October 3, 1995: O.J. Simpson Is Acquitted of Murder

Left to right: Defense attorney F. Lee Bailey,

O.J. Simpson, defense attorney Johnnie Cochran

October 3, 1995, 30 years ago: Former football star, sportscaster and actor O.J. Simpson is found not guilty of the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, at the Los Angeles County Courthouse in downtown L.A.

In hindsight, the evidence is overwhelming. But the verdict was correct: "Not Guilty." Why? Because a conviction can only be achieved if all 12 jurors are convinced that the prosecution has proven the defendant's guilt, as the saying goes, beyond a reasonable doubt.

As soon as prosecutor Christopher Darden put Detective Mark Fuhrman, who'd been part of the LAPD's investigative team at the murder scene, on the stand, the case against O.J. was blown. Fuhrman had tampered with evidence, and evidence of his racism was presented.

He was taken apart on the stand by F. Lee Bailey, a member of O.J.'s legal "Dream Team," who had previously become famous for defending Dr. Sam Sheppard, the basis for the TV show The Fugitive; Albert DeSalvo, accused of being the Boston Strangler; Army Captain Ernest Medina, for his role in the 1968 My Lai Massacre in Vietnam; Santo Trafficante Jr., allegedly the kingpin of organized crime in Florida, often linked by conspiracy theorists to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; and Patty Hearst, for her role in a 1974 bank robbery.

Moreover, if Fuhrman had not been put on the stand, the bloody gloves would never have been put into evidence, and we never would have found out that, for whatever reason, they didn't fit. That's reasonable doubt, right there. The leader of the Dream Team, Johnnie Cochran, was right: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." While morally wrong, the verdict was legally correct.

The Dream Team also included Robert Shapiro, who had previously defended other Los Angeles-based athletes, including former New York Mets star Darryl Strawberry on drug and tax charges; Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard Law School professor who had previously defended Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson on rape charges, real estate tycoons Harry and Leona Helmsley on tax charges, televangelist Jim Bakker on both, and socialite Claus von Bulow for murdering his wife; Barry Scheck, director of The Innocence Project; and Robert Kardashian, who had left the legal profession in disillusionment, founded a music company, and only returned to it because O.J. was a close friend.

Both Shapiro and Kardashian later publicly doubted O.J.'s innocence, and the relationship between the Dream Teamers reached a point where Shapiro admitted in an interview that he would never speak to either Bailey or Dershowitz again.

O.J. regained his freedom. But a civil suit was brought by the Brown and Goldman families. With a different standard -- only a preponderance of the evidence is necessary to decide, although the jury must still be unanimous on that -- he was found liable for the victims' deaths, and forced into a whopping fine.

He lost the estate at 360 North Rockingham Avenue, about 2 miles northwest of the murder scene. He lost his trophies, including the Heisman. He lost his TV and film residuals. Even any income he would get from books (he did write one, cheekily and cruelly titled If I Did It) and any memorabilia shows he was hired for (and he was hired for some) would go to the Brown and Goldman families. Pretty much the only income that legally couldn't be touched was his NFL pension.

O.J. moved away from his beloved L.A., to Miami, where the stigma against him wasn't as strong. In Miami, pretty much the only thing that will make people hate you is support for the Communist regime in Cuba.

But O.J. did not act like an innocent man who wanted to rebuild his life after his exoneration. He continued to act like a guilty man who wanted to rub in your face the fact that he got away with it. He found income and ways to keep it that the Browns and the Goldmans couldn't do anything about. He appeared in rap videos, in character as a gangsta or a pimp. And, just as Donald Trump did instead of his job, he played lots and lots of golf in Florida, instead of doing what he promised he would do: "Look for the real killer."

On September 13, 2007, O.J. led a group of men into a room at the Palace Station Hotel in Las Vegas, where sports memorabilia dealer Bruce Fromong was staying. They pulled guns on Fromong, and stole O.J.-related items. O.J. later said the items had been stolen from him, and denied that he and the others broke in, and that they had weapons.

On October 3, 2008, exactly 13 years after his acquittal in Los Angeles, O.J. was convicted in Las Vegas. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison. On July 20, 2017, the Nevada Parole Board decided to grant him parole. He was released on October 1, having served nearly 9 years for armed robbery. That's more than many killers serve for murder.

Robert Kardashian died of cancer in 2003, only 59 years old. He did not live to see his daughters Kim, Kourtney and Khloé, or their half-sisters Kendall and Kyle Jenner, become famous. He did, however, put the older sisters to work in his music company, so they learned a work ethic: They became hard-partiers, but they were never "heirheads."

Johnnie Cochran died in 2005, F. Lee Bailey in 2021. O.J. died in Las Vegas on April 10, 2024. He was 76 years old. As of October 3, 2025, Robert Shapiro, Alan Dershowitz, Barry Scheck, Marcia Clark, Christopher Darden and Judge Lance Ito are still alive. Dershowitz came under fire as part of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.