O.J. Simpson’s attorney Alan Dershowitz said he would have represented the alleged victims of the 1994 murder “if they had called me first.”
Mr. Dershowitz issued a statement to Fox’s Sean Hannity on Thursday following the news that Mr. Simpson had died from prostate cancer at the age of 76.
“My deepest condolences to the Goldman family and the Brown family. They have done a phenomenal job of standing up for their relatives and wish they had called me first before the O.J. team called me. , I probably would have represented Goldman or the Brown family,” Dershowitz said. mediaite.
But Dershowitz was accused of completing Simpson’s “dream team” in the murder trial of the NFL superstar’s ex-wife Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman.
Goldman was just 25 years old when he was murdered outside Brown’s Brentwood home on June 12, 1994.
Dershowitz told Fox: “I’m very sympathetic to the Goldmans and the Browns and I wish I could have been on their side, but that wasn’t the case.At the end of the day, O. J. Simpson will probably be remembered as a historical figure.” I did it, but who were the police trying to trap? ”
Goldman, who works as a waiter at Mezzaluna restaurant, is believed to have stopped by Brown’s home after work to return his mother’s reading glasses.
The two were found stabbed to death just after midnight.
Simpson, who had divorced Brown two years earlier, was acquitted of the brutal murder in October 1995, despite a mountain of evidence against him.
Many of his acquittals come from Dershowitz, who has represented high-profile figures such as serial killer and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein, as well as Robert Kardashian, Robert -It is thought to be the work of a “dream team” of lawyers, including Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran. .
Reuters
Separately on Thursday, Dershowitz told NBC that he was saddened by Simpson’s death.
“I was upset that he passed away because I knew he was seriously ill,” the 85-year-old lawyer, a former Harvard Law School professor, told the show.
“I got to know him pretty well during the trial, which was one of the most polarizing trials in American history along racial lines,” he added, adding that Simpson He cited the fact that the trial took place in the immediate aftermath of the infamous Los Angeles riots that erupted when four white police officers were acquitted of the heinous crime. , the assault of a black man named Rodney King was caught on camera.
The ruling sparked racial tensions in the city, which spilled over into the lawsuit against Simpson, one of the most famous black men in America at the time.
“The moment of the Bronco chase, the glove and the acquittal will forever remain in his memory,” Dershowitz said.
Simpson was infamously arrested on June 17, 1994, for allegedly killing Brown and Goldman after a low-speed car chase in a white Bronco.
At trial, he struggled to try on the bloody gloves, but prosecutors insisted he was connected to the crime scene.
At that moment, Cochran insisted, “If it doesn’t fit, then you have to acquit.”
Stay up to date with the latest coverage of O.J. Simpson’s death
Brown’s family has not yet spoken out about Simpson’s death, but Goldman’s parents, Kim and Fred Goldman, said in a statement Thursday: Grief is not linear. ”
“For 30 years, we have tirelessly pursued justice for Ron and Nicole, but despite the civil judgment and ‘If I Did It’ confession, any hope for true accountability has ended. .”
The victim’s family, including Fred Goldman, always maintained Simpson’s guilt.
His heartbroken father claimed early Thursday that Mr Simpong’s death was “just another reminder of what Ron has been missing all these years”.
“It’s not a great loss to the world. It’s just another reminder that Ron is gone.” Fred Goldman told NBC.
Simpson was ordered to pay more than $33 million to both families in a civil suit for wrongful death and assault.
