God, I loved your show.'|Marcia Clark, 2010{{r|anolik201406}}}}

The murders and trial – "the biggest story I have ever seen", said a producer of NBC's Today – received extensive media coverage from the very beginning; at least one instant book was proposed two hours after the bodies were found, and scheduled to publish only a few weeks later. The case was a seminal event in the history of reality television,{{r|anolik201406}} helping to revive the genre of court shows like Judge Judy.{{Cite news |last=Hughes |first=Jazmine |date=2019-06-20 |title=Judge Judy Is Still Judging You |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/20/magazine/judge-judy-tv.html |access-date=2024-05-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The Los Angeles Times covered the case on its front page for more than 300 days after the murders. The nightly news broadcasts from the Big Three television networks gave more air time to the case than to the Bosnian War and the Oklahoma City bombing combined. They served an enthusiastic audience; one company put the loss of national productivity from employees following the case instead of working at $40 billion.{{sfn|Schuetz|Lilley|1999|pp=22–23}} The Tonight Show with Jay Leno aired many skits on the trial, and the Dancing Itos – a troupe of dancers dressed as the judge – was a popular recurring segment.{{cite episode|title=Dancing Itos|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQPVA2bGsB4&t=2m |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/XQPVA2bGsB4 |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live|series=The Tonight Show with Jay Leno|network=NBC|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} According to Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post, the acquittal was "the most dramatic courtroom verdict in the history of Western civilization".{{Cite news|last=Kurtz|first=Howard|date=October 3, 1995|title=And The O.J. Verdict Is ... You Name It|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/10/03/and-the-oj-verdict-is-you-name-it/4a7adfa5-0655-4610-a880-29688eb6bc5d/|url-access=subscription|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=July 22, 2019|archive-date=July 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722161216/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/10/03/and-the-oj-verdict-is-you-name-it/4a7adfa5-0655-4610-a880-29688eb6bc5d/|url-status=live}}

Participants in the case received much media coverage. Limo driver Park said the media offered him $100,000 but refused, as he would be removed as a witness.{{r|pemberton20130216}} Fans approached Clark in public, and when she got a new hairstyle during the trial, the prosecutor received a standing ovation on the courthouse steps; People approved of the change, but advised her to wear "more fitted suits and tailored skirts". While Cochran, Bailey, and Dershowitz were already well-known, others like Kaelin became celebrities, and Paula Barbieri appeared in Playboy. Those involved in the trial followed their own media coverage. Interest in the case was worldwide; Russian president Boris Yeltsin's first question to President Clinton when they met in 1995 was, "Do you think O.J. did it?"{{cite magazine|last=Anolik|first=Lili|date=June 2014|title=How O.J. Simpson Killed Popular Culture|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/society/2014/06/oj-simpson-trial-reality-tv-pop-culture|magazine=Vanity Fair|access-date=April 17, 2020|archive-date=June 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170618231234/http://www.vanityfair.com/style/society/2014/06/oj-simpson-trial-reality-tv-pop-culture|url-status=live}}

The issue of whether to allow any video cameras into the courtroom was among the first issues Judge Ito had to decide, ultimately ruling that live camera coverage was warranted.[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/oj/interviews/arenella.html FRONTLINE: the o.j. verdict: interviews: Peter arenella] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908215402/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/oj/interviews/arenella.html |date=September 8, 2017 }}. PBS. Retrieved December 30, 2010. Ito was later criticized for this decision by other legal professionals. Dershowitz said that he believed that Ito, along with others related to the case such as Clark, Fuhrman and Kaelin, was influenced to some degree by the media presence and related publicity. The trial was covered in 2,237 news segments from 1994 through 1997.{{sfn|Dershowitz|2004}} Ito was also criticized for allowing the trial to become a media circus and not doing enough to regulate the court proceedings.{{cite news|date=February 5, 1997|title=Judge Fujisaki was able to keep trial in control|newspaper=USA Today|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/index/nns200.htm|access-date=December 5, 2008|archive-date=October 8, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008061554/http://www.usatoday.com/news/index/nns200.htm|url-status=live}}

Among the reporters who covered the trial daily from the courtroom, and a media-area that was dubbed "Camp O. J.",{{cite news|last=Pool|first=Bob|date=October 11, 1994|title=Hungry for a Change of Scene, NBC's Brokaw Bolts 'Camp O.J.'|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-11-me-48894-story.html|access-date=July 14, 2018|archive-date=May 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509180619/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-10-11/local/me-48894_1_tom-brokaw|url-status=live}} were Steve Futterman of CBS News, Linda Deutsch and Michael Fleeman of the Associated Press, Dan Whitcomb of Reuters, Janet Gilmore of the Los Angeles Daily News, Andrea Ford of the Los Angeles Times, Michelle Caruso of the New York Daily News, Dan Abrams of Court TV, Harvey Levin of KCBS, and David Margolick of The New York Times. Writers Dominick Dunne, Joe McGinniss, and Joseph Bosco also had full-time seats in the courtroom.

File:OJ Simpson Newsweek TIME.png and Time. Time darkened the image, leading to controversy.]]

On June 27, 1994, Time published a cover story, "An American Tragedy", with a photo of Simpson on the cover.{{cite news|last1=Carmody|first1=Deirdre|date=June 25, 1994|title=Time Responds to Criticism Over Simpson Cover|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/25/us/time-responds-to-criticism-over-simpson-cover.html|access-date=January 15, 2020|archive-date=September 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903115814/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/25/us/time-responds-to-criticism-over-simpson-cover.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=June 27, 1994|title=O.J. Simpson|magazine=Time|url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19940627,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915051257/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19940627,00.html|archive-date=September 15, 2008}} Time{{'}}s cover image was darker than a typical magazine cover and darker than the original photo, as shown on a Newsweek cover released at the same time. Time consequently became the subject of a media scandal.{{cite web|title='American Crime Story' Tackles O.J.'s 'Time' Cover|url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/142072-time-magazines-oj-simpson-cover-takes-center-stage-on-american-crime-story|access-date=January 15, 2020|website=Bustle|date=February 16, 2016|archive-date=January 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115113811/https://www.bustle.com/articles/142072-time-magazines-oj-simpson-cover-takes-center-stage-on-american-crime-story|url-status=live}} Commentators found that its staff had used photo manipulation to darken the photo, and they speculated it was to make Simpson appear more menacing. After the publication of the photo drew widespread criticism of racist editorializing and yellow journalism, Time publicly apologized.[http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/photo_database/image/darkened_mug_shot/ O.J.'s Darkened Mug Shot] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105235801/http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/photo_database/image/darkened_mug_shot |date=January 5, 2010 }}. Museumofhoaxes.com. Retrieved December 30, 2010.{{cite web|date=February 17, 2016|title=Time Made O.J. Simpson Blacker. Here's The Apology|url=https://www.thewrap.com/oj-fact-check-read-time-magazines-apology-for-making-simpson-blacker/|access-date=January 15, 2020|archive-date=January 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115111501/https://www.thewrap.com/oj-fact-check-read-time-magazines-apology-for-making-simpson-blacker/|url-status=live}}

Charles Ogletree, a criminal defense attorney and law professor, said in a 2005 interview that the best investigative reporting regarding the murder and trial was by the National Enquirer.{{cite web|date=October 4, 2005|title=the o.j. verdict: Ogletree|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/oj/interviews/ogletree.html|access-date=July 25, 2017|website=www.pbs.org|archive-date=July 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716100124/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/oj/interviews/ogletree.html|url-status=live}}

File:Judge Lance Ito October 1995 (cropped) 02.jpg presided over the trial|alt=|left]]

Simpson wanted a speedy trial, and the defense and prosecuting attorneys worked around the clock for several months to prepare their cases. The trial began on January 24, 1995, seven months after the murders, and was televised by closed-circuit TV camera via Court TV, and in part by other cable and network news outlets, for 134 days. Judge Lance Ito presided over the trial in the C.S. Foltz Criminal Courts Building.

District Attorney Gil Garcetti elected to file charges in downtown Los Angeles, as opposed to Santa Monica, in which jurisdiction the crimes took place.{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-11-27-mn-7661-story.html|title=Location of Trial Can Be Crucial to Outcome, Experts Say. Court: Simpson case is latest to show importance of jury pool. Garcetti didn't have to try it Downtown, many insist.|last=Corwin|first=Miles|date=November 27, 1995|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=March 8, 2016|archive-date=March 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308130842/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-11-27/news/mn-7661_1_simpson-case|url-status=live}} The Los Angeles Superior Court then decided to hold the trial in Downtown Los Angeles instead of Santa Monica due to safety issues at the Santa Monica Court house owing to the 1994 Northridge earthquake.{{cite web |url=https://nypost.com/2016/04/10/former-da-gil-garcetti-i-never-wanted-marcia-clark-on-oj-trial/ |title=Former DA Gil Garcetti: I never wanted Marcia Clark on OJ trial |work=New York Post |last=Brown |first=Stacy |date=April 10, 2016 |access-date=March 7, 2023 |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224190635/https://nypost.com/2016/04/10/former-da-gil-garcetti-i-never-wanted-marcia-clark-on-oj-trial/ |url-status=live }} The decision may have impacted the trial's outcome as it resulted in a jury pool that mainly consisted of African Americans.{{cite news|url=http://www.metnews.com/articles/2010/perspectives050310.htm|title=Trying the O.J. Simpson Case in Terrain Hostile to Prosecution: It Wasn't Garcetti's Fault|date=May 3, 2010|newspaper=Metropolitan News-Enterprise|access-date=July 3, 2010|archive-date=November 1, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101222310/http://www.metnews.com/articles/2010/perspectives050310.htm|url-status=live}} Richard Gabriel, a jury consultant, noted that African Americans at the time were far more likely than other minorities to be receptive to claims of racially motivated fraud by the police and were less likely to be familiar with and thus accept DNA evidence.

File:C.S. Foltz Criminal Justice Center.jpg]]

In October 1994, Judge Lance Ito started interviewing 304 prospective jurors, each of whom had to fill out a 75-page questionnaire. On November 3, twelve jurors were seated with twelve alternates. Over the course of the trial, ten were dismissed for a wide variety of reasons. Only four of the original jurors remained on the final panel.{{cite web |url=http://www.chatsports.com/top-news/a/who-was-oj-simpson-trial-jury-meet-12-people-who-found-him-not-guilty-26948 |title=Who Was on the O.J. Simpson Trial Jury? Meet The 12 People Who Found Him Not Guilty |last=Downey |first=Tom |date=July 21, 2017 |access-date=July 25, 2017 |archive-date=August 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811053121/http://www.chatsports.com/top-news/a/who-was-oj-simpson-trial-jury-meet-12-people-who-found-him-not-guilty-26948 |url-status=live }}

According to media reports, Clark believed women, regardless of race, would sympathize with the domestic violence aspect of the case and connect with Brown personally. On the other hand, the defense's research suggested that black women would not be sympathetic to Brown, who was white, because of tensions about interracial marriages. Both sides accepted a disproportionate number of female jurors. From an original jury pool of 40 percent white, 28 percent black, 17 percent Hispanic, and 15 percent Asian, the final jury for the trial had ten women and two men, of whom nine were black, two white, and one Hispanic.{{cite news |title=Race factor tilts the scales of public opinion |newspaper=USA Today |date=February 5, 1997 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/index/nns212.htm |access-date=December 5, 2008 |archive-date=October 8, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008061657/http://www.usatoday.com/news/index/nns212.htm |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/simpson/jurypage.html|title=The O.J. Simpson Trial: The Jury|date=September 24, 1994|publisher=Law.umkc.edu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209115654/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Simpson/Jurypage.html|archive-date=February 9, 2011|access-date=January 30, 2012}}{{clarify|date=August 2021 |reason= First sentence compares by percentages, and the second uses absolute numbers. Change this to compare in the same way.}}

On April 5, 1995, juror Jeanette Harris was dismissed when Judge Ito learned she had failed to disclose an incident of domestic abuse.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/11.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050739/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/11.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 11|website=Court TV News|access-date=January 3, 2020}} Afterwards, Harris gave an interview and accused the deputies of racism and claimed the jurors were dividing themselves along racial lines. Ito then met with the jurors, who all denied Harris's allegations of racial tension among themselves. The following day, Ito dismissed the three deputies anyway, which upset the jurors that did not complain because the dismissal appeared to lend credence to Harris's allegations, which they all denied.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/12.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050744/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/12.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 12|website=Court TV News|access-date=January 3, 2020}} On April 21, thirteen of the eighteen jurors refused to come to court until they spoke with Ito about it. Ito then ordered them to court and the 13 protesters responded by wearing all black and refusing to come out to the jury box upon arrival.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/13.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050749/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/13.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 13|website=Court TV News|access-date=January 3, 2020}} The media described this incident as a "Jury Revolt" and the protesters wearing all black as resembling a "funeral procession".{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/14.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050754/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/14.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 14|website=Court TV News|access-date=January 3, 2020}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TS_ZCwAAQBAJ&q=Ito+did+make+one+change+as+a+result+of+his+interviews|title=The Run of His Life: The People V. O.J. Simpson|last=Toobin|first=Jeffrey|author-link=Jeffrey Toobin|date=2015|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0812988543}}{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1995/04/22/simpson-jury-mutiny-casts-doubt-on-trial/|title=Simpson Jury Mutiny Casts Doubt on Trial|website=Chicago Tribune |date=April 22, 1995|access-date=July 25, 2017|archive-date=July 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718023741/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-04-22/news/9504220188_1_jurors-murder-trial-jury|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/04/22/thirteen-simpson-jurors-stage-revolt/f0b8a434-5491-49bb-be5e-e1c082250cfa/|title=Thirteen Simpson Jurors Stage Revolt|last1=Henderson|first1=Nell|date=April 22, 1995|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=July 25, 2017|url-access=subscription|archive-date=March 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312060014/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/04/22/thirteen-simpson-jurors-stage-revolt/f0b8a434-5491-49bb-be5e-e1c082250cfa/|url-status=live}}

The two lead prosecutors were Deputy District Attorneys Marcia Clark and William Hodgman, who was replaced as lead prosecutor by Christopher Darden. Clark was designated as the lead prosecutor and Darden became Clark's co-counsel. Prosecutors Hank Goldberg and Hodgman, who had successfully prosecuted high-profile cases in the past, assisted Clark and Darden. Two prosecutors who were DNA experts, Rockne Harmon and George "Woody" Clarke, were brought in to present the DNA evidence in the case and were assisted by Prosecutor Lisa Kahn.{{cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/news/oj-simpson-trial-key-players|title=O.J. Simpson: The Key Players in His Murder Trial|first=Eudie|last=Pak|website=Biography|date=June 2020|access-date=November 15, 2019|archive-date=December 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212080546/https://www.biography.com/news/oj-simpson-trial-key-players|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTDECwAAQBAJ&q=488+exhibits|title=In Contempt|last=Darden|first=Christopher|date=2016|publisher=Graymalkin Media|isbn=978-1631680731}}{{cite news|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/16.html|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 16: May 8–12, 1995|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202233509/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/16.html|archive-date=February 2, 2008|website=Court TV News}}

The prosecution argued that the domestic violence within the Simpson-Brown marriage culminated in her murder.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTDECwAAQBAJ&q=It%20would%20be%20the%20motive%20for%20out%20case%20against%20simpson|title=In Contempt|last=Darden|first=Christopher|date=2016|publisher=Graymalkin Media|isbn=978-1631680731}} Simpson's history of abusing Brown resulted in their divorce and his pleading guilty to one count of domestic violence in 1989.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dG-KDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT31|title=The Search for Justice: A Defense Attorney's Brief on the O.J. Simpson Case|publisher=Graymalkin Media|isbn=978-1631682551|last=Shapiro|first=Robert|date=2019}} On the night of the murders, Simpson attended a dance recital for his daughter and was reportedly angry with Brown because of a black dress that she wore, which he said was "tight". Simpson's then girlfriend, Paula Barbieri, wanted to attend the recital with Simpson but he did not invite her. After the recital, Simpson returned home to a voicemail from Barbieri ending their relationship.

According to the prosecution, Simpson then drove over to Brown's home in his Ford Bronco to reconcile their relationship as a result and when Brown refused, Simpson killed her in a "final act of control". Goldman then came upon the scene and was murdered in order to silence him and remove any witnesses. Afterwards, Simpson drove home in his Bronco, and he went into his house. There, he took off his bloodstained clothes, put them in the knapsack (except his socks and the glove), put clean ones on, and left towards the limousine. At the airport, Simpson opened the knapsack, removed the clothes, Bruno Magli shoes, and the murder weapon, and threw them in the trash, before putting the knapsack in one of his suitcases and heading towards his flight.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TS_ZCwAAQBAJ&q=final%20act%20of%20control|title=The Run of His Life: The People V. O.J. Simpson|last=Toobin|first=Jeffrey|date=2015|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0812988543}}{{Cite book|last=Darden|first=Christopher|date= 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTDECwAAQBAJ&q=mountain%20of%20evidence|title=In Contempt|publisher=Graymalkin Media|isbn=978-1631680731}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TS_ZCwAAQBAJ&q=mountain%20of%20evidence|title=The Run of His Life: The People V. O.J. Simpson|last=Toobin|first=Jeffrey|date=2015|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0812988543}}

File:Officers at OJ crime scene 2.jpg

The prosecution opened its case by calling LAPD 911 dispatcher Sharon Gilbert and playing a 9-1-1 call from Brown on January 1, 1989, in which she expressed fear that Simpson would physically harm her; Simpson himself is even heard in the background yelling at her and possibly hitting her as well. The officer who responded to that call, Detective John Edwards, testified next that when he arrived, a severely beaten Brown ran from the bushes where she was hiding and to the detective screaming "He's going to kill me, he's going to kill me", referring to Simpson. Pictures of Brown's face from that night were then shown to the jury to confirm his testimony. That incident led to Simpson's arrest and eventual pleading of no contest to one count of domestic violence for which he received probation for one year.

LAPD officer and long time friend of both Simpson and Brown, Ron Shipp, testified on February 1, 1995, that Simpson told him the day after the murders that he did not want to take a polygraph test offered to him by the police, because "I've had a lot of dreams about killing her. I really don't know about taking that thing". The jury dismissed Shipp's claims after defense attorney Carl E. Douglas accused him of being an alcoholic, and testifying against Simpson to promote his acting career.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/02.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050659/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/02.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 2|website=Court TV News|access-date=November 20, 2019}}

The prosecution then called Brown's sister, Denise Brown, to the witness stand. She testified to many episodes of domestic violence in the 1980s, when she saw Simpson physically abuse Brown and throw her out of their house during an argument. She said that Simpson was agitated with Brown on June 12.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/03.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050704/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/03.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 3|website=Court TV News|access-date=November 20, 2019}} Although a home videotape taken immediately after the dance recital showed a cheerful Simpson being given a kiss by Denise Brown,{{cite web |title= Some O.J. Evidence is Sealed with a Kiss |date=February 10, 1995 |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1995-02-10-9502100639-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513115103/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1995-02-10-9502100639-story.html |archive-date=May 13, 2020}} Kato Kaelin corroborated the claim that Simpson was "upset" with Brown because of the black dress she wore, which he said was "tight".{{Cite news|date=March 28, 1995|title=Kaelin: Simpson Was 'Upset' after Daughter's Dance Recital|work=St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)|url=https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-32928954/kaelin-simpson-was-upset-after-daughter-s-dance|access-date=October 27, 2019|archive-date=October 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027084029/https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-32928954/kaelin-simpson-was-upset-after-daughter-s-dance|url-status=dead}}

The prosecution planned to present 62 separate incidents of domestic violence, including three previously unknown incidents Brown had documented in several letters she had written and placed in a bank safety deposit box. Judge Ito denied the defense's motion to suppress the incidents of domestic violence, but only allowed witnessed accounts to be presented to the jury because of Simpson's Sixth Amendment rights. Brown's statements to friends and family were ruled inadmissible as hearsay because Brown was dead and unable to be cross-examined. Despite this, the prosecution had witnesses for 44 separate incidents they planned to present to the jury.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTDECwAAQBAJ&q=domestic+abuse|title=In Contempt|last=Darden|first=Christopher|date=2016|publisher=Graymalkin Media|isbn=978-1631680731}}

However, the prosecution dropped the domestic violence portion of their case on June 20, 1995.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/22.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050819/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/22.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 22|website=Court TV News|access-date=November 20, 2019}} Marcia Clark stated it was because they believed the DNA evidence against Simpson was insurmountable, but the media speculated it was because of the comments made by dismissed juror Jeanette Harris. Christopher Darden later confirmed that to be true.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTDECwAAQBAJ&q=Jeanette+harris|title=In Contempt|last=Darden|first=Christopher|date=2016|publisher=Graymalkin Media|isbn=978-1631680731}} Harris was dismissed on April 6 because she failed to disclose that she was a victim of domestic violence from her ex-husband.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-07-mn-52050-story.html|title=Juror Explains Why She Denied Being Victim|date=April 7, 1995|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=November 20, 2019|archive-date=May 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508014454/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-07-mn-52050-story.html|url-status=live}} Afterwards, she gave an interview in which she said the evidence of Simpson's abuse of Brown "doesn't mean he is guilty of murder". This dismissal of Simpson's abusive behavior from a female juror, who was also a victim of such abuse by her own husband, convinced the prosecution that the jury was not receptive to the domestic violence argument.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TS_ZCwAAQBAJ&q=predisposed+to+admire+simpson+and+to+discount+evidence+of+domestic+violence|title=The Run of His Life: The People V. O.J. Simpson|last=Toobin|first=Jeffrey|date=2015|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0812988543}}{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/marcia-clark-explains-domestic-violence-bias-oj-simpson/story?id=39852403|title=Marcia Clark Explains Domestic Violence Bias in OJ Simpson Trial|website=ABC News|access-date=November 20, 2019|archive-date=June 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607175626/https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/marcia-clark-explains-domestic-violence-bias-oj-simpson/story?id=39852403|url-status=live}} After the verdict, the jurors called the domestic violence portion of the case a "waste of time".{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dG-KDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT31|title=The Search for Justice: A Defense Attorney's Brief on the O.J. Simpson Case|last=Shapiro|first=Robert|date=2019|publisher=Graymalkin Media|isbn=978-1631682551}} Shapiro, Dershowitz, and Uelmen later admitted they believe that race played a factor in the jurors' dismissal of Brown's abuse by Simpson.{{Cite book|last=Shapiro|first=Robert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dG-KDwAAQBAJ&q=Patrick+McKenna+o+j+simpson+luggage+airport&pg=PT31|title=The Search for Justice: A Defense Attorney's Brief on the O.J. Simpson Case|date=2019|publisher=Graymalkin Media|isbn=978-1631682551|access-date=October 6, 2020|archive-date=April 12, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240412084115/https://books.google.com/books?id=dG-KDwAAQBAJ&q=Patrick+McKenna+o+j+simpson+luggage+airport&pg=PT31#v=snippet&q=Patrick%20McKenna%20o%20j%20simpson%20luggage%20airport&f=false|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/oj/interviews/dershowitz.html|title=the O.J. verdict|date=October 4, 2005|website=www.pbs.org|access-date=November 20, 2019|archive-date=March 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327235116/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/oj/interviews/dershowitz.html|url-status=live}}

The defense retained renowned advocate for victims of domestic abuse Lenore E. Walker.{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/970a646d9fda47169fa111538bd3aeb7|title=Expert on Battered Women Criticized for Backing Simpson Defense|website=AP News|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507224920/https://apnews.com/970a646d9fda47169fa111538bd3aeb7|url-status=live}} Cochran said that she would testify that Simpson does not fit the profile of an abuser that would murder his spouse.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209202303/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/01.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2008|title=Court.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week|date=February 9, 2008|access-date=March 30, 2020}} Walker's colleagues were appalled by her decision to defend Simpson and accused her of betraying her advocacy for a $250,000 retainer.{{Cite news|last=Jones|first=Tamara|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/02/04/the-witnesss-startling-stand/57b6837d-2ad1-4abf-ae5b-ca1170021c5f/|title=The Witness's Startling Stand|date=February 4, 1995|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=March 30, 2020|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507183021/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/02/04/the-witnesss-startling-stand/57b6837d-2ad1-4abf-ae5b-ca1170021c5f/|url-status=live}} Walker was dropped from the witness list for "tactical reasons" after she submitted her report on the case.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-29-mn-25821-story.html|title=Abuse Expert Stirs Uproar With Simpson Defense Role : Trial: Psychologist Lenore Walker says she is testifying to bar either side from distorting data on battered women.|date=January 29, 1995|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=May 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508005944/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-29-mn-25821-story.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|last=Hunt|first=Darnell M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oxI2IE25r_cC&q=Lenore+walker+simpson&pg=PA64|title=O.J. Simpson Facts and Fictions: News Rituals in the Construction of Reality|date=1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521624688}} In it, she opines that the statistic from Dershowitz that of the two million incidents of abuse per year, only 2,000 victims are actually murdered by their spouses as being misleading because Brown was already dead.{{Cite book|last=Dershowitz|first=Alan M.|url=https://archive.org/details/reasonabledoubts00ders|url-access=registration|title=Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case|date=1997|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0684832647|via=Internet Archive}}{{Cite book|last=Walker|first=Lenore E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IEJVM32avsQC&q=Lenore+walker+o+j+simpson|title=The Battered Woman Syndrome|date=2001|publisher=Springer Publishing Company|isbn=978-0826143235}} The relevant statistic was "of the murdered spouses who were also victims of abuse, what percentage of them were murdered by their current or ex-husband?" When she reported that number was 80.3 percent, they dropped her from the witness list.{{cite web|url=http://www.davewagner.com/OJ/oj/abuse.htm|title=Physical Abuse|website=www.davewagner.com|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=February 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207233136/http://www.davewagner.com/OJ/oj/abuse.htm|url-status=live}}

The revelation of Simpson's abuse of Brown is credited with turning public opinion against him. The public shock at the reason why Walker was dropped from the defense witness list is credited with transforming public opinion on spousal abuse from a private familial matter to a serious public health issue.{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/c85957bb9c764313a88659b5837f5245|title=O.J. Simpson case helped bring spousal abuse out of shadows|date=June 12, 2019|website=AP News|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507205138/https://apnews.com/c85957bb9c764313a88659b5837f5245|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last1=Maxwell|first1=Kimberly A. |last2=Huxford |first2=John |last3=Borum |first3=Catherine |last4=Hornik |first4=Robert|date=June 1, 2000|title=Covering Domestic Violence: How the O.J. Simpson Case Shaped Reporting of Domestic Violence in the News Media |journal=Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly|volume=77|issue=2|pages=258–272|doi=10.1177/107769900007700203|s2cid=143642383|issn=1077-6990}}{{cite web|url=https://people.com/crime/the-o-j-simpson-trial-how-nicole-browns-death-changed-the-way-we-talk-about-domestic-abuse/|title=The O.J. Simpson Trial 25 Years Later: How Nicole Brown's Death Changed the Domestic Abuse Conversation|website=People|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507135359/https://people.com/crime/the-o-j-simpson-trial-how-nicole-browns-death-changed-the-way-we-talk-about-domestic-abuse/|url-status=live}}

Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran testified on June 14, 1995, that Brown's time of death was estimated as between 10:00 pm and 10:30 pm.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/21.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209181334/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/21.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2008|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week|date=February 9, 2008|access-date=March 22, 2020}}{{cite web|url=http://simpson.walraven.org/jun14.html|title=Jack Walraven's Simpson Trial Transcripts – June 14, 1995|website=simpson.walraven.org|access-date=June 3, 2020|archive-date=September 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919044613/http://simpson.walraven.org/jun14.html|url-status=live}} Kato Kaelin testified on March 22, 1995, that he last saw Simpson at 9:36 pm that evening. A phone call was made from Simpson's Bronco to Paula Barbieri at 10:02 pm. Simpson was not seen again until 10:54 pm when he answered the intercom at the front door for the limousine driver, Allan Park.{{cite web|url=https://famous-trials.com/simpson/1877-kaelintestimony|title=Testimony Of Brian "kato" Kaelin|website=famous-trials.com|access-date=March 22, 2020|archive-date=March 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322051151/https://famous-trials.com/simpson/1877-kaelintestimony|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/11/court.archive.simpson3/|title=O.J. Simpson trial: Houseguest Kato Kaelin testifies|website=CNN|access-date=March 22, 2020|archive-date=March 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322095636/https://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/11/court.archive.simpson3/|url-status=live}} Simpson had no alibi for approximately one hour and 18 minutes during which time the murders took place.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/09.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123094707/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/09.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 23, 2008|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week|date=January 23, 2008|access-date=March 22, 2020}} Allan Park testified on March 28 that he arrived at Simpson's home at 10:25 pm and stopped at the Rockingham entrance; Simpson's Bronco was not there.{{Cite news|last=Henderson|first=Nell|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/03/29/driver-says-he-didnt-see-simpsons-bronco-but-saw-person-enter-house/c1ff2854-c3ac-4e69-b137-9794bfda0604/|title=Driver Says He Didn't See Simpson's Bronco, But Saw Person Enter House|date=March 29, 1995|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=March 22, 2020|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507212601/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/03/29/driver-says-he-didnt-see-simpsons-bronco-but-saw-person-enter-house/c1ff2854-c3ac-4e69-b137-9794bfda0604/|url-status=live}} He then drove over to the Ashford entrance and rang the intercom three times, getting no answer, starting at 10:40 pm. Then he saw someone arrive at Simpson's home through the front door, the lights then turned on and Simpson answered the intercom.{{Cite news|last=Margolick|first=David|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/29/us/limousine-driver-deals-a-blow-to-simpson.html|title=Limousine Driver Deals a Blow to Simpson|date=March 29, 1995|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 22, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322051149/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/29/us/limousine-driver-deals-a-blow-to-simpson.html|url-status=live}}

Park's testimony was significant because it explained the location of the glove found at Simpson's home.{{cite web|url=http://www.davewagner.com/OJ/oj/park.htm|title=What Did Allan Park See?|website=www.davewagner.com|access-date=March 22, 2020|archive-date=March 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322051150/http://www.davewagner.com/OJ/oj/park.htm|url-status=live}} The blood trail from the Bronco to the front door was easily understood but the glove was found on the other side of the house. Park said the "shadowy figure" initially approached the front door before heading down the southern walkway which leads to where the glove was found by Fuhrman. The prosecution believed that Simpson had driven his Bronco to and from Brown's home to commit the murders, saw that Park was there and aborted his attempt to enter through the front door, entering through the back instead.{{cite web|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/mar/29/limousine-driver-puts-dent-in-oj-simpsons-alibi/|title=Limousine Driver Puts Dent In O.J. Simpson's Alibi|website=www.spokesman.com|access-date=March 22, 2020|archive-date=March 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322051159/https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/mar/29/limousine-driver-puts-dent-in-oj-simpsons-alibi/|url-status=live}} He panicked and made the sounds that Kaelin heard when he realized that the security system would not let him enter through the rear entrance.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/10.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209181319/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/10.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2008|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week|date=February 9, 2008|access-date=March 22, 2020}} He then discarded the glove, came back and went through the front door. During cross examination, Park conceded that he could not identify the figure but said he saw that person enter the front door and afterwards Simpson answered and said he was home alone. Park conceded that he did not notice any cuts on Simpson's left hand but added "I shook his right hand, not his left".

{{Main|DNA evidence in the O. J. Simpson murder case}}

File:O.J.-Simpson-Crime-Scene-Photos-3i.jpg

The prosecution presented a total of 108 exhibits, including 61 drops of blood,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OZeEmqzE4oC&pg=PA84|title=Fundamentals of Forensic DNA Typing|first=John M.|last=Butler|date=2009|publisher=Academic Press|pages=84–85|isbn=978-0080961767}} of DNA evidence to link Simpson to the murders. With no witnesses to the crime, the prosecution was dependent on DNA as the only physical evidence linking Simpson to the crime. The volume of DNA evidence in this case was unique and the prosecution believed they could reconstruct how the crime was committed with enough accuracy to resemble an eyewitness account.{{cite web |title=Proving the Case: The Science of DNA: DNA Evidence in the O.J. Simpson Trial |publisher=William Thompson |url=http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~jweiss/laws131/unit3/simpson.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212205439/http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~jweiss/laws131/unit3/simpson.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 12, 2012 |access-date=December 5, 2008}} Marcia Clark stated in her opening statements that there was a "trail of blood from the Bundy Crime scene through Simpson's Ford Bronco to his bedroom at Rockingham".{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209202303/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/01.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2008|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 1|website=Court TV News}}

• Simpson's DNA found on blood drops next to the bloody footprints near the victims at the Bundy crime scene.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-24-me-5396-story.html|title=2nd State Scientist Backs DNA Results : Simpson case: Criminalist Renee Montgomery says a new, more sensitive type of test corroborates earlier evidence. But it gives the defense another area to attack.|date=May 24, 1995|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=August 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823010319/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-24-me-5396-story.html|url-status=live}} The prosecution stated that the probability of error was 1-in-9.7 billion.
• Simpson's DNA found on a trail of blood drops leading away from the victims, towards and on the back gate at Bundy.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/18.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201050145/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/18.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 1, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 18|website=Court TV News}} The prosecution stated that the probability of error was 1-in-200.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/flatview?cuecard=5465|title=Forensic Chemist Testifies in O.J. Simpson Trial on Blood Drops Found at Crime Scene|website=NBC Learn|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507235605/https://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/flatview?cuecard=5465|url-status=dead}}
• Simpson, Goldman, and Brown's DNA found on blood on the outside of the door and inside Simpson's Bronco. The prosecution stated that the probability of error was 1-in-21 billion.{{cite web|date=December 11, 2007|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/17.html|access-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050804/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/17.html|archive-date=December 11, 2007}}
• Simpson's DNA found on blood drops leading from the area where his Bronco was parked at Simpson's Rockingham home to the front door entrance.{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-05-03-9505030101-story.html|title=Months into Trial, State Begins Unveiling Crucial Blood Evidence|first=Jessica|last=Seigel|work=Chicago Tribune|date=May 3, 1995|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=January 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101130220/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-05-03-9505030101-story.html|url-status=live}}
• Simpson, Brown, and Goldman's DNA on a bloody glove found behind his home.{{cite web|date=March 18, 1995|title=Detective Tells of Trail of Blood at Simpson Home|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-03-18-mn-44113-story.html|access-date=July 26, 2020|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726202415/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-03-18-mn-44113-story.html|url-status=live}}
• Simpson and Brown's DNA found on blood on a pair of socks in Simpson's bedroom. The prosecution stated that the probability of error was 1-in-6.8 billion.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9611/14/simpson.thursday/index.html|title=DNA experts link sock blood to Nicole|date=November 14, 1996|website=CNN|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=September 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925014819/http://www.cnn.com/US/9611/14/simpson.thursday/index.html|url-status=live}}

LAPD criminalist and hair fiber expert Susan Brockbank testified on June 27, 1995, and FBI Special Agent and fiber expert Doug Deedrick testified on June 29, 1995, to the following findings:{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/23.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209202410/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/23.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2008|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week|date=February 9, 2008|access-date=March 29, 2020}}{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/24.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209202412/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/24.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2008|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week|date=February 9, 2008|access-date=March 29, 2020}}

• The fibers from the glove found at Simpson's home were microscopically similar to the one found at the crime scene.{{cite web|url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Simpson/Evidence.html|title=The Trial of O.J. Simpson: The Incriminating Evidence|publisher=University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618074624/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Simpson/Evidence.html|archive-date=June 18, 2008|access-date=June 16, 2008}}{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/11/court.archive.simpson7/index.html|title=O.J. Simpson trial: The prosecution rests|website=CNN|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=May 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508073036/https://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/11/court.archive.simpson7/index.html|url-status=live}}
• Both of the victims, the two gloves, and the blue knit cap worn by the killer had hair consistent{{explain|date=June 2024}} with Simpson.{{cite web|url=https://bcps.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/flatview?cuecard=47863|title=Hairs Found at Crime Scene Are Microscopically Similar to O.J. Simpson's, Says FBI Expert Witness|website=NBC Learn|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507113249/https://bcps.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/flatview?cuecard=47863|url-status=dead}} The hair in the blue knit cap worn by the killer was embedded in the seams, indicating it was there from being worn repeatedly.{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/49235f729eaf288bafd09816eedf07a2|title=SUSAN BROCKBANK, police criminalist: Measured evidence glove|website=AP News|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=May 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508024735/https://apnews.com/49235f729eaf288bafd09816eedf07a2|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Margolick|first=David|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/01/us/hairs-resembling-simpson-s-are-identified-by-an-expert.html|title=Hairs Resembling Simpson's Are Identified by an Expert|date=July 1, 1995|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 30, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812174327/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/01/us/hairs-resembling-simpson-s-are-identified-by-an-expert.html|url-status=live}}
• Dark blue cotton clothing fibers were found on both victims. The video from the dance recital that Simpson attended earlier that night shows him wearing a similarly colored shirt. Kato Kaelin testified that Simpson was still wearing that shirt when they got home from McDonald's but not anymore when he answered the door for the limousine driver. The police searched his home but the shirt was never found.{{Cite news|last=Margolick|first=David|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/28/us/hair-and-fiber-used-to-tie-simpson-to-scene-of-killings.html|title=Hair and Fiber Used to Tie Simpson to Scene of Killings|date=June 28, 1995|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 30, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507102819/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/28/us/hair-and-fiber-used-to-tie-simpson-to-scene-of-killings.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/978166b35c952d5836937a762d33a24c|title=Prosecutor Portrays Simpson as Killer in a Dark Sweat Suit|website=AP News|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507103101/https://apnews.com/978166b35c952d5836937a762d33a24c|url-status=live}}
• Hair consistent with Goldman was found on Brown and clothing fibers consistent with Brown was found on Goldman. This supported the prosecution's theory that the assailant killed Brown first, then Goldman, and afterwards returned to Brown to cut her throat. The hair consistent with Brown that was found on the Rockingham glove was torn which also supports the prosecution claim that the killer grabbed Brown by her hair to cut her throat.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/06/28/prosecutors-contend-hair-evidence-leads-to-simpson/a4c258fd-2197-444d-ad47-4f0afda7a62e/|title=Prosecutors Contend Hair Evidence Leads to Simpson|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507101902/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/06/28/prosecutors-contend-hair-evidence-leads-to-simpson/a4c258fd-2197-444d-ad47-4f0afda7a62e/|url-status=live}}
• Fibers that were only used in the 1993-1994 model year Ford Bronco, the same car that Simpson owns, were found on both victims, the knit cap and on both gloves.{{cite web|url=http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/5836fd1060a3487bd8dcd173c3d9e2f5|title=US: OJ Simpson Trial|website=www.aparchive.com|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=May 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508044527/http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/5836fd1060a3487bd8dcd173c3d9e2f5|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1995-06-30-9506300021-story.html|title=Judge Rebukes O.J. Prosecutors for Not Disclosing Fiber Evidence|last=Siegel|first=Jessica|website=Sun-Sentinel.com|date=June 30, 1995|location=Chicago|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=May 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508012745/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1995-06-30-9506300021-story.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-07-02-9507020207-story.html|title=Simpson Trial Focuses on Hair as Prosecution Winds Down|first=Jessica|last=Seigel|website=Chicago Tribune|date=July 2, 1995|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=May 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508013232/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-07-02-9507020207-story.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-07-06-9507060179-story.html |title=Bloody Glove, Cap Linked to Bronco |first=Jessica |last=Seigel |website=Chicago Tribune |date=July 6, 1995 |access-date=March 30, 2020 |archive-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507205138/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-07-06-9507060179-story.html |url-status=live }}
• The glove found at Simpson's home that belonged to the murderer had hair and clothing fibers consistent with Simpson, Brown and Goldman as well as fibers from a 1993–1994 Ford Bronco and Brown's Akita dog.{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-07-06-mn-20679-story.html|title=Prosecutors Say Hair, Fibers Link Simpson to Scene|date=July 6, 1995|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507171441/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-07-06-mn-20679-story.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Henderson|first=Nell|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/07/01/expert-hair-like-simpsons-found-on-victims-shirt/15fa8dc0-a7c4-4d35-a47b-b5a07769ec8f/|title=Expert: Hair Like Simpson's Found on Victim's Shirt|date=July 1, 1995|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=March 30, 2020|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=May 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508125751/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/07/01/expert-hair-like-simpsons-found-on-victims-shirt/15fa8dc0-a7c4-4d35-a47b-b5a07769ec8f/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/34.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209202508/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/34.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2008|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week|date=February 9, 2008|access-date=March 30, 2020}}

In June, FBI shoeprint expert William J. Bodziak testified that the bloody shoeprints found at the crime scene and inside Simpson's Bronco were made from a rare and expensive pair of Bruno Magli Italian shoes. He determined the shoes were a size 12, the same size that Simpson wore, and are only sold at Bloomingdales. Only 299 pairs of that size were sold in the US and one of them was sold at the same store that Simpson often buys his shoes from. Bodziak also testified that, despite two sets of footprints at the crime scene, only one attacker was present because they were all made by the same shoes. During cross-examination Bailey suggested the murderer deliberately wore shoes that were the wrong size, which Bodziak dismissed as "ridiculous".{{Cite news|last=Margolick|first=David|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/20/us/simpson-s-shoe-size-fits-bloody-prints-left-crime-scene-fbi-expert-says.html|title=Simpson's Shoe Size Fits Bloody Prints Left at the Crime Scene, an F.B.I. Expert Says|date=June 20, 1995|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 29, 2019|archive-date=December 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229090309/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/20/us/simpson-s-shoe-size-fits-bloody-prints-left-crime-scene-fbi-expert-says.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/c0f746df26291229c6340ab257d23559|title=Expert: Shoe Prints Found At Crime Scene Were Rare from Rare Brand|website=AP News|access-date=December 29, 2019|archive-date=December 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229090309/https://apnews.com/c0f746df26291229c6340ab257d23559|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-20-mn-15013-story.html|title=Simpson Jury Hears Details on Shoe Prints|date=June 20, 1995|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=December 29, 2019|archive-date=December 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229090308/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-20-mn-15013-story.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1995-06-20-9506200017-story.html|title=FBI: O.J. Could Have Made Murder Scene Shoe Prints|date=June 20, 1995|access-date=September 19, 2019|archive-date=May 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508044516/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1995-06-20-9506200017-story.html|url-status=live}}

Simpson denied ever owning a pair of the shoes; there was only circumstantial evidence he did.{{cite web|url=https://footwearnews.com/2016/business/media/oj-simpson-murder-trial-bruno-magli-shoes-bloomingdales-188994/|title=The True Story Behind O.J. Simpson's Infamous Shoes From the Trial|last1=Butler-Young|first1=Sheena|last2=Butler-Young|first2=Sheena|date=April 6, 2016|website=Footwear News|access-date=December 29, 2019|archive-date=December 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229090313/https://footwearnews.com/2016/business/media/oj-simpson-murder-trial-bruno-magli-shoes-bloomingdales-188994/|url-status=live}} Bloomingdales employee Samuel Poser testified he remembered showing Simpson those shoes, but there was no store record of him purchasing them.{{cite news|title= Salesman Says He Can't Remember What Kind of Shoes He Sold to Simpson|url= https://apnews.com/6c54db0f17f771f756e062e7dfdbedd8|newspaper= Ap News|access-date= April 10, 2020|archive-date= April 10, 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200410192915/https://apnews.com/6c54db0f17f771f756e062e7dfdbedd8|url-status= live}} Although the prosecution could not prove that Simpson owned a pair of those shoes, Bodziak testified that a similar bloody shoeprint was left on the floor inside Simpson's Bronco. Scheck suggested that Fuhrman broke into the Bronco and left the footprint there; he produced a photo of Fuhrman walking through a puddle of blood. Bodziak admitted that he was not able to confirm that the shoeprint in the car definitely came from a Bruno Magli shoe, but dismissed Scheck's claim because none of the shoeprints at the crime scene were made by Fuhrman's shoes, making it unlikely he could have made a bloody shoeprint in the Bronco.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/05/19/dna-evidence-discounted-by-simpson-defense/7191995f-a713-458d-be47-84a7762712b2/|title=DNA Evidence Discounted By Simpson Defense|last=Henderson|first=Nell|date=May 19, 1995|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=December 29, 2019|url-access=subscription|archive-date=December 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229135354/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/05/19/dna-evidence-discounted-by-simpson-defense/7191995f-a713-458d-be47-84a7762712b2/|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3BNNsnProUkC&q=Samuel+Poser%2C+shoe+department+manager%2C+Bloomingdale%27s&pg=PA223|title=O.J. Unmasked: The Trial, the Truth, and the Media|last=Rantala|first=M. L.|date=1996|publisher=Open Court Publishing|isbn=978-0812693287}}

File:Johnnie cochran 2001 cropped retouched.jpg|alt=]]

Simpson hired a team of high-profile defense lawyers, initially led by Robert Shapiro, who was previously a civil lawyer known for settling, and then subsequently by Johnnie Cochran, who at that point was known for police brutality and civil rights cases.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/oj-simpson-trial-now/story?id=17377772|title=O.J. Simpson Trial: Where Are They Now?|website=ABC News|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806025335/https://abcnews.go.com/US/oj-simpson-trial-now/story?id=17377772|url-status=live}} The team included noted defense attorney F. Lee Bailey, Robert Kardashian, Harvard appeals lawyer Alan Dershowitz, his student Robert Blasier, and Dean of Santa Clara University School of Law Gerald Uelmen. Assisting Cochran were Carl E. Douglas and Shawn Holley. Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld were also hired; they headed the Innocence Project and specialized in DNA evidence. Simpson's defense was said to have cost between US$3-6 million; the media dubbed the talented attorneys the Dream Team,{{cite web|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/index/nns183.htm|title=Fight over money may follow court battle|website=usatoday30.usatoday.com|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308151638/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/index/nns183.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/07/us/simpson-team-taking-aim-at-dna-laboratory.html|title=Simpson Team Taking Aim at DNA Laboratory|last=Meier|first=Barry|date=September 7, 1994|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 18, 2017|archive-date=November 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112050906/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/07/us/simpson-team-taking-aim-at-dna-laboratory.html|url-status=live}} while the taxpayer cost of prosecution was over US$9 million.{{cite news |title=Dollars and Sense of the Simpson Trial – Accountant Rick Vandenberg has become an unlikely media star, giving monthly figures on the costs of the O.J. Simpson trial |date=May 16, 1995 |first=Gloria |last=Goodale |publisher=The Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1995/0516/16041.html |access-date=February 2, 2021 |archive-date=February 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210155332/https://www.csmonitor.com/1995/0516/16041.html |url-status=live }}

The defense team's reasonable doubt angle was summarized as "contaminated, compromised, and ultimately corrupted" in opening statements.{{cite web|url=https://steemit.com/court/@vsaraf/famous-court-cases-people-vs-oj-simpson-case|title=Famous Court Cases : People Vs. OJ Simpson Case|last=Saraf|first=Vedita|date=November 10, 2017|website=Steemit|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=October 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002014948/https://steemit.com/court/@vsaraf/famous-court-cases-people-vs-oj-simpson-case|url-status=live}} They argued the DNA evidence against Simpson was compromised by mishandling by Dennis Fung and Andrea Mazzola during the collection phase of evidence gathering, and that 100% of the DNA of the real killer(s) had vanished from the evidence samples.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TS_ZCwAAQBAJ|title=The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson|last1=Toobin|first1=Jeffrey|year=2015|publisher=Random House Publishing|isbn=978-0812988543}} The defense argued that evidence was then contaminated in the LAPD crime lab by criminalist Collin Yamauchi and that Simpson's DNA from his reference vial was transferred to all but three exhibits.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/19.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201050151/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/19.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 1, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 19|website=Court TV News}} The remaining three exhibits were planted by the police and thus corrupted by police fraud.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3BNNsnProUkC|title=O.J. Unmasked: The Trial, the Truth, and the Media|last=Rantala|first=M. L.|year=1996|publisher=Open Court|isbn=978-0812693287}} The defense also questioned the timeline, claiming the murders happened around 11:00 pm that night, when Simpson had an alibi.{{cite web|title=The Simpson Verdict by F. Lee Bailey|url=http://baileyandelliott.com/oj_simpson.htm|website=Bailey & Elliot Consulting|access-date=October 28, 2019|archive-date=September 4, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904082056/http://baileyandelliott.com/oj_simpson.htm|url-status=dead}}

The physician Robert Huizenga testified in July 1995{{cite web|url=https://famous-trials.com/legacyftrials/Simpson/Huiztest.html|title=Dr. Robert Huizenga: Testimony in the O.J. Simpson Trial|website=famous-trials.com|access-date=November 4, 2019|archive-date=November 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104051653/https://famous-trials.com/legacyftrials/Simpson/Huiztest.html|url-status=dead}} that Simpson was not physically capable of carrying out the murders due to chronic arthritis and old football injuries. During cross-examination, the prosecution produced an exercise video that Simpson had made a few weeks before the murders titled O.J. Simpson Minimum Maintenance: Fitness for Men, which demonstrated that Simpson was anything but frail.{{cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1995/07/19/exercise-video-shows-oj-squatting-lunging-joking/|title=Exercise Video Shows O.J. Squatting, Lunging, Joking|last=Seigel|first=Jessica|date=July 19, 1995|newspaper=Orlando Sentinel|access-date=July 25, 2017|archive-date=February 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225013533/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1995-07-19/news/9507190140_1_simpson-videotape-huizenga|url-status=live}} Huizenga admitted afterwards that Simpson could have committed the murders if he was in "the throes of an adrenaline-rush".{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/26.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050839/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/26.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 26|website=Court TV News|access-date=October 31, 2019}}

Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist, testified that the murders{{cite web|title=Jack Walraven's Simpson Trial Transcripts – August 10, 1995|url=http://simpson.walraven.org/aug10.html|access-date=July 15, 2020|website=simpson.walraven.org|archive-date=September 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919044921/http://simpson.walraven.org/aug10.html|url-status=live}} happened closer to 11:00 pm.{{cite web|last=Seigel|first=Jessica|date=August 11, 1995|title=Pathologist in Simpson Trial Says Victims Struggled Long and Hard|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-08-11-9508110074-story.html|access-date=December 26, 2019|work=Chicago Tribune|archive-date=June 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606084953/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-08-11-9508110074-story.html|url-status=live}} He stated that Brown was still conscious, standing, and took a step after her throat was cut{{cite web|last1=Rutten|first1=Tim|last2=Newton|first2=Jim|date=August 11, 1995|title=Pathologist for Defense Rebuts Work by Coroner : Simpson trial: Baden questions procedures and findings about timing and method of murders|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-08-11-me-33974-story.html|access-date=July 15, 2020|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=December 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214070431/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-08-11-me-33974-story.html|url-status=live}} and that after Goldman's jugular vein was lacerated he continued to stand and fight his assailant for ten minutes.{{cite web|last=Deutsch|first=Linda|date=1995-08-11|title=Contentious Cross-Examination for Simpson Pathologist|url=https://apnews.com/cd6e7ca1618eb68b2fc76d72c2fccd4d|access-date=July 15, 2020|website=AP News|archive-date=July 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715185252/https://apnews.com/cd6e7ca1618eb68b2fc76d72c2fccd4d|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Margolick|first=David|date=August 11, 1995|title=Victims Put Up Long Fight, A Witness for Simpson Says|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/11/us/victims-put-up-long-fight-a-witness-for-simpson-says.html|access-date=July 15, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=June 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619182824/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/11/us/victims-put-up-long-fight-a-witness-for-simpson-says.html|url-status=live}}

After the trial, Baden admitted his claim of Goldman's long struggle was inaccurate{{cite news|title=Tuesday's witnesses at O.J. Simpson civil trial|url=https://apnews.com/1208b68a6ff5ccc93ead48afdb9fd72b|access-date=July 15, 2020|website=AP News|archive-date=July 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715185254/https://apnews.com/1208b68a6ff5ccc93ead48afdb9fd72b|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Jack Walraven's Simpson Trial Transcripts – December 17, 1996|url=http://simpson.walraven.org/dec17-96.html|access-date=July 15, 2020|website=simpson.walraven.org|archive-date=September 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919062613/http://simpson.walraven.org/dec17-96.html|url-status=live}} and that testifying for Simpson was a mistake.{{cite web|date=April 5, 2016|title=Forensic Pathologist Dr. Michael Baden: I Was Shunned For Being A Defense Witness In O.J. Simpson Trial|url=https://radio.foxnews.com/2016/04/05/forensic-pathologist-dr-michael-baden-i-was-shunned-for-being-a-defense-witness-in-o-j-simpson-trial/|access-date=July 15, 2020|website=Fox News Radio|archive-date=June 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619150215/https://radio.foxnews.com/2016/04/05/forensic-pathologist-dr-michael-baden-i-was-shunned-for-being-a-defense-witness-in-o-j-simpson-trial/|url-status=live}} Critics claimed that Baden knowingly gave false testimony in order to collect a $100,000 retainer{{Cite book|last=Bugliosi|first=Vincent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XmjNn1N8THkC&q=outrage|title=Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O.J. Simpson Got Away with Murder|date=2008|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0393330830}}{{cite web|last=Weinman|first=Sarah|date=October 31, 2019|title=Why You Might Not Want to Believe Michael Baden on Jeffrey Epstein's Death|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/why-to-be-skeptical-of-michael-baden-on-epsteins-death.html|access-date=December 26, 2019|website=Intelligencer|archive-date=January 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108144958/http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/why-to-be-skeptical-of-michael-baden-on-epsteins-death.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|date=December 11, 2007|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/29.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050854/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/29.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|access-date=July 15, 2020}} because the week before he testified, John Gerdes admitted{{cite web|title=Jack Walraven's Simpson Trial Transcripts – August 4, 1995|url=http://simpson.walraven.org/aug04.html|access-date=July 15, 2020|website=simpson.walraven.org|archive-date=September 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919055141/http://simpson.walraven.org/aug04.html|url-status=live}} that Goldman's blood was found in Simpson's Bronco{{cite web|date=December 11, 2007|title=CourtTV.com – Trials – O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/28.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050849/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/28.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|access-date=July 15, 2020}} despite Goldman never having an opportunity within his lifetime to be in the Bronco.{{Cite book|last1=Lee|first1=Henry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tc0ctKABrZwC&q=Blood+Evidence:+How+DNA+is+Revolutionizing+the+Way+We+Solve+Crimes|title=Blood Evidence: How Dna Is Revolutionizing The Way We Solve Crimes|last2=Tirnady|first2=Frank|date=2003|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0786752300|access-date=October 6, 2020|archive-date=April 12, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240412084422/https://books.google.com/books?id=Tc0ctKABrZwC&q=Blood+Evidence:+How+DNA+is+Revolutionizing+the+Way+We+Solve+Crimes#v=snippet&q=Blood%20Evidence%3A%20How%20DNA%20is%20Revolutionizing%20the%20Way%20We%20Solve%20Crimes&f=false|url-status=live}}

Nicole's mother, Juditha, told police and investigators in a sworn statement that she was speaking with her daughter on the telephone at 11:00pm that evening.{{Cite web |date=2024-01-23 |title=TIME OF NICOLE SIMPSON CALL DISPUTED |url=https://www.deseret.com/1994/8/14/19125061/time-of-nicole-simpson-call-disputed/ |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=Deseret News |language=en}} Those phone records were sealed. A vat of ice cream was still partially frozen sitting on the downstairs bannister when police searched the open-door house around 12:30am on June 13. The local weather was reported to be around {{cvt|60|F}} that night, implying that by that time, the ice cream should have been near-completely thawed.{{Cite web |date=1994-08-07 |title=ICE CREAM REPORTEDLY EMERGES AS EVIDENCE IN SIMPSON CASE |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/ice-cream-reportedly-emerges-as-evidence-in-simpson-case/article_129f6b8d-b722-56ea-be91-9fd512804aab.html |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=Buffalo News |language=en}}{{Cite web |last1=Colvin |first1=Richard Lee |last2=Renwick |first2=Lucille |date=1994-08-08 |title=Man Adds Details to Simpson Case : Investigation: Brentwood ice cream parlor manager says Nicole, her children and a man visited his shop the night she died. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-08-08-me-24848-story.html |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Kiner |first=Deb |date=2021-06-12 |title=From dance recital and dinner to dead - The murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in 1994 |url=https://www.pennlive.com/crime/2021/06/from-dance-recital-and-dinner-to-dead-the-murder-of-nicole-brown-simpson-and-ron-goldman-in-1994.html |access-date=2024-08-09 |website=pennlive |language=en}}

Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld argued that the results from the DNA testing were not reliable because the police were "sloppy" in collecting and preserving it from the crime scene.{{cite news|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 17: May 15–19, 1995|website=Court TV News|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/17.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050804/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/17.html|archive-date=December 11, 2007}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TS_ZCwAAQBAJ&q=o+j+run+of+his+life|title=The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson|last1=Toobin|first1=Jeffrey|year=2013|publisher=Random House Publishing|isbn=978-0812988543}} Fung and Mazzola 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 storing evidence in the police van, which was not refrigerated, for up to seven hours after collection.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/04/28/criminalist-no-errors-in-simpson-case/5e03dbef-d1f3-4fa0-8c25-b59a8a5810a4/|title=Criminalist: No Errors In Simpson Case|first=Nell|last=Henderson|date=April 28, 1995|newspaper=The Washington Post|url-access=subscription|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806212427/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/04/28/criminalist-no-errors-in-simpson-case/5e03dbef-d1f3-4fa0-8c25-b59a8a5810a4/|url-status=live}} This, the defense argued, would allow bacteria to degrade the DNA and thus make the samples more susceptible to cross-contamination in the LAPD crime lab.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0618-morrison-scheck-oj-simpson-20140618-column.html|title=Column: Barry Scheck on the O.J. trial, DNA evidence and the Innocence Project|date=June 18, 2014|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806004709/https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0618-morrison-scheck-oj-simpson-20140618-column.html|url-status=live}}

The prosecution denied that the mistakes made by Fung and Mazzola changed the validity of the results. They noted that all of the evidence samples were testable and that most of the DNA testing was done at the two consulting labs, not the LAPD crime lab where contamination supposedly happened. Since all of the samples the consulting labs received were testable, while Scheck and Neufeld's theory predicted that they should have been inconclusive after being "100% degraded", the claim that all the DNA was lost to bacterial degradation was not credible.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/28.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050849/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/28.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 28|website=Court TV News}} The prosecution also denied that contamination happened in the LAPD crime lab because the result would have been a mixture of Simpson's DNA and the DNA of the "real killer(s)", but the results showed that only Simpson's DNA was present.{{cite web|url=http://simpson.walraven.org/dec12-96.html|title=Reporter's Daily Transcript|first=Regina D.|last=Chavez|date=December 12, 1996|publisher=Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles|via=The Simpson Trial Transcripts|access-date=January 17, 2020|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806004451/http://simpson.walraven.org/dec12-96.html|url-status=live}} The prosecution also noted the defense declined to challenge any of those results by testing the evidence themselves.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TS_ZCwAAQBAJ&q=o+j+run+of+his+life|title=The Run of his Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson|first=Jeffrey|last=Toobin|date=2013|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0812988543}} Marcia Clark called Scheck and Neufeld's claims a "smoke-screen".{{cite news|first=Art|last=Harris|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/OJ/daily/9-29/sidebar/index.html|title=Prosecutors share lunch with victims' families|date=September 29, 1995|website=CNN|access-date=November 17, 2019|archive-date=September 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925013512/http://www.cnn.com/US/OJ/daily/9-29/sidebar/index.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k5y_DAAAQBAJ&q=barry+scheck+smoke+screen&pg=PT348|title=Triumph of Justice: Closing the Book on the O.J. Simpson Saga|last1=Petrocelli|first1=Daniel|last2=Knobler|first2=Peter|date=2016|publisher=Graymalkin Media|isbn=978-1631680779}}

The contamination claim was made by microbiologist John Gerdes.{{Cite news|first=Lorraine|last=Adams|date=September 23, 1995|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/09/23/carefully-planted-seeds-of-doubt/82a8a89f-19cb-45db-bc64-e86233bfb906/|title=Carefully Planted Seeds Of Doubt|newspaper=The Washington Post|url-access=subscription|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806212431/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/09/23/carefully-planted-seeds-of-doubt/82a8a89f-19cb-45db-bc64-e86233bfb906/|url-status=live}} He testified in August 1995 that Forensic PCR DNA matching is not reliable{{cite news|title=Quotes From the O.J. Simpson Trial|url=https://apnews.com/b279a5dcae880eda2a60a928616eddbe|website=AP News|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812042558/https://apnews.com/b279a5dcae880eda2a60a928616eddbe|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|title=Simpson Defense Witness Belittles Forensic Testing|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/08/04/simpson-defense-witness-belittles-forensic-testing/f10f7f9c-efb7-4822-a25c-e88d1c4b897c/|newspaper=The Washington Post|url-access=subscription|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=October 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002070537/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/08/04/simpson-defense-witness-belittles-forensic-testing/f10f7f9c-efb7-4822-a25c-e88d1c4b897c/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/b3803f9cabd8d5577a754ecaef1df08b|title=John Gerdes: DNA specialist; testified he's being paid $100|website=AP News|access-date=October 26, 2019|archive-date=October 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002021204/https://apnews.com/b3803f9cabd8d5577a754ecaef1df08b|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.deseret.com/1995/8/5/19185937/blood-evidence-may-be-quashed|title=Blood Evidence May Be Quashed|agency=Associated Press|date=August 5, 1995|website=Deseret News|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=October 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003035927/https://www.deseret.com/1995/8/5/19185937/blood-evidence-may-be-quashed|url-status=live}} and that the LAPD crime lab has a "chronic", "substantial contamination problem". Gerdes testified that because of the LAPD's past history of contamination, he would not consider any of the PCR DNA matches in this case reliable. He also claimed that the consulting labs' PCR DNA matches were not reliable, as the evidence they tested went "through the LAPD" for packaging and shipping. Gerdes believed only three of the DNA matches to have been valid, which were the same three the defense alleged were planted by the police.{{cite news|url=https://www.deseret.com/1995/8/3/19185615/o-j-defense-takes-aim-at-dna-handling|title=O.J. Defense Takes Aim at DNA Handling|agency=Associated Press|date=August 3, 1995|website=Deseret News|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826111953/https://www.deseret.com/1995/8/3/19185615/o-j-defense-takes-aim-at-dna-handling|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-08-04-mn-31372-story.html|title=DNA Witness Concedes a Lack of Expertise|date=August 4, 1995|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805221719/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-08-04-mn-31372-story.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-08-04-9508040273-story.html|title=Prosecution Makes Bid to Recoup, Paints DNA Expert as a Hired Gun|first=Jessica|last=Seigel|work=Chicago Tribune|date=August 4, 1995|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812061039/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-08-04-9508040273-story.html|url-status=live}}

During cross-examination, Gerdes admitted there was no evidence that cross-contamination had occurred and that he was only testifying to "what might occur and not what actually did occur". He accepted that the victims' blood was in the Bronco and Simpson's blood was at the crime scene and neither was due to contamination. He also conceded that nothing happened during "packaging and shipping" that would affect the validity of the results at the two consulting labs. The prosecution implied that Gerdes was not a credible witness: he had no forensic experience, had only testified for criminal defendants in the past, and always said the DNA evidence against them was not reliable due to contamination. Clark also implied that it was not a coincidence that the three evidence items he initially said were valid were the same three the defense claimed were planted while the other 58 were all false positives and the 47 substrate controls, which are used to determine if contamination occurred, were all false negatives.{{Cite book|last=Butler|first=John M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OZeEmqzE4oC&q=Importance+of+carefully+collecting+DNA+evidence:+The+O.J.+Simpson+case|title=Fundamentals of Forensic DNA Typing|date=2009|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0080961767}}{{cite web|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 29|website=Court TV News|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/29.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050854/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/29.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|access-date=December 26, 2019}} Defense forensic DNA expert Henry Lee, testifying in August 1995, admitted that Gerdes's claim was "highly improbable".{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/31.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050904/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/31.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 31|website=Court TV News}}{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/08/28/OJ-defense-expert-disagrees-with-another/8488809582400/|title=O.J. defense expert disagrees with another|website=UPI|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811201859/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/08/28/OJ-defense-expert-disagrees-with-another/8488809582400/|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tc0ctKABrZwC&q=dr+Henry+lee+dna+evidence|title=Blood Evidence: How DNA is Revolutionizing the Way We Solve Crimes|last1=Lee|first1=Henry|last2=Tirnady|first2=Frank|date=2003|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0786752300}}

Barry Scheck's eight-day cross-examination of Dennis Fung was lauded in the media.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-09-29-mn-51329-story.html|title=Scheck Moves From Sidelines to Center Stage|date=September 29, 1995|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=November 17, 2019|archive-date=November 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117053534/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-09-29-mn-51329-story.html|url-status=live}} However, Howard Coleman, president of Seattle-based forensic DNA laboratory GeneLex, criticized Scheck's cross-examination as "smoke and mirrors", stating: "Everything we get in the lab is contaminated to some degree. What contamination and degradation will lead you to is an inconclusive result. It doesn't lead you to a false positive".{{cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/powerful-damaging-cross-181620|title=A Powerful, Damaging Cross|last=Miller|first=Mark|date=April 23, 1995|website=Newsweek|access-date=November 17, 2019|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806081924/https://www.newsweek.com/powerful-damaging-cross-181620|url-status=live}}

The defense initially only claimed that three exhibits were planted by the police{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tc0ctKABrZwC&q=Henry+lee+blood+evidence |title=Blood Evidence: How DNA is Revolutionizing the Way We Solve Crimes |isbn=978-0786752300 |last1=Lee |first1=Henry |last2=Tirnady |first2=Frank |date=2003 |publisher=Basic Books}} but eventually argued that virtually all of the blood evidence against Simpson was planted in a police conspiracy.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TS_ZCwAAQBAJ&q=o+j+simpson |title=The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson |isbn=978-0812988543 |last1=Toobin |first1=Jeffrey |year=2015 |publisher=Random House Publishing}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/28/us/simpson-defense-advances-police-conspiracy-theory.html|title=Simpson Defense Advances Police-Conspiracy Theory|first=David|last=Margolick|date=July 28, 1995|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=October 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006023656/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/28/us/simpson-defense-advances-police-conspiracy-theory.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-05-mn-62655-story.html|title=The O.J. Simoson Murder Trial : Simpson Defense Presses Police Conspiracy Claim : Courts: Lawyer focuses on alleged missing blood. But chief forensic chemist says amount is exaggerated.|date=May 5, 1995|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=October 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006023700/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-05-mn-62655-story.html|url-status=live}} They accused prison nurse Thano Peratis,{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/12/10/OJ-nurse-changes-testimony/5632850194000/|title=O.J. nurse changes testimony|website=UPI|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190816055126/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/12/10/OJ-nurse-changes-testimony/5632850194000/|url-status=live}} criminalists Dennis Fung, Andrea Mazzola, and Colin Yamauchi, and Vannatter{{cite news|url=http://www.vcstar.com/news/local/lead-oj-investigator-cringes-at-cases-tv-retelling-2bd8da44-486f-5d3c-e053-0100007f1117-370458701.html|title=Lead O.J. investigator cringes at case's TV retelling|website=www.vcstar.com|access-date=October 26, 2019|archive-date=August 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808113129/http://www.vcstar.com/news/local/lead-oj-investigator-cringes-at-cases-tv-retelling-2bd8da44-486f-5d3c-e053-0100007f1117-370458701.html|url-status=live}} and Fuhrman,{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/30.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050859/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/30.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 30|website=Court TV News}} of participating in a plot to frame Simpson. In closing arguments, Cochran called Fuhrman and Vannatter "twins of deception",{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/09/28/Cochran-Cops-were-twins-of-deception/1243812260800/|title=Cochran: Cops were 'twins of deception'|website=UPI|access-date=October 26, 2019|archive-date=October 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026080505/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/09/28/Cochran-Cops-were-twins-of-deception/1243812260800/|url-status=live}} Vannatter "the man who carried the blood"{{sfn|Bugliosi|1997|pp=407, 434}} and Fuhrman "the man who found the glove".{{sfn|Bugliosi|1997|p=407}}

The only physical evidence offered by the defense that the police tried to frame Simpson was the allegation that two of the 108 DNA evidence samples tested in the case contained the preservative Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). However, it was the prosecution who asked to have the samples tested for the preservative, not the defense.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NNvZ_qwIxJ4C&q=Robert+shapiro|title=The Search for Justice: A Defense Attorney's Brief on the O.J. Simpson Case|last=Shapiro|first=Robert L.|date=2009|publisher=Grand Central Publishing|isbn=978-0446570077}} The defense alleged that the drop of blood on the back gate at the Bundy crime scene, which matched Simpson, and the blood found on a pair of socks in Simpson's bedroom, which matched Brown, were planted by the police. In order to support this claim, the defense pointed to the presence in the blood samples of EDTA, a preservative found in the purple-topped collection tubes used for police reference vials. In July 1995, Fredric Rieders, a forensic toxicologist who had analysed the FBI's results, testified that the level of EDTA in the evidence samples was higher than that which is normally found in blood: this appeared to support the defense's claim that the blood came from the reference vials.{{cite web|url=https://ojsimpson.co/oj-simpson-fact-fiction-ep-12/|title=Was O.J. Simpson's Blood Planted at the Murder Scene?|first=Brian|last=Heiss|date=May 2, 2018|work=O.J. Simpson: Fact or Fiction?|publisher=OJSimpson.co|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819182558/https://ojsimpson.co/oj-simpson-fact-fiction-ep-12/|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/jul/25/oj-witness-says-blood-carried-lab-preservative/|title=O.J. Witness Says Blood Carried Lab Preservative; Expert Supports Defense That Cops Daubed Blood On Evidence|agency=Associated Press|date=July 25, 1995|website=The Spokesman-Review|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819205752/https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/jul/25/oj-witness-says-blood-carried-lab-preservative/|url-status=live}} During cross-examination, Clark asked Rieders to read out loud the portion of the EPA article that stated what the normal levels of EDTA in blood are, which he had referenced during his testimony.{{cite web|url=http://simpson.walraven.org/jul24.html|title=Jack Walraven's Simpson Trial Transcripts – July 24 1995|access-date=June 18, 2020|archive-date=November 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102030653/http://simpson.walraven.org/jul24.html|url-status=live}} This demonstrated that he had misread the article and that the levels found in the evidence samples were consistent with those found in blood that was not preserved in a police reference vial.{{Cite book|last1=Lee|first1=Henry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tc0ctKABrZwC&q=Henry+Lee+dna|title=Blood Evidence: How Dna Is Revolutionizing The Way We Solve Crimes|last2=Tirnady|first2=Frank|date=2003|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0786752300}} Rieders then claimed it was a "typo",{{Cite book|last1=Lee|first1=Henry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tc0ctKABrZwC&q=EPA+report+as+either+a+typo|title=Blood Evidence: How Dna Is Revolutionizing The Way We Solve Crimes|last2=Tirnady|first2=Frank|date=2003|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0786752300}}{{cite web|first=William|last=Carlsen|date=July 25, 1995|title=O.J.'s Lawyers Call Witness to Bolster Theory of Frame-up|url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/O-J-s-Lawyers-Call-Witness-to-Bolster-Theory-of-3027546.php|access-date=March 31, 2021|website=SFGATE|archive-date=March 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309020255/https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/O-J-s-Lawyers-Call-Witness-to-Bolster-Theory-of-3027546.php|url-status=live}} but the prosecution produced a direct copy from the EPA confirming the normal amounts of EDTA found in unpreserved blood.{{cite web|first=Jessica|last=Seigel|title=Scientist Insists Lab Preservative in Stains|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-07-25-9507250145-story.html|access-date=March 31, 2021|website=Chicago Tribune|date=July 25, 1995|archive-date=June 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620102310/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-07-25-9507250145-story.html|url-status=live}} The prosecution also had Rieders admit that EDTA is found in food{{Cite news|last=Margolick|first=David|date=July 25, 1995|title=Simpson Expert Supports Conspiracy-Theory Defense|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/25/us/simpson-expert-supports-conspiracy-theory-defense.html|access-date=March 31, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310201041/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/25/us/simpson-expert-supports-conspiracy-theory-defense.html|url-status=live}} and specifically the ingredients used in the McDonald's Big Mac and french fries that Simpson had eaten earlier that night.

FBI special agent Roger Martz was called by the defense in July 1995 to testify that EDTA was present in the evidence samples. Instead, he said he did not identify it in the blood, contradicting Rieders' testimony.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-04-16-mn-49197-story.html|title=Probe Faults Performance of FBI Worker in Simpson Case|date=April 16, 1997|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819182601/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-04-16-mn-49197-story.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/27.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050844/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/27.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 27|website=Court TV News}} Initially he conceded the blood samples were "consistent with the presence of EDTA", but he later clarified his response after hearing that "everyone is saying that I found EDTA", which he denied. The defense accused him of changing his demeanor to favor the prosecution, and he replied: "I cannot be entirely truthful by only giving 'yes' and 'no' answers".{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/6e95270fdd8abd4c19063d46f46a3131|title=EDTA Testimony Leaves Simpson Jurors' Eyes Glazed|website=AP News|access-date=October 26, 2019|archive-date=October 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026062942/https://www.apnews.com/6e95270fdd8abd4c19063d46f46a3131|url-status=live}} Martz stated that it was impossible to ascertain with certainty the presence of EDTA, as while the presumptive test for it was positive, the identification test for it was inconclusive. He also tested his own unpreserved blood and got the same results for EDTA levels as the evidence samples, which he said conclusively disproved the claim that the evidence blood came from the reference vials.{{Cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,4443,00.html|title=O.J. Simpson ... Keystone Criminal Defense|date=July 25, 1995|magazine=Time|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819182601/http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,4443,00.html|url-status=live}} He contended that the defense had jumped to conclusions from the presumptive test results, while his tests had in fact shown that "those bloodstains did not come from preserved blood".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/26/us/fbi-disputes-simpson-defense-on-tainted-blood.html|title=F.B.I. Disputes Simpson Defense on Tainted Blood|last=Margolick|first=David|date=July 26, 1995|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 18, 2017|archive-date=December 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161216105759/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/26/us/fbi-disputes-simpson-defense-on-tainted-blood.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.deseret.com/1995/9/15/19193057/defense-ready-to-portray-an-fbi-expert-as-corrupt|title=Defense Ready to Portray an FBI Expert as Corrupt|agency=Associated Press|date=September 15, 1995|website=Deseret News|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=August 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819182557/https://www.deseret.com/1995/9/15/19193057/defense-ready-to-portray-an-fbi-expert-as-corrupt|url-status=live}}

The defense alleged that Simpson's blood on the back gate at the Bundy crime scene was planted by the police. The blood on the back gate was collected on July 3, 1994, rather than June 13.{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-04-19-9504190183-story.html|title=Handshakes for All, Including Simpson, as Fung Ends Testimony|first=Jessica|last=Seigel|work=Chicago Tribune|date=April 19, 1995|access-date=October 26, 2019|archive-date=October 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026060536/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-04-19-9504190183-story.html|url-status=live}} The volume of DNA in that blood was significantly higher than the other blood evidence collected on June 13. The volume of DNA was so high that the defense conceded that it could not be explained by contamination in the lab. However, they noted that it was unusual for that blood to have more DNA in it than the other samples collected at the crime scene, especially since it had been left exposed to the elements for several weeks and was collected after the crime scene had supposedly been washed over. In March 1995, Vannatter testified that he instructed Fung to collect the blood on the gate on June 13 and Fung admitted he had not done so.{{Cite web |url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Simpson/transcript.html |title=O. J. Simpson Trial: Excerpts from the trial transcript |date=September 10, 2007 |website= |access-date=March 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070910032810/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Simpson/transcript.html |archive-date=September 10, 2007 |url-status=dead}} The defense suggested the reason why Fung did not collect the blood is because it was not there that day; when shown a blown-up photograph taken of the back gate on June 13, he admitted he could not see the blood.{{sfn|Toobin|1997|p=341}}

The prosecution responded that a different photograph showed the blood was present on the back gate on June 13, before any blood had been taken from Simpson's arm.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3BNNsnProUkC&q=Bundy+back+gate+stain+115+was+visible+in+this+photograph|title=O.J. Unmasked: The Trial, the Truth, and the Media|last=Rantala|first=M. L.|date=1996|publisher=Open Court Publishing|isbn=978-0812693287}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3BNNsnProUkC&q=How+can+you+explain+away+O.J%27s+blood+at+the+murder+scene%2C+found+hours+before+his+blood+sample+was+taken|title=O.J. Unmasked: The Trial, the Truth, and the Media|last=Rantala|first=M. L.|date=1996|publisher=Open Court Publishing|isbn=978-0812693287}} Robert Riske was the first officer at the crime scene and the one who pointed out the blood on the back gate to Fuhrman, who documented it in his notes that night.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tc0ctKABrZwC&q=Henry+Lee+dna|title=Blood Evidence: How DNA Is Revolutionizing The Way We Solve Crimes|last1=Lee|first1=Henry|last2=Tirnady|first2=Frank|date=2003|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0786752300}} Multiple other officers testified that the blood was present on the back gate the night of the murders.{{sfn|Bugliosi|1997|pp=407, 434}} The prosecution also pointed out that the media cameras present proved that Vannatter never returned to the crime scene (Brown's home) that evening, where Simpson's blood was allegedly planted.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3BNNsnProUkC&q=o+j+unmasked|title=O.J. Unmasked: The Trial, the Truth, and the Media|last=Rantala|first=M. L.|date=1996|publisher=Open Court Publishing|isbn=978-0812693287|access-date=October 6, 2020|archive-date=April 12, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240412085034/https://books.google.com/books?id=3BNNsnProUkC&q=o+j+unmasked#v=snippet&q=o%20j%20unmasked&f=false|url-status=live}}

Barry Scheck alleged the police had twice planted the victims' blood inside Simpson's Bronco. An initial collection was made on June 13; the defense accused Vannatter of planting the victims' blood in the Bronco when he returned to Simpson's home later that evening. The prosecution responded that the Bronco had already been impounded by the time Vannatter returned and was not even at Rockingham.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tc0ctKABrZwC&q=impounded|title=Blood Evidence: How DNA Is Revolutionizing The Way We Solve Crimes|last1=Lee|first1=Henry|last2=Tirnady|first2=Frank|date=2003|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0786752300}}

The defense alleged that the police had planted Brown's blood on the socks found in Simpson's bedroom. The socks were collected on June 13 and had blood from both Simpson and Brown, but her blood on the socks was not identified until August 4.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tc0ctKABrZwC&pg=PA1|title=Blood Evidence: How DNA Is Revolutionizing The Way We Solve Crimes|first1=Henry|last1=Lee|first2=Frank|last2=Tirnady|date=2003|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0786752300}} The socks were found by Fuhrman, but the defense suggested Vannatter planted the blood. He had received both blood reference vials from the victims earlier that day from the coroner and booked them immediately into evidence. Vannatter then drove back to Rockingham later that evening to hand-deliver the reference vial for Simpson to Fung, which the defense alleged gave him opportunity to plant the blood. Fung testified he could not see blood on the socks he collected from Simpson's bedroom, and the prosecution later demonstrated that those blood stains were only visible underneath a microscope.

Vannatter denied planting Brown's blood on the socks. The video from Willie Ford indicated that the socks had already been collected and stored in the evidence van before Vannatter arrived and footage from the media cameras present appeared to prove that he never went inside the evidence van after he arrived at Rockingham.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tc0ctKABrZwC&q=evidence+van|title=Blood Evidence: How DNA Is Revolutionizing The Way We Solve Crimes|last1=Lee|first1=Henry|last2=Tirnady|first2=Frank|date=2003|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0786752300}}

The last exhibit allegedly planted was the bloody glove found at Simpson's property by Fuhrman.{{sfn|Bugliosi|1997|pp=208, 228–228}} Unlike the sock and the back gate, the defense provided no physical or eyewitness evidence to support their claim that the prosecution could then refute.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tc0ctKABrZwC&q=furthermore+no+trace+evidence+on+the+glove|title=Blood Evidence: How DNA Is Revolutionizing The Way We Solve Crimes|last1=Lee|first1=Henry|last2=Tirnady|first2=Frank|date=2003|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0786752300}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/150655-did-mark-fuhrman-plant-evidence-in-the-oj-simpson-case-he-evoked-the-fifth-amendment-in|title=Did Mark Fuhrman plant evidence in the O.J. Simpson Case? He evoked the Fifth Amendment in court|website=Bustle|date=March 29, 2016|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507095843/https://www.bustle.com/articles/150655-did-mark-fuhrman-plant-evidence-in-the-oj-simpson-case-he-evoked-the-fifth-amendment-in|url-status=live}} The New Yorker published an article months before the trial began which cited a source in Simpson's defense team as saying that they intended to accuse Fuhrman of planting the glove, with the motive being racism. Robert Shapiro later admitted he was the magazine's source.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1994/07/25/an-incendiary-defense|title=The Danger of the Bloody-Glove Defense|last=Toobin|first=Jeffrey|date=July 18, 1994|access-date=December 28, 2019|magazine=New Yorker|issn=0028-792X|archive-date=July 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730184302/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1994/07/25/an-incendiary-defense|url-status=live}}

File:Mfuhr.jpg

Defense attorney F. Lee Bailey suggested that Fuhrman found the glove at the crime scene, picked it up with a stick, placed it in a plastic bag, and concealed it in his sock when he drove to Simpson's home with Lange, Vannatter, and Phillips. Bailey suggested that Fuhrman then planted the glove to frame Simpson, with the motive being either racism or a desire to become the hero in a high-profile case.{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/de764966432042c2910dc709fc382516|title=Lawyers Clash Over F. Lee Bailey's 'Marine to Marine' Comment|website=AP News|access-date=October 26, 2019|archive-date=October 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002015000/https://apnews.com/de764966432042c2910dc709fc382516|url-status=live}} Scheck suggested that Fuhrman broke into the Bronco and used the glove to plant blood onto and inside the Bronco.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TS_ZCwAAQBAJ&q=o+j+run+of+his+life|title=The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson|isbn=978-0812988543|last=Toobin|first=Jeffrey|year=2015|publisher=Random House Publishing}}

The prosecution denied that Fuhrman planted the glove. They noted that several officers had already combed over the crime scene for almost two hours before Fuhrman arrived and none had noticed a second glove. Lange testified that 14 other officers were there when Fuhrman arrived and all said there was only one glove at the scene.{{cite web|date=February 9, 2008|title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – Week 7|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/07.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209202323/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/07.html|archive-date=February 9, 2008|website=Court TV News}} Lt. Frank Spangler also testified that he was with Fuhrman for the duration of his time there, saying he would have seen Fuhrman steal the glove. Clark added that Fuhrman did not know whether Simpson had an alibi, if there were any witnesses to the murders, whose blood was on the glove, that the Bronco belonged to Simpson, or whether Kaelin had already searched the area where the glove was found.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/03/17/baileys-questioning-of-fuhrman-ends-minus-fireworks/5d1374d1-a828-4b63-8d54-8e56716e568f/|title=Bailey's questioning of Fuhrman ends minus fireworks|first=Nell|last=Henderson|date=March 17, 1995|newspaper=The Washington Post|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3BNNsnProUkC&q=Dr.+John+Gerdes+after+simpson+trial&pg=PA179|title=O.J. Unmasked: The Trial, the Truth, and the Media|last1=Rantala|first1=M.L.|year=1996|publisher=Open Court |isbn=978-0812693287}}{{Cite book|via=Internet Archive|url=https://archive.org/details/justicesciencetr0000clar|url-access=registration|title=Justice and Science: Trials and Triumphs of DNA Evidence|publisher=Rutgers University Press|last=Clarke|first=George|date= 2007|isbn=978-0813543949}}

During cross-examination by Bailey,{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/index/nns182.htm|title=Some who helped shape the O.J. Simpson case|date=January 28, 1997|newspaper=USA Today|access-date=December 5, 2008}} Fuhrman denied that he had used the word "nigger" to describe African Americans in the ten years prior to his testimony. A few months later, the defense presented audiotapes of Fuhrman repeatedly using the word eight years before the murders. The Fuhrman tapes became the cornerstone of the defense's case that his testimony lacked credibility. Clark called the tapes "the biggest red herring" ever.

After screenwriter Laura Hart McKinny handed over the tapes to the defense, Fuhrman says he asked the prosecution for a redirect to explain the context of those tapes but the prosecution and fellow officers abandoned him after Ito played the audiotapes in open court.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/01/us/excerpts-from-the-ruling-on-the-fuhrman-tapes.html |title=Excerpts from the ruling on the Fuhrman tapes |agency=Associated Press |date=September 1, 1995 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=October 31, 2019}} The public reaction was explosive, comparable to the reaction to the video of the King beating.{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/OJ/daily/8-29/|title=Fuhrman tapes take center stage; Goldman family is incensed |date=August 29, 1995 |website=CNN |access-date=October 31, 2019}} After the trial, Fuhrman said that he was not a racist and apologized for his language, claiming he was play-acting for a screenplay when he made the tapes and had been asked to be as dramatic as possible.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tc0ctKABrZwC&q=blood+evidence&pg=PA1 |title=Blood Evidence: How DNA is revolutionizing the way we solve crimes |last1=Lee |first1=Henry |last2=Tirnady |first2=Frank |date=2003 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0786752300}} Many of his minority former coworkers expressed support for him.{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-11-08-mn-771-story.html |title=Co-workers paint different portrait of Mark Fuhrman: LAPD: In contrast to racist boasts on tapes, black, Latino colleagues describe a hard-working, unbiased cop. |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |date=November 8, 1995}}

On September 6, 1995, Fuhrman was called back to the stand by the defense after the prosecution refused to redirect him. The jury was absent but the exchange was televised. Fuhrman, facing a possible prosecution for perjury, was instructed by his attorney to invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination to two consecutive questions he was asked.{{Cite book |last=Fuhrman |first=Mark |title=Murder in Brentwood |year=1997 |page=247}}{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Henry |title=Blood Evidence: How DNA is revolutionizing the way we solve crimes |year=2001 |page=250}}{{Cite book|last=Toobin|first=Jeffrey|title=The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson |pages=407–408}}{{sfn|Bugliosi|1997|pp=84–85}} Defense attorney Uelmen asked Fuhrman if it was his intention to plead the Fifth to all questions, and Fuhrman's attorney instructed him to reply "yes". Uelmen spoke with other members of the defense and then said he had just one more question: "Did you plant or manufacture any evidence in this case?" Following his attorney's instruction, Fuhrman again invoked the Fifth.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Cochran responded to Fuhrman's pleading the Fifth by accusing the other officers of conspiring to protect Fuhrman; he asked Judge Ito to suppress all of the evidence that Fuhrman found. Ito denied the request, stating that pleading the Fifth does not imply guilt and that there was no evidence of fraud. Cochran asked that the jury be allowed to hear Fuhrman taking the Fifth, and again Ito denied his request. Ito criticized the defense's theory of how Fuhrman allegedly planted the glove, stating it was illogical.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/36.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211050929/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/36.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 11, 2007 |title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – week 36|website=Court TV News}}

File:O.J. Simpson trying on a pair of gloves during his criminal trial.png

On June 15, 1995, Darden surprised Clark by asking Simpson to try on the gloves found at the crime scene and his home. The prosecution had earlier decided against asking Simpson to try them on because the gloves had been soaked in blood from Simpson, Brown, and Goldman, and frozen and unfrozen several times. Instead they presented a witness who testified that Brown had purchased a pair of those gloves in the same size in 1990 at Bloomingdales for Simpson, along with a receipt and a photo of Simpson earlier wearing the same type of gloves.{{cite web |url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/21.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209181334/http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/21.html|url-status=dead |archive-date=February 9, 2008 |title=O.J. Simpson: Week-by-week – week 21 |website=Court TV News}}

The leather gloves appeared too tight for Simpson to put on easily, especially over the latex gloves he wore underneath. Clark claimed that Simpson was acting when he appeared to be struggling to put on the gloves. Cochran replied, "I don't think he could act the size of his hands". Darden then told Ito of his concerns that Simpson "has arthritis and we looked at the medication he takes and some of it is anti-inflammatory and we are told he has not taken the stuff for a day and it caused swelling in the joints and inflammation in his hands".{{cite web |url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/167051-did-oj-simpson-stop-taking-arthritis-medication-before-trying-on-the-gloves-his-former-agent-made |title=O.J.'s ex-agent makes a big claim about the gloves |website=Bustle |date=June 18, 2016 |access-date=December 29, 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-23-mn-16337-story.html |title=The O.J. Simpson murder trial: Prosecutors say Simpson trick thwarted glove test |date=June 23, 1995 |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |access-date=December 29, 2019}} Cochran informed Ito the next day that Shawn Chapman contacted the Los Angeles County Jail doctor, who confirmed Simpson was taking his arthritis medication every day, and that the jail's medical records verified this.{{cite web |title=Los Angeles California; Friday, June 23, 1995 9:00 am |url=https://simpson.walraven.org/jun23.html|website=simpson.walraven.org|access-date=September 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909222055/https://simpson.walraven.org/jun23.html|archive-date=September 9, 2018|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title= O.J. and the Gloves : The Truth About What Really Happened|url= https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T034CB8p7Rg|website=youtube.com |date= 2016|language=en}}

In a June 28, 1995, memo to Cochran, Uelmen came up with—and Cochran later repeated—a quip he used in his closing arguments: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit". In his memo to Cochran, Uelmen noted that the phrase not only applied to the gloves but to the evidence presented by the prosecutors:{{cite web | last=LaRoe | first=Ginny | title=Lawyer Behind 'If It Doesn't Fit' Thinks O.J. Miniseries Full of S*** | website=Law.com | date=April 5, 2016 | url=https://www.law.com/2016/04/05/lawyer-behind-if-it-doesnt-fit-thinks-miniseries-full-of-s/?slreturn=20240312104259 | access-date=April 12, 2024}}

{{blockquote| What the memo really tries to do is play off the jury instructions... I thought that instruction on circumstantial evidence [CALJIC 2.01] was just incredibly good for us, so when we knew that instruction was going to be given, it just popped out at me. It says if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. What I was trying to do is not just remind the jury of that moment in the trial of trying on the glove, but the whole concept of did the evidence really fit the story that the prosecution was trying to present.}}

The prosecution stated they believed the gloves shrank from having been soaked in the blood of the victims. This model of gloves was made out of leather, which, as confirmed by Richard Rubin, can shrink up to 15% after being exposed to moisture and can never return to its original size.{{Cite web |last1=Simon |first1=Stephanie |last2=Rutten |first2=Tim |last3=Mitchell |first3=John L. |date=1995-06-17 |title=Simpson Prosecutors Focus on Shrinkage of Gloves : Courts: Witness says moisture would cause the problem. Clark, Dershowitz clash over dwindling jury. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-17-mn-14116-story.html |access-date=2024-04-16 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} Darden produced a new pair of the same type of gloves, which fit Simpson when he tried them on.{{cite news |url=https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-32943569/gloves-may-have-shrunk-expert-says-at-o-j-trial |title=Gloves may have shrunk, expert says at O.J. trial |newspaper=The St. Louis Post-Dispatch |place=St. Louis, MO |date=June 17, 1995|access-date=November 13, 2019 |archive-date=April 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427191119/https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-32943569/gloves-may-have-shrunk-expert-says-at-o-j-trial|url-status=dead}} Rubin was a former vice president of Aris Isotoner Inc., which makes the gloves in question. On September 12, 1995, Rubin testified he was "100 certain" that the gloves at the murder scene—and also the style of gloves which Simpson was seen wearing in photographs and football broadcasts between 1990 and 1994—were of the company's rare Aris Light model and that they appeared to have shrunk.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/09/13/expert-says-photos-match-trial-gloves/08c593b6-c445-4906-a36a-73a6c4733d6f/|title=Expert Says Photos Match Trial Gloves|first=William|last=Clayborne|newspaper=Washington Post|date=September 12, 1995|accessdate=April 17, 2024}}{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/US/OJ/daily/9-12/6pm/index.html|title=Expert: Simpson's gloves match evidence|first=Anne|last=McDermott|publisher=CNN|date=September 12, 1995|accessdate=April 17, 2024}} Rubin also noted that another pair of similar gloves which Simpson could be seen wearing during a football broadcast were noticeably absorbing rain water.

After the trial, Cochran revealed that Bailey had goaded Darden into asking Simpson to try on the gloves{{cite web|title=Was Darden Tricked?|url=https://www.deseret.com/1996/2/14/19224970/was-darden-tricked|date=February 14, 1996|website=Deseret News}} and that Shapiro had told Simpson in advance that they would not fit.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dG-KDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT31|title=The Search for Justice: A defense attorney's brief on the O.J. Simpson case |last=Shapiro|first=Robert |date= 2019 |publisher=Graymalkin Media |isbn=978-1631682551}}

In closing arguments, Darden ridiculed the notion that police officers might have wanted to frame Simpson. He questioned why, if the LAPD was against Simpson, they went to his house eight times on domestic violence calls against Brown between 1986 and 1988 but did not arrest him; they only arrested him on charges of abuse in January 1989. Darden noted the police did not arrest Simpson for five days after the 1994 murders. During the prosecution's closing argument, Cochran and Scheck very notably objected seventy-one times in order to lessen its effect on the jury,{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} and though Ito overruled sixty-nine of them, he did not once admonish Cochran or Scheck or threaten them with contempt of court for their behavior.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

During his closing argument, Cochran pointed out the many flaws of the LAPD, particularly Fuhrman, Lange, and Vannatter. He emphasized that Fuhrman was proved to have repeatedly referred to black people as "niggers" and also to have boasted of beating young black men in his role as a police officer. Cochran compared Fuhrman to Adolf Hitler and referred to him as "the personification of evil", and claimed that Fuhrman had planted the glove in an attempt to frame Simpson for the murders, based on his dislike of interracial couples. Cochran also presented a piece of paper named "Vannatter's Big Lies", claiming Vannatter had returned to the crime scene with Simpson's blood to plant it there, despite Vannatter having previously testified that he had given it to Dennis Fung in order to avoid the exhibits from getting mixed up. Cochran referred to Fuhrman and Vannatter as the "two devils of deception", and implored the jurors to "stop this cover-up" and "acquit Simpson and send the police a message", which was interpreted by many as an appeal for a jury nullification.

Following his summation, Cochran received numerous death threats, and hired bodyguards from Louis Farrakhan. In response, Fred Goldman, who was himself Jewish, referred to Cochran himself as a racist and a "sick man" for comparing Fuhrman to Hitler while associating himself with Farrakhan, who was widely considered a black supremacist and anti-Semite. Robert Shapiro, also Jewish, said he was offended by Cochran comparing Fuhrman's claims to the Holocaust. In an interview regarding Vincent Bugliosi's analysis on the case, Vannatter claimed that he was so infuriated at Cochran's claims about him that he felt a desire to strangle him in the courtroom.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Fears grew that race riots, similar to the riots in 1992, would erupt across Los Angeles and the rest of the country if Simpson were convicted of the murders. As a result, all Los Angeles police officers were put on 12-hour shifts. The police arranged for more than 100 police officers on horseback to surround the Los Angeles County courthouse on the day the verdict was announced, in case of rioting by the crowd. President Bill Clinton was briefed on security measures if rioting were to occur nationwide.

The only testimony that the jury reviewed was that of limo driver Park.{{Cite news |last=Pemberton |first=Patrick S. |date=February 16, 2013 |title= Limo driver for O.J. Simpson the night of the killings had a quieter life in Paso after the trial |work=San Luis Obispo Tribune |url=https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article39436707.html |access-date=July 21, 2020}} At 10:07 a.m. on October 3, 1995, Simpson was acquitted on both counts of murder. The jury arrived at the verdict by 3:00 pm on October 2, after four hours of deliberation, but it postponed the announcement.{{sfn|Dershowitz|2004}} After the verdict was read, juror number nine, 44-year-old Lionel Cryer, gave Simpson a Black Power raised fist salute.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/03/usa.garyyounge|title=Gary Younge: OJ Simpson and America, ten years after the trial|first=Gary|last=Younge|work=The Guardian|date=October 3, 2005|access-date=April 7, 2016}} The New York Times reported that Cryer was a former member of the revolutionary nationalist Black Panther Party that prosecutors had "inexplicably left on the panel".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/04/us/not-guilty-overview-jury-clears-simpson-double-murder-spellbound-nation-divides.html|title=Jury Clears Simpson in Double Murder; Spellbound Nation Divides on Verdict|date=October 4, 1995|website=The New York Times|access-date=July 25, 2017}}

An estimated 100 million people worldwide watched or listened to the verdict's announcement. Long-distance telephone call volume declined by 58 percent, and trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange decreased by 41 percent. Water usage decreased as people avoided using bathrooms. So much work stopped that the verdict resulted in an estimated $480 million in lost production.{{cite news |last1=Engel |first1=Pamela |title=America Came To A Standstill During The O.J. Verdict — Here's Everything That Stopped |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/the-world-stopped-when-the-oj-simpson-verdict-was-read-2014-6 |access-date=11 April 2024 |work=Business Insider |publisher=Insider |date=12 June 2014}} The US Supreme Court received a message on the verdict during oral arguments, with the justices quietly passing the note to each other while listening to the attorney's presentation. Congressmen canceled press conferences, with Joe Lieberman telling reporters, "Not only would you not be here, but I wouldn't be here, either".{{cite news|title=Washington Comes to a Stop|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=October 4, 1995|access-date=January 7, 2019 |last=Duggan|first=Paul|page=A1|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/10/04/washington-comes-to-a-stop/a136e10e-851b-4832-8887-8b0baf50aedf/|url-access=subscription}}

{{Main|Reaction to the verdict in the O. J. Simpson criminal trial}}

African-American LAPD Police Chief Willie Williams indicated that he had no plans to reopen the investigation, saying of the acquittals, "It doesn't mean there's another murderer". The LAPD has also declined to reexamine the evidence with modern methods in recent years because Simpson could not be tried for the same crime again under the Fifth Amendment.{{cite news| url = https://apnews.com/article/d69d0ed367ece1316102fedc7df6c673| title = Simpson Acquitted, Freed, Vows to Hunt Down Killers | website = Associated Press}}{{cite web| url = https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/oj-confidential-6406494| title = O.J. Confidential {{!}} News {{!}} Dallas Observer |location=Dallas, Texas}}

Simpson's 1993 Ford Bronco was never returned to him and was destroyed by the LAPD shortly after the trial ended.{{cite web |url=https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/o-j-simpsons-white-ford-bronco-heres-what-happened-to-the-infamous-vehicle-from-his-1994-police-chase/ |title=O.J. Simpson's white Ford Bronco: Here's what happened to the infamous vehicle from his 1994 police chase |work=CBS Sports |last=Breech |first=John |date=April 12, 2024 |access-date=October 5, 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/pop-culture/2024/04/12/oj-simpson-and-the-ford-bronco-are-forever-intertwined-in-pop-culture/ |title=O.J. Simpson and the Ford Bronco are forever intertwined in pop culture |work=The Dallas Morning News |last=Wynn |first=Christopher |date=April 12, 2024 |access-date=October 5, 2024}}

Cowlings's 1993 Ford Bronco from the low-speed chase was purchased in 1994 by Simpson's former sports agent Mike Gilbert and two other men. It then ended up being mostly in a parking garage for the next 17 years (1995–2012) and being only rarely used.{{cite news |last1=Breech |first1=John |title=Here's what happened to the white Ford Bronco from the O.J. Simpson chase |url=https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/heres-what-happened-to-the-white-ford-bronco-from-the-o-j-simpson-chase/ |access-date=2019-06-16 |agency=CBS Sports |publisher=CBS Broadcasting, Inc. |date=2019-06-17}} As of 2017, the vehicle was on loan to the Alcatraz East Crime Museum, where it was put on display as part of an exhibit on the murder trial.

{{Main|Domestic violence in the United States}}

The strong public reaction to Brown's letters and statements describing her abuse{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TS_ZCwAAQBAJ&q=dna+|title=The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson|last1=Toobin|first1=Jeffrey|year=2015|publisher=Random House Publishing |isbn=978-0812988543}} spurred passage of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, which Clark and Douglas referred to as the "O.J. rule".{{Cite magazine|last=Alter|first=Charlotte|date=June 12, 2014|title=How the OJ Simpson Case Helped Fight Domestic Violence|url=https://time.com/2864428/kardashian-oj-simpson-domestic-violence/|access-date=July 31, 2020|magazine=Time}}{{cite news|date=June 12, 2019|title=Simpson Case Changed How America Sees Spousal Abuse|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_simpson-case-changed-how-america-sees-spousal-abuse/6169935.html|access-date=July 31, 2020|website=Voice of America|language=en|agency=Associated Press}}{{Cite news|last=Jones|first=Charisse|date=October 13, 1995|title=Nicole Simpson, in Death, Lifting Domestic Violence to the Forefront as National Issue|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/13/us/nicole-simpson-death-lifting-domestic-violence-forefront-national-issue.html|access-date=July 31, 2020|issn=0362-4331}} After the trial, researchers reported increased reporting, arrests, and harsher sentences for those convicted of domestic violence.{{Cite journal|last1=Maxwell|first1=Kimberly|last2=Huxford|first2=John|last3=Borum|first3=Catherine|last4=Hornik|first4=Robert|date=June 1, 2000|title=Covering Domestic Violence: How the O.J. Simpson Case Shaped Reporting of Domestic Violence in the News Media|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254120208|journal=Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly|volume=77|issue=2|pages=258–72|doi=10.1177/107769900007700203|s2cid=143642383|issn=1077-6990}}

After the verdict, polling showed that 75 percent of White Americans thought Simpson was guilty while 70 percent of Black Americans thought he was innocent.{{cite web| url = https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/index/nns212.htm| title = Race factor tilts the scales of public opinion|website=Usatoday30.usatoday.com}}{{cite news| url = http://www.cnn.com/US/OJ/daily/9510/10-06/poll_race/oj_poll_txt.html| title = CNN – Races disagree on Simpson verdict – Oct. 6, 1995| website = CNN}} An NBC poll taken in 2004 reported 87 percent of Whites believed Simpson was guilty, compared to only 27 percent of Black respondents.{{cite web| url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/o-j-simpson-poll-celebrity-status/| title = Poll: Only 27% of Americans think O.J. Simpson will regain celebrity status | website = CBS News| date = September 29, 2017 }} In the 2010s, polling showed the gap had narrowed, with a majority of both now believing he was guilty: 83 percent of White and 57 percent of Black Americans.{{cite web| url = https://fivethirtyeight.com/videos/most-black-people-now-think-oj-simpson-was-guilty/| title = Most Black People Now Think O.J. Was Guilty| date = June 9, 2016}}{{cite web |last1=Kiewiet de Jonge |first1=Chad |title=Twenty Years Out, Racial Gap Narrows on Simpson Verdict |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/twenty-years-racial-gap-narrows-simpson-verdict/story?id=33926204 |website=ABC News |access-date= December 1, 2021 |date=September 25, 2015}}

{{Main|Proposition 209|2020 California Proposition 16|2003 California Proposition 54}}

Scholarly consensus is that the trial damaged race relations in America{{cite web| url = https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/news/2019/06/14/the-oj-simpson-case-25-years-later--a-revelation-in-race-relations-| title = The OJ Simpson Case: A Revelation in Race Relations}} and point to polling which shows that belief in Simpson's guilt depended on the race of the individual and not on the evidence against him.{{cite web| url = https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/01/oj-simpson-prison-release-america-race-debate| title = OJ Simpson: an eternal symbol of racial division – or has America moved on? {{!}} OJ Simpson | website = TheGuardian.com| date = October 2017 }} Analysis of the "racial gap" in polling shows that it did not cross the political spectrum. Conservatives regardless of race or gender thought Simpson was guilty. Where the gap emerged was among liberals – with black liberals believing Simpson was innocent, while white liberals thought he was guilty.{{cite web|url=https://theharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Harris-Interactive-Poll-Research-50-pct-TO-25-pct-MAJORITY-BELIEVE-OJ-SIMPSON-GUI-1994-10.pdf|title=50% TO 25% MAJORITY BELIEVE O.J. SIMPSON GUILTY OF MURDER -- COMPARED TO 38% TO 32% IN JULY|website=Theharrispoll.com|access-date=March 5, 2022|archive-date=October 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028042718/https://theharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Harris-Interactive-Poll-Research-50-pct-TO-25-pct-MAJORITY-BELIEVE-OJ-SIMPSON-GUI-1994-10.pdf|url-status=dead}} Stanford University Law Professor Richard Thompson Ford wrote that this made the verdict a wedge issue that divided liberals along racial lines as white liberals felt the verdict was a racially motivated jury nullification and resented the images of African Americans celebrating the verdict.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ULDlFvCKlRoC&q=proposition+209|title = The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse|isbn = 978-1429924047|last = Ford|first = Richard Thompson|date = 2009| publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux }} Led by Ward Connerly, opponents of affirmative action, seized upon the division and rebranded as advocating race neutrality, which appealed to white liberals now due to their perceived unjustness of the verdict{{Cite web |last=Boesche |first=Roger |date=1995-10-11 |title=How White People Riot: Quietly, but Lethally, at the Ballot Box : Race relations: If the Simpson verdict damages the faith of liberals, count on more support for gutting programs that benefit minorities. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-10-11-me-55591-story.html |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} and in 1996 voters in California passed Proposition 209, which ended affirmative action programs in the state.{{cite web| url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320919525| title = The Revolution Against Affirmative Action in California: Politics, Economics, and Proposition 209 }}{{Cite book|last=Lincoln|first=C. Eric|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N6ZA798dB38C&q=prop+209+o+j+simpson|title=Race, Religion, and the Continuing American Dilemma|date=2011|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=978-1429952743|language=en}}{{cite news| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/07/us/in-california-foes-of-affirmative-action-see-a-new-day.html| title = In California, Foes of Affirmative Action See a New Day – The New York Times| website = The New York Times| date = November 7, 1996| last = Pear| first = Robert}} A historic drop in diversity at the University of California system followed{{cite web| url = https://dailybruin.com/1996/12/01/prop209-battle-neglects-issue| title = Prop. 209 battle neglects issue of diversity – Daily Bruin}} which resulted in a similar drop in diversity that still remains{{Cite news |date=2020-08-21 |title=A Detailed Look at the Downside of California's Ban on Affirmative Action (Published 2020) |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/upshot/00up-affirmative-action-california-study.html#:~:text=Degrees%20from%20the%20state's%20elite,when%20the%20study%20period%20ended. |access-date=2023-08-13 |last1=Carey |first1=Kevin }} in the state's white-collar job market, especially in the high-tech hub of Silicon Valley.{{cite web| url = https://www.ucop.edu/academic-affairs/prop-209/index.html| title = Research and Analyses on the Impact of Proposition 209 in California {{!}} UCOP}}{{Cite book|last=Okeke-Ibezim|first=Felicia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYFo99rVAQ0C&dq=prop+209+and+o+j+simpson&pg=PA119|title=O.J. Simpson: The Trial of the Century|date=1997|publisher=Ekwike Books & Publishing|isbn=978-0966159806|language=en}} A further initiative rejected by voters, Proposition 54 in 2003, would have further increased the impact of Prop 209 by abolishing racial classifications so the drop in diversity couldn't be quantified.{{cite web |last1=Trounson |first1=Rebecca |title=Prop. 54: Coping With Race Distinctions |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-sep-28-me-race28-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=December 1, 2021 |date=September 28, 2003 |url-access=limited}}{{cite web|url=https://ajud.assembly.ca.gov/sites/ajud.assembly.ca.gov/files/reports/0803%20PROP54background.pdf |title=PROPOSITION 54: IMPACTS ON HEALTH, LAW ENFORCEMENT, EDUCATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF CALIFORNIANS|website=Ajud.assembly.ca.gov|access-date=March 5, 2022}}{{cite web| url = https://againstthecurrent.org/atc107/p502/| title = The Defeat of Prop 54 – Against the Current| date = November 30, 2001}} The murder of George Floyd revived empathy for racial injustice among white liberals{{cite web| url = https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-ap-top-news-us-news-trials-california-5435457473e847ae845dafca986f35e2| title = 'Let 1994 go': Simpson case's racial symbolism now a relic | website = Associated Press| date = April 20, 2021 }}{{cite news| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/07/opinion/blow-from-oj-to-trayvon.html| title = Opinion {{!}} From O.J. to Trayvon | website = The New York Times| date = April 7, 2012 | last1 = Blow | first1 = Charles M. }}{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/08/18/racial-reactions-to-ferguson-even-stronger-than-to-trayvon-martin/| title = African Americans are very concerned about what's happening in Ferguson. Whites are not| newspaper = The Washington Post}} but the unsuccessful attempt to repeal Proposition 209 in 2020 was credited to the trial's legacy of undermining race relations.{{cite web |last1=Korn |first1=Melissa |last2=Mai-Duc |first2=Christine |title=California Campaign to Revive Affirmative Action Is Struggling |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-campaign-to-revive-affirmative-action-is-struggling-11603364415 |website=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=December 1, 2021 |date=October 22, 2020 |url-access=subscription}}{{cite web |last=Thornton |first=Paul |title=The silly George Zimmerman–O.J. Simpson comparison |url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-xpm-2013-jul-20-la-ol-george-zimmerman-oj-simpson-trials-20130720-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=December 1, 2021 |date=July 20, 2013 |url-access=limited}}{{cite web| url = https://www.npr.org/2012/04/22/151166769/comparing-trayvon-martin-o-j-simpson-cases| title = Comparing Trayvon Martin, O.J. Simpson Cases | website = NPR}}{{cite web| url = https://www.businessinsider.com/trayvon-martin-racial-divide-oj-simpson-2012-4| title = Trayvon Martin Racial Divide Biggest Since O.J. Simpson| website = Business Insider}}

Polling shows that racial and ethnic minority groups were divided by the verdict as well. Latinos and African Americans both believed that fraud was taking place in the LAPD but disagreed on the cause.{{cite web |last=Ramos |first=George |title=Where Are Latinos in Post-O.J. Talk of Race Relations? |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-10-09-me-55084-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=December 1, 2021 |date=October 9, 1995 |url-access=limited}}{{cite web |last1=Decker |first1=Cathleen |title=The Times Poll: Most in County Disagree With Simpson Verdicts |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-10-08-mn-54801-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=December 1, 2021 |date=October 8, 1995 |url-access=limited}} Simpson said he felt vindicated{{cite web| url = https://www.newsweek.com/ojs-new-defense-162323| title = O.J.'S New Defense| website = Newsweek| date = February 27, 2000}} by the Rampart Scandal which proved that fraud was happening in the C.R.A.S.H anti-gang unit. However, this fraud was not racially motivated: all the officers involved were minorities themselves{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29768526|jstor = 29768526|title = Looking Through the Gaps: A Critical Approach to the LAPD's Rampart Scandal|last = Kaplan|first = Paul J.|journal = Social Justice|year = 2009|volume = 1|issue = 115|pages = 61–81}} and were actually found to be affiliated with one of the gangs they were supposed to be policing.{{cite web |last=Scheer |first=Robert |title=O.J. Jury Knew the Score |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-feb-15-me-64415-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=December 1, 2021 |date=February 15, 2000 |url-access=limited}}{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/11/15/Jury-convicts-3-of-4-LA-cops-in-Rampart-case/7358974264400/|title=Jury convicts 3 of 4 LA cops in Rampart case|website=UPI}}{{Cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,88806,00.html|title=The L.A.P.D. Blues|magazine=Time|date=November 19, 2000|last1=McCarthy|first1=Terry}}

Comparisons were made years later between the Trayvon Martin case and the O.J. Simpson case, and how race impacted both. During an interview with Piers Morgan, when asked if there was a similarity in the racial aspects of the cases, Ron Goldman’s sister Kim said all of the evidence pointed towards guilt in Simpson’s case, while she believed George Zimmerman’s not guilty verdict was correct because it was a self defense case and that the killing of Trayvon Martin was not racially charged.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iaj3iA6cvdI|title=Kim Goldman defends George Zimmerman’s acquittal for killing Trayvon Martin, denies he was racist| website=Youtube | date= 2013}} Fred Goldman also denied racism played a factor in the killing of Trayvon or the outcome of the Simpson trial in an interview.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICeXNO7IJFs|title=Fred Goldman: Zimmerman trial very disturbing| website=Youtube | date= 2013}}

{{Verification|date=April 2024}}

Several jurors together published Madame Foreman in 1995 to respond to allegations the verdict was racially motivated. They concluded that Simpson probably was guilty but the prosecution failed to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

In 1996, Cochran published Journey to Justice, in which he denied playing the "race card" and maintained that the LAPD tried to frame Simpson.

Shapiro published The Search for Justice in 1996 about the case. He concluded there was reasonable doubt but criticized Bailey and Cochran for bringing race into the trial. In comparison to Cochran's book, he wrote: "I never believed that Simpson was being victimized by a racist police organization because he was black...or that he was seen as a black hero".

In 1998, Clark published Without a Doubt, in which she opined that the acquittal demonstrated the legal system is still compromised by race and celebrity because the prosecution's physical evidence should have easily convicted Simpson.

Darden published In Contempt in 1998 about the trial. He attributed the acquittal to poor stewardship by a "starstruck" Judge Ito and a "dysfunctional and uneducated" jury.

Vincent Bugliosi published Outrage: The Five Reasons why O. J. Simpson Got Away with Murder in 1997. Bugliosi blamed the verdict on an incompetent jury, prosecution, and judge. He wrote: "Other than when a killer is apprehended in the act, I have never seen a more obvious case of guilt. All of the evidence—not some or most of it—points irresistibly to Simpson's guilt and his guilt alone".

Henry Lee published Blood Evidence: How DNA Is Revolutionizing The Way We Solve Crimes in 2003, in which he noted that both the defense's forensic DNA experts had rejected Scheck's contamination claim.

Fuhrman published Murder in Brentwood in 1998, defending himself against fraud claims. He wrote that his taking the Fifth was to avoid prosecution for perjury.

In 1997, Tom Lange and Philip Vannatter published Evidence Dismissed: The Inside Story of the Police Investigation of O.J. Simpson, in which they defended themselves against allegations of corruption and incompetence.

Daniel M. Petrocelli published Triumph of Justice: The Final Judgement of the Simpson Saga in 1998, comparing the criminal and civil trials. He attributed the acquittal to bad rulings by Judge Ito, unethical behavior by the defense, and unreliable testimony from Gerdes, Rieders, Lee, and Baden.

In 1999, sociologist Darnell Hunt published O.J. Simpson Facts and Fictions: News Rituals in the Construction of Reality. Hunt argued that the racial gap in polling was a manufactured product of selective reporting of facts by the media due to their treatment of the trial as a form of entertainment rather than a legal proceeding.O.J. Simpson Facts and Fictions News Rituals in the Construction of Reality, p. 41

{{Main|If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer}}

In 2006, ReganBooks announced a book ghostwritten by Pablo Fenjves based on interviews with Simpson titled If I Did It, an account which the publisher said was a hypothetical confession. The book's release was planned to coincide with a Fox interview featuring Simpson. The project was cancelled due to public criticism. Later, the Goldman family was awarded the rights to the book and published it under the title If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer. In 2018, Fox broadcast Simpson's previously unaired interview in a special titled O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession?{{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXd9aCB0yKujbOBCYB2eFF8_YFcVYXD3u| title = YouTube| website = YouTube}} The interview was widely interpreted as being a form of implied confession because Simpson used first person language ("Obviously I must have [removed the glove]"){{Citation |title=O.J SIMPSON THE LOST CONFESSION 2018 (FULL DOCUMENTARY) | date=March 12, 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugdTdHiVfYI |language=en |access-date=August 15, 2022}} in explaining how he would have committed the murders.{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6167420.stm|title = Murdoch cancels OJ Simpson plans|website=News.bbc.co.uk|date = November 21, 2006}}{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/oj-simpson-trial-now/story?id=17377772|title = O.J. Simpson Trial: Where Are They Now?|website = ABC News}}{{cite web|url=https://www.9news.com.au/world/oj-simpson-lost-confession-2006-interview-video/0483fba7-234a-4556-aae8-3efe0bf3f4c6|title = O.J. Simpson's 'lost confession': 'Everything was covered in blood'|website=9news.com| date=March 12, 2018 }}{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/tv/2018/03/11/oj-simpson-lost-interview-soledad-obrien-preview/#|title = O.J. Simpson's lost interview: Soledad O'Brien previews 'bizarre' account|magazine = Entertainment Weekly}}

In an interview with Barbara Walters, Shapiro said he was offended by Cochran comparing Fuhrman to Adolf Hitler, and said he would never work with Bailey or Cochran again. He also said the defense played the "race card".{{cite news| url = https://apnews.com/article/3143f578f56724af438c5bdd6d57e739| title = Shapiro Tells of Conflict Between Simpson Lawyers {{!}} AP News| website = Associated Press}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/152483-oj-simpsons-lawyer-robert-sharpiro-tells-barbara-walters-about-the-one-mistake-that-couldve-convicted-his|title=O.J. Simpson's Lawyer, Robert Sharpiro, Tells Barbara Walters About The One Mistake That Could've Convicted His Client|website=Bustle|date=April 6, 2016 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/146480-video-of-robert-shapiro-talking-about-johnnie-cochran-reveals-a-lot-about-the-real-american-crime|title = Video of Robert Shapiro Talking About Johnnie Cochran Reveals a Lot About the Real 'American Crime Story' |date = March 9, 2016 }} Robert Kardashian admitted that, prior to the jurors visiting Simpson's home, the defense team had switched out his photos of white women for photos of his children and switched out a picture of a nude Paula Barbieri (Simpson's white then-girlfriend) for a Norman Rockwell painting from Cochran's office.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mg-et-mg-robert-kardashian-facts-people-v-oj-simpson-20160404-htmlstory.html|title = Robert Kardashian: Keeping up with the man who stood by O.J. Simpson|website = Los Angeles Times|date = April 4, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/robert-kardashian-longtime-friend-oj-simpson-doubts-innocence-33841038|title = Video 1996: Barbara Walters interviews Robert Kardashian, longtime friend of O.J. Simpson|website = ABC News}}{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/robert-kardashian-oj-simpson-guilty_n_56f07507e4b084c672213113|title=Yes, Robert Kardashian Really Suspected O.J. Simpson Was Guilty|website=huffpost.com|date=March 23, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.grunge.com/488055/what-oj-simpsons-relationship-with-robert-kardashian-was-really-like/|title=What OJ Simpson's Relationship with Robert Kardashian Was Really Like|date=August 15, 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/141643-videos-of-robert-kardashian-talking-about-the-oj-simpson-trial-are-chilling|title=Videos Of Robert Kardashian Talking About The O.J. Simpson Trial Are Chilling|website=Bustle.com|date=February 13, 2016 }}{{overcite|date=February 2025}}

Simpson gave two high-profile interviews regarding the case – in 1996 with Ross Becker{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-01-11-me-23381-story.html|title = Hype Begins as Simpson Video is Set to be Released|website = Los Angeles Times|date = January 11, 1996}} and in 2004 with Katie Couric.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/07/business/media-nbc-claims-the-first-interview-with-oj-simpson-but-fox-does-an-end-run.html|title = Media; NBC Claims the First Interview with O.J. Simpson, but Fox Does an End Run|newspaper = The New York Times|date = June 7, 2004|last1 = Carter|first1 = Bill}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna5137198|title = O.J. Simpson: 10 years later|website = NBC News| date=June 5, 2004 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jun-04-et-quick4.2-story.html|title = A rush for Simpson interviews|website = Los Angeles Times|date = June 4, 2004}}{{cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2004/06/05/o-j-never-spoke-to-kids-on-nicole-slay/|title=O.j. 'Never' Spoke to Kids on Nicole Slay|date=June 5, 2004}} In the February 1998 issue of Esquire, Simpson was quoted as saying, "Let's say I committed this crime ...even if I did this, it would have to have been because I loved her very much, right?"{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RVkwVXfHKd4C&pg=PA98|title = When the Husband is the Suspect: From Sam Shepperd to Scott Peterson – the Public's Passion for Spousal Homicide|isbn = 978-1429974943|last1 = Lee Bailey|first1 = F.|last2 = Rabe|first2 = Jean|date = 2008| publisher=Tor Publishing }}{{cite web|url=https://bolesblogs.com/2006/11/15/watching-o-j-simpson-unearth-the-dead-for-entertainment/|title=Watching O.J. Simpson Unearth the Dead for Entertainment|date=November 15, 2006}}{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jan-17-mn-9193-story.html|title = Simpson Expands on Slaying Remark Made to Magazine|website = Los Angeles Times|date = January 17, 1998}} In 1998, during an interview with Ruby Wax, Simpson pretended to stab her with a banana in an apparent joke.{{cite web|url=https://www.deseret.com/1998/4/20/19375536/o-j-simpson-brandishes-a-banana-at-interviewer|title = O.J. Simpson brandishes a banana at interviewer|website=Deseret.com|date = April 20, 1998}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/LAST+NIGHT%3B+OJ%27s+sick+stunt+was+no+laughing+matter.-a060266453|title = Last Night; OJ's sick stunt was no laughing matter|website=Free Online Library}} In 2008, Mike Gilbert released his book How I Helped O.J. Get Away with Murder, which quotes Simpson allegedly saying: "If she hadn't opened that door with a knife in her hand ... she'd still be alive."{{cite web |title=Memorabilia Dealer Claims He Heard O.J. Confess to Murder {{pipe}} Fox News |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/memorabilia-dealer-claims-he-heard-o-j-confess-to-murder.amp |website=Fox News}}

In the documentary O.J.: Made in America, juror Carrie Bess said she believed "90% of the jury actually decided to acquit Simpson as payback for Rodney King".{{cite web|url=https://www.essence.com/news/kalana-johnson-missing/|title = 15-Year-Old Girl Kalana Johnson Missing for over a Week After Traveling to Atlanta|website=essence.com| date=October 27, 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/oj-simpson-juror-not-guilty-verdict-payback-rodney-223648252.html|title = OJ Simpson Juror: Not-Guilty Verdict Was 'Payback' for Rodney King|website=Yahoo.com| date=June 15, 2016 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2016/06/oj-simpson-case-juror-says-verdict-payback-for-rodney-king|title=OJ Simpson Trial Juror Says Not Guilty Verdict was "Payback" for Rodney King|website=Complex Networks}} Juror Lionel Cryer, who notably gave Simpson a Black Power salute, stated in 2017 that in retrospect he would render a guilty verdict.{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/tv/2017/07/22/jury-speaks-oj-simpson-trial/|title = O.J. Simpson Jurors Reflect on the Trial in Oxygen's 'The Jury Speaks'|magazine = Entertainment Weekly}}{{cite news|url=https://www.etonline.com/news/221848_oj_simpson_juror_says_he_endured_intense_therapy_after_murder_trial_talks_not_guilty_verdict|title=EXCLUSIVE: OJ Simpson Juror Says He Underwent Intense Therapy After Murder Trial, Talks Not-Guilty Verdict|first=Jackie|last=Willis|publisher=Entertainment Tonight|date=July 19, 2017|accessdate=June 17, 2024}} Juror Anise Aschenbach, who initially voted guilty before changing her vote, stated in 2008 that she regrets the decision and believes Simpson is guilty because he is not looking for the "real killer" like he promised he would.{{cite web|date=2008-12-06|title=Justice for O.J.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-dec-06-ed-simpson6-story.html|access-date=2020-06-04|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}

"On the evidence that they gave me to evaluate, it was crooked by the cops," juror David Aldana said in an interview.{{cite web |title= "Did He Do It? Maybe, Maybe Not": Simpson Juror Speaks Out|url=https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/oj-simpson-juror-speaks-evidence-david-aldana/1994410/?amp=1|website=nbclosangeles.com | date=June 12, 2014 |language=en}} "The evidence given to me to look at, I could not convict. Did he do it? Maybe, maybe not."{{cite web |title= "Did He Do It? Maybe, Maybe Not": Simpson Juror Speaks Out|url=https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/oj-simpson-juror-speaks-evidence-david-aldana/1994410/?amp=1|website=nbclosangeles.com | date=June 12, 2014 |language=en}} Juror Sheila Woods denied the jury's decision was based on race in an interview with Vulture.{{cite web |title= An O.J. Juror on What The People v. O.J. Simpson Got Right and Wrong|url= https://www.vulture.com/2016/04/oj-juror-people-v-oj-simpson-right-and-wrong.html|website=vulture.com |date= April 6, 2016|language=en}} When asked if she believed Simpson was framed, Woods stated, "I don't know if he was necessarily framed. I think O.J. may know something about what happened, but I just don't think he did it. I think it was more than one person, just because of the way she was killed. I don't know how he could have just left that bloody scene — because it was bloody — and got back into his Bronco and not have it filled with blood. And then go back home and go in the front door, up the stairs to his bedroom ... That carpet was snow white in his house. He should have blood all over him or bruises because Ron Goldman was definitely fighting for his life. He had defensive cuts on his shoes and on his hands. O.J. only had that little cut on his finger. If Goldman was kicking to death, you would think that the killer would have gotten some bruises on his body. They showed us photos of O.J. with just his underwear just two days after, and he had no bruises or anything on his body."{{cite web |title= An O.J. Juror on What The People v. O.J. Simpson Got Right and Wrong|url= https://www.vulture.com/2016/04/oj-juror-people-v-oj-simpson-right-and-wrong.html|website=vulture.com |date= April 6, 2016|language=en}} In an interview with CNN following Simpson's death, juror Yolanda Adams said she was still comfortable with her decision to render a not guilty verdict and denied the verdict was based on payback for Rodney King, citing the reasonable doubt in the case presented by the defense and the actions of the police officers involved in the case like Mark Fuhrman pleading the fifth when he was asked if he planted or manufactured any evidence against Simpson.{{cite web |title= Juror from OJ murder trial: I've always been comfortable with my decision |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWW0RTEUAYo|website=youtube.com | date=April 12, 2024 |language=en}}

In 2018, Fox aired an interview Simpson gave in 2006 with publisher Judith Regan, titled O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession?, where he gave "hypothetical" details about his role in the murders.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2018/03/11/oj-simpson-hypothetical-murder-details-2006-fox-interview/414975002/|title=O.J. Simpson reveals 'hypothetical' murder details in 2006 Fox interview|first=Steve|last=Gardner|publisher=USA Today|date=March 11, 2018|accessdate=April 11, 2024}}

{{Infobox court case |name = Rufo vs. Simpson

| court = Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles

| image = Seal of the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.png

| imagesize = 150px

| imagelink =

| imagealt =

| caption = Seal of the Court|full name = |date decided = February 5, 1997 |verdict = Simpson liable for the wrongful death of and battery against Goldman, and battery against Brown |citations = SCO31947 |ECLI = |transcripts = |judges = Hiroshi Fujisaki |number of judges = |decision by = |concurring = |dissenting = |concur/dissent = |prior actions = |appealed from = |appealed to = |subsequent actions = |related actions = |opinions = |keywords = |italic title = no }}

In 1996, Fred Goldman and Sharon Rufo, the parents of Ron Goldman, and Lou Brown, father of Nicole Brown filed a civil suit against Simpson for wrongful death.{{cite web|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/index/nns183.htm|title = Fight over money may follow court battle|website=Usatoday30.usatoday.com}} The plaintiffs were represented by Daniel Petrocelli and Simpson by Robert Baker.{{cite web|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/index/nns201.htm|title = Both legal teams given high marks|website=Usatoday30.usatoday.com}} Presiding Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki did not allow the trial to be televised, did not sequester the jury, and prohibited the defense from alleging racism by the LAPD and from condemning the crime lab.{{cite web|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/index/nns200.htm|title=Judge Fujisaki was able to keep trial in control|website=Usatoday30.usatoday.com|access-date=March 5, 2022}} The physical evidence did not change but additional evidence of domestic violence was presented as well as 31 pre-1994 photos of Simpson wearing Bruno Magli shoes,{{cite news| url = http://articles.cnn.com/1997-01-06/us/9701_06_simpson_1_robert-groden-bruno-magli-shoes-photos?_s=PM:US| title = Judge allows new shoe photo in Simpson trial – CNN| newspaper = CNN| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121011044633/http://articles.cnn.com/1997-01-06/us/9701_06_simpson_1_robert-groden-bruno-magli-shoes-photos?_s=PM:US| archive-date = October 11, 2012}} including one that was published 6 months before the murders, proving it could not be a forgery.{{cite web|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/index/nns224.htm|title = Confusion for Simpson kids 'far from over'|website=Usatoday30.usatoday.com}}{{cite web| url = http://articles.cnn.com/1997-01-23/us/9701_23_shoe.sales_1_maglis-shoes-oj?_s=PM:US| title = Thanks to O.J., Bruno Maglis are really big shoes – CNN| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121011044644/http://articles.cnn.com/1997-01-23/us/9701_23_shoe.sales_1_maglis-shoes-oj?_s=PM:US| archive-date = October 11, 2012}}

File:O.J. Simpson Outside Santa Monica Courthouse During the Civil Trial 1997 397kb.jpg

One significant difference between the two trials was the admission of Nicole Brown's diary entries in the civil case. Lead counsel Daniel Petrocelli explained, "The least explored aspect of the case is Simpson's motive. You cannot just say this murder was a culmination of domestic-violence incidents. You need to tell the jury a story. This was about a stormy relationship." Time magazine reported, "That strategy made the difference in understanding Simpson... Nicole's diary showed that she and Simpson were having fights in those last weeks. Their hostilities had taken a cruel turn. Simpson sent Nicole a letter that was a thinly veiled threat to report her to the IRS for failing to pay capital-gains taxes. Infuriated, she started to deny him access to the children.... She began to treat him like a stranger. That, Petrocelli said, is when three weeks of retaliation began In that period, the lawyer argued, Simpson grew angrier and more obsessed with his ex-wife, developing a rage that resulted in death for her and Ron Goldman."{{cite magazine |last1=Lafferty |first1=Elaine |title=The Inside Story of How O.J. Lost |magazine=Time |date=February 17, 1997 |pages=32–33}}

The civil judge found the diary entries were admissible because they were pertinent to Nicole's state of mind, which in turn was relevant to Simpson's motive{{cite web |title=Nicole's diary shows state of mind, judge rules |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9611/23/nicole.diary/ |website=www.cnn.com |publisher=CNN |access-date=20 March 2024}}—reversing a crucial ruling from the criminal case that excluded the diary as "inadmissible hearsay".{{cite web |title=Tabloid runs excerpts of Nicole's diary |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/OJ/daily/9510/10-17/index.html |website=www.cnn.com |publisher=CNN |access-date=20 March 2024}} The civil court's ruling was upheld on appeal.{{cite web |title=Rufo v. Simpson |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ca-court-of-appeal/1211279.html |website=caselaw.findlaw.com |publisher=FindLaw |access-date=20 March 2024}} The Los Angeles Times wrote that this evidence "helped the plaintiffs tell their story of domestic violence" and show that when Nicole "rejected [Simpson] for good in the spring of 1994 ... he erupted in the same uncontrollable rage that had caused him to lash out at her in the past—only this time, he was brandishing a knife."{{cite web |last1=Simon |first1=Stephanie |last2=Newton |first2=Jim |title=Jury Heard Much Different Case in Civil Trial |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-02-05-mn-25765-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |date=February 5, 1997 |access-date=20 April 2024}}

The jury found Simpson liable for the murders and awarded the victims' families $33.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages. The civil verdict "very nearly upstaged the president of the United States on the occasion of his State of the Union address",{{cite web |last1=Dunne |first1=Dominick |title=Why the Civil Case Against O. J. Simpson Would Never Be Enough |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/1997/04/dunne199704 |website=www.vanityfair.com |date=6 May 2014 |publisher=Vanity Fair |access-date=30 January 2024}} ending the case that "riveted America for two and a half years".{{cite news |last1=Ayres Jr. |first1=B. Drummond |title=Civil Jury Finds Simpson Liable in Pair of Killings |work=The New York Times |date=5 February 1997 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/05/us/civil-jury-finds-simpson-liable-in-pair-of-killings.html |access-date=30 January 2024}} Simpson filed for bankruptcy afterwards and relocated to Florida to protect his pension from seizure. His remaining assets were seized and auctioned off with most being purchased by critics of the verdict of the criminal trial to help the plaintiffs recoup the costs of litigation. Simpson's Heisman Trophy was sold for $255,500 to an undisclosed buyer. All the proceeds went to the Goldman family, who said they have received only one percent of the money that Simpson owes from the wrongful death suit.{{cite web| url = http://www.nbc5.com/news/15364921/detail.html| title = Court: Simpson Still Liable For $33.5M Judgment – News Story – WMAQ {{!}} Chicago| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081009230444/http://www.nbc5.com/news/15364921/detail.html| archive-date = October 9, 2008}}{{cite news| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985629-5,00.html| title = O.J. Feels the Heat – Time| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080409121035/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985629-5,00.html| archive-date = April 9, 2008}}

In July 2017 after Simpson was granted parole, Ron Goldman’s father Fred inquired about the real estate purchases made by Sydney and Justin Simpson, Brown’s children with Simpson. David Cook, a lawyer for Fred Goldman, said he would seek bank records and depositions to follow the kids’ money trail and see if any of the homes were bought with their dad’s cash, which could make them eligible for a clawback. “The kids’ loss is no greater than Fred’s, but Fred’s loss should be no greater than theirs,” Cook said.{{cite web |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/oj-simpsons-kids-raise-eyebrows-real-estate-ventures-210824156.html| title=O.J. Simpson’s Kids Raise Eyebrows With Real Estate Ventures| website=Yahoo | date=31 July 2017 }} In June 2022 Fred alleged in court papers (intended to keep the wrongful death and battery judgment viable) that Simpson owed $96 million due to significant interest generated on the initial order to pay damages.{{Cite web |date=June 26, 2022 |title=O.J. Simpson currently owes Ron Goldman's estate $96 million |url=https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/06/26/o-j-simpson-currently-owes-ron-goldmans-estate-96-million/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627072755/https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/06/26/o-j-simpson-currently-owes-ron-goldmans-estate-96-million/ |archive-date=June 27, 2022 |access-date=June 27, 2022 |website=ProFootballTalk}}

Following Simpson's death in 2024,{{cite news |last1=Shapiro |first1=Emily |title=O.J. Simpson, former football star acquitted of murder, dies at 76 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/oj-simpson-former-football-star-acquitted-murder-dies/story?id=16354000 |access-date=April 11, 2024 |work=ABC News |date=April 11, 2024 |language=en |archive-date=April 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240411144714/https://abcnews.go.com/US/oj-simpson-former-football-star-acquitted-murder-dies/story?id=16354000 |url-status=live }} Simpson estate lawyer Malcolm LeVergne pledged to prevent the Brown and Goldman families from obtaining the money which was promised in the civil trial judgement, but later reversed course.{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/oj-simpsons-lawyer-reverses-statement-civil-judgement-goldman-family-1235874717/|title=O.J. Simpson's Lawyer Reverses Opinion on Payments to Goldman Family (Exclusive)|first=Kevin|last=Dolak|publisher=The Hollywood Reporter|date=April 15, 2024|accessdate=April 16, 2024}}

While Bailey and several members of Simpson's family still advocated for Simpson's innocence,{{Cite news |title=O J's last defender – F. Lee Bailey |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/07/20/o-j-s-last-defender-f-lee-bailey-is-broke-disbarred-and-working-above-a-hair-salon/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{cite web |date=January 12, 2017 |title=O.J. Simpson's Sister Believes He is Innocent: 'I Know He Did Not Kill Nicole and Ron' |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/o-j-simpsons-sister-believes-211300461.html}} such theories have been rejected by prosecutors, witnesses and the families of Brown and Goldman, who have expressed the belief that Simpson committed the murders and was the sole perpetrator,{{cite web |date=April 5, 2016 |title=O.J. Prosecutor Marcia Clark Says Upcoming TV Series 'O.J. Is Innocent' is 'Hideous' |url=https://www.insideedition.com/15685-oj-prosecutor-marcia-clark-says-upcoming-tv-series-oj-is-innocent-is-hideous |website=Insideedition.com}}{{cite web |date=January 17, 2017 |title='Is O.J. Innocent? The Missing Evidence': Series Concludes with Debunk of Simpson Son Theory |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/is-oj-innocent-missing-evidence-series-concludes-debunk-simpson-son-theory-964874/ |website=The Hollywood Reporter}}{{cite web |date=11 April 2024 |title=Kato Kaelin reflects on O.J.'s death: 'I believe he did it,' wonders 'if he made peace with God' |url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/kato-kaelin-reflects-oj-simpson-death-believe-did-it-made-peace-god |website=Foxnews}} with Hunt opining that these claims were attempts to tap into the public interest in the case and were never meant to be taken seriously.O.J. Simpson Facts and Fictions News Rituals in the Construction of Reality; pp. 40–43

Alternative theories have been suggested, such as that Simpson may have had accomplices in the murders, or that he was not involved at all and was framed. Several speculate that the murders were related to the Los Angeles drug trade and the murders of Michael Nigg and Brett Cantor.{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/1993/biz/news/a-r-exec-cantor-slain-109236/|title=A&R exec Cantor slain|newspaper=Variety|date=August 3, 1993}}{{cite web|url=https://www.etonline.com/rose-mcgowan-tells-all-new-memoir-brave-14-shocking-allegations-95401|title = Rose McGowan Tells All in New Memoir 'Brave': 14 Shocking Allegations|website=Etonline.com| date=January 30, 2018 }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/22/us/simpson-s-attempt-to-bar-evidence-is-turned-down.html|title = Simpson's Attempt to Bar Evidence is Turned Down|newspaper = The New York Times|date = September 22, 1994|last = Noble|first = Kenneth B.}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ga7ksDpMH-wC&pg=PA103|title=When the Husband is the Suspect|isbn=978-0765316134|last1=Lee Bailey|first1=F.|last2=Rabe|first2=Jean|date=2008|publisher=Macmillan }}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ds06AQAAIAAJ|title = A Problem of Evidence: How the Prosecution Freed O.J. Simpson|isbn = 978-0688144135|last = Bosco|first = Joseph|year = 1996| publisher=W. Morrow and Company }}{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/killingtimefirst00free|isbn = 978-0028613406|title = Killing time : The first full investigation into the unsolved murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman|year = 1996|last1 = Freed|first1 = Donald|last2 = Briggs|first2 = Raymond P.| publisher=Macmillan, USA }}{{cite web|url=https://www.deseret.com/1995/9/12/19192326/goldman-friend-is-slain-resisting-robbery|title=Goldman Friend is Slain Resisting Robbery|website=Deseret.com|date=September 12, 1995}}

The 2000 BBC TV documentary O.J.: The True Untold Story,{{cite news|work=BBC News|title=New clues in OJ Simpson murder mystery|first=Malcolm|last=Brinkworth|date=October 4, 2000|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/954700.stm}} primarily rehashes the contamination and blood planting claims from the trial and asserted that Simpson's elder son Jason is a possible suspect, due to - among other reasons - Simpson hiring defense attorneys for his children first before himself, pictures of Jason's descriptive wool cap, and an alleged prior arrangement to meet with Nicole that evening.{{cite web|url=http://www.afrocentricnews.com/html/simpson.html|title=Simpson|website=Afrocentricnews.com}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/954700.stm|title = BBC News {{pipe}} Americas{{pipe}} New clues in OJ Simpson murder mystery|website=News.bbc.co.uk}}{{cite web | url=https://rense.com/general4/oj.htm | title=New Evidence OJ Was Framed - Police 'Almost Certainly' Planted Blood in House and Car }} William Dear published his findings in the book O.J. Is Innocent and I Can Prove It.{{cite web|url=https://billdear.com/oj-is-innocent-and-i-can-prove-it/|title = O.J. Is Innocent and I Can Prove It {{pipe}} William C. Dear|website=Billdear.com}}

A 2012 documentary entitled My Brother the Serial Killer examined the crimes of convicted murderer Glen Edward Rogers and included claims that Rogers had killed Simpson and Goldman in California in 1994.{{Cite web |author=Alan Duke |date=November 21, 2012 |title=Documentary: Serial killer, not O.J., killed Simpson and Goldman |url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/11/20/justice/o-j-simpson-film-claim/index.html |website=CNN}}{{cite news |date=November 21, 2012 |title=Documentary: Serial killer, not O.J., killed Simpson and Goldman |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/20/justice/o-j-simpson-film-claim/index.html |access-date=November 29, 2012 |publisher=CNN}}{{cite web |title=O.J. Simpson film: Serial killer murdered Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman 9 |url=http://www.torontosun.com/2012/11/21/oj-simpson-film-serial-killer-murdered-nicole-brown-and-ronald-goldman |access-date=November 29, 2012 |publisher=Toronto Sun}}{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Dan |date=November 20, 2012 |title=Serial Killer Murdered Nicole Brown Simpson, New Documentary Claims |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/serial-killer-oj-simpson-murdered-nicole-brown-simpson/story?id=17765728 |access-date=January 1, 2014 |work=ABC News}} According to Rogers' brother Clay, Rogers claimed that, before the murders, he had met Brown and was "going to take her down." During a lengthy correspondence that began in 2009 between Rogers and criminal profiler Anthony Meoli, Rogers wrote and created paintings about his involvement with the murders. During a prison meeting between the two, Rogers claimed Simpson hired him to break into Brown' house and steal some expensive jewellery. He said that Simpson had told him, "You may have to kill the bitch". In a filmed interview, Rogers' brother Clay asserts that his brother confessed his involvement. Rogers' family stated that he had informed them that he had been working for Brown in 1994 and that he had made verbal threats about her to them. Rogers later spoke to a criminal profiler about the murders, providing details about the crime and remarking that he had been hired by Simpson to steal a pair of earrings and potentially murder Brown.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} LAPD responded to the documentary as follows: “We know who killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. We have no reason to believe that Mr. Rogers was involved.” Fred Goldman, father of Ron Goldman stated: “The overwhelming evidence at the criminal trial proved that one, and only one, person murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. That person is O.J. Simpson and not Glen Rogers.”{{cite news |last1=Colburn |first1=Randall |date=17 October 2019 |title=O.J. didn't do it, apparently, in The Murder Of Nicole Brown Simpson |url=https://www.avclub.com/o-j-didnt-do-it-apparently-in-the-murder-of-nicole-b-1839132451 |access-date=28 April 2024}}

• The Fox television movie The O. J. Simpson Story (1995) depicts Simpson and Brown's relationship, up to his arrest for the murders.{{cite news|last=O'Connor|first=John|date=January 31, 1995|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/31/arts/television-review-now-a-film-about-you-know-what.html?pagewanted=all|title=Television Review; Now a Film About You-Know-What|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811064602/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/31/arts/television-review-now-a-film-about-you-know-what.html?pagewanted=all|archive-date=August 11, 2014|url-status=dead}}
• The CBS TV film American Tragedy (2000) follows the trial from the perspective of Simpson's defense team.{{cite magazine |last=Tucker |first=Ken |title=TV Review: American Tragedy |url=https://ew.com/article/2000/11/10/american-tragedy-2/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=November 10, 2000}}
• In 2014, ID premiered the documentary OJ: Trial of the Century, which begins on the day of the murders, ends on the reading of the verdict, and comprises actual media footage of events and reactions as they unfolded.{{cite news |last1=Braxton |first1=Greg |title='O.J.: Trial of the Century' revisits murder case as it unfolded |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-oj-simpson-documentary-20140612-story.html |access-date=January 14, 2017 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 12, 2014}} The same year, ID premiered O.J. Simpson Trial: The Real Story, which entirely comprises archival news footage of the case.{{cite news |last=Roush |first=Matt |date=February 26, 2016 |title=What's Worth Watching: 'The Real Story' about O.J., 'Fuller House' and more for Friday, Feb. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 27 |work=TV Insider |url=https://www.tvinsider.com/74861/whats-worth-watching-the-real-story-about-o-j-fuller-house-and-more-for-friday-feb-26-and-saturday-feb-27/ |access-date=October 23, 2021}}
• The first season of the FX anthology series American Crime Story, The People v. O.J. Simpson (2016), was adapted from the book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson (1997) by legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.{{cite magazine|title=The People v. OJ Simpson Cast and Their Real-Life Counterparts|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/photos/2016/01/people-v-oj-simpson-real-people|access-date=September 9, 2014|first1=Katey|last1=Rich|first2=Lee|last2=Levy|first3=Benjamin|last3=Park|date=January 26, 2014|magazine=Vanity Fair}} It received critical acclaim{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-people-v-oj-simpson-american-crime-story|title=The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story|work=Metacritic|access-date=July 25, 2017|archive-date=December 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228193615/http://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-people-v-oj-simpson-american-crime-story|url-status=dead}} and several Emmy Awards.
• In 2016, ESPN premiered O.J.: Made in America, a five-part, eight-hour documentary by Ezra Edelman on the trial. The documentary received widespread acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.{{cite news |last1=Poniewozik |first1=James |title=Two Astonishing Views of O.J. Simpson and His Trial |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/arts/television/oj-simpson-trial-made-in-america.html |work=The New York Times |date=June 20, 2016}}
• The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson (2019) depicts a version of events involving Glen Edward Rogers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/murder-nicole-brown-simpson-1268553|title='The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson': Film Review|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=10 January 2020 }}{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/reviews/the-murder-of-nicole-brown-simpson-review-1203463067/|title='The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson': Film Review|first1=Guy|last1=Lodge|date=January 10, 2020}}
• In 2020, Court TV premiered OJ25, a 25-part series documenting each week of the trial, hosted by former Los Angeles prosecutor and legal analyst Roger Cossack.{{cite web|last1=Haring|first1=Bruce|title='OJ25' True Crime Series Bows On Court TV – Documents The Murder Trial Of The Century|url=https://deadline.com/2020/01/oj25-true-crime-series-bows-on-court-tv-1202832055/|access-date=February 16, 2020 |work=Deadline Hollywood|date=January 16, 2020}}
• The upcoming film The Juice (2025) explores conspiracy theories purporting to exonerate Simpson of the murders.{{cite web | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/o-j-simpson-movie-owen-wilson-1235879933/ | title=The O.J. Simpson Movie That Owen Wilson (Among Others) Won't be Starring in | website=The Hollywood Reporter | date=April 24, 2024 }}

Lost Highway was partially inspired by the case. In the film, a man is imprisoned for his wife's murder, which he does not remember, and is released after he transforms into a different man. Director David Lynch found it remarkable that Simpson, who he believed committed the murders, could continue a casual lifestyle afterward.{{cite web|last=Vasquez|first=Zach|title=Nothing Can Stay Hidden Forever: The True Crime Legacy of Lost Highway|date=February 24, 2022|website=CrimeReads|url=https://crimereads.com/lost-highway-david-lynch-crime/|access-date=October 1, 2022}}

Lethal Weapon 4, which was released about two and a half years after the case, makes a reference to the success of Simpson's defense attorney Johnnie Cochran, after the character of detective Lee Butters apprehends a fleeing suspect and reads him his Miranda rights as follows: "If you can't afford an attorney, we'll provide you with the dumbest fucking lawyer on earth. If you get Johnnie Cochran, I'll kill ya!"{{Cite web |date=2024-04-12 |title=Lethal Weapon 4 Johnnie Cochran reference scene |url=https://clip.cafe/lethal-weapon-4-1998/you-got-the-right-remain-silent-so-shut-the-fuck-up/ |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=ClipCafe |language=en}}

Shrek 2 references the Bronco chase, when Donkey is turned into a white horse by the Fairy Godmother, and he and other characters are pursued by knights.{{Cite web |date=2024-04-11 |title=Shrek 2 had an OJ Simpson reference which everyone missed |url=https://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/film/oj-simpson-dead-shrek-2-reference-977769-20240411 |access-date=2024-04-11 |website=LADbible |language=en}}

Episodes of sitcoms such as The Simpsons, South Park, Roseanne, New Girl, Family Guy, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Seinfeld have mocked the case, or more specifically, Simpson himself.{{cite web |url=http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/06/oj_simpson_20_years_later_5_me.html |title=OJ Simpson 20 years later: 5 memorable pop-culture references |work=cleveland.com |access-date=April 7, 2016 |date=June 17, 2014}} Saturday Night Live Weekend Update host Norm Macdonald frequently made jokes about O. J. Simpson's trial, such as the iconic line "Well, it is finally official: Murder is legal in the state of California" after Simpson's acquittal. It is rumored that the constant Simpson jokes were the cause for then NBC President Don Ohlmeyer to remove Macdonald from the Weekend Update segment and eventually from the show altogether.{{cite news |last=Xeplatis |first=Emily |title=20 Things Saturday Night Live Tried To Sweep Under The Rug (And Failed) |url=https://www.thethings.com/things-saturday-night-live-tried-to-keep-secret/ |access-date=September 18, 2021 |work=TheThings |date=January 19, 2020}}{{better source needed|date=May 2024}}

At WrestleMania XII on March 31 1996, Goldust and 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper took part in a "Hollywood Backlot Brawl" match which saw the competitors have a street fight in the namesake location, ending with Goldust fleeing in a golden Cadillac with Piper pursuing him in a white Ford Bronco, eventually reaching the Anaheim Pond arena, the main location of the PPV where the fight continued. While the event continued in the arena, picture-in-picture footage of Simpsons' police chase from June 1994 was shown and passed off as Piper driving to the arena. WWE producer Bruce Prichard revealed on his podcast in 2017 that the original plan for the match was for Simpson to face Piper, but was abandoned due to fears of potential public backlash and loss of sponsorship.{{cite web|title=WrestleMania XII|first=Paul|last=Matthews|url=https://classicwrestlingreview.com/2020/06/28/wrestlemania-xii/|website=ClassicWrestlingReview.com|access-date=March 31, 2025|date=June 28, 2020}}{{cite web|title=WWE WrestleMania 12 review|url=https://tjrwrestling.net/review/wwe-wrestlemania-12-review/|first=John|last=Canton|website=TJR Wrestling|access-date=March 31, 2025|date=March 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307145603/https://tjrwrestling.net/review/wwe-wrestlemania-12-review/|archive-date=March 7, 2022|url-status=live}}{{citeweb|title=Bruce Prichard Says OJ Simpson Was Supposed to Have a WrestleMania Match - Fightful News|url=https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/bruce-prichard-says-oj-simpson-was-supposed-have-wrestlemania-match|first=Joe|last=Hulbert|website=fightful.com|access-date=March 31, 2025|date=March 29, 2017}}

Cowlings' white Ford Bronco was featured on the reality TV show Pawn Stars in 2017. The then-owner of the vehicle estimated its value in excess of $1,000,000.{{cite web |url= https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/08/15/did-o-j-simpson-bronco-get-sold-pawn-stars/566383001/|title=Did O.J. Simpson's Bronco make the sale of the century on 'Pawn Stars?'|work=USA Today |access-date=April 18, 2021 |date=August 14, 2017}}{{cite episode |title=If the Pawn Don't Fit |series=Pawn Stars |network=History |date=August 14, 2017}}

The heavy-metal band Body Count recorded the song "I Used to Love Her", sung from the perspective of O. J. Simpson murdering his wife, on their 1997 album Violent Demise: The Last Days. A 2021 article in Metal Hammer described the song as "jaw-droppingly offensive".{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-10-worst-albums-of-the-90s-by-10-brilliant-bands|last=Hill|first=Stephen|title=The 10 worst albums of the 90s by 10 brilliant bands|date=August 2, 2021|access-date= August 2, 2022|publisher=Metal Hammer}} In Good Charlotte's song, "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous", they reference the case in the second verse: "Well did you know when you were famous you could kill you wife And there's no such thing as 25 to life As long as you've got the cash, to pay for Cochran."{{Citation |title=Good Charlotte – Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous |url=https://genius.com/Good-charlotte-lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous-lyrics |access-date=2023-07-08}}

R&B group H-Town dedicated their album Ladies Edition, Woman's World (1997) to Brown, to help victims of domestic violence.{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-nov-04-me-29996-story.html |title=The Brown Foundation Cuts Back on Giving |last=Reza |first=H. G. |date=January 4, 1999 |work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=July 21, 2017}} Electronic musician James Ferraro referenced the police chase in the song "White Bronco" on his 2015 album Skid Row.{{cite news |last=Raymer |first=Miles |date=November 16, 2016 |title=James Ferraro: Skid Row |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21225-skid-row/ |access-date=October 23, 2021 |work=Pitchfork |language=en}}

Hip hop artist Magneto Dayo released a 2013 "diss track" song titled "OJ Simpson" in which he insults his ex-girlfriend/artist V-Nasty by referencing the Simpson murder case.Gray, Chris (June 13, 2014). [http://www.houstonpress.com/music/the-15-most-messed-up-oj-simpson-lyrics-6494691 "The 15 Most Messed-Up O.J. Simpson Lyrics"]. Houston Press.[http://www.laweekly.com/music/v-nastys-alleged-ex-fires-back-with-song-referencing-oj-simpson-4169217 "OJ Simpson"]. L.A. Weekly. Rapper Jay-Z's song "The Story of O.J." references the trial.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} Kendrick Lamar included Simpson in the music video for "The Heart Part 5", using Deepfake technology. The infamous glove also appears on the single's cover.{{Cite web |date=May 12, 2022 |title=Opinion {{!}} Kendrick Lamar challenges how we talk about problematic Black men |url=https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/kendrick-lamar-s-new-album-heart-challenges-how-we-see-n1295357 |access-date=May 14, 2022 |website=MSNBC.com |language=en}} Rapper Eminem references the murder case in his song "Role Model", where he claims to have done the murder with Marcus Allen.{{Citation |title=Eminem – Role Model |url=https://www.eminem.com/song/role-model/ |access-date=2024-04-12}}

Duke Nukem 3D has several allusions to the Simpson trial, including a television playing the Bronco chase.{{cite news |last1=Diaz |first1=Isaac |title=Gaming Detail: Duke Nukem Features A Famous OJ Simpson Moment |url=https://www.thegamer.com/gaming-detail-duke-nukem-oj-simpson/ |access-date=October 23, 2021 |work=TheGamer |date=August 15, 2020}}

Joey Skaggs, under the alias Dr. Joseph Bonuso, Ph.D., announced the "Solomon Project," a fictional AI program purportedly designed to eliminate bias in the U.S. judicial system. After CNN reported on the project’s claim that the AI had found O.J. Simpson guilty, Skaggs disclosed the hoax.{{Cite magazine |last=John |first=Warren St |date=1996-01-28 |title=Jury Tampering |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/02/05/jury-tampering |access-date=2024-12-05 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}{{Cite web |work=MO Lawyers Media |date=1996-02-05 |title=Gotcha… |url=https://molawyersmedia.com/1996/02/05/gotcha/ |access-date=2024-12-05 |language=en-US}}

The suit Simpson wore when he was acquitted was donated by Simpson's former agent Mike Gilbert to the Newseum in 2010. The Newseum had multiple trial-related items in their collection, including press passes, newspapers and the mute button that Superior Court Judge Lance Ito used when he wanted to shut off the live microphone in court so lawyers could talk privately during the trial. The museum's acquisition of the suit ended the legal battle between Gilbert and Fred Goldman, both of whom claimed the right to the clothing.{{cite web |url=http://artdaily.com/news/37797/OJ-Simpson-Acquittal-Suit-Arrives-at-Newseum-in-DC-#.WvdND--FN9M |title=OJ Simpson Acquittal Suit Arrives at Newseum in DC |website=ArtDaily.com|access-date=May 26, 2019}}

Cowlings's Bronco is on display at the Alcatraz East crime museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.{{cite web |url=http://www.local8now.com/content/news/OJ-Simpsons-Bronco--386502551.html |title=OJ Simpson Bronco is heading to Pigeon Forge |author=WVLT Staff |author-link=WVLT-TV |date=July 12, 2014 |publisher=Gray Television |access-date=January 18, 2017 |archive-date=February 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215202123/http://www.local8now.com/content/news/OJ-Simpsons-Bronco--386502551.html |url-status=dead }}

In 2017, Adam Papagan curated a pop-up museum showcasing artifacts and ephemera from the trial at Coagula Curatorial gallery in Los Angeles.{{cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/oj-simpson-museum-oj-simpson-trial-los-angeles-652246|title=An O.J. Simpson museum in Los Angeles shows how low Americans will go for entertainment|last=Scott|first=H. Alan|date=August 18, 2017|website=Newsweek|access-date=March 23, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oj-simpson-pop-up-museum-hits-las-chinatown-1030750|title=O.J. Simpson Pop-Up Museum Hits L.A.'s Chinatown|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=August 18, 2017|access-date=March 23, 2019}}

{{Portal|1990s|Law}}

• Chewbacca defense
• List of homicides in California
• Murder of Brett Cantor, unsolved killing (in 1993) with possible connection to Simpson murder case
• Murder of Michael Nigg, unsolved killing (in 1995) of Goldman's friend and fellow Mezzaluna waiter
• List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)
• Trial of Yolanda Saldívar – the "Hispanic O.J. Simpson trial"{{cite web |last1=Ruddy |first1=Jim |title=Selena Murder Trial: Interview With Maria Celeste Arrarás |url=http://www.texasarchive.org/library/index.php?title=2013_03642 |website=Texas Archives.org|access-date=March 23, 2015}}
• Robert Blake and Bonny Lee Bakley
• Lizzie Borden

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Bailey |first1=F. Lee|author-link1=F. Lee Bailey |year=2008 |last2=Rabe |first2=Jean |title=When the Husband is the Suspect |location=New York |publisher=Forge |isbn=978-0765355232 |url=https://archive.org/details/whenhusbandissus00flee}}
• {{cite book |last=Bugliosi |first=Vincent|author-link=Vincent Bugliosi |year=1997 |orig-year=1996 |title=Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O.J. Simpson Got Away with Murder |location=New York |publisher=Dell Publishing |isbn=978-0440223825 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-TirIDSfw9kC}}
• {{cite book |last=Clark |first=Marica|author-link=Marcia Clark |year=1998 |title=Without a Doubt |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Publishing |isbn=978-0140259773 |url=https://archive.org/details/withoutdoubt00clar_0}}
• {{cite book |last=Cochran | first=Johnnie L Jr. |author-link=Johnnie Cochran |year=1997 |title=Journey to Justice |location=New York |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=978-0345413673}}
• {{cite book |last1=Cooley |first1=Amanda |last2=Bess |first2=Carrie |last3=Rubin-Jackson |first3=Marsha |last4=Byrnes |first4=Tom |year=1996|editor-last=Walker|editor-first=Mike |title=Madam Foreman: A Rush to Judgement? |publisher=Dove Books |isbn=978-0787109189 |url=https://archive.org/details/madamforemanrush00cool}}
• {{cite book |last=Darden |first=Christopher A.|author-link=Christopher Darden |year=1996 |title=In Contempt |location=New York |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0060391836 |url=https://archive.org/details/incontempt00dard}}
• {{cite book |last=Dear |first=William C.|author-link=William Dear (detective) |year=2012 |title=O.J. is Innocent and I Can Prove It: The Shocking Truth about the Murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman |location=New York |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |isbn=978-1616086206}}
• {{cite book |last=Dershowitz |first=Alan M.|author-link=Alan Dershowitz |year=2004 |title=America on Trial: Inside the Legal Battles that Transformed our Nation |location=New York |publisher=Warner Books |isbn=978-0446520584 |url=https://archive.org/details/americaontrialin00ders}}
• {{cite book |last=Goldberg |first=Hank M. |year=1996 |title=The Prosecution Responds: An O.J. Simpson Trial Prosecutor Reveals What Really Happened |location=Secaucus, New Jersey |publisher=Carol Publishing Group |isbn=978-1559723619 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781559723619}}
• {{cite book |last1=Lange |first1=Tom |last2=Vannatter |first2=Philip |last3=Moldea |first3=Dan E.|author-link3=Dan Moldea |year=1997 |title=Evidence Dismissed: The Inside Story of the Police Investigation of O.J. Simpson |location=New York |publisher=Pocket Books |isbn=978-0671009595 |url=https://archive.org/details/evidencedismisse00lang}}
• {{cite book |last1=Schiller |first1=Lawrence|author-link1=Lawrence Schiller |last2=Willwerth |first2=James |year=1996 |title=American Tragedy: The Uncensored Story of the Simpson Defense |url=https://archive.org/details/americantragedyu00schi |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0679456827}}
• {{cite book |year=1999|editor-last1=Schuetz|editor-first1=Janice E.|editor-last2=Lilley|editor-first2=Lin S. |title=The O.J. Simpson Trials: Rhetoric, Media, and the Law |location=Carbondale, Illinois |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |isbn=978-0809322817}}
• {{cite book |last1=Shapiro |first1=Robert L.|author-link1=Robert Shapiro (lawyer) |last2=Warren |first2=Larkin |year=1996 |title=The Search for Justice: A Defense Attorney's Brief on the O.J. Simpson Case |location=New York |publisher=Warner Books |isbn=978-0446520812 |url=https://archive.org/details/searchforjustice00shap}}
• {{cite book |last=Taylor Gibbs |first=Jewelle |title=Race and Justice: Rodney King and O.J. Simpson in a House Divided |location=San Francisco |publisher=Jossey-Bass |year=1996 |isbn=978-0787902643 |url=https://archive.org/details/racejusticerodne00gibb|ref=0}}
• {{cite book |last=Toobin |first=Jeffrey|author-link=Jeffrey Toobin |year=1997 |title=The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson |publisher=Touchstone Books |isbn=978-0684842783}}

• {{cite book |last=Cotterill |first=Janet |year=2002 |title=Language and Power in Court: A Linguistic Analysis of the O.J. Simpson Trial |location=Basingstoke, England |publisher=Palgrave |isbn=978-0333969014}}
• {{cite book |last=Dear |first=William C.|author-link=William Dear (detective) |year=2000 |title=O.J. Is Guilty But Not of Murder |publisher=Dear Overseas Production |isbn=978-0970205803}}
• {{cite book |last=Dershowitz |first=Alan M.|author-link=Alan Dershowitz |year=1997 |title=Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case |location=New York |publisher=Touchstone Books |isbn=978-0684832647}}
• {{cite book |last=Felman |first=Shoshana|author-link=Shoshana Felman |year=2002 |title=The Juridical Unconscious: Trials and Traumas in the Twentieth Century |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0674009318}}
• {{cite book |last=Fuhrman |first=Mark|author-link=Mark Fuhrman |year=1997 |title=Murder in Brentwood |location=New York |publisher=Zebra |isbn=978-0821758557 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780821758557}}
• {{cite book |last=Garner |first=Joe|author-link=Joe Garner (author) |year=2002 |title=Stay Tuned: Television's Unforgettable Moments |location=Kansas City, Missouri |publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing |isbn=978-0740726934 |url=https://archive.org/details/staytunedtelevis00garn}}
• {{cite book |last=Hunt |first=Darnell M. |author-link=Darnell Hunt |year=1999 |title=O.J. Simpson Facts and Fictions: News Rituals in the Construction of Reality |location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521624565}}
• {{cite book |last=Linedecker |first=Clifford L. |year=1995 |title=O.J. A to Z: The Complete Handbook to the Trial of the Century |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0312142131}}

{{Commons}}

• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060205021959/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Simpson/simpson.htm/ |date=February 5, 2006 |title=Famous American Trials: O. J. Simpson}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20200611085518/https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRhp1Fri_Ts3e4oDImnYzewWUjtVHjSn9 OJ Simpson Criminal Trial Uncut Start-to-Finish (1995)] CONUS Archive.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20000520035138/http://www.cnn.com/US/OJ/trial/index.html The trial transcripts], CNN
• {{Charlie Rose view|5886|Philip Vannatter: Evidence Missed (January 31, 1997)}}
• [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/oj/view/ O.J. Simpson verdict ten years later (PBS Frontline streaming video)]

{{O. J. Simpson murder trial}}

{{NBA on NBC}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, O J murder case}}

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