The trial of OJ Simpson, for the double murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman, captivated America in 1995. His surprise acquittal, after nine months of hearings where racism had the upper hand. star, had divided the country. Return to the archives on the day of the verdict when the death of the former American football star was announced this Thursday, April 11, 2024.
Article published in Le Figaro on October 4, 1995
“Our justice system is ruined. This country is screwed
. ”
He shuddered with suppressed rage. In the Los Angeles airport bar, the other passengers do not protest openly. They are too suspicious of each other. Just a few cries of surprise quickly stifled and the heavy silence once again takes over the room usually filled with the noise of conversations. All eyes are fixed on the television set suspended above the tables.
Before their eyes, OJ Simpson has just been acquitted of the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. On June 13, 1994, their two stabbed bodies were discovered at Nicole's home. The “trial of the century” has lasted for a year and the evidence seemed to irrefutably point to the former footballer. But Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden, the two prosecutors, failed to prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt”. The latter was crying yesterday a few hours after his resounding failure.
The defendant's multimillionaire lawyers won. In high-profile criminal trials, convictions are rare. The slightest error on the part of the prosecution, and acquittal is almost obligatory.
Two children
OJ is happy. He smiles, a tense, nervous smile that splits his skin, which has turned gray from the stress of recent months. Trembling with relief, he kisses his lawyer. Behind him, the families of the victims let their almost silent pain burst forth. And the pain is not over. Nicole had two children from OJ. The Brown family will have to return them to the man they believe to be their daughter's murderer.
In the bar, the uneasiness is evident. The airport, one of the busiest in the world, is silent. Many passengers would like to scream in their fury and astonishment. But they don't dare. Almost all experts expected a conviction. The jury had deliberated for such a short time, they explained, that an acquittal seemed out of the question. It took less than four hours on Monday for the twelve jurors to decide. And they had only asked to listen to one testimony again: that of Alian Park, the driver of the limousine who had come to pick up OJ, the evening of the double murder, to take him to the airport. Park had shattered the defendant's alibi and virtually established that OJ had left his property long enough to commit the murders.
No female solidarity
The sociological and political deciphering of the verdict will begin. A large majority of the jurors were women, but female solidarity with the victim did not work. It will be tempting to conclude that race played a decisive role in the jury's choice. Nine of the twelve jurors were black, like OJ. Only two were white, like Nicole. In France, a qualified majority is sufficient within a jury. In California, unanimity is required. These two whites therefore also chose to acquit.
The defense had masterfully exploited the proven racism of Mark Fuhrman, one of the police officers assigned to the investigation. This element will probably remain as the cornerstone of the trial. In Los Angeles, black people are losers who live in a constant state of frustration. Many of them have suffered directly from the attitude of the police. A few days before the verdict, a Washington criminal prosecutor explained to Le
Figaro
:
“After the trial, the black jurors will return home. If OJ was convicted, they will have to explain their choice in their neighborhood. It won't be easy
. "
It was Johnnie Cochran, one of OJ's lawyers, who planned the racial derailment of the trial. Last night, he justified himself:
“The racial question is at the heart of every aspect of life in this country. We'd better get used to it
. "
Thirty years ago, before the immense racial integration effort undertaken by the federal government, this observation would not have been shocking. Has the country gone backwards?
On Temple Street, in front of the court, several hundred police officers were deployed in case any incidents broke out. Other mounted police officers patrol the streets of the city center.
“He’s guilty, everyone knows it,”
shouts a crazy person.
San Diego Highway
A teenager in a black costume and with a face painted like Pierrot, carries a sign reading:
“We are all idiots”
. Higher up, in the shade of a tree, a tall bearded black man and a young Hispanic confront each other. In an excited voice, the black man repeats the lawyers' pleadings. The Hispanic has his hands raised. He seems to be in a trance. The scene deserves to be included in
Short Cuts
, filmmaker Robert Altman's damning portrait of Los Angeles.
The Simpson affair began with a tragicomic chase on the San Diego freeway. OJ had fled at very low speed in front of dozens of police cars, threatening to kill himself.
Yesterday, the fair started again. Around fifteen helicopters were circling above the city. First over South Central. It is there, as in 1992, that racial riots could have broken out if OJ had been convicted. Disappointed, the small squadron returned to OJ's property on Rockingham Street, in the upscale Brentwood Beverly Hills neighborhood. The helicopters were filming OJ's swimming pool all afternoon.
Let the dollars flow freely! The jurors, who were sequestered for months, intend to sell their story of the trial at a high price. To do this, they will have to circumvent a recent “decency code” from the State of California. OJ has already made a lot of money from the book in which he proclaimed his innocence.
On the other hand, he spent millions to pay for his stable of lawyers. He will surely entrust his projects to a publisher, as long as the advance is large enough.