Real Crime Stories/Paranormal Hauntings

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

Defense case

Simpson hired a team of high-profile defense lawyers, initially led by Robert Shapiro, who was previously a civil lawyer known for settling, and then subsequently by Johnnie Cochran, who at that point was known for police brutality and civil rights cases. The team included noted defense attorney F. Lee Bailey, Robert Kardashian, Harvard appeals lawyer Alan Dershowitz, his student Robert Blasier, and Dean of Santa Clara University School of Law Gerald Uelmen. Assisting Cochran were Carl E. Douglas and Shawn Holley. Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld were also hired; they headed the Innocence Project and specialized in DNA evidence. Simpson's defense was said to have cost between US$3 million and $6 million; the media dubbed the group of talented attorneys the Dream Team.

Theory

The defense team's reasonable doubt theory was summarized as "compromised, contaminated, and corrupted" in opening statements. They argued that the DNA evidence against Simpson was "compromised" by the mishandling of criminalists Dennis Fung and Andrea Mazzola during the collection phase of evidence gathering, and that 100% of the "real killer(s)" DNA was lost from the evidence samples. The evidence was then "contaminated" in the LAPD crime lab by criminalist Collin Yamauchi, and Simpson's DNA from his reference vial was transferred to all but three exhibits.[150] The remaining three exhibits were planted by the police and thus "corrupted" by police fraud. The defense also questioned the timeline, claiming the murders happened around 11:00pm that night.

Timeline

Dr. Robert Huizenga testified on July 14, 1995 that Simpson was not physically capable of carrying out the murders. Simpson was a 46-year-old former professional football player with chronic arthritis and had scars on his knees from old football injuries. During cross-examination, the prosecution produced into evidence an exercise video that Simpson made a few weeks before the murders titled O.J. Simpson Minimum Maintenance: Fitness for Men, which showed that, despite some physical conditions and limitations, Simpson was anything but frail. Dr. Huizenga admitted afterwards that Simpson could have committed the murders if he was in "the throes of an adrenaline rush."

Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist testified August 10, 1995 and challenged the prosecutions timeline and claimed the murders happened around 11:00pm. Dr. Baden testified that Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown "struggled long and hard" with the killer. He claimed that Nicole Brown was still conscious and standing when her throat was cut and that Ron Goldman was still standing and fighting his assailant for at least five and possibly up to ten minutes after his Jugular vein was cut. Dr. Baden also stated that Simpson had told him during his physical examination that he had cut his finger earlier that day of the murders while in his Bronco looking for his cellphone. He testified that LAPD coroner Dr. Irwin Golden had made more than 30 mistakes during his autopsy of the two victims, which diminished the credibility of their findings. If Baden's testimony was accurate, the murders took place closer to 11:00pm, which is crucial since that is when Simpson has an alibi.

During cross-examination, Dr. Baden admitted to not knowing that Simpson had already claimed he cut his finger the day after the murders, not the day of, contradicting Baden's testimony. Dr. Baden also admitted to not knowing that Simpson and Ron Goldman had never had contact with each other and if his theory was correct, it would be impossible for Goldman's blood to be in Simpson's Bronco. When the prosecution then showed him that Goldman's blood was in Simpson's Bronco, Baden backed off all of his claims of a long struggle. He admitted that the murders could have occurred in less than one minute and the stabbing wounds are consistent with a single knife being used, implying a single attacker committed the murders. He also added that, despite the errors made, "Dr. Golden's autopsy of the victims was better than most he had seen."