Orenthal James Simpson

The case of O. J. Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman had many irregularities. This case became known as the “Trial of the Century”; many Americans followed the case throughout the trial because O.

J. Simpson, who was once a pro-football player as well as an actor, was indicted on two counts of murder following the aforementioned deaths. In this paper I will highlight many of these and further explain the circumstances surrounding them.The bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were found in the entrance way of Nicole Brown Simpson’s Bundy address home on June 13, 1994 after people were alerted by a barking dog. Four police officers from The Los Angeles Police Department responded to the home at which time they proceeded to lock down the area from the public and began their investigation. This was an extremely violent crime in nature.

Both victims had their throats slashed as well as having multiple stab wounds, leaving their bodies in pools of blood.The police officers used white towels to soak up the blood as a way to make the bodies more easily accessible for the forensic experts. This may have been their first mistake. The crime scene should remain intact until the full investigation is complete. The officers immediately notified O. J.

Simpson of the situation since it involved the death of his ex-wife. However, initially he was not a suspect. When the police officers arrived at O. J Simpsons home, they observed a white Bronco truck parked in the driveway.

The truck had splatters of blood on the outside of the door as well as in close proximity to the car. Although the lights were on no one was answering the intercom. Officer Mark Fuhrman, thought maybe O. J. was also in danger, scaled the wall, opened the gate and gained access. He had no search warrant so that anything obtained could not be used in a trial against the defendant.

This deals with the Fourth Amendment “exclusionary rule. ” The requirements are quite simple, according to Gerald Uelmen, one of the defenses “Dream Team”.A police officer needs to remember three rules; they are as follows: write out the facts that show why you believe evidence of a crime is in the place to be searched in an “affidavit” oath, take the affidavit to a judge, who will then issue a search warrant if your facts are sufficient, and to execute the search warrant by going to the exact place it describes, then searching for and seizing the exact things it describes, and then report back to the court what you seized (Famous Crimes Revisited- Strong Books 211-12).If an officer does not have sufficient time, they are able to call the judge, who will then swear you in through this telephone conversation, tape record your recitation of the facts and give them an oral authorization to search the premises in question. It was noted that Detective Vannatter wrote out the search warrant affidavit after the search was conducted and it contained misleading statements. He noted that O.

J. had fled to Chicago. Interviews with O. J’s daughter, Arnelle, and her friend Kaelin stated that the flight to Chicago was a prearranged business trip with Hertz with whom O.

J. was doing commercials.In a later interview it was also refuted that the officers had permission from Arnelle to go ahead and search the property. Under sworn oath Arnelle stated that she never gave law enforcement officials permission to search the property. Mark Fuhrman, one of the first four officers at both scenes, became a major focal point in the trial when he was accused of being a racist. He denied this under oath and denied using the word, nigger.

However, O. J. ’s legal team was able to uncover tapes of Fuhrman using the word forty-one (41) times, along with incidents back to 1983 and 1984 showing his police brutality and bias.The trial now became one of racism.

Did Fuhrman plant the bloody glove and Nicole’s bloody socks? Although these items were obtained without a search warrant and therefore inadmissible, they still contributed into the racism theory. The group of lawyers assembled as the “Dream Team” would use whatever was available to them so that they would be able to free their client on his criminal charges subsequently protecting his reputation in the eyes of the American society. The collection of blood samples was another area that played a huge role in the trial.The prosecution believed that they had what they called a “mountain of evidence” against O. J. They had police records and pictures of spousal abuse, multiple emergency calls to their residence for domestic disputes, as well as having blood samples showing O.

J. ’s blood, Nicole’s blood and also Ron Goldman’s blood at both scenes. This trial of blood, they felt, would be absolute proof, based on O. J. ’s jealousy as a clear motive.

Barry Scheck, a defense attorney on the Dream Team, called the LAPD crime lab a “cesspool of contamination” and went on to show many flaws.Many of the DNA samples come back as “inconclusive” because of the insufficient quantity or deterioration. Here, they showed mishandling after collection. According to Dr. Henry Lee, a forensic specialist, the correct way to collect a valid sample is first to moisten the bloodstream with a wet fabric swatch, this absorbing the blood.

It is very important to dry the swatch as soon as possible to prevent bacteria and fungi from ruining the possibility to get a match on the DNA. The LAPD failed to do this though.Testimony would later illuminate that the crime scene security and evidence gathering utilized within this case was not in accordance with the established protocol. Blood samples were first obtained from O. J.

’s residence, then from the crime scene at Bundy and returned to Rockingham and stored in plastic bags in an LAPD unrefrigerated van. It was twelve (12) hours later that they arrived at the lab. The following day, on reexamination of evidence, smudges were found on some paper packages indicating that the blood swatches were not dried before being packaged.Further investigation showed the presence of EDTA, a preservative added to collection vials and test tubes to prevent coagulation of blood.

Dennis Fung, who headed up the group of crimanalists, added to the breakdown when he was cross-examined by Barry Scheck. He originally had said that he had performed many of the procedures, when in fact they had been done by an inexperienced trainee on her second assignment. He admitted he took a blanket from inside the condo to cover Nicole’s body, possibly cross-contaminating. He said he did al handling with gloves but was seen on video handling evidence with his bare hands.A vial of O.

J. ’s blood was drawn and given to Fung which he held in his pocket. It was later transferred to the van by the trainees. A later shortage of 1 ? cc.

of that blood could not be explained, other irregularities brought out in the trail were; a number of samples collected from each site were not inventoried; blood ad other evidence were left unlocked in a storage cabinet; the blood spots on the Bronco were not recorded. No photos were initially taken of the interior of the car; Blood spots were seen in a photograph taken on July 3 (Famous Crimes Revisited, Strong Books p. 31-2).Several witnesses, who could have added to the prosecutions ease, lost their validity when they sold their stories to the tabloid press.

Jose Camacho, a knife salesman at Ross Cutlery claimed he sold a 15 inch German-made knife similar to the murder weapon three weeks before the murder. Jill Shively, a Brentwood resident, claimed she saw Simpson speeding away from Nicole’s house on the night of the murder, almost colliding in his Bronco with a Nissan at the intersection of Bundy and San Vincente Blvd. Camacho sold his story to the National Inquirer for $12,500.Shively talked to T.

V show Hard Copy for $5,000. Much can be learned from reading the many transcripts, accounts lead books written about this very high profile case. By noting was went wrong, we can understand and reinforce the correct manner of operations. From this case we learned that the crime scene should not be alerted, but left stable. A search warrant is required to access closed property. Anything acquired during such a search without a warrant is inadmissible in court.

Gathering of blood samples, fingerprints, footprints, etc. must be done following the exact procedures of the department. Samples must be inventoried stored in refrigeration if indicated in a timely manner. They must be placed in a secure setting, and cloves must be used to prevent cross-contamination. At the end of the readings, many questions remain unanswered.

For such a bloody murder scene, how could O. J. have driven the Bronco with little to no blood in the car? Could there have been more than one murderer? Was the bloody glove planted? Who dropped it behind the house at Rockingham? What happened to the missing 1 ? c of O. J. ’s blood? Should the case be moved from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles? Its jury pool selected Downtown would have more Latinos, African-Americans and blue collar workers. (Case ended with 10 black, 1 Hispanic and 1 white juror) Many of these irregularities left to the jury being out only 4 hours and returning with a verdict of not guilty.

There was responsible doubt and a jury who was exhausted after 9 months, the longest jury trail California history, and perhaps did not understand DNA testing as we do today and disregarded it.