Background of OJ Simpson Trial
By: Cassie Sardo, Celyne Moh, Janice Kim, Vick
Noh
Jury
Juror
Seat
Sex
Age
Race
Occupation
Additional Information
199
1
Male
30s
Asian/Black
Postal Worker
Believes DNA is “like a genetic
fingerprint.”
341
2
Female
60s
White
Bank Employee
Believes interracial marriages can cause
problems.
186
3
Male
30s
White
Unknown
His DNA knowledge came from the
Discovery Channel and the movie
“Jurassic Park.”
294
4
Female
20s
White
Unknown
She grew up with Simpson as a hero
266
5
Female
40s
White
Stage Manager
Feelings that the criminal justice system is
flawed.
257
6
Female
30s
Hispanic
Unknown
She felt Simpson’s marriage was
dysfunctional.
333
7
Female
60s
Black
Grandmother
Her husband was a parole officer and her
brother-in-law was killed by a robber.
Jury Continued..
290
8
Male
40s
Middle Eastern
Company Manager
An open-minded man
326
9
Male
50s
White
Unknown
Skeptical about the
validity of evidence.
400
10
Female
50s
White
Working mom
Strong religious beliefs
and unbiased when it
comes to race. Her
daughter had a situation
with domestic violence
with a boyfriend.
88
11
Female
30s
White
Unknown
She lived near the crime
scene.
227
12
Male
50s
White
Unknown
His father was a police
officer. He called
interracial marriages
“impractical.”
Judge
 Judge: Lance Ito
 Worked as a district attorney
 Married to LAPD official
 Irreverent childhood
 Appointed in 1989
 Bad courtroom manager
 Still an LA Judge
Prosecutors
 Lead Prosecutor: Marcia Clark (Deputy District Attorney)
 Clark’s co-counsel: Christopher A. Darden (Deputy District
Attorney), widely experienced in murder trials
 Despite no murder weapon or witnesses to murder,
prosecutors believed they had a strong cased supported by
DNA evidence
 Prosecution presented dozens of expert witnesses (DNA
printing, blood and shoeprint analysis)
 Opening weeks of trial: presented evidence of Simpson’s
history of physical abuse to his wife
Defense Lawyers aka “Dream Team”
 Robert Shapiro: Civil litigator and senior partner in the
Los Angeles law firm Glaser Weil Fink Jacobs Howard Avchen
& Shapiro, LLP. Graduated from UCLA and obtained his
Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School. He had never tried a
murder case before the O.J. Simpson case.
 Robert Shapiro: Civil litigator and senior partner in the
Los Angeles law firm Glaser Weil Fink Jacobs Howard Avchen
& Shapiro, LLP. Graduated from UCLA and obtained his
Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School. He had never tried a
murder case before the O.J. Simpson case.
 Alan Dershowitz: A distinguished law professional. Has
spent most of his career as Professor of Law at Harvard Law
School. Was involved in high-profile legal cases and as
commentator on the Arab –Israeli conflict. He is notable for
his role in overturning the conviction of Claus von Bülow for
the attempted murder of his wife in 1984. At the time of the
O.J. Simpson trial, he was more recognized for appellate law
than criminal or trial law.
 Johnnie Cochran: A high profile, stylish Los Angeles
lawyer. Drove around in a Rolls Royce and had once worked
in the Los Angeles district attorney’s office.
 Carl E. Douglas: Specialized in police misconduct cases. As
managing attorney at the Law Office of Johnnie Cochran Jr,
he was viewed as Cochran’s right hand man.
 Robert Kardashian: Attorney and businessman. He
practiced law for about a decade after he earned a law degree
from the University of San Diego and then went into
business. He has been a friend of Simpson. When he
presented the O.J. Simpson case, it had been over 20 years
since Kardashian had practiced law.
 Gerald Uelmen: Dean of law at Santa Clara University.
 Barry Scheck: New York attorney who specialized in DNA
evidence.
 Peter Neufeld: New York attorney who specialized in DNA
evidence.
Sources
 http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/
famous/simpson/do_7.html
 http://www.cnn.com/US/OJ/
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson_murder_cas
e
OJ trial evidence/ car chase
By Brian Fuchs, Stephen Grover, Calvin Hartman,
Mike Kost, Tim Olsen
Crime Scene Evidence
 Many aspects of evidence found at crime scene
 Blood drops that matched OJ
 OJ had a cut on his finger after the murders
 Bloody shoe prints that matched a size 12 shoe
 OJ wore a size 12
 Hairs found in dark knit cap matched OJ’s hairs and fibers
resembled that of his Ford Bronco
Crime Scene Evidence Cont.
 Bloody extra large glove was found by Simpson’s guest house
 Contained the genetic markers of both victims
 Bloody socks found at the foot of Simpson’s bed that contained
the victim’s genetic markers
 Blood found smeared in OJ’s Ford Bronco that had the genetic
markers of OJ and victims
 Suspicious time frame that showed OJ could have killed the
victims
Car Chase
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcyyCi2b2AY&edufilt
er=d3ViuWqXvxQy1rRgssBz8Q
 June 17th 1994
 Accomplice Al Cowling
 Low speed chase on I-405
OJ Simpson
By: Maddie Ricca, Jared Winston, CJ Doornheim,
Nick Siegel
Blood Evidence
 OJ had a cut on his left middle finger when interviewed by




the police the day after the killings
Bloodstains on paper wrapping that was supposed to be
holding dry blood samples
There was blood found on a gun inside OJ’s car
Blood found in the foyer and master bedroom in OJ’s home
One dark, cashmere-lined Aris Light leather glove, size extralarge, was found at the murder scene
 Ms. Simpson bought Simpson two pair of such gloves
DNA Evidence
 DNA tests showed blood on glove found on
Simpson’s property appeared to contain
genetic markers of Simpson and both
victims
 A long hair of Ms. Simpson’s was also
found on that glove
 Socks found at the foot of Simpson’s bed
were tested and found the genetic markers
of Simpson and his ex-wife
 Blood spots in Simpson’s Bronco contained
DNA matching Bropj-0wn’s, Goldman’s,
and Simpson’s blood
 Defense stated DNA results were unreliable
Works Cited
 http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/index/nns25.htm
 http://www.bxscience.edu/publications/forensics/articles/
dna/r-dna02.htm
 http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/simpson/ev
idence.html
Rose Marie Vigneron,
Megan Farrell, Austin
Berninger, TJ
McHugh, and Joey
Schwartz
Footprint evidence
 Bloody shoe prints were found leading
away from the bodies and from the back
gate of the condo
 Significance
 Shoe size was size 12 – same as OJ
 Tested for DNA matches
 Initial testing did not rule Simpson out as
a suspect
 More tests matches were found between
Simpson's blood and blood samples taken
from the crime scene (both the shoe
prints in blood and the gate samples).
Trial Explanation
 Prosecution: tried to place Simpson at the murder scene by
showing that Bloomingdale's in New York, where Simpson
sometimes shopped, carried such shoes.
 Defense: Thousands of people bought such shoes; noted that
no murder shoes were ever recovered and that the
prosecution had no evidence that Simpson ever purchased
such shoes; raised the possibility that unexplained "imprints''
that didn't match the Bruno Magli sole also were at the crime
scene.
Glove Evidence
 Fibers on the bloody glove found behind OJ's
house match carpeting in OJ's car (type:
Bronco)
 Kato (witness) hears thumps outside his
window between 10:50 p.m. and 10:51 p.m.
He heard the thumps near where the bloody
glove is found.
 A bloody glove matching the one at the
murder scene is found behind OJ's house near
the air-conditioning unit, where Kato hears
three thumps.
 A bloody glove matching the glove found at
the murder scene that was found on OJ's
property within hours of the murders
contains a hair with the same microscopic
characteristics as Ron's and Nicole's.
Pieces of Evidence for Gloves (2)
 The glove at the murder scene and the glove at OJ's home are
extra large: OJ's size. Both gloves are matching (left and right).
 Both gloves are identical to the type Nicole bought for Simpson at
Bloomingdales in December of 1990.
 one of only two hundred pairs like them sold through out the whole
country that year.
 Photos and videos of OJ show him wearing the exact same gloves
that match the ones found at his home and the murder scene.
 An expert testifies the bloody gloves would have fit OJ except that
blood and moisture caused the extra-large gloves to shrink a full
size.
Trial explanation
 Prosecution: Simpson lost the left glove at his ex-wife's home
during the struggle and, in a rush, inadvertently dropped the
right glove while trying to hide it; explained that evidence
gloves didn't fit Simpson in a courtroom demonstration
because the gloves shrunk from being soaked in blood and
Simpson had rubber gloves on underneath.
 Defense: glove behind guest house was planted by Detective
Mark Fuhrman, a racist cop trying to frame Simpson; blood
on glove may have been planted by police; gloated that
evidence gloves didn't fit; hair analysis isn't sophisticated
enough to be trusted.
Works Cited
 http://theweek.com/article/index/233084/oj-simpsons-
glove-did-johnnie-cochran-tamper-with-evidence
OJ “The Juice” Simpson
By: Jamie Smith, Sarah
Kissane, Mary Mei, and Jenny
Haggis
The Crime
 The double murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and
Ronald Goldman occurred on June 12, 1994
 Nicole had been stabbed multiple times in the head
and neck
-The wound on her neck was so deep that the
larynx could be seen and the vertebra
C3 was
incised
The Charges
 2 counts of First
Degree Murder
The Speculation
 Many people believe that Ronald Goldman most
likely arrived after Nicole’s murder and was stabbed
to death. Just another matter of wrong place, wrong
time. However, others believe that Nicole and
Goldman were both alive and well when they were
both confronted by OJ.
The Victim
 Simpson and Brown began
dating when she was 18 and
he was 30
 She had 2 children with OJ
 Brown was 26 years old when
she married Simpson.
The Victim Cnt.
 OJ abused her and in a 911 tape she told
the operator that she needed assistance
because OJ was “going to beat the shit
out of me.”
 She divorced OJ in 1992 and won
$433,000 in a cash settlement and
$10,000 per month in child support
 Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered on
June 12, 1994
The Second Victim
 Was an energetic young man who
lived in Southern California
 Was well liked by all who knew him
 He was employed as a waiter at a
trendy restaurant and was also a
model on the side
 Claimed that he was “only friends”
with Nicole
The Second Victim Cnt
 Many believe that Goldman’s
death was an accident and was
simply in the wrong place at the
wrong time. They think that he
was never the intended target
 He claimed that he was
returning Nicole’s glasses which
her mother left at the restaurant
The Crime Scene
 Nicole was found outside her
condominium
 Brown was discovered in a
rumpled heap at the bottom of
the stairs at her condo. Her
feet were protruding through
the bottom of the fence.
Goldman was also found
sprawled against the fence.
THE VERDICT?
 Acquittal on all counts
 OJ SIMPSON now serving a lengthy sentence in Nevada
state prison for an armed robbery of his own (stolen?) sports
memorabilia.
 Significance of sports memorabilia; it was supposed to have
been sold to raise monies to pay Goldman family.
 the wrongful death civil case; Goldman family sued OJ (less
burden of proof needed) and they won
 OJ claimed bankruptcy from trial costs but memorabilia
showed up later.. .interesting
by JMP
The Bibliography
 http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/simpson

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/goldman.htm
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/simpson
/brown-simpson.htm
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/simpson
/oj.htm
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-oj-annivarrest,0,922015.story
http://www.bobaugust.com/photo.htm#no1
Slide show a collaborative effort
of period 6
SUPA forensic class
2012-13