It was dubbed “the Trial of the Century,” and we all know about it. But, it’s sometimes hard to realize that it took place almost 15 years ago. Now that there has been a significant time gap, let’s see what these people who we all watched on TV so long ago are doing.
OJ Simpson – The Defendant
The man acquitted of murder in the famous trial in 1995 found himself in legal trouble again recently. In December 2008, he was sentenced to 33 years in prison (parole possible after 9) on kidnapping and roberry charges when he tried to strongarm back memorabilia a dealer had of his. He is currently serving sentence in Lovelock, Nevada.
Lance Ito – Judge
Ito continues to hold office as a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge. To date, he still declines to give interviews on the OJ trial because of the Canons of Ethics. He has considered writing a book, but doing so would require him to vacate his judgeship first, and he believes this would be a dishonor to his family.
Johnnie Cochran – Defense Attorney
Johnnie Cochran, perhaps the most famous defense attorney of all time, died in March of 2005 at the age of 67 from a brain tumor.
F. Lee Bailey – Defense Attorney
Bailey (the white dude above) has been a defense attorney for many large trials including the Sam Sheppard re-trial, Patty Hearst, OJ, and Ernest Medina (My Lai Massacre). He was also the man that Albert DeSalvo confessed his crimes too (DeSalvo was the suspected Boston Strangler). However, in 2001 he was disbarred in Florida, and in 2002 disbarred in Massachusetts. The Florida disbarrment was the result of being found guilty of 7 counts of attorney misconduct by the Florida Supreme Court. He had transferred a large portion of a marijuana dealers assests into his own account for personal expenses. In 2005, he filed to regain his license in Massachusetts.
Robert Kardashian – Defense Attorney
Kardashian was a good friend of OJ’s, and is the father of the Kardashians you see on TV and in Pop Culture. OJ even stayed at the Kardashian house in the days after the murder. Kardashian died of esophegal cancer in 2003 at the age of 59.
Marcia Clark – Prosecution
So clearly from the picture above, we see Marcia Clark has had some work done since the trial. After the trial, she also got a book deal, worth a reported $4.2 million, and co-wrote “Without a Doubt” about the trial. She also went on leave from her job in 1995 after the acquittal, and resigned in 1997, shortly before the book released. She is now a “special correspondent” for “Entertainment Tonight” and is a contributing writer to “The Daily Beast.”
Christopher Darden – Prosecution
Also a part of the prosecution, Darden is most famous for asking OJ to try on the once-blood soaked gloves. After the trial, he left the DA’s office and went to be a professor at Cal State -LA, where he taught undergraduate criminal law. He was also an Associate Professor of Law at Southwestern University School of Law until 1999 when he left to start Darden & Associates, Inc. In 2007 he was even considered for judgeship. In a 2006 interview, he told Oprah that he “without a doubt” still believed Simpson was guilty, and was equally as disturbed by Mark Fuhrman’s perjury.
Denise Brown – Witness
Denise Brown was the older sister of Nicole Brown Simpson. In 1994 she started the Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation in Nicole’s memory, to assist victims of domestic violence. However, this came under scrutiny in 1998 when it was discovered only 3.6 percent of its expenses went to charity. She has traveled the country to raise awareness however, public speaking, etc at Universities and the like. In 2004 she claimed that Marcia Clark “trashed” her family in Clark’s book.
Al Cowlings – Witness / Driver of the Bronco
Cowlings was a close friend to OJ. He played with him in High School, at City College, at USC, and in the NFL on a couple teams. He is most famous for driving the Ford Bronco in the famous low-speed chase, claiming OJ held a gun to his head and demanded he be the driver. Most recently in 2009, Cowlings was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame with Rodney Peete, Junior Seau, and John Robinson.
Mark Fuhrman – Detective
Fuhrman is the detective that found the blood-stained glove at Nicole Brown Simpson’s condo, and then another at Simpson’s home. Soon after the preliminary hearing in the case, the Defense would suggest that Fuhrman planted the second glove as a part of a racially motivated effort to frame Simpson. They questioned his alleged prior use of racial slurs, etc as well. Fuhrman became a “famous racist.” It was F.Lee Bailey who asked Fuhrman if he used the word “nigger” and Fuhrman said it had been at least 10 years. The Defense was ready with evidence, even an audio tape to contradict this. This resulted in a perjury conviction for Fuhrman. He was also asked (without the jury present) if he had ever falsified police reports or planted evidence and he invoked the Fifth Amendment. He later resigned from the Police Department and is a convicted felon thanks to the perjury charge. In 1997 he wrote “Murder in Brentwood.” He also wrote “Murder in Greenwhich” about an unsolved 1975 case and who he suspected the killer was. He is now a guest commentator for Sean Hannity on…..surprise!…FOX news.
Kato Kaelin – Witness
At the time of the trial, Kaelin was an asipiring actor who was a friend of Simpson and lived in the guest house. Kaelin was present at the compound the night of the murder, witnessing some of Simpson’s beahavior throughout the night. His “rambling and inconsistent” testimony didn’t exactly make him a good witness for the prosecution, and Marcia Clark declared him a hostile witness. Since the trial, he has participated in game shows, in National Lampoon’s “Strip Poker,” and is a recurring guest on video game review show “X-Play.”
2 responses so far ↓
benjibbles // October 7, 2009 at 2:22 pm
totally spectacular WUAW. truly original and no doubt I was wondering where these people were at
sliz // October 8, 2009 at 11:08 am
i second bibbles’s comment … really good idea.
i think its interesting how of the 3 high-profile defense attorney’s OJ hired, one is disbarred and two died prematurely of rare cancers.
karma?