Real Crime Stories/Paranormal Hauntings

The O. J. Simpson Murder Trial (Part III)

The prosecution planned to present 62 separate incidents of domestic violence, including three previously unknown incidents Brown had documented in several letters she had written and placed in a safety deposit box. Judge Ito denied the defense's motion to suppress the incidents of domestic violence. They argued that these were prejudicial to Simpson as "prior bad acts" but Ito rejected that argument stating the abuse was recent. However, Ito only allowed witnessed accounts to be presented to the jury because of Simpson's Sixth Amendment rights. The letters Nicole had written herself and the statements she made to her friends and family were inadmissible because they were hearsay as the witness, Nicole Brown, was unable to be cross-examined by Simpson. Despite this the prosecution had witnesses for 44 separate incidents they planned to present to the jury.

However, the prosecution dropped the domestic violence portion of their case on June 20, 1995. Marcia Clark stated it was because they believed the DNA evidence against Simpson was insurmountable but the media speculated it was because of the comments made by dismissed juror Jeanette Harris. Christopher Darden later confirmed that to be true. Harris was dismissed on April 6 because she failed to disclose that she was a victim of domestic violence from her ex-husband. But afterwards she gave an interview and called Simpsons abuse of Nicole "a whole lot of nothing" and said "that doesn't mean he is guilty of murder". This dismissal of his abusive behavior from a female juror who was also a victim of such abuse by her own husband convinced the prosecution that the jury was not receptive to the domestic violence argument. After the verdict, the jurors called the domestic violence portion of the case a "waste of time" and claimed they discarded it because there were no new incidents of abuse after 1989. At trial, the jurors heard another 9-1-1 phone call that Nicole made on October 25, 1993, expressing the same fear for her life and Simpson is also heard shouting in the background, less than eight months before the murders. The jurors also stated that they did not believe Nicole sincerely thought her life was in danger. One of the documents from the safety deposit box the jury did see was a Will she had drafted stating her wishes in the event of her death.

Although the jury was dismissive of Simpson's abusive behavior, the public was not, and it was credited with turning public opinion against him. Shapiro later wrote that Simpson was not apologetic for his behavior either and his attempts to defend himself afterwards only worsened the backlash against him. Dershowitz later said that Nicole Brown became a symbol for victims of abuse because she told people, including the police, that she thought Simpson was going to kill her and no one believed her. Daniel Petrocelli, who successfully argued the civil case against Simpson, credited the difference in the outcome to a jury that was receptive to the argument that domestic violence is a prelude to murder.

The defense never denied that Simpson abused Nicole nor defended him for it. Alan Dershowitz and Robert Shapiro both wrote after the trial that the abusive behavior was indefensible and the cross-examinations focused on attacking the witnesses with allegations of Racism for calling the police on Simpson for the abuse. Robert Shapiro, Alan Dershowitz, and Gerald Uelmen later admitted they believe that race played a factor in the jurors' dismissal of Nicole Brown's abuse by Simpson.

Timeline

According to the prosecution, Simpson was last seen in public at 9:36 p.m. that evening when he returned to the front gate of his house from McDonald's with Kaelin. Simpson was not seen again until 10:54 p.m. – an hour and eighteen minutes later – when he got in Park's limousine. Brown's neighbor Pablo Fenjves testified about hearing a "very distinctive barking" and "plaintive wail" of a dog at around ten to fifteen minutes after 10:00 p.m. while he was at home watching the news on television. Eva Stein, another neighbor, testified about very loud and persistent barking, also at around 10:15 pm, which kept her from going back to sleep. The prosecution used this for the time of the murders. The prosecution alleged that Simpson had driven his Bronco during the required five minutes to and from the murder scene. They presented a witness in the vicinity of Bundy Drive who saw a car similar to Simpson's Bronco speeding away from the area at 10:35 pm.