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Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
Jury nullification is most assuredly not the same as reasonable doubt.
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I've had too much time on my hands the past two weeks because both of my children came down with the stomach flu in consecutive weeks. Because of that, I re-read every testimony given in the OJ trial, as well as his interview with the detectives pre-trial.
While I believe that OJ was either present at the murder or committed the murders himself, the defense did plenty, IMO, to convince the jury of reasonable doubt.
While the blood evidence is compelling, the entire LAPD investigation was a complete and utter sham. You've got the first cop that arrived on the scene walking through the crime scene, going into the home and using the phone (something he didn't admit until on trial). You've got Fuhrman at the crime scene for nearly two hours, who then heads over to Rockingham, "finds a spot of blood" on the Bronco, jumps the wall and spends 15 minutes completely alone and isolated, in which he finds the matching bloody glove. And this was AFTER he removed as lead detective of the case and told to discontinue investigating until his superiors arrived. Then, he lies on the stand about using the "N" word, he lies about making outrageous racial claims in the company of reliable witnesses and of course, there's the tapes.
Also, there's an infinitesimal amount of blood found in and on OJ's vehicle and one of his socks. Considering the amount of stab wounds and the gigantic pool of blood at Bundy, it doesn't seem reasonable to find a pin drop of OJ's blood. Add to that, the so-called "bloody clothes" were never recovered, neither was the murder weapon.
What's also interesting is the reported timeline. One neighbor swears to hearing a dog barking at 10:25 to around midnight, another hears absolutely nothing and has a journal of the evening. I've done the drive from Bundy to Rockingham and it would be nearly impossible to make that drive in the 10 minutes that the defense estimated.
Even more intriguing is the physical examination given by Dr. Robert Huizenga, who was the Los Angeles Raiders team physician and in recent years, has gained fame as the doctor on NBC's
The Biggest Loser. Huizenga's physical took place over the course of two days. He noted massive inflammation of OJ's hands, knuckles and knees. He stated that OJ had a limp and would need a full knee replacement. While noting that his upper body was "well muscled", he noted that his joints and lower body showed scar tissue and injuries associated with professional football players. Basically, he described him as a gimp.
I could go on and on and on about the case (and probably will!) but to a jury of eight African American women and a few mixed race men that weren't highly educated, it's easy to understand why they voted to acquit, racial issues aside.
And the ironic thing is, which I've mentioned before, I was in a huge conference room on the Universal lot when the verdict was read and I think I was the only person in the room that was even remotely surprised that it was Not Guilty.