About This Quiz
Orenthal James Simpson, commonly known as O.J. Simpson, is well known for various things: for one, his professional football career with the NFL as a running back and two, for being very rich and quite the catch. However, on June 12, 1994, he gained notoriety, when he was charged with the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman. The brutalized bodies of the duo were found outside Nicole’s Los Angeles home.
Their murders became a media frenzy in what has been dubbed the “Trial of the Century.” Days after their deaths, Simpson was charged with two counts of murder with special circumstances. He attempted to evade the police and led them on a high-speed chase for 60 miles, from Orange County until he arrived at his residence.
Though he was charged with their murders, he was declared not guilty merely eight months after his trial began on January 24, 1995. Nevertheless, the aggrieved families of the victims later filed and won a civil lawsuit against O.J Simpson, totaling $33.5 million.
Despite the outcome of the trial, Simpson has been massacred in the court of public opinion, with some alluding to incompetence’s of the justice system as the reason for his acquittal. But do you know exactly what happened? Or are you just up to date with the rumors? Test your knowledge with our quiz!
The trial of O.J. Simpson commenced in 1995. It would continue to rock the country for the rest of the decade.
O.J. was accused of the murders of both Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The story has been called "a great trash novel come to life."
Simpson was famous for being a former football star. After retiring from professional football, he became a sports announcer and occasional actor.
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The American public will never forget the day that Simpson made a surreal escape in a white Bronco. 95 million television viewers watched the police chase live on that day.
There were 133 days of televised courtroom testimony that kept viewers glued to their sets. Margaret Thatcher was reportedly addicted to the programming.
At 10:07 am PDT, October 3, 1995, Judge Ito's clerk read the jury's verdict of "not guilty." 91% of viewers watching television that morning were watching the verdict.
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Simpson was accused of murdering his wife sometime after 10 pm on a Sunday. The night was June 12th, 1994.
Nicole Brown's condominium was located in the prestigious Brentwood area of L.A. She was brutally murdered near the front gate.
Ronald Goldman was stabbed over two dozen times. Goldman was a 25-year-old acquaintance of Nicole's.
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Nicole's howling Akita was covered in blood. That was what prompted a neighbor to find the bodies.
At the time of the murder, O.J. Simpson was Nicole's ex-husband. He was a media personality at the time.
Simpson was on a flight to Chicago on the night of the murder. His flight left at 11:45 pm.
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When Simpson learned of the murder, he apparently smashed a glass with his hand. Prosecutors would have a different explanation for the injury.
That first interview with O.J. was considered to be largely inept. The interview was so unhelpful that it was not used as evidence in the trial.
Robert Shapiro was famously OJ's attorney. A number of other lawyers would become famous due to the case.
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O.J. was supposed to turn himself in at 10 am on June 17. When the police came knocking on his door, O.J. was not at home.
After the most famous police chase in history, O.J. was finally arrested in his driveway. Police discovered cash, a gun and a disguise in the Bronco.
It is said that the greatest mistake of the prosecution was to file the Simpson case in downtown L.A. instead of Santa Monica. They did this in hopes of securing a more diverse jury.
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On July 22, 1994, O.J. Simpson pleaded not guilty. "Absolutely one hundred percent not guilty, Your Honor."
Johnnie Cochran gave the opening statement for the defense. He stated that the evidence against Simpson was "contaminated, compromised, and ultimately corrupted."
Of the countless testimonies that stated that O.J. was the murderer, Denise Brown's was one of the most chilling. She claimed that on the day of the murder O.J. looked scary, like a madman.
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Allan Park was one of the most effective witnesses for the prosecution. He drove Simpson to the airport while he carried a little black bag that may have contained the murder weapon.
Kato Kaelin was Simpson's houseguest at the time of the murder. He said that he and Simpson went out for Big Macs that night at around 9:36.
It's true that O.J.'s blood was found at the crime scene. Tests indicated that blood found there could have come from 1 out of 170 million sources, and O.J. fit the bill.
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Nicole's blood was found on O.J.'s socks that were at the end of his bed. The defense claimed that this was planted by corrupt police officers.
Mark Fuhrman was the officer that discovered the bloody glove outside Kato Kaelin's bedroom. He would later be accused of racism.
Attorney Johnnie Cochran famously said, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," in reference to the glove the Simpson tried on. In reality, the glove had been shrunken by dried blood.
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Remarkably, there were nine African Americans on OJ's jury. The whole issue of race surrounding the trial was quite heated.
It's true that the jury and the judge went on a tour of O.J.'s house. Not surprisingly, much of the home's surroundings were manipulated to please the jury and paint a positive picture of Simpson.
Simpson's defense came to be known as "The Dream Team." Their main defense was that O.J. was physically incapable of committing the murders and that evidence was planted.
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The prosecution took a huge hit when a video surfaced showing Fuhrman using the N word. He also disclosed that he sometimes planted evidence to help secure convictions.
Soft spoken Chinese-American forensic expert Henry Lee agreed that the prosecution's key physical evidence should be questioned. Some believe that he won O.J. his acquittal.
The Simpson case was the longest in California history. It broke the record set by the Charles Manson case.
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It took the jury a little over three hours to deliberate on the Simpson case. He was, of course, acquitted.