OJ Simpson: Money and Law

By: Abigail Hamrah

On the 10th of April 2024, OJ Simpson, age 76, passed away due to his fight with metastatic prostate cancer. A notoriously aggressive form of cancer was the cause of death of the defendant in one of the most notorious criminal cases of the 20th century. Amidst the news of his passing, the world reacted in a myriad of ways. He was an NFL football player that was beloved by the public because of his skills on and off the field. But, what was not to like about OJ or “The Juice” as his adoring fans called him. Only that he would be on the hook for a double homicide. The murders of his ex-wife and her friend, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

After the news of OJ’s passing broke his family notified the press, “He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace.” Conversely, Ronald Goldman’s family reacted to his death by bluntly saying, “died without penance.” Cailtin Jenner, an olympic athlete and celebrity with personal ties to the cases tweeted, “Good Riddance #OJSimpson.” Simultaneously, many internet users joked about his death, one wrote on Twitter, “OJ Simpson finally brought the killer to justice.” These mixed reactions were indicative of the outcome of the criminal and civil cases filed against OJ and the subsequent public perception of their outcomes. 

The Murders

On the night of June 12th in 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman would be found stabbed to death outside of Nicole's Los Angeles home. OJ Simpson quickly became the prime suspect of these murders for a few reasons. Firstly, it was said that during Nicole and OJ’s marriage she had reported to her loved ones that OJ would beat her because of his perceived flirtation with other men. He denied that any such incidents of domestic violence took place and rather her injuries were due to “friendly wrassling.” 

He was also strongly suspected for the murders because of his whereabouts immediately following the discovery of the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Simpson was attempting to flee in his car in a disguise and with his passport, presumably to evade arrest. In the early hours of the morning the day following the deaths, police approached OJ’s house to inform him of the passing of his ex-wife. But, he had already flown to Chicago and what the police found at his home was his car stained with blood and the matching glove to a glove found at the crime scene.

The Criminal Trial

Simpson’s arrest didn’t come without theatrics, notably the sixty mile car chase that ensued prior to his arrest. During the trial as well, several pieces of infamous evidence were presented in court, both for and against the innocence of OJ. Denise Brown, Nicole's sister, takes the stand and testifies that OJ was physically abusive towards her sister during their marriage. As well as, a drop of blood found at the crime scene was said to match one in every 170 million people, OJ Simpson being one of the matches. However, to OJ’s defense, the crime scene investigation was revealed to be improper according to protocol standards, this finding cast some doubt on OJ’s guilt. Despite all the damning evidence, OJ maintained that he was 100% innocent throughout the trial.

With the most notorious happening in this case surrounding a pair of gloves, one being recovered from the crime scene and the matching glove being found at OJ’s mansion. The defendant stood up in front of the jury while maneuvering and pulling the gloves on for a full minute each until they were both snuggly fit onto his hands.​​ This display prompted the defense team to state during the closing statements, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit”, which is exactly what the jury did. On October 3rd of 1995, OJ Simpson was acquitted for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. However, the broader public and the families of the victims were so convinced of OJ’s guilt, the country felt starved for justice.

Alt-text: Cartoon man slamming a large gavel down on the floor, in front of a white background

The Civil Case

About a year later, a civil lawsuit was filed against OJ Simpson by the families of the victims, insisting that he is liable for their wrongful deaths. On February 4th of 1997, the jury in the civil suit found OJ unanimously responsible, simultaneously delivering some semblance of justice to the Brown and Goldman families. These contradictory findings in the courts further confused the public about the justice system – especially when it came to a crime that seemed to so obviously be committed by OJ, why was he not in prison?

The case of OJ Simpson and his outcomes in this double homicide case is a sufficient case study for the reality of the criminal legal system. The goal of the justice system is partly self-referential – to ensure the equity and justice of all members of society with an emphasis on individual's rights. However, it is argued that these ideals are not applied to all citizens the same way. Rather the legal system enforces a hierarchical structure that protects the wealthy while marginalizing the poor – often reinforcing economic inequality by making the rich richer and the poor poorer.

The Reality of Law

Again, for many it was considered a “no brainer” that OJ Simpson was guilty for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman – so why was he acquitted in the criminal case? This is because OJ is not a common person – he is a celebrity with lots of money and resources. He did not feel the wrath of the legal system because he was able to build a defense team that was referred to as the “Dream Team” by the public. This group of lawyers were highly educated, experienced, and strategic in order to secure a not guilty verdict in the infamous case.

The vast majority of average citizens, though, do not have access to such a prestigious defense. It can be argued that outcomes in criminal cases are largely affected by the attorney that you have to represent you. Generally, the more expensive a lawyer’s services are, the better the service you will get. This system “boxes out” poor and middle class people from the best legal counsel they can acquire. Further, once someone is charged with a crime, whether they did it or not, their access to employment, housing, and education drastically diminish. This feeds into the cycle of wealth inequality for Americans that is already such a pressing issue.

In fact, about 70 to 100 million people have been detained, incarcerated, or convicted in the US. This is an astronomical amount of people that have had run-ins with the law, in fact the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This is not because somehow the highest number of violent people live in the states, rather America deems more acts as criminal than other countries in the world. Additionally, of these million Americans currently in prison, they are largely middle or lower class people. 

Staggeringly, households that have or had a family member incarcerated make, on average, 50% less wealth than households that were not affected by incarceration. Incarceration also is experienced by people that are lower income more often, and if you have already been in prison you are more likely to go back. These factors also feed into each other because it is also true that if a person is spending or spent time in prison, their family has a demonstrably lower chance of building wealth on their own. The reasoning for this is two-fold: incarceration makes it harder for households to save and it enables families to absorb costly debt.

Justice, however, is achieved usually based on how much that accused perpetrators can pay for legal assistance. Prior to trial, bail can only be afforded by wealthy people so they can enjoy freedom before the findings of a trial. Unlike middle or lower class people, they must remain in jail until their trial is resolved. Remaining in jail while the trial is still ongoing also leads to a higher conviction rate for the accused. Lower income individuals are also disproportionately hindered by laws pertaining to housing, suspended drivers licenses, debts that they are unable to pay, and high cost expungement. 

Overall

Thus, if you have lower income you are more likely to be accused of a crime and more likely to be convicted of that crime because of poor legal counsel.  You are also less likely to expunge the crimes off of your record and more likely to become rearrested for other lesser crimes because of your pre-existing record. All of this leads me to believe that the law works for the rich and powerful, and against the poor. A byproduct of this is OJ being found innocent in his high profile, criminal case where everyone in the public already presumed his guilt.