2018 RESOLUTION: LET GO OF O.J.

Victim’s families relive the pain with each mini-series, but the verdict doesn’t change. A definitive (hopefully) last take on O.J.

It was surreal last July, when O.J. Simpson once again sparred with the legal system, his freedom on the line. O.J.’s parole hearing was televised live and the outcome of the parole board’s decision carried live. When it was announced O.J. was granted parole the obvious “The Juice is Loose” headline blasted across the media.

During the hearing, O.J. was given ample opportunity to demonstrate some level of situational awareness. Instead, he flashed as much narcissism as ever. He uttered something about not having been involved in controversy through the years (yes, he said that). And unbelievably, O.J. said he’d been an all-around good guy.

It was laughable except O.J. is no laughing matter. O.J. Simpson is a cold-blooded murderer.

And now that the Juice is loose it won’t surprise anyone if his narcissism and pathology land him back in prison. That would suit most of us just fine, seeing O.J. returned to prison.

Simpson may be the most famous murderer of the 20th Century. Maybe, only Charles Manson has gotten the high-octane media attention commensurate with what Simpson received the past 23 years.

During O.J.’s parole board review, all the major networks interrupted their regular programming to show O.J.’s live testimony, during this unprecedented broadcast event. Truly, O.J. is the gift that keeps giving, stirring up emotions, race-baiting and delivering strong TV viewership.

But now it’s time to let go of O.J.

The Weekly Opine suggests that one of America’s 2018 resolutions should be to move on from O.J.

We’ve moved on from George Zimmerman who murdered, and amazingly was acquitted of killing, 17-year old Trayvon Martin.

If the City of Chicago had its way, we’d move on from Jason Van Dyke, the cop who way back in 2014 pumped 16 shots into Laquan McDonald while McDonald lay on the ground unarmed. Three years later and Van Dyke still has not gone to trial.

(A caution for Mayor Rahm Emanuel; watch YouTube footage of L.A. rioting after cops were acquitted in the Rodney King beating to see a possible outcome, in Chicago, if Van Dyke is acquitted).

Each time a mini-series is produced about the O.J. Simpson Trial of the Century, with the gory, salacious details thrust at us, the victim’s families suffer all over again. Nicole Brown’s and Ron Goldman’s families deserve better than to have to relive this sad and grotesque tale every few years.

Fred Goldman has been a dedicated victim’s father. He fought to get compensation in the form of a wrongful death civil suit after O.J. was acquitted of the murders. The civil trial jury found O.J. guilty and ordered him to pay $25 million. Unfortunately, O.J.’s pension from his pro football days is protected so the Goldman’s and Brown’s likely won’t receive any compensation from O.J.

Mr. Goldman subjects himself to interviews, and reliving the horror of his son’s brutal murder, appearing in the mini-series, or on cable news shows related to the release of the mini-series. And you can see the acute pain Fred Goldman is in, as he invariably breaks down.

If you are still seething mad at the jury that handed down the not guilty verdict in the O.J. Trial of the Century, consider this; your ire is misplaced.

Your disgust with O.J. is understandable. I don’t like him either and if I were a betting man I’d say O.J. killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. That is no longer debatable. O.J. is a murderer. And as we saw during his parole board review, he is still a scumbag jerk.

However, your ill-will toward the jury is misplaced because the jury, based on evidence presented, made the right decision. It sucks to say that, but they had no choice. And the jury, sequestered for months, did not have the benefit of cable news pundits and legal expert analysis as we did every night.

When detective Tom Lange testified he placed the suspect’s (O.J.’s) crime scene shoes into his car trunk, unsecured, and took them home overnight before turning the shoes over to evidence technicians, reasonable doubt crept into the minds of jurors.

When another detective, Philip Vannatter, testified he took a vial containing 8 ccs of O.J.’s blood and, against all known protocol, drove the vial several miles out to the crime scene and then returned the vial to the crime lab with only 5 ccs of blood, that created even more reasonable doubt in the jury’s minds.

And when detective Mark Fuhrman committed perjury during his initial testimony and, in subsequent testimony, plead the 5th when asked if he’s ever planted evidence in the O.J. case or any other case, it created overwhelming, insurmountable reasonable doubt.

Reasonable doubt rigor mortis set in and the prosecution lost the jury.

What about the DNA evidence? Based on untruthful testimony by L.A. detectives, the jury had already arrived at reasonable doubt by the time DNA evidence came in. When confronted with DNA testimony the jury wrote it off as part of the missing blood and other inconsistencies in L.A. detective’s testimony. DNA evidence could not overcome perjury, pleading the 5th re: evidence-planting, and bloodwork tampering.

The jury had no choice but to acquit Simpson. Otherwise, the American justice system would have been rendered meaningless, as it is each time an obviously guilty cop is acquitted of murdering an unarmed American citizen.

(Think about how maddening it is, and how it damages the American “system,” when voter suppression is successful. Evidence tampering and perjury by cops also undermine our democracy.)

Finally, in addition to the lying detectives, prosecutor Christopher Darden’s all-time dumbest courtroom decision ever, having Simpson try on the glove, sealed the acquittal.

If you are still pissed at the outcome of the Trial of the Century, your Mt. Rushmore of blame should be directed at Mark Fuhrman, Phillip Vannatter, Tom Lange and Christopher Darden, who combined to botch what should have been a slam-dunk case.

In the meantime, for the sake of the Goldman’s and Brown’s, everyone let go of O.J. Simpson. Unless of course, he screws up again and lands back in a courtroom. Then he’s fair game.

Douglas FreelandJanuary 4, 2018