http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/a...x.htm?eref=sisf

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The story was uniquely Californian, beginning with the discovery shortly after midnight on Monday, June 13, of two bodies on a blood-soaked sidewalk in affluent Brentwood and ending surreally four days later with the celebrity suspect traveling slowly along Los Angeles freeways, pointing a gun at his own head, as the police trailed in stately pursuit. Only in California can crime conform so neatly to cinema. As millions watched the drama unfold on television, brought into their homes by an Apocalypse Now formation of news helicopters, images from any number of other movies were evoked. The story started with The Fugitive—a popular and upstanding citizen is accused of savagely murdering his wife—and evolved into The Sugarland Express or Vanishing Point when, during L.A.'s evening rush hour last Friday, thousands of cheering people materialized along freeway barriers and on overpasses, some of them with adoring signs, to celebrate this outlaw in the Ford Bronco, trotting toward his own personal border.

And then the saga veered into Sunset Boulevard, as one of America's most familiar personalities sat in the Bronco, now parked just outside the door of his Brentwood house, not even a half mile from the real Sunset Boulevard. Camera crews jostled for angles in the waning light as police, including a member of a SWAT team dressed as a bush, drew a bead on him and negotiated his arrest. Then O.J. Simpson, finally ready for his close-up, emerged from the vehicle in which he had been a passenger, leaving the gun behind but carrying two framed family photographs with him into custody.

But even when edited into a whole, the film clips of this startling mix of fame and blood explained little. There was some thing here that didn't play. Between the beginning and the end, two funerals had been held, and police had alleged that two children had been made motherless by their father's knife-wielding hand. When it was all over, a former sports hero, whose colossal likability had fueled a career in TV, movies and endorsements—who had acquired wealth and important friends and who moved through life with an effortless grace—was in jail, charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. "O.J.," said a TV industry source, "made a career out of being a nice guy." Yet there was his mug shot on the evening news, a man staring blankly into the distance, suspected of slashing two other human beings to death.

Last week many of Simpson's friends admitted his faults and acknowledged his indulgences—"He was a rogue when it came to women," said one—but all of them deemed it inconceivable that Simpson could have committed murder. Referring to him as "the single most popular employee we have," an NBC executive said, "We could call him at home at 9:30 p.m. and tell him we needed him to do an interview at 9 a.m. tomorrow, and he'd be on a plane a half hour later. He never complained. Of all the superstars, he was absolutely the freest of pretension. He was genuine."

Interviews acquired the force of eulogies. Simpson was a Heisman Trophy winner at USC, a Hall of Famer with the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers, and a durable broadcaster for ABC and NBC, as well as an actor who appeared most recently in three Naked Gun movies and the HBO series First and Ten. He never spiked a ball. He was among the first running backs to bestow gifts and recognition upon his blockers. He once jokingly called himself the Angel of Death for his frequent visits to terminally ill children in Buffalo hospitals. Nobody signed more autographs with as much good humor. Approached in a hotel lobby on the morning of a game by a shy youngster, Simpson would sign and then would carry the autograph book onto the team bus for other players to sign. "The Juice has always left a sweet taste in these parts," says Buffalo News sportswriter Vic Carucci.

But no endorsement from friends, former teammates or broadcasting colleagues could shift the monstrosity of this crime from Simpson's famous name. It was impossible to ignore the ocean of blood on the steps and the pathway outside Nicole Simpson's condominium, the tremendous arterial spray that the killer had produced in his violence. The cruelty of the murders, the fury it must have taken to perform them, was otherworldly. If O.J. Simpson was that killer, a lot of what we think we know about human behavior must be reconsidered.

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20 years later and where are they now?

OJ is sitting in jail for almost life.

Johnnie Cochran is thankfully dead.

Robert Kardashian is thankfully dead, but he cursed us with his fat assed kids.

Alan Dershowitz is still a Commie Lib asshole.

Robert Shapiro is shilling for LegalZoom nonstop on local TV outlets.



May they all rot in hell for eternity for wasting Americas time in the mid 90's.

Quote: Frank Cannon wrote in post #2

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20 years later and where are they now?

OJ is sitting in jail for almost life.

Johnnie Cochran is thankfully dead.

Robert Kardashian is thankfully dead, but he cursed us with his fat assed kids.

Alan Dershowitz is still a Commie Lib asshole.

Robert Shapiro is shilling for LegalZoom nonstop on local TV outlets.



May they all rot in hell for eternity for wasting Americas time in the mid 90's.

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Quote: PzLdr wrote in post #3

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You left out Marcia Clark, her co-Counsel, their boss, Gil Garcetti, the [dis] Honorable Lance Ito, and to a lesser degree [they didn't pick themselves for the jury], the "OJ 12".

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I liked Christopher Darden too. I remember him being asked, "When did you know you had lost the case?" and answering, "As soon as I saw the jury."

That was quite an uphill battle, but he did his best.

Quote: truthkeeper wrote in post #5

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That was quite an uphill battle, but he did his best.

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Yeah, even F.Lee Bailey was there to make an ass out of himself.

Kato Kaelin, "If the glove don't fit, you must acquit," and the plaintive wail of a dog...talk about a circus. All that was missing was the bearded lady.

Quote: truthkeeper wrote in post #7

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Yeah, even F.Lee Bailey was there to make an ass out of himself.

Kato Kaelin, "If the glove don't fit, you must acquit," and the plaintive wail of a dog...talk about a circus. All that was missing was the bearded lady.

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Yup. That jerk was disbarred in FL and MA and was just denied a license in Maine....

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/25/us/f-l...disbarment.html

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The state court disbarred Mr. Bailey on Nov. 21 for mishandling $6 million worth of stock that belonged to a client now serving a life sentence for drug smuggling.

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Quote: truthkeeper wrote in post #5

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I liked Christopher Darden too. I remember him being asked, "When did you know you had lost the case?" and answering, "As soon as I saw the jury."

That was quite an uphill battle, but he did his best.

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No, I believe Darden was brought into the trial later if my memory serves me. I don't think he was involved in the initial voir dire of the witnesses.

"No, I believe Darden was brought into the trial later if my memory serves me. I don't think he was involved in the initial voir dire of the witnesses."

Correct. Darden was added when Garcetti realized he needed a black face on the prosecutorial team, just as Clark was added simply because she was a female. The two of them lost the case due to their own incompetence combined with the racism of the part of the jury. For goodness sake they didn't even introduce evidence of Simpson little escapade on the LA Freeways and what that said about his guilt.

In all fairness, Lance Ito may have prevented the introduction of that evidence on the grounds of being prejudicial to the jury. He was good at bizarre determinations, such as allowing the introduction of Fuhrman's ever-so-relevant use of the "N" word.

The prosecution should have challenged Ito at the starting gate since he was so cozy with his ex-associate, Johnnie Cochran. In the end, he proved to be the Dream Team's Dream Jurist.

P.S. Correction to my earlier post...I meant voir dire of the JURY, not the witnesses. Too early, not enough coffee!

"I meant voir dire of the JURY, not the witnesses."

Lol. Didn't even notice. Too early, not enough coffee.

Quote: truthkeeper wrote in post #13

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In all fairness, Lance Ito may have prevented the introduction of that evidence on the grounds of being prejudicial to the jury. He was good at bizarre determinations, such as allowing the introduction of Fuhrman's ever-so-relevant use of the "N" word.

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