Anatomy of a Trial: Public Loss, Lessons Learned from The People vs. O.J. Simpson

Contents

Contents    Introduction: The Reality of Perception 1 Chapter 1 To Here from There 8 Chapter 2 In the Beginning 15 Chapter 3 Careening Off Track 24 Chapter 4 Pressing Issues 35 Chapter 5 Pack Jackalism 40 Chapter 6 Seeing Stars 63 Chapter 7 Getting the Picture 71 Chapter 8 Who’s to Judge? 107 Chapter 9 If It Please the Court 130 Chapter 10 Judges Judging Judges 142 Chapter 11 More Craziness 153 vii Chapter 12 Aftermath 163 Chapter 13 From There to Here 174 Chapter 14 . . . And Beyond 189 Chapter 15 A Blueprint 204 Postscript: Where Are They Now? 215 Notes 219 Bibliography 239 Acknowledgments 241 Index 243 viii Contents    Literally dozens of law review articles have been written on the significance of the O. J. trial: the role played by race; the ethics of the attorneys; the meaning of jury nullification; the significance of domestic violence; and the meaning of forensic evidence. But none of that is the real legacy of O. J. It’s just an attempt to find meaning in a trial that should have meant very little. The truth about O. J. is that for one brief moment,the law and the media went crazy and had a lot of sex, and gave birth to a vast sprawling beast that ate us all. With the trial over, life, law, and television returned us to our previously scheduled broadcast. —Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor,“We Won’t Get OJ-ed Again,”Slate magazine, June 9, 2004 Reality is what the public perceives. —National Public Radio news analyst Daniel Schorr Those who care about the courts must intercept the more knee-jerk proposals of armchair quarterbacks that—if acted on—would undermine years of refinements that help guarantee due process and fairness for all who are involved in a court case.Those who care about the courts should use the Simpson trial as an opportunity to educate the public about the justice system and call for change that improves, not undermines, the system. —editorial, Judicature, September–October 1995 Anatomy of aTrial ...