Still casually “Century trialIt started 30 years ago today, and its heritage is still open.
OJ Simpson's double murder case has been made to a trial in Los Angeles downtown January 1995Such questions still resonate even if they are given time.
This fact, the California people vs. Oji Simpson, was it a revelation of the racial division of the country? Did you reconfirm the criminal justice that you can support a wealthy celebrity defendant like a film actor who became an African American soccer star and a pitchman? Was the permanent contribution of the trial the introduction of evidence of legal medicine DNA in the mainstream in the United States?
And finally, was the Simpson case really recognized as a “trial of the century”?
The minutes were broadcast for several months and have been endured. Plot the twist and Signature moment Before the end of October 3, 1995, it was extraordinary Improvement nation all night。 Americans of all life at the time specified to read the decision in court I stopped what they were doing, I'm waiting to know if Simpson will be convicted A terrible fatal sting wound Both of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friends, Ronald Goldman were both white.
The decision was so with the number of murders Not innocentAs a result of being considered to be clarified in the United States Along the racial line。 Blacks mainly cheer, and many of them take the decision on RE responsibility for police misconduct. White people believed that justice was deceived, almost responded to disgust and discouraging.
Race and polishing were inevitable in the Simpson case. Fatal riots in Los AngelesNon -AV, caused by an acquittal in a white police officer Assault in 1991 Rodney King, a driver. One of the most dramatic moments of the Simpson trial was the Los Angeles police detective in the second half of the lawsuit. Mark Fullman Faced the evidence of his audio tape Give racist slander -After refusing such remarks. Fulman's appearance was a stunning conspiracy twist that was useful for reliably sealing Simpson's innocence.
Unlike most murder defendants, Simpson tapped millions of dollars wealth and hired a high -output defense team that regularly accused the prosecutor. “If you don't have the money, you won't have any chance at all,” said Simpson in the bestseller. Book He was prepared from his tape recorded response to the letter he received before the trial.
However, this case was very abnormal to attract the duration and sustainable popularity, not an accurate pHOR in the United States racial relationships in the 1990s. He was 76 years old Simpson I died last year In the cancer, he pursued professional soccer, later advantageous careers in movies and television advertisements, and remained lonely mainly from racial causes and activity. he I once talked to the New York Times sports writer“My biggest result is that people are not black, the people look at me first like a man.”
Furthermore, the Simpson case revealed the racial split of Colin Powell, a black four -star general who had been considering running for presidential positions in 1996 as a Republican member. It is challenging to harmonize the discussion. When Simpson's trial was approaching the end, Powell fascinated the audience that he was advertising the bestseller, including a book tour. Memoir。 Washington Post columnist Explained Powell in October 1995 as “the most popular American of all colors”.
For a while, “Powell Mania” was in progress in the United States. The general was the chairman of the co -Chief of the United States during the Gulf War in the United States in 1990-91, and was widely declared with Americans. hero。 In addition, his future candidate brought a clear challenge to the re -election of President Bill Clinton. Eventually, Powell opposed the office, and Clinton easily re -elected.
Simpson's innocence was probably the same InevitableNot only Farman's perjury testimony. Simpson's lawyer is the best evidence of prosecutors, that is, the best evidence of the prosecutor, that is, the best evidence of the prosecutor, the door of the Simpson car, his socks, and other places that pointed to his negligence in other places. The evidence of the blood was effectively pushed out. If you have no murder, known witnesses, or confession, DNA evidence represents the best path of prosecution for conviction.
The Forensic DNA was still novel and was not well -aware of Americans in 1995. It was a few years ago that DNA typing became the center of TV programming CSI franchise, etc. In fact, Simpson's trial probably accelerated, expecting the appearance of DNA as a popular culture equipment.
Simpson's legal team has made an important decision not to disagree with the value and science of DNA typing. Instead, Simpson's lawyer focused on how incompetent blood evidence was collected, processed, and processed by authorities. They showed that the important blood samples were stored in the police van without air conditioning or in plastic bags that were subject to pollution.
“There was a 21st century technology and a 19th -century evidence collection method,” said one of Simpson's lawyer, Barry Shak. I said A few years after Simpson's innocence. “After seeing this trial, he added as follows. People paid attention. The prosecutor and the law execution agency took it very seriously.” Improvement of the crime scene. Continued. DNA's evidence collection has been more routine and sophisticated.
In an important way, the main contribution of Simpson's trial was to introduce the potential power of a forensic DNA to the main audience. The lawsuit provided a famous affirmation of such evidence in criminal litigation. And it gave an American a well -developed scale to the evidence of DNA for a few years.
But was the Simpson case really a “trial of the century”? If you take a longer view of the exam, the answer is as follows: Probably not. Even in 1995, reservations were proposed, whether or not the ratio was so exceptional or appropriate.
Gerald F. Wellmen, another Simpson lawyer, reported that he had found a reference. 34 cases or more In the 20th century, it was once called the “Century Trial” or “Crime of the Century”. It was a long list, assassination Including Lindberg Baby Kid Napnup in President William McKinley in 1901 Trial 1935.
The murder case since 1995 has ordered sustainable precautions as a spectacle on television of Simpson, but the minutes are the most well -understood as the “most sensational trial of the 1990s.” Or, instead, as the first famous criminal trial in the United States, where DNA evidence was greatly grasped.
Dr. W. Joseph Campbell is an emeritus professor of American University. He writes a book that contains seven solos. “1995: The year when the future began. “
