The O.J. Simpson Murder Case Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The O.J. Simpson Murder Case - Term Paper Example He is also known for his world record breaking run in the USC sprint relay quartet at the NCAA track championships in Provo, Utah. In 1968, he won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp Award. He also holds the record for the Heisman's largest margin of victory. Being American Football League's Buffalo Bills' first overall pick in the 1969 Common Draft, he was also the first professional football player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. He also holds the record for the highest yards-per-game average in a single season. He was a great figure in the world of sports and is idolized by many sportsmen. He was also inducted to Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. O.J Simpson also starred in some movies. His career ranges from dramatic to comedic movies. His dramatic movies include The Cassandra Crossing, Capricorn One, The Klansman and The Towering Inferno. His comedy movies include The Naked Gun Trilogy and Back to the Beach. He had a good career in movies a nd had a successful run in acting in ads one of which was about a comic book. He quickly sprang up to status of a celebrity with a huge following. He started his own film production company called Orenthal Productions in 1979. NBC was considering airing his series called Frogmen but the project was cancelled when he was arrested for murder. Known mostly due to his career in professional football and being a respected commentator, everything related to O.J Simpson was of public interest. On June 13, 1994, O.J Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were found murdered outside Brown's Bundy Drive condo in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles, California. O.J Simpson immediately became the prime suspect of the crime due to some evidence that included a 911 call made by Nicole Brown on January 1, 1989 in which she informed the police that O.J Simpson would hurt her physically. Simpson could be heard yelling in the background of that call. The two were di vorced 2 years prior to the murders. Simpson was not located immediately after the incident. There were speculations that he might have committed suicide after a letter by him was presented by his friend, Robert Kardashian, who was also one of his defense lawyers. He was, however, spotted later when one of his friends was being pursued. A low-speed chase ensued as Simpson threatened to commit suicide. 8 hours later, the chase ended and Simpson agreed to surrender to the police. He was allowed to speak to his mother before his arrest. He spent one hour with her. (F. Lee Bailey & Jean Rabe, 2008) On June 20, 1994, Simpson pleaded not guilty to both murders when he was arraigned. The grand jury that was called initially to determine whether to indict Simpson for murders was dismissed on June 23 as there were qualms about the attainment of an unbiased result. Media had excessive coverage regarding this case and it was suspected that the initial jury might lose its objectivity. Jill Shiv ely and Jose Camacho testified in the court with Jill saying that she saw Simpson’s car in the vicinity of the place of incident and Jose identifying the fact that he sold a knife to Simpson which was quite similar to the one that was used in the murders. They sold their stories to newspapers and were not presented in the court as witnesses afterwards. (L. Jones, Thomas, n.d) On July 7, it was ruled that Simpson was to be brought to trial