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... n with a dull mind. Clark then tried to get Kaelin listed as a hostile witness, she didn't succeed, but she was permitted to "harshly interrogate" him (Toobin). On April 14, the question of Kaelin's truthfulness came into question. He was accused of lying on the witness stand, an offense that is sentenced to jail and high fines. On April 17, notes from a meeting were introduced to the court, notes that were believed to be from a meeting regarding a book deal for Kaelin; he was discounted as a reliable witness.
Also submitted were eleven hair and fiber traces. The glove found at Bundy had traces of Brown's hair, fibers with blood on them that matched Goldman's shirt, and fibers consistent with Goldman's jeans. In many places, almost all, there were hairpieces found that matched the Akita (guard) dog. A blue knit hat was found at Bundy having on it hairs from the Akita dog, hairs from Simpson that appeared to have not been ripped, but shed naturally, fibers consistent with Goldman's shirt, fibers that matched the inside of the glove, and a fiber that matched the interior of the Bronco.
This one piece matches the glove and the hat together, and on Simpson. The socks found in Simpson's bedroom had blue-black fibers on them; Simpson supposedly wore blue-black clothing the night of the murder. On the glove found at Rockingham, it was found that it contained several hairs from Brown, one with blood; ripped hairs from Goldman; fibers of Goldman's shirt and jeans; fibers from the Bronco carpeting; and fibers that matched the supposed outfit of the defendant. The carpeting from the Bronco was very easily identified because it had an unusual x shape, linking some crime scene objects closely to Simpson. One of the thing prosecution placed in evidence to show that Simpson was abusive towards Brown was the dialogue from a 911 call Brown made when Simpson was ransacking her house and screaming.
At one point Brown says "he's (expletive) going nuts" while sobbing (Toobin). At another she yells that she wants to hang up because she's afraid "he's going to beat the (expletive) out of me" (Toobin). Another event that led to the realization that OJ had beaten Nicole was the morning detectives had called the Brown house to tell them their daughter had been murdered. Lou Brown, Nicole's father, picked up the phone and took the news quietly, but Denise, her oldest sister, had also picked up and began screaming "he killed her! He finally killed her!" When the detective asked who she meant she yelled "OJ"! (Toobin). One of the more example-based pieces of evidence was a large knife.
Prosecution witness Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran told the jury that he believed the killings were done with a single-edged knife. Prosecution thought this would be an incriminating argument as Simpson had bought a knife like the one thought to be the weapon prior to the murders. However, during cross-examination, Sathyavagiswaran said that he could not be positive (Darden).
The most important fact regarding the knife is that the weapon has not been recovered, has anyone thought to look in OJ's kitchen? There was a bloody shoe print found at the Bundy crime scene near the victim's bodies, this was a questionable piece of evidence. Prosecution tried to prove that it could have belonged to Simpson and the defense tried to convince on the commonality of the object. FBI shoe print analyst William Bodziak, a prosecution witness, testified that the shoe print belonged to a size twelve pair of Bruno Magli shoes (Darden). The size matched Simpson's, the shoes have not been recovered, but the fact that the sizes were the same was enough to place them together in the minds of the prosecution. Also submitted was a pair of Reebok's confiscated from Simpson's house to show that he wore the same size as the killer.
One of the defense's main arguments was that Simpson was not physically able to commit the crimes as he had an arthritis problem. To counter act this the prosecution submitted two tapes. The first was a copy of the OJ Simpson Exercise Video, taped two and a half weeks before the murders in which Simpson seemed in top condition. The second was a promotional video from March 1994 during which Simpson claims that he has been relieved of his arthritis and was beck to top health. Both of these showed that he would have had no problems physically in committing the murders. Perhaps one of the most famous of the pieces of evidence submitted were the gloves.
The right found at Rockingham and the left found at Bundy. This was the most logical way for the prosecution to prove Simpson was the killer. They figured how could anyone dispute the fact that a glove found in the position of Simpson, and having blood from one of the victims on it, matching one found on the crime scene. Nicole had bought him a pair of gloves, just like the ones used by the killer, in 1990. However on June 15, 1995, a full year after the murders occurred, Simpson was asked to try on the gloves which appeared too small. The prosecution claimed that there were a couple of factors inhibiting the fit.
One, Simpson wore rubber gloves underneath to try them on, this could have made it hard for the cashmere lining to slide on easily; and two that the gloves had been drenched in blood and had shrunk so they didn't fit. The defense relished in this major victory, as the gloves didn't fit so they couldn't be Simpson's. As Johnnie Cochran, one of Simpson's lawyers, made the famous statement "if it doesn't fit, you must acquit" (Toobin). According to Jeffery Toobin, author of "The Run of His Life, " the conspiracy theory could have happened, but Simpson was undeniably the killer. "Notwithstanding the prosecution's many errors, the evidence against Simpson at the trial was overwhelming" (Toobin, pg. 435). Not to mention the fact that Simpson had no alibi for the night, nor was his car parked at his house, his blood was all over the crime scene, and the victim's blood was all over his house. The hat the killer wore had traces of Simpson's hair all over it, and Nicole had bought those gloves for him in 1990, what other killer would have a pair of cashmere lined gloves and use it for a murder?
The defense insisted that the police planted at least Simpson's blood at Bundy, Goldman's blood in the Bronco, Brown's blood on the sock in Simpson's bedroom, Simpson's blood on the same sock, and the glove at Rockingham with all that blood on it (Toobin). They never actually told the jury their theory on how this was pulled off, but their main debate was that Detective Furhman took one glove from the murder scene to Simpson's home. This would have required Furhman to have transported to glove from the crime scene, unnoticed, find some of Simpson's blood, from means unknown, then wipe the glove on the inside of the locked Bronco, again means unknown. The whole time planting his case against him, not knowing whether Simpson had an irrefutable alibi for the time of the murders (Toobin). This argument is just not believable, even taking into account Furhman's "repugnant racial views" (Toobin, pg. 436). The 'Trial of the Century' became more like a circus as the lawyers and witnesses boasted untruths and incredibly inflated stories to make it more interesting to the jury, scratch that audience.
Agreeing with Toobin, it does have to be said that the evidence pointed fundamentally to Simpson as the murderer, but the tabloid media of news made it fun to watch. The news also made it impossible for any patriotic American to convict a national hero. Bibliography: Bibliography and Works Cited Darden, Christopher A. (1996). In Contempt. New York: Regan Books. Defense lawyers in OJ case accuse Det.
Furhman of being racist. (1994, August 30). The New York Times, A 14. OJ Simpson goes on trial in Los Angeles for murder of ex-wife. (1994, September 27). The New York Times, A 1. Simpson defense case for contaminated blood samples. (1996, December 13). The New York Times, A 23.
Simpson judge rules on Furhman records. (1994, August 31). The New York Times, A 12. Toobin, Jeffrey. (1996). The Run of His Life. New York: Random House.
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