R.I.P.

Wow, the memories that name brings back. And most have nothing to do with football.

-The murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and what was always described as her "friend" Ron Goldman.

-The slow speed white Bronco chase that was so big, one network (I think it was NBC) shrunk an NBA playoff game into a box on the bottom of the screen in order to cover it. 

-Defence attorney Johnnie Cochrane, later to be satirized on "Seinfeld" as "Jackie Chiles."

-The first time most of us had heard the name "Kardashian," when the father Robert was one of OJ's defence attorneys. 

-Mark Fuhrman, accused of being a racist cop.

-Judge Lance Ito and the "Dancing Itos" on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show."

-The infamous "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," over the glove evidence.

-Kato Kaelin, the world's best known house guest.

-CNN's Nancy Grace convicting him every night on her show. 

-His ridiculous book "If I Did It," released after the trial.

-Every TV network interrupting programming the day of the stunning verdict and the reaction along racial lines.

-His later arrest while trying to get his "memorabilia" back in Las Vegas.

And on and on and on it goes.

It was a true cultural touchstone that drew the world together, something that's likely never to happen again. 

Long before being in trouble with the law,
OJ as an actor:



 

Wolf Blitzer broke the news on CNN, and not surprisingly as a Buffalonian, he talked a lot about OJ’s Bills career.

One of my memories of the OJ trial in the summer of 1995 is that it overlapped with another infamous trial here in Canada - that of Paul Bernardo, who was found guilty of his crimes a month before the OJ verdict. As a child I remember that summer learning a lot about the court systems in both the US and Canada and the differences between them, including why we could watch OJ’s trial live on TV but not Bernardo’s, and how we had “the Crown” and they had “the People”.

I also remember the day of the verdict, some of my classmates were asking if we could turn on the radio to listen to the verdict. My teacher said no, and being the pre-smartphone era it was, none of us knew the verdict until class was dismissed and we went home. How times have changed.

The best movie about this is The People vs OJ Simpson, An American Crime Story.
But ironically the worst part of the film is the casting of OJ -- Cuba Gooding Jr.  He is really miscast both in looks and his ability to act as OJ.
However other casting is brilliant, including an unlikely great performance by David Schwimmer as the sycophantic Robert Kardashian.
When the Kardashian family became famous and even loved years later I could not believe that they could make a fun reality TV show about the daughters of a man who was alleged to have helped OJ Simpson hide his bloody clothing and murder weapon.

 

turkeytop wrote:

The Simpson trial was a clear demonstration of the unreliability of DNA evidence. DNA said he was guilty. Turns out he was innocent.

You win the internet with that one.
 

Yes, very funny, but if you remember the DNA evidence was thrown into question by the so-called expert evidence of a guy called Barry Sheck.
He tore the coroner and two LA police detectives to shreds.
And people believed Sheck over the obvious DNA evidence.
The examiner's name was Fung, leading OJ lawyer Johnny Cochrane to crow, "we're having Fung!".
The defence discovered that when the blood samples were taken from the crime scene the detective put them in an envelope, then put them in the truck of his car for hours.
Fung was terrible on the stand, and the whole DNA evidence was discredited.
Years later Barry Sheck would tell the media that he was ashamed of what he did, and he knew he was distorting the DNA evidence.
If the trial were held today Sheck would have been quickly discounted as a phony and non expert.

 

The morning of his arrest, there was a huge tropo opening. I had crystal clear reception for several hours of WTAJ ch 10 in Johnstown, Pa.

Helicopter Pilot Reflects on Iconic O.J. Simpson Pursuit

mace wrote:

Saul wrote:

mace wrote:

The morning of his arrest, there was a huge tropo opening. I had crystal clear reception for several hours of WTAJ ch 10 in Johnstown, Pa.

Perhaps this is why the pursuit was so slow. Both OJ and the officers were fidgeting with their radios trying for distant signals.

LOL BIG TIME!

When you're DXing on your car radio, you either pull over or you get nailed for distracted driving. Fortunately for OJ, when he was confirming an ID on 103.3 KKCW way up in Beaverton OR, the police were waiting through national ads on 101.1 just before Portland's Morning News on KXL. Had the police not been DXing, they might very well have nailed him with a charge even the late great Johnnie Cochran could not have disputed.

Saul wrote:

mace wrote:

Saul wrote:

Perhaps this is why the pursuit was so slow. Both OJ and the officers were fidgeting with their radios trying for distant signals.

LOL BIG TIME!

When you're DXing on your car radio, you either pull over or you get nailed for distracted driving. Fortunately for OJ, when he was confirming an ID on 103.3 KKCW way up in Beaverton OR, the police were waiting through national ads on 101.1 just before Portland's Morning News on KXL. Had the police not been DXing, they might very well have nailed him with a charge even the late great Johnnie Cochran could not have disputed.

Perhaps if that had been the case, Cochrane might have said, "If it doesn't come in, there was no sin."

mace wrote:

Saul wrote:

mace wrote:

LOL BIG TIME!

When you're DXing on your car radio, you either pull over or you get nailed for distracted driving. Fortunately for OJ, when he was confirming an ID on 103.3 KKCW way up in Beaverton OR, the police were waiting through national ads on 101.1 just before Portland's Morning News on KXL. Had the police not been DXing, they might very well have nailed him with a charge even the late great Johnnie Cochran could not have disputed.

Actually it is quite easy to DX on the 401 in rush hour bumper to bumper traffic. I can keep my eyes on the road while I change stations manually on my steering wheel.

In Toronto's traffic you could probably update your handwritten DX logbook.