OJ Simpson Verdict - FULL CNN

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: And listen to the proceedings. [00:00:02] Speaker 2: All right, back on the record in the Simpson matter. Mr. Simpson is again present before the court with his counsel, Mr. Shapiro, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Kardashian, Mr. Bailey, Mr. Blazer. People are represented by Ms. Clark, Mr. Darden, and Mr. Hodgman. The jury is not present. Good morning, counsel. All right, the record should reflect that earlier this morning at 9 o'clock, the court met informally with counsel here in the courtroom because there are too many lawyers to go into chambers this morning for the purposes of discussing notifications to the jurors regarding their rights of privacy and the interest of the news media to interview them or speak to them following the delivery of the verdict in court here today. The court distributed to the parties copies of the questionnaire that has been distributed to the jurors and also the notice to them regarding confidentiality under 237 of the Code of Civil Procedure. And those two questionnaires have been returned by the jurors. They have uniformly indicated their desire that their public, excuse me, their private information remain confidential. They have also indicated to the court unanimously a desire not to speak to the attorneys after the conclusion of the trial and not to speak with the news media either. All right, counsel, is there anything else we need to take up before I invite the jurors to join us? All right, Deputy Trower, let's have the jurors, please. [00:01:36] Speaker 1: We're waiting for the jurors to come in. They have filled out a questionnaire, which they've indicated uniformly. They want their private information to remain confidential. They do not wish to speak with the attorneys and do not wish to speak with the news media. John Burris outside the criminal courts building, does that surprise you, the fact that they've been sequestered for so long? No, it doesn't. [00:01:57] Speaker 3: A lot of jurors who have been in major cases like this do not want to talk with the media at that time. They may do so later, but they want to get away from it. They want to have their privacy reinstated, and they want to do it under a circumstance where they control it better. So I'm not surprised at that. I know it's disappointment for the lawyers, disappointment for the media, but it's not surprising they want to get on with their lives and get away from the media. And more significantly, people may have some monetary interests, and they do not want to jeopardize those interests by talking too fast to the media and giving out this information as opposed to protecting it for private financial gain. [00:02:33] Speaker 1: Let's go to Greg Lamont, who's at the AME Church, is standing by like all of us are waiting for this verdict. Greg, what's the mood there? [00:02:39] Speaker 3: I want to talk to the media. As I was saying, when the judge was taking the bench, we had requested through judgment. [00:02:44] Speaker 1: Greg, what is the mood there at the AME Church? [00:02:46] Speaker 4: We're at the first AME Church in Los Angeles, the largest African-American church in Los Angeles, where several dozen people have gathered here to see the verdict as it is announced. We're coming into the courtroom. [00:03:01] Speaker 1: Let's take you now into the courtroom. [00:03:02] Speaker 2: The jurors are obviously seated. The record should reflect that we have now been rejoined by all the members of our jury panel and our alternates. Good morning again, ladies and gentlemen. All right, Mrs. Robertson, would you have the envelope with the sealed verdict forms, please? [00:03:17] Speaker 5: Yes, Your Honor. [00:03:17] Speaker 2: All right, would you give those to Deputy Trower? And would you return those to our four-person, juror number one? All right, Madam, four-person, would you please open the envelope and check the condition of the verdict forms. All right. Madam Foreperson, you've had the opportunity to review the verdict forms. [00:04:41] Speaker ?: Yes. [00:04:42] Speaker 2: Are they the same forms that you signed, and are they in order? [00:04:45] Speaker ?: Yes, they are. [00:04:46] Speaker 2: All right. Would you hand those, please, to Deputy Chairman? And you have signed and dated those verdict forms indicating the jury's verdict? [00:04:55] Speaker ?: Yes. All right. [00:04:56] Speaker 2: Thank you. [00:05:06] Speaker ?: Thank you. [00:05:36] Speaker 2: All right, ladies and gentlemen and the jury, I'm going to ask that you carefully listen to the verdicts as they are being read by the clerk, Mrs. Robertson, as after the verdicts have been read, you will be asked if these are your verdicts. And I would caution the audience during the course of the reading of these verdicts to remain calm, and that if there is any disruption during the reading of the verdicts, the bailiffs will have the obligation to remove any persons disrupting these proceedings. All right, Mrs. Robertson? All right, Mr. Simpson, would you please stand and face the jury? [00:06:36] Speaker 5: Mrs. Robertson. Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. In the matter of the people of the state of California v. Orenthal James Simpson, case number BA097211, we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal code section 187A, a felony upon Nicole Brown Simpson, a human being, as charged in count one of the information. Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles. In the matter of the people of the state of California v. Orenthal James Simpson, we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal code section 187A, a felony upon Ronald Lyle Goldman, a human being, as charged in count two of the information. We the jury in the above entitled action further find the special circumstance that the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, has in this case been convicted of at least one crime of murder of the first degree and one or more crimes of murder of the first or second degree to be not true. Signed this second day of October 1995, juror 230. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is this your verdict? So say you one, so say you all. [00:07:58] Speaker 2: All right, counsel, Mr. Simpson, would you be seated, please? Just have it quiet in the courtroom, please. All right, Mrs. Robertson, would you please poll the jurors? Poll the jurors. [00:08:18] Speaker 5: Juror number one, as to count one, is this your verdict? Juror number two, as to count one, is this your verdict? Juror number three, as to count one, is this your verdict? Juror number four, as to count one, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number five, as to count one, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number six, as to count one, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number seven, as to count one, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number eight, as to count one, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number nine, as to count one, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number 10, as to count one, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number 11, as to count one, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number 12, as to count one, is this your verdict? Yes. [00:08:56] Speaker ?: Juror number one, as to count two, is this your verdict? [00:08:59] Speaker 5: Yes. Juror number two, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number two, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number three, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number four, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number five, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number five, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number six, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number seven, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number eight, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number nine, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number 10, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number 11, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number 11, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number 12, as to count two, is this your verdict? Yes. Yes. Juror number 11, as to count two, is this your verdict? [00:09:37] Speaker 2: Yes. All right. The clerk is directed to record the verdicts as read. The parties agree to waive reading of the verdicts as recorded. Mr. Cochran, do you waive reading of the verdicts as recorded? Yes. [00:09:50] Speaker 4: Mr. Clark, thank you. [00:09:52] Speaker 2: All right, ladies and gentlemen, I want to, at this time, take this opportunity to publicly thank you for the service that you've given to us. The burdens that we've placed upon you were enormous, and I can't begin to express the debt that we owe to you for the time of patience and exertion that you've given to us during the course of this case. I will have an opportunity to meet with you privately later, and I'll give you my private comments when we have a chance to meet. Mr. Clark, I want to caution you at this time that there is, as you know, intense media interest in this case. The news media will probably seek you out at your home or at your place of business. And I would implore that the news media act responsibly to avoid harassing you or identifying you without your consent or otherwise causing you concern. Whether you wish to cooperate with the news media is, of course, entirely up to you. However, I must warn you to expect the worst as far as that is concerned. We want to -- I know I share with you in expressing our thanks to the bailiffs from the Sheriff's Department, to our court reporters, Ms. Oxum and Ms. Olsen, to the research attorney, John Byrne, who's assisted us, our Pepperdine law clerks, Mr. Golub and Ms. Carswell, our media liaison jury Ann Hazlett and her staff, and, of course, the jury commissioner, Gloria Gomez and her staff. All right, counsel, is there anything we need to take up before we excuse the jurors? Mr. Cochran. Mr. Cochran. [00:11:34] Speaker 1: Mr. Cochran. Mr. Cochran. Mr. Cochran. Mr. Cochran: As you heard, the jurors have returned a verdict. It took less than three minutes to read in total and to poll the jurors. O.J. Simpson has been found not guilty of both first and second degree murder as to Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, not guilty of murder. Therefore, special circumstances do not apply. O.J. Simpson has been acquitted of these crimes for which he has been charged. You can see the family reaction. You can see the family reaction. Kim Goldman crying. You could hear her over, over. [00:12:17] Speaker 2: Mr. Cochran. this case. As you know, this does absolve you from your vows of silence. You may take with you your juror notebooks as you have requested, and we'll be chatting with you shortly. All right, thank you very much, and I'll see you all later. All right. Let's go now to our legal analysts in [00:12:39] Speaker 1: Washington, Roger Cossack and Greta Van Susteren. Roger, this is obviously a complete rejection of the prosecution case in less than four hours. What's your reaction? Jim, this is a major, major defeat [00:12:53] Speaker 6: for the prosecution, and on the other hand, I can tell you this. We saw a trial. We saw a beginning. We saw a middle. We saw an end, and we saw a verdict, and whether I like the way the verdict ended up or it bothers me or whether I think it should have been longer or should have been shorter, the judicial system had a trial, and that's what we've seen, and we've got to go on from here. You can see the [00:13:14] Speaker 1: Goldman family and leaving the courtroom right now. [00:13:21] Speaker 2: All right. The defendant, having been acquitted of both charges, he is ordered transported to an appropriate chair's facility and released forthwith. All right. We'll stand and recess. Thank you. [00:13:34] Speaker 3: Please. [00:13:35] Speaker ?: Please. Please. Please. Please. [00:13:43] Speaker 6: Please.