THE trial of OJ Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, gripped the US for the entirety of its 11-month span.
Simpson, a former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Hall of Famer was infamously acquitted in a case that was marred with mishandling of DNA evidence and claims of racism.
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Brown and Goldman were found brutally stabbed to death outside Brown's condominium in the Brentwood neighborhood in Los Angeles, California on June 12, 1994.
Following his arrest on June 17, Simpson was backed by the "Dream Team," a group of high-profile attorneys led by Johnnie Cochran and including the likes of Alan Dershowitz and Robert Kardashian.
Seven months after the murders, the trial began on January 24, 1995, and was presided by Judge Lance Ito.
MISHANDLING OF EVIDENCE
With no witnesses to the murders, DNA evidence was key for the prosecution's argument during the trial.
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Over 108 pieces of DNA evidence, including blood and hairs, were presented by the prosecution allegedly showing that Simpson was the murderer.
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Marcia Clark, the lead prosecutor, said in her opening statements that there was a "trail of blood from the Bundy Crime scene through Simpson's Ford Bronco to his bedroom at Rockingham."
Testing of the evidence was cross-referenced and validated at three different labs with separate tests with no inconsistencies.
However, Cochran told the jury that the defense team would be able to prove that the evidence was "contaminated, compromised, and ultimately corrupted."
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The defense argued that the collection phase of evidence-gathering had been compromised and the DNA of the "real killer" was lost.
At the time, the Los Angeles Police Department didn't have proper collection documents regarding Simpson's blood, allowing the defense to argue that police planted his blood on critical areas of the crime scene.
OJ Simpson claimed to be 'in good health' in haunting last video weeks before death at 76 1
BLOODY GLOVE
One of the key pieces of evidence in the prosecution's case was a right-hand bloody leather glove found on Simpson's Rockingham home when he was arrested.
It was later determined that the glove was the matching pair of the left-hand glove found next to Goldman's body.
The glove was found by LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman, who the defense claims planted it at the scene.
This was the probable cause used to issue an arrest warrant for Simpson at the time.
The prosecution argued that Simpson used the gloves as part of a disguise when he allegedly murdered Brown and Goldman.
However, the glove contained DNA from Simpson and both of the victims - not Fuhrman, which the prosecution argued meant that he didn't plant it.
OJ Simpson's Trial Timeline
A look at why The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson is regarded as the murder trial of the century.
On June 12, 1994, OJ Simpson's estranged wife Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, and her friend Ronald Goldman, 25, were stabbed to death outside her Los Angeles condo.
Their bodies were found two days later.
On June 17, Simpson was charged with their murders and arrested following a livestreamed car chase.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges on July 22.
By November 3, an initial jury of twelve was selected.
They would be sequestered for 265 days throughout the proceedings.
Simpson wished for a speedy trial, and his team worked tirelessly on their defense before opening statements began on January 24.
Prosecutors painted Simpson as a savage killer who lashed out at his wife in a murderous rage because he couldn't control her.
They said a bloody glove was recovered at the crime scene, and that blood spatters were seen on Simpson's white Ford Bronco.
Meanwhile, the defense accused Mark Fuhrman, a Los Angeles Police Department detective who was working the case, of racism.
They claimed Fuhrman used racist language to describe Black people and tried to paint him as an illegitimate witness.
Three days after the opening statements, Simpson released his tell-all book I Want to Tell You where he spoke out about the deaths and accusations.
On February 3, Nicole's sister Denise Brown testified that Simpson was abusive, claiming he called Nicole a "fat pig" when she was pregnant.
On June 15, Simpson tried on bloody gloves that were found at the scene of the crime and demonstrated that they did not seem to fit in a dramatic court scene.
On October 3, the jury found Simpson not guilty of two counts of murder.
In 1997, Simpson was found liable for Nicole and Goldman's deaths in a civil suit filed by the victims' families.
On June 15, 1995, prosecutor Christopher Darden asked Simpson to try on the gloves, which took Clark by surprise.
The prosecution had already decided earlier in the trial that they wouldn't ask Simpson to try on the gloves due to the state they had been in.
The gloves were soaked in blood from Simpson and the victims and were frozen and unfrozen several times - shrinking them from their original size.
Simpson also wore latex gloves while trying on the leather ones so as to not compromise the DNA.
The gloves looked too tight for him with Clark claiming that Simpson was pretending to struggle, however, Cochran said: "I don't think he could act the size of his hands."
In his closing arguments, Cochran uttered the infamous phrase: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit."
RACISM CLAIMS
Throughout the trial, Simpson's defense tried to paint the LAPD as being incompetent and having a racist vendetta against the former athlete.
Racial tensions were high in Los Angeles at the time of the trial as it took place just a few years after Rodney King was beaten by the LAPD.
The defense's claims of the bloody glove being planted by Fuhrman were fueled by allegations of Fuhrman's supposed racism as a way to discredit the detective.
During his testimony, Fuhrman denied using the N-word when describing Black people in the past 10 years.
However, the defense discovered several audiotapes of Fuhrman using the slur over 40 times, eight years before the murders.
Known as "The Fuhrman tapes," they were pivotal in the defense's case that Fuhrman's testimony lacked credibility.
Clark would later call the tapes "the biggest red herring there ever was."
Fuhrman later apologized for his language while stating that he wasn't a racist.
On October 3, 1995, Simpson was acquitted on both counts of murder after just four hours of deliberation.
The verdict was watched by an estimated 100 million people worldwide.
Trading on the New York Stock Exchange went down by 41% and water usage tanked significantly as people avoided using the bathroom.
So many people stopped working at their jobs to watch the verdict that it cost an estimated $480 million in lost productivity, reported Business Insider.
Simpson would later be found liable for the deaths in a civil case filed by the Brown and Goldman families in 1997.
The Goldman family was awarded $33.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages, however, they have only received a small portion of the money.
THE JUICE IS GONE
Simpson died at the age of 76 following a lengthy battle with cancer, said his family on Thursday.
"On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer," read a tweet.
Simpson had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in February.
"He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren," the tweet continued.
"During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace."
There were mixed reactions surrounding his death from those close to him and others involved in his murder trial.
"Good riddance," wrote Caitlyn Jenner, who used to be a close friend of Simpson.
Tom Lange, who served as one of the lead detectives on the case toldTMZ, "I have nothing to say, I simply don't care."
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Fred Goldman, the father of Ron Goldman, called Simpson's death "no great loss to the world."
"The only thing I have to say is it's just a further reminder of Ron being gone all these years."
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