How the O.J. Simpson murder case changed trials forever

O.J. Simpson died of cancer at the age of 76, his family announced on Thursday. Despite incredible fame and success from his football career, Simpson will be more remembered for his involvement in what is considered one of the most famous murder trials in U.S. history, in which he was found not guilty of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

The Simpson trial and its lead-up — including the infamous Ford Bronco chase down the 405 Freeway in Southern California — was a major turning point in news sensationalism and televised courtroom trials.

The trial had elements of racial divides, sex, celebrity and murder — a combination that made Time magazine dub it “the Godzilla of tabloid stories.”

A turning point for sensationalized, televised trials

The first criminal trial to be nationally televised was Ted Bundy’s conviction in 1979 for the murder of two sorority sisters in Tallahassee, Fla. In 1981, the Supreme Court ruled that states could pass laws allowing cameras into courtrooms.

Fourteen years later, Simpson was tried for two counts of murder, with cameras present, and it sparked a national obsession with the story.

The Ford Bronco chase was one of the first live police pursuits televised. There were crowds of fans and media along the 405 Freeway and on overpasses with signs while cheering on the car. The nearly two-hour car chase was aired live by news networks and watched by 95 million people — NBC, which was airing the Rockets-Knicks NBA Finals, cut away from the game to show the car chase.

Simpson’s high-profile team of defense lawyers and his own celebrity factored into why the case had an unprecedented amount of media coverage — so much so, that it caused delays in the trial. What was initially supposed to be a two-week trial ended up being the longest trial in California history.

The moment he was found not guilty is one of the most-watched live events in television history.

Anyone can be a celebrity

Everyone involved in the trial entered the spotlight.

Judge Lance Ito, who oversaw the case and was initially critical of having cameras in courtrooms, got “sucked into the media vortex,” Paul Thaler, the communications department chair at Adelphi University, told the Guardian in 2014. Thaler also wrote two books about the impact the cameras in the Simpson trial had on the American justice system.

“He became infatuated with it,” Thaler said about Ito. “He would reportedly go home and turn multiple television sets on to watch the day’s proceedings.”

Many lawyers, investigators and witnesses involved became household names too. Lawyer Robert Kardashian, father of the Kardashian siblings, was part of the defense team dubbed “The Dream Team.” The group was led by Johnnie L. Cochran Jr, who coined the “if glove don't fit, you must acquit” defense after Simpson’s hands couldn’t fit into the bloody gloves found at the scene — an embarrassing moment for prosecutors.

Prosecutor Marcia Clark faced criticism from journalists and viewers over her hair, outfits and personality. Harvey Levin, who was a young reporter for a local Los Angeles TV station and covered the case, went on to launch celebrity news website TMZ.

The start of the 24-hour cable news cycle

The trial changed media and how it’s consumed. Suddenly, there was a demand for a 24-hour news cycle on cable news. American audiences wanted more live coverage too, so primetime cable TV slots previously dominated by scripted television were pushed aside for more “hyper-coverage” on the trial.

Networks noticed when viewership dipped because they weren’t covering the Simpson trial. Thaler told the Guardian that several major news stories were occurring at the same time — the death of North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung, the Oklahoma City bombing and welfare reform — that couldn’t compete with the demand for Simpson coverage, so they weren’t addressed.

“This was the start of cable news making the justice system into a profit-making commercial property,” Thaler said.

The Simpson trial also coincided with the launch of Court TV in 1991, run by Steven Brill and now known as TruTV. Court TV filmed proceedings and added commentary to bring the average viewer up to speed on court cases.

“The birth of the 24-hour news coverage brought us into the world we know today,” the journalism nonprofit J-STOR wrote in 2016 about the trial. “TV lineups are abound with ‘reality’ shows, hyper-news coverage and true-life crime stories.”

Creating the ‘court of public opinion’

Bringing the general public into the courtroom ignited nonstop conversations, creating a court of public opinion.

With racial tensions already high in the U.S., the case fanned the flames. The not-guilty verdict was achieved in part thanks to the defense trying to turn the proceedings against the Los Angeles Police Department to convince the mostly Black jury that the police department had framed Simpson.

The choice highlighted divided perceptions and experiences between Black and white people in the U.S. when it came to dealing with racism and police conduct.

It’s part of why interest in the case has sustained over the last few decades since the trial ended. In 2016, Ryan Murphy’s “American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson,” a TV mini-series dedicated to the trial, aired, winning nine Emmys and two Golden Globes Awards. The following year, a nearly eight-hour documentary on the subject, “O.J.: Made in America,” won Best Documentary at the Oscars.