Bill Hodgman talks about the 'media circus' including books written and published during the trial!
It’s hard to believe that over 15 years have gone by since October 3, 1995, the day the jury gave its verdict in one of the most famous murder trials in history; the OJ Simpson case.
Few people cannot remember what they were doing at the moment when, after only 4 hours of deliberation, the jury’s verdict was announced, and a double murderer was set free. Fewer still can forget their feeling of shock and revulsion at the way the jury had apparently ignored the evidence.
We’ve all had our opinions, thoughts and feelings regarding why the trial of the century failed to convict Simpson, and on Saturday, October 16, 2010, Target Crimes Division’s HDDA Bill Hodgman presented “Lessons From The O.J. Simpson Case,” and gave us his unique perspective on what was probably the highest of high profile cases.
One of the biggest myths exploded by Hodgman was the decision to try the case downtown. Former DA Gil Garcetti made that decision, right? Wrong. At that time the policy of the Superior Court was for all ‘long cause’ trials to be assigned to the 9th floor. That’s still their policy, but what has changed is our policy to fight for the right to try cases locally.
OK, you might say “I’ll never try a case like the OJ Simpson case, so what’s the point of this Saturday seminar?” That’s a fair comment, but at some point in your career you are likely to handle a case with some (hopefully not all!) of the issues that arose in P v. Simpson.
So here are a few of the lessons I took home with me.
Socks found at Simpson's home - a key piece of evidence once analyzed for the presence of blood.
A pair of socks found at Simpson’s home were seized as evidence, but not initially analyzed because the police reported “no blood was visible,” said Hodgman to groans from the audience. Of course when they were subsequently analyzed and found to have microscopic quantities of the victims’ blood, the defense response was that it was planted or contaminated by crime scene evidence.
OK, 15 years later we have CSI [Name your City] to remind us (and the cops) of the importance of forensics, but even today the importance of a piece of evidence often only becomes apparent on the eve of trial. It is then that we must be ready to prove the chain of custody and the high standards employed in the preservation of evidence in our case in chief, and not in rebuttal to defense fabrications of tampering or contamination.
Hodgman describes a crime scene photo of a bloody footprint of a unique size 12 shoe.
Another key piece of evidence were the bloody footprints at the crime scene, FBI expert William Bodziak opined that they were from a pair of Bruno Magli shoes of which less than 100 were sold in the US. There was evidence tying Simpson to a pair of Bruno Magli shoes, but what Hodgman didn’t have at the time of trial was this:
OJ Simpson wearing a pair of Bruno Magli shoes.
The jury in the criminal case never saw the photos of Simpson wearing those very rare shoes. It was only after the criminal trial that sports photographers searched their archives and found the photo above. It was used in the civil trial that followed. The lesson? That’s a tough one because one of the overriding problems with the Simpson case was the defense decision not to waive time. That meant that there wasn’t enough time to chase down evidence like this. However, it’s is notable that the sports photographers were only motivated to do really a deep search because of the outrage they felt at the verdict. So maybe the lesson is to try to get your sources sufficiently motivated?
Hodgman describes the 'killing cage' that trapped Ron Goldman and gave him no escape from Simpson.
Towards the end of the presentation that was necessarily very gory at times, Hodgman talked about the evidence that showed the brutal horror that Simpson delivered that night. Ron Goldman, a friend of Nicole Brown Simpson and server at the restaurant Nicole dined at on her last night in this world, had gone to Nicole’s home to deliver a pair of glasses that had been lost by one of Nicole’s guests.
The evidence suggested that as Goldman approached Nicole’s front door he was confronted by a knife wielding Simpson. If Goldman turned an ran, he ran right into what Hodgman chillingly described as a ‘killing cage.’ The security fence designed to keep the unwanted from getting in, made it impossible for Goldman to get out. Impossible to escape the viscous stab wounds inflicted by Simpson, some, apparently, showing that Simpson taunted his victims before inflicting the fatal wounds.
I cannot do justice to the way that Hodgman effectively linked the coroner’s evidence of Goldman’s wounds to the crime scene photos. It left you in no doubt as to the inhumanity of Simpson, and the hopelessness of Goldman’s attempts to escape. To say that Goldman was in the wrong place at the wrong time is an understatement.
The lesson here, I think, it that there is nothing more valuable to the preparation and presentation of a case than to visit the scene of the crime. It gives you an understanding of the way the crime occurred, and that in turn, gives you the ability to better describe it to the jury. It doesn’t have to be a crime of violence; opportunity, manner, means and motive are relevant in most trials and rarely does it not serve you to visit the crime scene; just be sure to take your I/O or a DAI with you.
Hogdgman’s grasp of the facts 15 years after the trial is amazing, a testament to his high level of preparation and advocacy. His delivery was such that one could not help feeling that if Hodgman had partnered Marcia Clark in the case, rather than Chris “I’ll Make OJ Try On The Glove” Darden, the outcome might have been different. But, as I think became clear from Hodgman’s brilliant presentation, the ‘cognitive dissonance’ of the jury virtually guaranteed no different outcome.
We have learned a great deal from the Simpson case. Far more than can be related here. I have related but a small fraction of the advice and insight that Bill Hodgman imparted on Saturday morning. It’s interesting to note that the audience was so engaged that hardly anyone noticed that the noon hour had passed long before he ended. There was such a large crowd of people firing questions and compliments at Hodgman afterwards, that I wasn’t able to thank him for one of the best Saturday seminars I’ve ever seen, so on behalf of the many others who also couldn’t say it, I’ll say “Thank You” now.
If you were not able to attend Bill Hodgman’s seminar, I urge you to watch it on-line through the Office’s intranet. There was so much in it that I’m going to watch it again myself!
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