INNOCENT! Still pissed?

What disappointed me with the entire situation was not only the fact that despite overwhelming evidence and an absolutely simple-minded, rhyming, broken record of an attorney (Cochran), OJ was set free for murdering two people, but the fact that many blacks viewed this as some type of victory. This was particularly appalling. A breakdown in our criminal justice system? Yes. A victory for a specific race? No. A sad day for all involved parties.

 

I'm glad you feel vindicated after two people were brutally murdered. Maybe you can help Orenthal find the real killer whose DNA is so INCREDIBLY close to that of OJ's.

What point are you trying to prove with this, AB? Why do you feel personal vindication? How does it affect you personally in a way in which you feel vindicated? What did the civil suit result mean to you?

 

It was a victory, for years they have seen rich white Americans buying their way out of legal trouble. I would imagine it felt kind of refreshing to see that with enough green even a black American could rise above the law.

 

I am extremely pissed, still.

There cannot be the slightest doubt whatsoever that he did it. Unless some alien from outer space came down and happened to have the same DNA he did. Not only that he had a motive and no alibi, I can't really think of much more overwhelming evidence (the escape, the blood, etc. etc. etc. etc.).

I HATE how race was used to get him off the hook.

At the time of the trial, I was doing a master of law degree at the University of Houston and on the day of the verdict, we put up a big TV set and everybody was watching it. It was so interesting to watch the reactions. Everyone - white, Asian, Mexican, whatever - just shook their head in disbelief. However, the American black students were jumping up and cheering and celebrating. I felt sorry for them. They were being trained to be objective lawyers and they had fallen for the race card trap.

I believe that one telling thing is how the international students (black, white, yellow, whatever) reacted - EVERYONE could simply not believe it. We were there to study American law and it was right in front of our eyes - a travesty of a case. It makes you wonder when you go to a foreign country to study their legal system and then you witness something like that. Obviously, there are bad verdicts all the time in every country, but we had some interesting discussions about the jury system afterwards.

Anyway, I talked to one of his defense lawyers afterwards (Alan Dershovitz) and although he obviously did not admit it, it was pretty clear to me that he was also convinced of O.J.'s guilt. But that guy (a jew) even defended Nazis, so he has a certain interpretation of how to be a good attorney which I understand and respect, but I would not be able to do that myself.

The one thing that I still do not understand is why a lot of the American black people celebrated that a murderer goes free. Even you, AB, who seems to be a very smart, witty, funny guy who is not racially prejudiced, say it yourself - although you do not believe he is innocent, you are still happy about the verdict. I cannot understand that.

Anyway, sorry about the harsh words, but you asked and I am just giving you my honest opinion.

 

Come on now. No cheesy lines. HOw were they non-objective? I'll acknowledge that Furman was a racist and that may imply motive, but I think you're giving the LAPD way too much credit. OJ planted the "evidence," not the LAPD.


Also, I found it interesting that blacks celebrated his acquittal and whites (among others) were disgusted.

 

How about the lead detective (can't think of his name now) saying he'd take a vial of Simpson's blood to the evidence room, 3 stories above him, but making a little detour to Simpson's residence?

 

I am pissed off at OJ because he won't go away. I understand why a lot of African-Americans applauded the original verdict in the aftermath of the Rodney King trial (and several hundred years of raw deals by the system). I can understand that. What I am bothered by is that with all of the profoundly important and scary **** going on the world that we could take a break from this story. Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame doesn't apply anymore. It's more like 15 years. You would think that OJ would be more preoccupied with "finding the real killer" (remember him saying that?) of the mother of his children than appearing on TV all the damn time. At the very least, OJ might want to actually raise those children, but the lure of fame must be as powerful and money and race combined.

 

I'm a white Australian, and I cheered when OJ was acquitted. To say that all whites were disgusted is complete stereotyping.

 

Somebody sorta brought it up and it made me curious, what was the reaction, and be honest, of white people around the country when the officers who layed the smack down on Rodney King were accquitted. I'm pretty sure some of you believed back then that those cops just gave Rodney what he deserved. I'm pretty sure there were whites jumping up and pumping their fist up for that one.

 

The OJ Simpson trial was not about OJ. It was about the relationship between the LAPD and minorities in Los Angeles.

When Mark Fuhrman lied on the witness stand, the trial was over. Black people in Los Angeles had been beaten and mistreated for years by the LAPD, and this was a chance for minorities to get even. I was born in L.A., and this is how I see the situation.

Also, there is no doubt in my mind that OJ killed his wife Nicole and Ron Goldman. Anybody who says otherwise is deluded.

 

My brother-in-law has been obsessed with "Court TV" ever since. He sits around all day watching it. Seriously.

I blame OJ for that.
(And my sister for marrying the chump!)

 

Ironic...

A black man gets off in the murder trial because of his background.

I still view it as karma for all those years of injustice (especially after the recent Trent Lott admissions)?

But even I cannot sit back and think about historical redemption when two families will never feel like justice has been served.

 

Just about every group in the world has had injustice done to them. Christians were fed to lions, Jews were massacred in Nazi Germany, Women have been mistreated throughout history, Irish and Chinese immigrants were discriminated against in the U.S., and now even Northern African immigrants are being discriminated against as they flee Africa to France and Southern Europe.

Just because somebody was black doesn't give them the right to get away with murder, karma or no...just like being white doesn't give you the right to get away with murder...karma or no.

If a Jew went up to a German and shot him...is that karma? Is that the Jew getting back at the German for the injustice of his forefathers? Is that karma at work?

Past injustices are just that...in the past...whether recent...or not.

People living today owe no debt for what their ancestors did.

O.J. got away with murder because he was rich, not because he was black and deserved it.

Race got played perfectly for O.J. and its a shame...

 

Let's think this through, shall we? The morning of the investigation, the murderer's ID was not known. To imply that LAPD detectives, for all of their faults, would risk framing Simpson is borderline ridiculous.

Think about it: What if wasn't OJ and the actual killer was picked up during a traffic stop later that day? Oops, guess the detectives would have some 'splaining to do, huh? What if an anonymous tip came in fingering the perpetrator, as they are want to do, a week later? Uh oh, that whole 'glove' plant over near the fence sure would look suspicious, then.

The fact is there was no conspiracy. No planted evidence. Nothing. The evidence was what it was. Not only would those detectives have lost everything career-wise, but planting evidence in a murder investigation would get them life in prison in California. I don't think there was enough animosity at O.J.-freakin'-Simpson to warrant anything approaching planting the glove. Again, if the 'real killer' had turned up in some mundane way three days later, the conspiracy would have come unraveled, and cops would have been on trial quicker than Orenthal jumping over the bench in a rental car commercial.

 

Are these two families different in light to all the other injustices that rich or famous have recieved over the times?

I think OJ was guilty. Whether some black people truly believe he is or not isn't the case. You can think of this as politics but magnified to the tenth degree. In a casual conversation black people most likely will take the stand that he is innocent even with doubts in the back of their mind. For whatever reasons, it's like a party stand such as abortion...

The justice system is whack and disproportionate. It is not blind. I believe the majority of the jury was white. What it means is that the more money or stardom you have the more likely the chance you'll get away with it. OJ being black was consequencial. The prosecution was overmatched by the resources of his lawyers.

I'm as pissed as much as all the other cases that has fallen through.

 

A little defensive are we, AB? Sorry if I rattled your cage. I have no beef with you, but it does seem you're trying to prove an unknown point with this by rousing the rabble.

BIGTESS

 

I'm not pissed at OJ. He just proved that a rich black man can get away with murder just like rich white men have for many years. I'm pissed at the LA District Attorney's office and the media.