Celebrated trials have long captured the attention of the American people, especially criminal trials. The public fascination with the American criminal justice system has only increased during the 1990s, with the explosion of cable channels and real-life dramas. Maybe no two years had more celebrated cases than 1995 and 1996. Those years also produced several important though less notorious decisions. This paper will examine the 10 most important criminal cases from 1995 and 1996.
The People of California v. Orenthal James Simpson
On the night of Sunday, June 12, 1994 Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman were brutally murdered in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood. The main suspect was Nicole's ex-husband, Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson. The case seemed simple for the police, who are all too familiar with domestic disputes that end with death at the hands of an abusive husband.
But this case turned out to be anything but simple. Celebrity, race, money, power, and Hollywood combined to turn the People v. Simpson into a circus, a daily soap opera that played out on television sets across America. The legal impact of the case was minimal, far less than many had predicted. The importance of the case lies in its detrimental impact on the public perception of the criminal justice system.
The circus atmosphere began almost immediately. Television news crews set up camp at the murder site and at Simpson's house on June 13, the day after the murders. The media frenzy continued all week, reaching a crescendo during the bizarre "low-speed" chase on Friday, June 17. That pursuit finally ended at Simpson's house, where the television personality and former football star surrendered to police.
The evidence against Simpson was overwhelming. Police found his blood at the scene, and found the victims' blood in his car and at his house (Moldea, pp. 61-178). Simpson countered by hiring two of the best-known a...