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The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson was a criminal trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court, in which former National Football League (NFL) player and actor O. J. Simpson was tried and acquitted for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. The two were stabbed to death outside Brown's condominium in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles on June 12, 1994. The murder trial spanned eight months, from January 24 to October 3, 1995. Opening statements were made on January 24, 1995. Though prosecutors argued that Simpson was implicated by a significant amount of forensic evidence, he was acquitted of both murders on October 3. Commentators agree that the defense capitalized on anger among the city's African-American community toward the Los Angeles Police Department, which had a history of racial bias and whose actions had inflamed racial tensions in major incidents two years prior, to convince the majority-Black jury to acquit Simpson. The trial is often characterized as the trial of the century because of its international publicity and has been described as the "most publicized" criminal trial in history. Simpson was formally charged with the murders on June 17 after DNA test results were finalized. When he did not turn himself in at the agreed time, he became the subject of a low-speed police pursuit while riding in a Ford Bronco SUV owned and driven by his friend Al Cowlings. TV stations interrupted coverage of the 1994 NBA Finals to broadcast live coverage of the pursuit, which was watched by around 95 million people. The pursuit and Simpson's arrest were among the most widely publicized events in American history. Simpson was represented by a high-profile defense team, referred to as the "Dream Team", initially led by Robert Shapiro and subsequently directed by Johnnie Cochran. The team included F. Lee Bailey, Alan Dershowitz, Robert Kardashian, Shawn Holley, Carl E. Douglas, and Gerald Uelmen. While Deputy District Attorneys Marcia Clark, William Hodgman, and Christopher Darden believed they had a strong case, the defense team persuaded the jury there was reasonable doubt concerning the DNA evidence. They contended that the blood sample had been mishandled by lab scientists and technicians and that the case had been tainted by LAPD misconduct related to racism and incompetence. The use of DNA evidence in trials was relatively new, and many laypersons did not understand how to evaluate it. The trial was considered historically significant for the wide division in reaction to the verdict by the public. Observers' opinions of the verdict were largely related to their ethnicity; the media dubbed this the "racial gap". A poll of Los Angeles County residents showed most African Americans thought the "not guilty" verdict was justified while the majority of whites thought it was a racially motivated jury nullification by the mostly African-American jury. Polling in later years showed the gap had narrowed since the trial; more than half of polled Black respondents expressed the belief that Simpson was guilty. In 2017, three jurors who acquitted Simpson said that in retrospect they would still vote to acquit, while one said he would vote to convict. After the trial, Goldman's father filed a civil suit against Simpson. In 1997, the jury unanimously found Simpson responsible for the deaths of Goldman and Brown. The Goldman family was awarded compensatory and punitive damages totaling $33.5 million ($63.6 million in 2023 dollars) but as of 2024 have received only a small portion of that amount. In 2000, Simpson left California for Florida, one of the few states where personal assets such as homes and pensions cannot be seized to cover liabilities incurred in other states. Background Simpson–Brown marriage Brown met Simpson in 1977 when he was 30 and she was 18 and working as a waitress at the Daisy (a Beverly Hills private club). They began dating although Simpson was married; he filed for divorce from his first wife in March 1979. Simpson and Brown married on February 2, 1985. They had two children together, daughter Sydney (b. 1985) and son Justin (b. 1988). Brown signed a prenuptial agreement that prohibited her from working while married. According to psychologist Lenore E. Walker, the Simpson–Brown marriage was a "textbook example of domestic abuse". In letters and other documents, Brown wrote that Simpson had beaten her in public, during sex, and even in front of family and friends. She described an incident in which Simpson broke her arm during a fight; to prevent him from being arrested, she told emergency room staff that she had fallen off her bike. Brown wrote that she felt conflicted about notifying police of the abuse because she was financially dependent on Simpson. Of the 62 incidents of abuse, the police were notified eight times, and Simpson was arrested once. On February 25, 1992, Brown filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences". Brown said that Simpson stalked and harassed her after they divorced – an intimidation tactic meant to force the victim to return to the abuser. She said he had spied on her having sex with her new boyfriend and that she felt her life was in danger because Simpson had threatened to kill her if he ever found her with another man. She drafted a will. On June 8, 1994, a woman named Nicole (presumed to be Brown) telephoned Sojourn House, a women's shelter. She was considering staying at the shelter because she was afraid of what Simpson might do to her, as she was refusing his pleas to reconcile their marriage. Frogmen A few months before the murders, Simpson completed a film pilot for Frogmen, an adventure series similar to The A-Team. Simpson played the lead role of "Bullfrog" Burke, who led a group of former US Navy SEALs. He received "a fair amount of" military training – including the use of a knife – for Frogmen, and holds a knife to the throat of a woman (playing the role of his daughter) in one scene. A 25-minute tape of the pilot, which did not include the knife scene, was found by investigators and watched on Simpson's television as they searched his house. The defense tried to block its use on these grounds, but Judge Ito allowed the tape to be shown. However, the prosecution never introduced it as evidence during the trial. "Bullfrog" Burke was skilled at night killings, and the "silent kill" technique of slashing the throat. SEALs also regularly wear knit "watch caps" like the one found at the scene. Murders On the evening of June 12, 1994, Brown and Simpson both attended their daughter Sydney's dance recital at Paul Revere Middle School. Afterward, Brown and her family went to eat at Mezzaluna restaurant; they did not invite Simpson to join them. One of the waiters at the restaurant was Ron Goldman, who had become close friends with Brown in recent weeks, but was not assigned to the Brown family's table. Brown and her children went t.... Discover the Donald Miller Dr J J Peterson popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Donald Miller Dr J J Peterson books.