Research Paper On Orenthal James Simpson

Orenthal James Simpson was most known for being a running back on the San Francisco 49ers. He was a face that almost all Americans knew from the football field, television, or movies. Even though he had a history of domestic violence, he was still viewed as a model celebrity. On June 12th 1994, Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ronald Goldman were found stabbed to death at Brown’s home. Brown was O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife. The two had been married for seven years, but at the time had been divorced for two years. When police arrived on the brutal murder scene, they discovered that Brown was O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife. At that point, the officers realized they needed to let him know before he found out from the media. That is where it all began (Pauli). At

Simpson arrived in Los Angeles, he was met at his home by hoards of media at the fence, and an excess of police officers inside the fence. At that point he was taken to the Los Angeles Police Department for questioning. It was also noticed that he had cuts on his left middle finger. Simpson was questioned, but maintained the fact that he was innocent. He even felt so comfortable in is “innocence” that he excused his lawyer during questioning. He could not clearly explain where he received the cuts and could not account for his whereabouts at certain times around the time of the murders. The case against O.J. was starting to seem like an open and shut case

Simpson trial was the issue of race. There were already severe racial tensions in bigger areas such as Los Angeles. Riots from excessive police brutality towards African Americans had just ended in Los Angeles at the time of the crime. Therefore, the prosecution had to be very careful in how they presented the case, presented the officers, and even presented the defendant. Many people today believe that O.J. Simpson could have been of the same social status as he was, but if he had been white he would have been prosecuted. The defense team depicted the whole trial to be an issue of race. If the prosecution requested hairs from the defendant, it was because he was black. Also, according to the defense, Mark Fuhrman framed Simpson just because he was black. The issues faced by the criminal justice system at the time had almost everything to do with the race and social status of O.J. Simpson. Even after the verdict was read and the jury was dismissed one juror stopped at the door and raised a fist. This is a sign that represents “Black Power” which led to even more speculation that the verdict was reached simply because of race. The “problem of race” is still a problem today and still has a huge effect on the criminal justice system