The O.J. Simpson trial explained
It’s been 20 years since the verdict came down in the “Trial of the Century” — the People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson. Hall of Fame pro-football player and actor, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty in the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson, his ex-wife, and Ronald Goldman.
After nine months of televised testimonies, the trial concluded on Oct. 3, 1995, with almost 49 million people glued to their televisions.
The O.J. Simpson murder trial spoke volumes about race and the criminal justice system in America. It also ushered in the 24-hour news cycle. Tens of millions of viewers in the United States and worldwide were drawn to this true crime story that played out like a murder-mystery.
Early in the morning on June 13, 1994, the bodies of 35-year-old Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, 25, were found outside her West Los Angeles home. Left behind at the scene of the crime were a leather glove, bloody shoe prints and drops of blood that belonged to someone other than the victims. Police soon zeroed in on Simpson as the primary suspect.
The trial, which was broadcast live into millions of homes, began on Jan. 24, 1995, and lasted for almost a year.
The courtroom’s cast of characters quickly became household names, from Judge Lance Ito, to prosecutors Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden, to Simpson’s “dream team” of defense lawyers and the most famous houseguest ever, Kato Kaelin. And the trial, with all its twists and turns, became a spectator sport, complete with commentators dissecting the day’s events with a nightly play-by-play.
After nine months, almost 120 witnesses and 45,000 pages of evidence, the jury came to a decision after four hours of deliberation. Simpson would walk free.
Two years later, the Brown and Goldman families won $33.5 million in a civil case against O.J. Simpson, where he was found liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
And thirteen years to the day after he was cleared of murder, O.J. Simpson was convicted in Nevada on multiple felony counts, including assault and armed robbery, and sentenced to 33 years.
Now, FX has a miniseries — “American Crime Story: the People v. O.J. Simpson” — in the works, continuing this true crime saga.
Whether you’ve forgotten some of the details along the way or are hearing them for the first time, when it comes to the “Trial of the Century,” after watching this video, at least, you can say, “Now I get it.”
