The O.J. Simpson Trial: Inside the shocking verdict (2016)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: oJ Simpson on trial for two grisly murders he killed her because he couldn't have after nine months of riveting twists and turns how about that mr. fun if it doesn't fit you must acquit the one moment we the jury find a defendant not guilty of the crime that mattered most now more than 20 years later go behind the scenes you said you had your killer why did he walk free inside the jury room and outside the courtroom for reaction people said either he's as guilty and [00:00:50] Speaker 2: terrible as could be or he's an innocent victim of racism there was no in the middle the OJ verdict [00:00:57] Speaker 1: shock of the century it's minutes after midnight June 13 1994 Los Angeles police arrived to a crime scene at Bundy Drive in upscale Brett Wood they find no witnesses no murder weapon just two victims slash stabbed everything else Nicole was nearly decapitated it was very bloody scene Nicole is Nicole Brown Simpson lying dead beside 25 year old Ron Goldman the prime suspect Nicole's ex-husband football legend OJ Simpson Simpson promises to surrender and then disappears [00:01:53] Speaker 3: Los Angeles police department right now is actively searching for Mr. Simpson [00:02:00] Speaker 1: gasps from the press room only a sign of what is yet to come [00:02:08] Speaker 4: the famous low speed chase covered live for hours rivets the nation and ends with Simpson's eventual surrender at his home on Rockingham Avenue here's what we know right now it was just the beginning this was [00:02:15] Speaker 1: the perfect soap opera [00:02:22] Speaker ?: the OJ Simpson murder case was the first true [00:02:22] Speaker 1: reality show for the country okay let's go here we go this was the first wall to wall televised trial [00:02:38] Speaker 5: July 22 1994 a month after the murders the legal proceedings against OJ Simpson begin when he enters this defiant plea [00:02:45] Speaker 1: absolutely 100% not guilty [00:03:07] Speaker 6: and to help him prove that Simpson assembles a legal [00:03:12] Speaker 1: dream team each one of them was famous Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker [00:03:22] Speaker 7: Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker [00:03:33] Speaker 1: Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for 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for the New Yorker [00:03:54] Speaker ?: Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker [00:03:55] Speaker 1: Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the trial Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker [00:03:59] Speaker 7: Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the trial for the [00:04:12] Speaker 1: Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the trial for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin covered the trial for the trial for the New Yorker's trial for the trial for the trial for the But would the all-star strategy work? [00:04:27] Speaker 2: The OJ Gene team was not a dream team. It was a nightmare team. Most of the lawyers didn't get along with each other. There was a lot of competition for the limelight. [00:04:38] Speaker 1: But despite all that competition, consensus does emerge. The key defense strategy? Racism. [00:04:47] Speaker 7: This is not just any city where an allegation of a racist cop is being made. This is the LAPD. [00:04:55] Speaker 1: And Simpson's attorneys know they can strike a chord. With secret knowledge of scathing recordings about to surface, they seek permission to ask LAPD detective Mark Furman if he's ever used the N-word. [00:05:11] Speaker 8: And I'll use the word because it's, I'm quoting him, all the niggers, put them together in a big group and burn them. [00:05:19] Speaker 1: But prosecutor Chris Darden wants no part of it. [00:05:23] Speaker 9: It is the filthiest, dirtiest, nastiest word in the English language. It will upset the black jurors. It'll issue a test. It'll give them a test. And the test will be, whose side are you on? The side of the white prosecutors and the white policemen? Or are you on the side of the black defendant and is a very prominent and capable black lawyer? [00:05:44] Speaker 1: Cochran immediately fires back. [00:05:48] Speaker 8: Not every African American feels that way. It's demeaning to our jurors to say that African Americans cannot hear these offensive words. [00:05:57] Speaker 1: The battle lines are drawn and race will now determine this trial's outcome. January 24, 1995, the trial of Orenthal James Simpson gets underway. [00:06:15] Speaker 7: There was a forest of satellite trucks, satellite dishes, people working in trailers, all built so that this trial could go out to the world. [00:06:31] Speaker 5: Walking into the courtroom every day, it was like the red carpet on an arrivals line or at the Oscars. How are you feeling today? You know, it's a, you know, it's a, uh, Marsha, how you doing? Uh, you know, how are your kids? What are you wearing? It's ridiculous. It was crazy. [00:06:47] Speaker 1: Outside the courthouse, it's a circus. Inside, a real-life drama unfolding with millions of people watching. [00:06:59] Speaker 7: The Simpson case combined everything that obsesses the American public. It had violence, sex, race, sports, and the only eyewitness was a dog. [00:07:12] Speaker 1: And the prosecution had it all, opening with a story of love, lust, and loss of control. [00:07:20] Speaker 9: He killed her because he couldn't have her. [00:07:25] Speaker 10: That trail of blood from Bundy through his own Ford Bronco and into his house in Rockingham. It's devastating proof of his guilt. [00:07:37] Speaker 8: What those records show. [00:07:39] Speaker 1: But Johnny Cochran opens with a very different story. [00:07:43] Speaker 8: The evidence will show that this, the careless, slipshod, negligent collection, handling, and processing of samples by basically poorly trained personnel from LAPD has contaminated, compromised, and corrected the DNA evidence in this case. [00:07:59] Speaker 1: Coming up, behind the scenes. [00:08:04] Speaker 11: It's the first time I've ever really seen a Heisman Trophy. [00:08:08] Speaker 1: And in court with a juror. How did Mark Furman play a part in your decision when it came down to the verdict? This is how we knew OJ Simpson, football icon, celebrity pitchman. [00:08:37] Speaker 6: Nobody does it better than hers. [00:08:43] Speaker 1: And movie star. But prosecutors say that dashing public persona hides a much darker truth that Simpson is a violent man who beat his wife. And it didn't take long before a police detective testifies about such an incident in 1989. [00:09:08] Speaker 12: A woman came running out of the bushes to my left, crossed the driveway. She was a female Caucasian, blonde hair. She was wearing a bra only as an upper garment. And she had on dark, lightweight sweatpants and started yelling, he's going to kill me, he's going to kill me. [00:09:30] Speaker 1: Then jurors hear it for themselves, another chilling 911 call from Simpson's wife in 1993. [00:09:39] Speaker 13: My husband just broke into my house and he's ranting and raving. [00:09:43] Speaker 1: Less than a year before her murder. [00:09:45] Speaker 13: We broke the back door down to get in. [00:09:47] Speaker 10: Okay, wait a minute, what's your name? Nicole Simpson. Okay, is he the sportscaster or whatever? Yeah. [00:09:53] Speaker 11: And I was like, wow, he can be pretty bad. [00:10:00] Speaker 1: Now, more than 20 years later, juror number four, David Aldana, remembers that moment vividly. So that 911 tape made an impact. [00:10:10] Speaker 11: Yeah, it did, because when you hear somebody pounding on the door like that and hearing Nicole say, I think you know his record by now. [00:10:17] Speaker 1: Nicole's sister, Denise, tells prosecutors she has seen Simpson beat Nicole in person. [00:10:26] Speaker 4: He grabbed Nicole, told her to get out of his house, wanted us all out of his house, picked her up, threw her against a wall. Picked her up, threw her out of the house. [00:10:42] Speaker 1: However, defense attorney Robert Shapiro counters with a completely different image of O.J. Simpson. Here he is with the Brown family just hours before Nicole's murder. [00:10:56] Speaker 8: We played for the jury the June 12th videotape where you saw O.J. Simpson at 6, 6.30 in the evening of June 12th. And you saw him. He was kissing the Brown family. He was shaking hands with Lou Brown. He picked his son up. He didn't look like a man who was dour and bitter and raging. [00:11:13] Speaker 1: So is Simpson a warm family man or a violent attacker who cornered and killed two innocent people? The jurors and Simpson take a field trip to his house and the crime scene. [00:11:28] Speaker 10: I think that this really assisted the jury in being able to understand the evidence better, the testimony better, and how the victims were essentially cornered. [00:11:37] Speaker 1: What do you remember the most about visiting O.J.'s house, actually going to the crime scene? [00:11:42] Speaker 11: And I was like, oh wow, that's the first time I've ever really seen a Heisman Trophy. We couldn't ask questions. Nothing was told to us. Don't talk amongst yourselves and don't touch anything. [00:11:54] Speaker 1: And it's this home visit that leads to the very heart of the prosecution's case, the physical evidence against O.J. Simpson. [00:12:04] Speaker 10: Can you please describe the appearance of the glove, sir? [00:12:07] Speaker 14: It appeared a dark leather glove. It appeared to be somewhat moist or sticky. I didn't touch it, but it appeared that parts were sticking to other parts of the glove. [00:12:18] Speaker 1: We don't know it just yet, but Detective Mark Furman was about to take on a starring role in this unfolding drama. [00:12:27] Speaker 8: And now, Mark Furman came up to you and told you he'd made some discoveries, is that correct? Yes. And so that we're clear, it was Mark Furman who allegedly found this glove out there near Kato Kalin's room, is that correct? Outside? Yes. And it was Mark Furman who allegedly found this spot on the outside of the Bronco, is that correct? That's correct. [00:12:55] Speaker 1: And then came this unforgettable witness. [00:13:00] Speaker 15: I heard a thumping noise. [00:13:02] Speaker 10: How many thumps did you hear? [00:13:03] Speaker 15: Three. [00:13:04] Speaker 1: Simpson's shaggy house guest, Kato Kalin. Did you ever expect what was going to happen when you got up there and took the stand? [00:13:13] Speaker 15: No, not at all. Well, it was my first time in a courtroom in my entire life, and I think I was 35 at the time. [00:13:22] Speaker 1: Kalin's four days on the stand thrust him into the national spotlight. [00:13:28] Speaker 15: I even come up with a thing saying, never has a man done so little to be recognized by so many. [00:13:33] Speaker 16: Today he testified, he said that OJ's maid never really liked him. Well, sure, she had to work for her rooming boy. I'm glad she got me a lot. [00:13:41] Speaker 1: Why was Kato Kalin so memorable? [00:13:44] Speaker 11: He's an idiot. Really? Oh, he's so full of sh-t. Oh, I'm sorry. [00:13:49] Speaker 17: That's pretty harsh. [00:13:51] Speaker 11: Matter of fact, when we were doing our deliberations, he was like a no-brainer. The guy's an idiot. Nothing he says we can't go with or against it. [00:14:02] Speaker 15: He's null and void. I was called so many things. I was called a celebrity. I was called a pariah. I was called a traitor. I was called a dummy. I was called a freeloader. [00:14:11] Speaker 1: So, it seems like you feel like you were pretty much misunderstood for a really long time. [00:14:15] Speaker 15: 100% misunderstood. This was something I took so serious that I was making sure that I answered everything correctly. So, I was in deep thought going, OK, answer this right, Kato, and that was it. If you pause, people go, he's making something. He's lying. He's doing this. Furthest thing from the truth, it's for me to become even more honest, for me to make sure I answer this thing 100% honest. [00:14:37] Speaker 1: Which brings us to the night of the murder. Kaelin and Simpson make a McDonald's run. About what time was it when you got home? [00:14:46] Speaker 15: It's about 9.40. [00:14:49] Speaker 1: Kaelin goes to his bedroom, and prosecutors say Simpson disappears. A crucial hour passes before Kaelin hears a loud noise outside. And where did that noise seem to be coming from? [00:15:04] Speaker 18: From the back of the wall. [00:15:07] Speaker 1: That, prosecutors say, is Simpson hitting an exterior wall and dropping a bloody glove. At 10.55, a limo driver, waiting to take Simpson to the airport, spots a black person, 6 feet tall, 200 pounds. [00:15:24] Speaker 19: I saw a figure come into the entranceway of the house. [00:15:31] Speaker 1: Alan Park says he'd been buzzing the intercom since 10.40 and received no response, proving, prosecutors say, Simpson had not been home. [00:15:42] Speaker 19: This time there was an answer, which was Mr. Simpson. He told me that he overslept and he just got out of the shower and he'd be down in a minute. [00:15:53] Speaker 1: Both Park and Kaelin notice a dark duffel bag near the rear of Simpson's Bentley. [00:16:00] Speaker 19: He came out and Kaelin came out and Kaelin offered to go get the bag and he said, no, no, that's okay, I'll get it, I'll get it. [00:16:07] Speaker 1: So what was in the bag and what did Simpson do with it? Detective Tom Lang has a theory. [00:16:14] Speaker 20: You want to know what happened to the knife and the clothes? We know that from a witness out at the airport, I believe. Saw him getting out of the limousine when he left on American Airlines the night of the murders and had his arm buried in a trash container. [00:16:32] Speaker 1: Next, with so much evidence, what went wrong? [00:16:37] Speaker 17: That's people 77. Chris Darden blew it. [00:16:51] Speaker 1: No weapons, no witnesses, but a wealth of forensic evidence. The team prosecuting O.J. Simpson for murder believes they can prove he butchered Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. [00:17:07] Speaker 20: This appeared to me to be an overkill or a rage killing. [00:17:13] Speaker 1: There was blood everywhere. At the Bundy crime scene. At Simpson's Rockingham Estate. And scattered along the route in between. Blood, prosecutors say, is Simpson's. [00:17:32] Speaker 21: Does that mean that these characteristics that Mr. Simpson has that are also found in the Bundy Walk blood stain are only found in approximately one out of 170 million Caucasians or African Americans? [00:17:46] Speaker 1: Yes, approximately. And that's not all. Blood consistent with both victims was found in Simpson's Bronco, on that glove discovered behind his house, and on these socks in his bedroom. [00:18:05] Speaker 21: You described that material or that blood staining as matching Nicole Brown, is that right? [00:18:09] Speaker 1: That's correct. Then there were the bloody shoe prints in the Bronco, and on Nicole's dress. FBI expert William Bodziak says the prints came from Bruno Mali designer shoes in Simpson's size 12. [00:18:28] Speaker 5: Can you include him as a candidate who could have worn the shoes that created the impressions in this case? [00:18:36] Speaker 17: Yes, I could include him as a candidate for possibly having worn those shoes. [00:18:41] Speaker 1: As the trial wears on, attention turns from socks and shoes to gloves. One found at the murder scene. The other, behind Simpson's house. Proof, prosecutors believe, that Simpson is a cold-blooded killer. [00:19:01] Speaker 9: I'm handing Mr. Simpson the, uh, that glove, the parking lot. [00:19:08] Speaker 17: That's people 77. [00:19:10] Speaker ?: Exactly. [00:19:10] Speaker 1: What were you thinking when you heard Prosecutor Christopher Darden request that Simpson try on those gloves? [00:19:17] Speaker 20: I was sitting in the courtroom, I couldn't find a seat, so I was kind of in the back. And when he did that, F. Lee Bailey came up to me and he grabbed me, whispered in my ear, he was kind of laughing. Why the hell did you let him do that? I didn't know he was going to do anything. No, Chris is a good man, he's a good prosecutor, he's a bright man. He should have known better. [00:19:44] Speaker 7: I remember watching the gloves in the courtroom and thinking to myself, he's not going to ask O.J. to put on the glove. That's too much of a risk. You never ask a question in a courtroom, much less do a demonstration where you don't know what the outcome is. And it was like a slow motion disaster movie for the prosecution, as O.J. milked the moment for all it was worth and pretended to try on those gloves. [00:20:20] Speaker 1: Christopher Darden would later admit that move was a mistake. [00:20:25] Speaker 22: When it happened in court, did you know you were in trouble? [00:20:29] Speaker 23: I knew that it hadn't gone as well as I had hoped it would. It should have gone. [00:20:33] Speaker 22: Did you regard it as like earth-shattering to the case? [00:20:37] Speaker 23: No. Not necessarily. Not particularly. It wasn't until I went upstairs and left the courtroom that I realized that people thought that it was a monumental failure, a monumental mistake. [00:20:50] Speaker 2: Was it Chris Darden that blew this case? Chris Darden blew this case. Marsha Clark contributed pretty heavily to blowing the case, too, but Chris Darden blew it. When O.J. was able to walk in front of the jury and say, it's too small, he didn't have to testify, because he had already testified in front of the jury, and he wasn't cross-examined. So for us, it was a win-win. [00:21:12] Speaker 17: All right, he appears to have pulled the gloves on, counsel. [00:21:16] Speaker 1: But to juror David Aldana, it didn't seem like a big deal. So O.J. Simpson was right in front of you when he put on that glove. [00:21:25] Speaker 11: He was about maybe two feet away from me. [00:21:28] Speaker 1: What do you remember from that moment? [00:21:30] Speaker 11: You know, a lot of people make a big deal about it, but, you know, I was a truck driver. I wear gloves all the time. I know that when my gloves get wet, they shrink up. [00:21:44] Speaker 14: Yes, I do. [00:21:45] Speaker 1: After 92 exhausting days of testimony, 58 witnesses, and 488 exhibits... [00:21:54] Speaker 10: We ask the court to receive all of the people's exhibits, and the people rest. Next. [00:22:00] Speaker 8: The LAPD's laboratory is a cesspool of contamination. [00:22:05] Speaker 1: The defense unleashes a blistering attack. How about that, Mr. Fung? [00:22:11] Speaker 8: We think the evidence will show that he did not, could not, and would not commit these particular crimes. [00:22:29] Speaker 1: Johnny Cochran on the attack and on the offensive. [00:22:33] Speaker 8: The LAPD's laboratory is a cesspool of contamination. [00:22:38] Speaker 1: Citing police incompetence. [00:22:40] Speaker 8: Some had gloves, some didn't have gloves, picking up the evidence. [00:22:44] Speaker 1: Even suggesting a conspiracy to frame O.J. Simpson. [00:22:48] Speaker 8: The fact that blood mysteriously appears on vital pieces of evidence is devastating evidence of something far more sinister. [00:22:58] Speaker 1: Then came a turn no one expected. How about that, Mr. Fung? Defense lawyer Barry Sheck blasts LAPD criminologist Dennis Fung. Did you touch that envelope with your bare hands? Confronting him about not wearing gloves while handling evidence, and picking apart inconsistencies in his testimony. [00:23:27] Speaker 24: So, you did begin evidence collection before the coroner's left? [00:23:31] Speaker 25: Yes. [00:23:33] Speaker 24: So, what you said before wasn't true? [00:23:37] Speaker 25: It was the best of my recollection at the time. [00:23:41] Speaker 1: What do you remember the most about Fung just getting torn apart by Sheck? [00:23:46] Speaker 11: Oh, man. [00:23:47] Speaker 24: Does that refresh your recollection? Is that a concern of yours? Sure, then. [00:23:51] Speaker 11: Barry Sheck is one heck of an attorney. You just ripped him apart. [00:23:55] Speaker 1: You truly believe that evidence was planted? [00:23:59] Speaker 11: Yes. I, from this day till the day I die, I think it was planted. [00:24:08] Speaker 1: And who does the defense accuse of planting evidence? Mark Furman. The same detective prosecutors say found the glove outside Simpson's home. [00:24:19] Speaker 26: Did you wipe a glove in the bronco, Detective Furman? No. You did not? No. [00:24:28] Speaker 1: Did you ever for a moment believe that the police wanted to frame O.J. Simpson? [00:24:34] Speaker 11: Frame, um, I think that was in Furman's mind. [00:24:39] Speaker 26: And you say on your oath that you have not addressed any black person as a nigger or spoken about black people as niggers in the past 10 years, Detective Furman? That's what I'm saying, sir. So that anyone who comes to this court and quotes you as using that word in dealing with African Americans would be a liar, would they not, Detective Furman? [00:24:59] Speaker 14: Yes, they would. [00:24:59] Speaker 26: All of them, correct? All of them. [00:25:02] Speaker 27: I was focused on Mark Furman, his every twitch, his every eye movement, and so forth. I had no notes. No, no, no, no, no. Once he said never in 10 years have I ever used the n-word, I knew we had him. [00:25:23] Speaker 20: When he was asked that question by F. Lee Bailey, by using the n-word, everybody in the world knew that he was being set up but him. [00:25:33] Speaker 27: What I didn't know was we also had him on tape. [00:25:38] Speaker 1: Four months after Bailey vs. Furman, the defense gets a tip from an unlikely source. Screenwriter Laura Hart McKinney, she interviewed Mark Furman for a script that she was writing, a very candid conversation, all on tape. He's just a real racist scum. [00:26:01] Speaker 4: Now all we're going to look at is Furman and what a scumbag he is. [00:26:06] Speaker 1: Furman says the n-word dozens of times, but Judge Ito decides the jury will only hear two. The excerpts are brief, yet powerful and disturbing. [00:26:20] Speaker 14: They don't do anything. They don't do anything. After the excerpt ended, the Furman tapes, you broke down and cried at that moment. [00:26:34] Speaker 1: Why? [00:26:35] Speaker 28: Because I was worried at the ramifications because I watched them with this look of horror and disgust and watched them turn. I was like, that's it. [00:26:49] Speaker 1: That's it. Furman had lied on the stand and used a racial slur. The defense now feels confident they have a racist who planted evidence, a charge Furman denies today and refused to address at the time. [00:27:07] Speaker 25: Detective Furman, did you plant or manufacture any evidence in this case? [00:27:14] Speaker 8: I assert my Fifth Amendment privilege. He refused to answer that question on the grounds it might tend to incriminate him. What more does anyone need? [00:27:25] Speaker 1: Furman is disgraced and dismissed from the case. There's no doubt Furman's a liar. Coming up... [00:27:33] Speaker 8: If it doesn't fit, you must acquit. [00:27:37] Speaker 1: The unforgettable closing arguments. Late September, 1995. For nine long months, the trial of the century has been a national obsession. [00:28:00] Speaker 29: Stop domestic violence. [00:28:02] Speaker 4: Break the code of silence. [00:28:05] Speaker 1: But a casualty of the constant hype is the freedom of 14 men and women. The jury has been sequestered hundreds of days. [00:28:15] Speaker 11: We were told it was going to be about three months. And then when the third month came, and then it was four, and then five, and it kept going. It just went on and on and on. No, there are other... [00:28:27] Speaker 1: Back in court, O.J. Simpson cites the juror's fatigue as one reason he's not going to testify. [00:28:34] Speaker 6: I'm mindful of the mood and the stamina of this juror. Juror, I have confidence a lot more, it seems, than Ms. Clark has of their integrity. And that they will find, as the record stands now, that I did not, could not, and would not have committed this crime. [00:28:54] Speaker 1: Four days later, the end is finally in sight. [00:28:57] Speaker 17: You have heard all the evidence. [00:28:59] Speaker 1: No more witnesses, no more delays. Just closing arguments. First up, lead prosecutor, Marcia Clark. Let me come back to Mark Furman for a minute, just so it's clear. [00:29:14] Speaker 10: Did he lie when he testified here in this courtroom, saying that he did not use racial epithets in the last ten years? Yes. Is he a racist? Yes. But the fact that Mark Furman is a racist, and lied about it on the witness stand, does not mean that we haven't proven the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. [00:29:37] Speaker 1: How in this country... Then comes defense attorney Barry Schack. [00:29:42] Speaker 24: There's no doubt Furman's a liar, and a genocidal racist, there's no doubt about that. But there's really no doubt either that they played with this sock, is there? And if that can happen, that's a reasonable doubt for this case. Period. End of sentence. End of case. [00:30:05] Speaker 1: Finishing for the defense, Johnny Cochran, with probably the most memorable quote of the trial. [00:30:12] Speaker 8: If it doesn't fit, you must acquit. [00:30:15] Speaker 26: You have not used that word. [00:30:17] Speaker 1: After nine months of testimony. [00:30:20] Speaker 14: Yes, that's what I'm saying. [00:30:21] Speaker 1: Hundreds of exhibits. More than 260 days isolated in a hotel. Jurors are finally sent to determine OJ Simpson's fate. [00:30:34] Speaker 10: Thanks for joining us on a day that many of you probably thought would never arrive. [00:30:40] Speaker 1: And everybody had an opinion. [00:30:43] Speaker 7: I think it's going to be a conviction. [00:30:45] Speaker 29: I would say probably on the jury. I believe absolutely there's sufficient evidence to acquit. [00:30:52] Speaker 1: Why were you so confident he was going to be found guilty? [00:30:55] Speaker 30: I just couldn't possibly grasp the notion that with all of the overwhelming amount of evidence against him, that they could possibly find him anything other than guilty. [00:31:12] Speaker 1: By the time jury deliberations begin, the tension surrounding the trial is transparent. And a clear racial division emerges. [00:31:26] Speaker 5: This idea of race was something that the defense wanted out there. They wanted that in the dialogue because it benefited them. [00:31:34] Speaker 31: Two-thirds of Americans think OJ is guilty. 77% of whites think he's guilty. 72% of blacks think he's innocent. [00:31:43] Speaker 5: Based upon the way this case was going, along racial lines by the end of the case, that if you had a videotaped confession, and even videotape of the murder, you'd have people say, I don't believe that that tape was doctored. That's how bad it got. [00:32:01] Speaker 1: Despite rampant speculation outside the courtroom, there are only 12 opinions that really matter. [00:32:09] Speaker 11: We walked into that room. Well, let's see. What do you want to do first? Well, let's just see where everybody stands. We went around the room, you know, guilty, not guilty. [00:32:21] Speaker 1: It's two votes guilty, 10 not guilty. Now, you guys had been sequestered for nine months. You were tired. You hadn't seen your families, your kids, your friends. You wanted to get out of there. Were the majority of you working hard to get those two to come on board? [00:32:39] Speaker 11: Actually, no, uh-uh. It wasn't arguing or yelling or anything like that. We just came to, took another vote, and the other two came on board, and they said not guilty. And it wasn't because they thought that he was innocent. It was because the prosecution just didn't approve it. [00:33:00] Speaker 1: Aldana still believes the police framed OJ. How is it that with all this evidence against OJ that he's set free? [00:33:15] Speaker 11: Some of that stuff was planted. And when some of it was planted, what was and what wasn't? [00:33:21] Speaker 1: How did Mark Furman play a part in your decision when it came down to the verdict? [00:33:29] Speaker 11: Uh, quite a bit. Because everything that he had anything to do with pretty much got thrown out. I knew he was dirty. After a while, you get a sense of people. [00:33:44] Speaker 1: Do you truly believe that the police, the detectives, the criminologists were as incompetent as the defense had made him out to be? [00:33:53] Speaker 11: Yeah. I think so. [00:33:58] Speaker 1: Coming up... [00:33:59] Speaker 17: All right, Mr. Simpson, would you please stand and face the jury? [00:34:03] Speaker 1: The dramatic verdict revealed... And a country divided. After a marathon trial, millions of people hold their breath, waiting for the verdict to come. [00:34:30] Speaker 10: How long do you think they're going to debate? [00:34:31] Speaker 19: I would be very surprised if they came back in less than two weeks. [00:34:34] Speaker 5: I think at least 10 days. You just never know. People always say, what do you think is going to happen? Nobody knows. Another development now in the OJ Simpson trial. Jurors are being brought back into the courtroom. [00:34:45] Speaker 31: But no one expected this. After eight months of trial, it took the 12 jurors just four hours to reach a unanimous conclusion. [00:34:55] Speaker 32: We couldn't believe it, that it was so fast. It took longer to read the jury instructions than their verdict. [00:35:04] Speaker 1: Simpson's fate decided, but not revealed. [00:35:08] Speaker 17: We are missing, as you can tell, several of the attorneys. And I've indicated to them that I will accept the verdicts from you tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock. [00:35:17] Speaker 1: Judge Ito decides to hold the verdict until the next morning. The world would have to wait one more day. [00:35:26] Speaker 26: Stunned and shocked, maybe underestimates as far as reactions go. [00:35:29] Speaker 1: October 3rd, 1995. The sun rises, and everyone, everywhere, is waiting and watching. [00:35:45] Speaker 32: We were at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. We're standing in the suite, the television's on. Looked out, no one was in the street in Beverly Hills. No one was on Rodeo Drive. [00:35:56] Speaker ?: No one. [00:35:58] Speaker 11: I heard that there was no crime for, like, two hours because everybody was too busy watching, waiting for the verdict. [00:36:06] Speaker 1: People around the world stop what they're doing. The final moment in the trial of the century will be broadcast live. [00:36:15] Speaker 17: All right, Mr. Carton, Mr. Simpson, would you please stand and face the jury? [00:36:21] Speaker 29: 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 court. [00:36:35] Speaker 28: They read it, and we heard that, and we heard it, and we heard that, and we heard that, and then I just fell apart. [00:36:41] Speaker 1: Fred and Kim Goldman are devastated. [00:36:43] Speaker 30: It was as if your insides got yanked out of you. Everything that we knew to be certain that he had killed Ron and Nicole, suddenly as if, oh, wait a minute, how is that possible? [00:37:02] Speaker 28: And then our side was in shock, and then you hear the cheers and the, you know, jubilee going on on the other side. [00:37:11] Speaker 30: That division became what was seen across the TVs for, for several days. It was blacks cheering and whites crying. [00:37:27] Speaker 1: Was that verdict about murder, or was it about race? [00:37:31] Speaker 20: The, uh, verdict was undeniably about race. [00:37:34] Speaker 17: Not guilty of the crime. [00:37:40] Speaker 5: The people saw what they wanted to see, and it's interesting how it was divided, in this case, right along racial lines. [00:37:48] Speaker 2: I'll never forget when it was over, a woman who came over to me and said, the verdict was like being punched in the stomach. And I said, you don't know any of the people. Why was it like being punched in the stomach? She said, it was as if this was my brother and sister. Everybody was involved, and everybody took sides. [00:38:10] Speaker 1: Everyone had an opinion, and now, how do you feel 20 years later? Did he do it? [00:38:17] Speaker 15: My opinion still is, I think he is guilty. That hasn't changed. [00:38:23] Speaker 11: I found him innocent, and I believe he's innocent. [00:38:25] Speaker 1: With all your heart? [00:38:26] Speaker 11: All my heart. [00:38:28] Speaker 1: What's the one thing you can't get out of your mind 20 years later from that trial? [00:38:34] Speaker 30: Well, that's easy for me. [00:38:35] Speaker 1: What's that? [00:38:36] Speaker 30: Son of a bitch got away with it. Simple as that. [00:38:41] Speaker 1: As for Simpson, he returns to his home in Brentwood. But the Goldman and Brown families don't give up. They sue Simpson for wrongful death in civil court. Cameras are not allowed this time, but OJ Simpson's deposition tapes are later revealed to the world. ABC's 2020 played excerpts from the tapes. Goldman family attorney Daniel Petruccelli questions OJ Simpson. Watch as he explains the bruising on Nicole's face. [00:39:18] Speaker 25: You see those bruises on her face? No. You don't see anything? No. [00:39:23] Speaker 33: I mean, I see this eye thing. [00:39:25] Speaker 25: You don't think this picture reflects any bruising or injuries or marks on Nicole's face? No, I don't. What do you think this reflects? [00:39:32] Speaker 33: I think it reflects doing a movie that we're doing, and we're doing makeup. [00:39:37] Speaker 1: And what about the shoes that left bloody footprints at the crime scene? [00:39:42] Speaker 33: I know if Bruno Magli makes shoes that look like the shoes they had in court that's involved in this case, I would have never worn those ugly-ass shoes. [00:39:50] Speaker 1: Simpson again denies wearing the Bruno Magli shoes. But Petruccelli does something the prosecutors in the criminal trial never could. He proves OJ Simpson owned the very same pair of shoes. [00:40:06] Speaker 34: And that is a picture of you looking at Exhibit 1, correct? It appears to me, yes. Looking at the close-up of the shoes, do you believe that those were shoes that you owned at that time? No. [00:40:17] Speaker 1: The victim's families win the civil case and are awarded millions of dollars. But OJ Simpson still leaves court a free man. Until 2007. [00:40:33] Speaker 18: Simpson back in jail, accused of rounding up a middle-aged posse and sticking someone up in a Vegas hotel room in a low-rent casino. [00:40:40] Speaker 1: OJ Simpson was on trial again for armed robbery and kidnapping in Nevada, but this time a different verdict. [00:40:50] Speaker 13: Exactly 13 years to the day after he was acquitted in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, [00:41:08] Speaker 1: OJ Simpson is found guilty on all charges. He's sentenced to 33 years in prison. At his age, it's possible he'll spend the rest of his life behind bars. But in the eyes of LAPD detective Tom Lang, it's for the wrong crime. Does OJ Simpson deserve to rot in jail? [00:41:36] Speaker 20: Not for what he's there for now. That's almost laughable. But yeah, he deserves to be in jail for murder, for slaughtering two people. They're not giving a damn one way or the other. Music playing. [00:41:53] Speaker ?: Music playing.