The murders took place on 12 June 1994. This book published within a year of the acquittal is brisk, informative and presents a compelling picture of the accused, the victims, the prosecutors, the defence counsel, the judge Ito, the jury, and the witnesses.
The trial took about a year excluding closing submissions and jury deliberation. The jury took a mere 2 hours to arrive at a verdict. Initially it was 10 for acquittal and 2 for conviction. After further deliberation it was 12 for acquittal. {p 426, 428}
There are interesting backgrounds on how the Dream Team lawyers like Alan Dershowitz, Shapiro, Johnny Cochrane, F Lee Bailey got their first ‘ lucky ‘ breaks in criminal defence work. This break is important as no matter how good a defence criminal lawyer is, he can’t hope for repeat clients. His clientele is by referrals and by public reputation.
The author himself a former prosecutor asserts throughout that OJ Simpson was guilty. {p 377} He excoriates the 2 main prosecutors as arrogant {Marcia} and ineptitude {Darden}. {p 12}
I don’t believe he is right. OJ Simpson may have a history of beating his ex-wife, he may have a motive but under American jurisprudence a Defendant is tried for what he did and not for who he is.
The murder weapon was never found, and the DNA blood tests were shown to be conducted sloppily based on samples taken carelessly from the crime scene.
More importantly, the glove found next to the bodies did not fit OJ ‘s hand when he was asked to put it on. Toobin asserts that Darden was wrong to ask OJ to put on the glove and should have avoided it. {p 364}.
This is an incredible assertion when the duty of the prosecution {to the court and the public} is to secure a just conviction and not a conviction at all costs.
More importantly, the argument { p 365} that the glove was old and thus had shrunk , having been bought 4 years earlier and thus would not now fit OJ negates the prosecution underlying and unspoken case that the glove was USED by OJ during the murders.
The jury of 10 women and 2 men {9 blacks, 1 Hispanic and 2 whites} was rightly concerned that as Goldman had bruises on his knuckles why didn’t OJ HAVE any bruises on his body? {p426}
This book has the worse pagination I have ever seen. The page numbering is not clear at all. There are no end notes. Readers and lawyers interested in this infamous case should watch the recent miniseries and the book authored by Darden titled In Contempt.