AHC: Convict OJ Simpson

fred1451

Banned
Actually you have a really good point. People didn't understand what DNA was all about. CSI and other procedural have made it seems much more clear than it actually is, which brings in a whole different set of issues, but the defenses arguments regarding the DNA would never have stood up today. There were very legit chain of custody issues that could have been brought to bear, but the defense actually managed to get the jury to question if Simpson was really the only person who could have that DNA. Rather brilliant actually.

Same goes for so much of the defense's case. The glove bit was sheer genius, to this day I can't believe that State didn't blow a valve when the idea came up. The defense did its job about as well as a defense team could, when you put that against what can only be seen as a less then stellar DA effort and the absolutely lousy, Keystone Kops quality, investigation (you drove around for HOW LONG with the evidence in your truck? :eek:) the result was damned near a forgone conclusion.
Chris Darden broke one of the cardinal rules of a trail lawyer when he had OJ try on that glove, "Never ask a question in front of a judge/jury that you don't already know the answer too."
 

fred1451

Banned
I was in a popular downtown Edmonton shopping venue the day OJ's acquittal was announced on television, and I was stunned to see people CHEERING (most of them were white, I saw no blacks in the crowd). I just shook my head in disgust. I still don't get it. Did even ONE of these cretins understand that this wasn't a fucking sporting event, but a MURDER trial?
Personally, I think one of the great tragedies of the modern US legal system is that 'fair trial' has gone from meaning that the accused rights are observed to meaning both sides have equal chances of winning.
 
What they needed for this case was to have a different venue than downtown Los Angeles. There should be a much more mixed raced and gendered jury. The explanation of what DNA was should've been broken down more by the prosecution as few people in the mainstream United States knew how this biological process worked. The judge should've ignored any attribution to Mark Furhman or race which was completely irrelevant to the trial. Other evidence such as the Bronco chase items including pockets of cash, the boat reserved for him in the Florida Keys, and the disguise as well. The press probably should've been kept out of the court room simply to avoid the loss of evidence from being able to be used.
 
Here's some of the things that should change (for a start):

1. Mark Fuhrman isn't assigned to the murder case.
2. Marcia Clark isn't appointed to prosecute.
3. All of the evidence the prosecution had but kept out is introduced.
4. Move the trial to Santa Monica (or anywhere else but downtown).
5. Keep the media out of it at all costs.
 
I wish that Mark Fuhrman had been on vacation out of state when the murders occurred.

I think the police and prosecution should have made a better search for another possible killer. In other words show that they ruled out all other leads. When the police arrived at Bundy they should have acted as if there may have been an active killer in the neighborhood. Block off the area and start knockingthe on doors. When the police went to Rockingham and they found the glove Kato should have been detained and the guesthouse searched. The LAPD should have entered the estate on the grounds that maybe Simpson may have been in danger. It seems excessive but it shows that the LAPD was actively looking for another suspect. Also by checking on Simpson it disputes the idea that this was a frame up.
 
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