01x10 - The Verdict - The People v. O.J. Simpson
Posted: 04/06/16 17:56
Today is the day.
♪ ♪
How do I look?
Like a star.
Now, we don't know what Ito's gonna allow, but we know that Marcia's gonna go crazy.
So if you get a chance to start talking, don't you stop.
Let's go.
Ito: Mr. Cochran, it is my understanding that you have discussed with your client his right to testify.
Yes, Your Honor.
Mr. Simpson is waiving his right.
But if the court pleases, he would like to make a brief statement regarding the waiver.
Your Honor, the People object to the defendant making any statement other than the waiver at this time.
Counsel, he's not before the jury.
Yes, but we are all aware of the realities of this case, the problem with conjugal visits and telephone calls that are only monitored on one side.
This is an obvious attempt by the defense to get material to the jury that has not been admitted in court.
It is inappropriate and deliberate.
I strongly urge the court to exercise control and not permit testimony without cross-examination.
Please, Your Honor, don't do this.
Johnnie: My goodness.
There's a great deal of fear of the truth in this case.
Your Honor, this is still America.
Can we still talk?
All right, go ahead, Mr. Simpson, briefly.
Good morning, Your Honor.
As much as I'd like to address some of the misrepresentations made about myself and my Nicole, concerning our life together, I am mindful of the mood and the stamina of this jury.
(scoffs)
I am confident... a lot more, it seems, than Miss Clark...
About their integrity, and that they will find, as it now stands, that I did not and could not and would not commit this crime.
I have four kids.
Two kids I haven't seen in a year.
And every week, they ask me, "Dad, when are you coming home?
How much longer?"
(clears throat)
All right...
Just want this trial to be over.
All right, thank you, Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Your Honor.
You want to address misrepresentations about you and Nicole, take a seat in the blue chair, and we can have a discussion.
Ito: (clears throat) Mr. Cochran, does the defense plan on calling any further witnesses?
(clears throat)
No, Your Honor.
The defense rests.
Bailey: We have ten jurors.
We have nine.
We have ten.
And then there's that freaking demon.
She hates me.
I've gotten that look from all my ex-wives.
(chuckles) Jesus, you and that demon.
What did she ever do to you?
Shawn.
Mm?
What's up?
Johnnie just got another d*ath thr*at.
D*ath thr*at?
How many has he gotten?
It's up to 20 now.
What?!
It's scary.
Johnnie needs protection.
I'm gonna insist he hire someone.
Come on.
"If the glove's too small... easy call."
No.
(clears throat)
"If the gloves... don't fit... "
(indistinct chanting)
Reporter: Today, the trial of the century reaches a crescendo as closing statements begin. Vegas oddsmakers are offering six-to-five in favor of conviction.
Marcia.
Yeah.
Please, nail this.
Good morning.
Jurors: Good morning.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are coming close to the end, I promise.
And I want you all to know how much I appreciate what you're doing here...
For justice...
And to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the incredible sacrifices that you've made.
Thank you.
I would like to begin by first addressing the issue of Mark Fuhrman.
Just to be clear, is he a r*cist?
Yes.
Is he the worst LAPD has to offer?
Yes.
Should LAPD ever have hired him?
No.
Should such a person be a police officer?
No.
In fact, do we wish there were no such person on the planet?
Yes.
But the fact that Mark Fuhrman is a r*cist and lied about it on the witness stand does not mean that we haven't proven that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
And it would be a tragedy if O.J. Simpson were found not guilty because of the r*cist attitudes of one police officer.
There is an ocean of evidence that has been unchallenged by the defense.
In an attempt to distract you from it, they took you through a twisted road.
One moment saying the police are bumbling idiots, the next moment saying the police are cunning conspirators.
They threw out alternate theories, hoping one would stick.
But instead of focusing on those distractions, I ask you to consider the evidence the defense did not, and cannot, refute.
The shoe prints at Bundy were from a size-12 Bruno Magli shoe.
The defendant wears a size-12.
Hair from the defendant was on the knit cap at Bundy.
Hair from the defendant was on Ron Goldman's shirt.
The glove found at Rockingham contains fibers that match Ron's hair.
The glove contains fibers that match Nicole's hair.
It has Nicole's blood.
It has Ron's blood.
It has the defendant's blood.
The gloves are extra-large, the defendant's size.
Here are photos of the defendant wearing the Aris gloves at numerous football games.
When limo driver Allan Park arrived, there was no Bronco out front.
When he left with the defendant, there was now a Bronco parked outside.
A drop of blood in the Bundy driveway matches the defendant at a rate of one-in-170-million.
Nicole's blood was on the defendant's sock.
This was a match at the rate of one-in-6.8-billion.
The blood on the rear gate at Bundy matches the defendant at rate of one-in-57-billion.
There are only five billion people on the planet.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is an identification.
When the defendant was informed of his wife's d*ath, he did not ask how she d*ed.
Think about that.
He did not ask how she d*ed.
And then ask yourself, "Why?"
Chris: Ladies and gentlemen, to grasp this crime, you must first understand Mr. Simpson's relationship to his ex-wife, Nicole.
It was a ticking time b*mb.
The fuse was lit in 1985, the very year they were married.
Officers responded after Mr. Simpson b*at Nicole and took a baseball bat to her Mercedes.
Then in 1989, Nicole had to call 911 again, fearing for her life.
When officers arrived, Nicole ran towards them, yelling, "He's going to k*ll me. He's going to k*ll me."
She had a black eye, a cut forehead, a swollen cheek.
In her torn bra, Nicole pleaded with the officers, "You've come up here eight times. You never do anything about him."
(scoffs)
And they want to tell you that the police conspired against Mr. Simpson.
This case is not about the "N" word.
It is about O.J. Simpson and the "M" word, "m*rder."
I'm not afraid to point to him and say he did it.
Why not?
The evidence all points to him.
In February 1992, Nicole filed for divorce.
She was running away from the man who said he'd k*ll her.
She saw the expl*si*n coming.
Why else fill a safe-deposit box with threatening letters from the defendant, a will and police photos of past beatings?
She knew that the b*mb could go off at any second.
And then it did.
On June 12, 1994, while their daughter danced, the defendant kept his eyes fixed on Nicole.
Spurned.
Now imagine this defendant in the Bronco.
He is full of anger, and he is full of rage, and it is nighttime, and he is driving, and the focus of his anger is Nicole.
It is 10:00, and he's driving as fast as he can.
He is out of control, folks.
The fact that the kids are in the house means nothing to this man.
Simpson has lost Nicole, and he is upset and angry.
The fuse is getting shorter.
The anger is building.
The rage he has, the anger, the hate, flows out of him and into the Kn*fe and from the Kn*fe into her.
With each thrust of the Kn*fe into her body, there's a release, a small release.
And he stabs and cuts and slices until that rage is gone.
Until Nicole and Ron are gone.
He's a m*rder*r.
He was also one hell of a great football player.
But he's still a m*rder*r.
At the outset... let me say that not one bit of domestic v*olence is tolerable.
O.J. Simpson is not proud of some of the things that happened during his marriage.
Does that add up to m*rder?
No.
Mr. Darden talked about 1985, but he missed the whole point.
Something interesting happened in 1985.
Mark Fuhrman responded to a call on Rockingham.
He saw a white woman married to a powerful black man.
He didn't like that. He didn't like that.
'Cause he's a hardened r*cist.
Mark Fuhrman is the one who said, "If I see an interracial couple, I'm gonna stop them. If I don't have a reason, I'm gonna make something up."
So you have a lying Mark Fuhrman, the personification of evil, who found the gloves.
But don't be fooled.
This isn't just one officer.
Mark Fuhrman represents the entire...
LAPD.
Now, you may not know this, but you are... empowered.
Your decision has a major implication both in this courtroom and outside of it.
Things happen for a reason in life.
Maybe that's why we're gathered together.
Something in your background, your character, helps you to know that this is wrong.
Maybe you're the right people at the right time to be able to say, "No more."
We can't have this."
What they have done is disgraceful.
O.J. Simpson is entitled to an acquittal.
They have entrusted this case to a man who says he'd like to see all n*gg*r*s gathered together and k*lled.
That is genocide.
That man speaks like Adolf H1tler.
Now, since you can't trust the man and you don't trust the People, is it any wonder, in the defining moment in this trial, when they asked O.J. Simpson to try on the glove and the glove didn't fit.
It didn't fit because it wasn't his.
If you don't stop this cover-up, who will?
Send them a message.
Let them know that your verdict will travel far outside these walls.
Ladies and gentlemen, remember these words: if it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
If it doesn't fit... you must acquit.
(loud, indistinct chatter)
Well, that's it. There's nothing else we can do.
How long do you think they'll take?
(elevator bell dings)
On this trial, nothing's gone fast.
Could be forever.
Somebody hold the elevator, please?
Well, I'm getting the hell out.
Taking my kids to Santa Barbara for some real family time.
Call me if anything happens.
Chris: And what if nothing happens?
Then call me in a month to say "hi."
Well, I've got a speech in Laguna Beach.
A snack food convention.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
I'm flying back to New York.
Vacation talk? Whew. I need one.
Heading to the airport.
I got a speech in San Francisco.
Shapiro: You know what I would do, if I had the spare time?
I would go up to Oscar De La Hoya's training camp and I would spend my day sparring and-and hitting the heavy bag.
Bob, airport.
(ticking) ARMANDA: Okay.
I've never been a foreperson before.
I've never even been on a jury before, so if any of you have suggestions, I'm open to hearing them.
Why not take a vote? Already?
I mean, just to get a sense of the room.
Like a straw poll.
Yeah. That's good.
Um, but the instructions say that the voting should be done in secret, so nobody feels uncomfortable.
So, uh, why don't we just do paper ballots?
Just write "guilty" or "not guilty."
♪ ♪
Okay.
Do I have everybody?
All right.
Here we go.
Anise, would you tally for us?
Sure.
Okay.
"Not guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Guilty."
"Not guilty."
And...
"not guilty."
So the tally is...
We can all do the math.
Okay, I'll just say it.
I voted guilty.
I mean, look at all the evidence.
There is just so much.
And what about all the facts that the defense didn't even bother to address?
I mean, just that alone...
Why wasn't there more blood in the Bronco?
There was so much blood at the scene.
I'd make more of a mess in my car if I spilt a milkshake.
Goldman had injuries on his hands, like he was defending himself.
Why didn't O.J. have any marks on him?
What about the cut on his hand?
The gloves did not fit.
Oh, now, they did kind of fit.
Looked to me like O.J. was just trying to not make 'em fit.
Why were they not inside out?
That's how they would be if he take 'em off. Mm-hmm.
Shouldn't there have been more blood around the glove they found at O.J.'s house?
And wouldn't there be blood on the leaves?
You can just ask Mark Fuhrman about that.
(sighs)
Lionel: There's too many mess-ups.
Too much strange stuff going on in the thing.
You will never convince me that he did it without a doubt.
Anise: Beyond a reasonable doubt.
Whatever.
All right, all right. Look.
You might think he did it.
Hell, I might think he did it.
But can we honestly sit here and say they proved it?
I will never, ever think they proved it.
Never.
Never, ever.
(phone rings)
Yes?
Are you sh1tting me?
(typing)
They have a verdict.
You need to get down to court.
How can they have a verdict?
They can't.
It's impossible.
Oh, come on. You're kidding!
You're joking!
It's been half a day!
Johnnie: Four hours.
Four hours!
Bailey: It's only good.
There's no way a jury convicts on a double homicide after four hours of debate.
Not even four.
To fill out the forms for "guilty" takes an hour.
Then, they had a lunch break.
My God, they've discussed this case less than anybody in America.
(Es screech)
What are these people doing here?
Bob, you know I've been receiving d*ath threats.
I don't take my safety lightly, especially not today.
You couldn't do this without the help of Louis Farrakhan?
Robert, did you know about this?
Not until I got here, no.
Do you know what this looks like?
These are the same people that think that some Jews are the devil and that... and that my people have no claim to Israel!
I had nothing to do with it, Bob.
Johnnie: I don't speak for Louis Farrakhan, but I trust him with my personal security and yours.
How could you? You-you know appearance better than anyone.
How could you, on the day of the verdict...
This verdict... you arrive with strident black extremists.
Jesus, Bob! It's a secure way to get in and out of what could explode into hell.
Just get in the van or I'll tell them you're Jewish.
Oh, bullshit. This is bullsh... Step back!
This is just wrong!
♪ ♪
(engines starting, tires squealing)
(people shouting) REPORTER: What the police department has done is increase the number of uniformed officers...
Officer: Just to assess the situation as it changes and then adjust as it changes.
And be prepared for, for whatever comes about.
(singing) Has justice been done in the courtroom? We pray...
By the time you all see this, you will already know the O.J. verdict.
Who's nervous? Is anybody nervous? Yeah.
(chanting, shouting)
You know he didn't do it!
(gate opening)
(shackles jingle)
It's a big day, huh, O.J.?
The biggest.
Hey, man, I just want you to know...
Guarding you in here...
It's been a pleasure.
There's a lot of real assholes that come through this place and... you've always been a stand-up guy.
Thanks, Eddie.
Blade me.
And, uh, I was hoping before we go in, that maybe you could sign this.
For my kid.
Uh, sure, Eddie, no problem.
I could do that.
Thank you.
So nervous.
Hope I don't cut myself.
(splashing)
You know, I don't think you need to be nervous.
I've been talking to my buddies over at the-the hotel where they're keeping the jurors.
Let's just say I don't think you need to be nervous at all.
♪ ♪
(people shouting)
(crowd clamoring)
Four hours.
But how is that even possible?
Four hours?
All this, all of it, and they go into a room and they talk about it for four hours?
I thought I'd have weeks to get a statement ready; two statements.
And now I got... aw, sh*t.
I'll see you guys later.
You know, statistically, a deliberation this fast spells guilty.
Statistically, I know, but...
All they asked to be read back was the limo driver testimony.
That... that sounds good.
Really good.
I'm not going to say it.
Then I will.
Marcia, what if we won?
(gavel bangs)
(sighs)
(ticks loudly)
All right, can we have the jury, please?
Ito: Thank you.
May the record reflect we've now been rejoined by all the members of our jury panel and our alternates.
All right, Mrs. Robertson, do you have the envelope with the sealed verdict for us?
Yes.
Would you please hand those forms over to Deputy Trower?
And would you please return them to our foreperson, Juror Number 1?
(footsteps echoing)
Madam Foreperson, would you please open the envelope and check the condition of those verdict forms?
Are they in order?
Yes, Your Honor.
You have signed and dated those verdict forms?
Yes, Your Honor.
Thank you very much.
Please hand them back to Deputy Trower.
Thank you.
All right, Mrs. Robertson.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Mr. Simpson?
Would you please stand and face the jury?
I would caution the audience during the course of the reading of these verdicts to remain calm.
If there's any disruption, the bailiffs will remove the persons responsible.
(car horns honking)
All right, Mrs. Robertson.
Robertson: "Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles in the matter of People of the State of California "versus Orenthal James Simpson, case number BA097211. We the jury in the above-entitled action find the defendant Orenja... Orenthal James Simpson... not guilty of the crime (gallery murmuring) of m*rder in violation of penal code section 187(A), a felony, (gavel bangs) upon Nicole Brown Simpson, a human being, as charged in count one of the information."
(all cheering)
(indistinct clamoring)
"We the jury in the above-entitled action "find the defendant Orenthal James Simpson not guilty of the crime of m*rder (sobbing) in violation of penal code section 187(A), a felony upon Ronald Lyle Goldman, a human being, as charged in count two of the information."
(sobbing continues)
Ito: All right, thank you.
(clears throat)
Will you please be seated?
Ladies and the gentlemen of the jury, I am now going to excuse you from any further service on this trial.
The burdens that we put upon you were enormous.
And words cannot to begin to express the debt that we owe you for your time and your patience that you have provided to us, so thank you very much.
(soft chuckle)
(high-pitched squealing)
(retching)
(spits)
(coughing)
Reporter: Mr. Kardashian...
I have nothing to say now, sorry.
Crowd (chanting): O.J.! O.J.! O.J.! O.J.! O.J.! O.J.! O.J.!
(indistinct clamoring)
(shouting continues faintly)
(sighs)
20 years in public service... and I feel like my headstone will say, "He lost O.J."
(door opens)
Woman: They're waiting.
Chris: I can't do it.
I just can't go out there.
We owe it to the families.
(crying): I'm so ashamed.
Look, I don't...
I don't want you to be hard on yourself.
Yeah, because there are plenty of other people who can do that for me.
(stammers) Look.
I want you to know I admire you (chuckles) for what you did.
For what? For botching an air-tight case?
For... for making the case for the people of California.
Given what they threw at you, there were a lot of temptations to play their game.
And you didn't.
(cameras clicking)
We are all profoundly disappointed with this verdict.
But it was clear to me and to the prosecution that this was an emotional trial.
And apparently, the jury's decision was based on... emotion and not reason.
None of you will know the sacrifices that this team and their families made.
We're very proud of them.
And we stand here in front of you with our heads held high.
I'd like to give Marcia the opportunity to say thank you.
I first want to extend my deepest thanks to the families of the victims.
To the Goldmans and to the Browns.
Their strength, their dignity and their support throughout this trial has been a tremendous source of inspiration and strength to all of us.
This case was fought as a battle for victims of domestic v*olence.
We hope this verdict does not discourage the victims who are out there throughout this country from seeking help.
I know there are women who are, at this very moment, living in fear, living in v*olence.
Please, don't let this make you lose faith in our system.
Thank you.
Chris?
Uh... if there is anything that ever motivated me throughout the trial, it was the, the idea, the notion that one day I would have to turn and... to the Goldmans and, uh... with the realization that he had been acquitted.
But that is the verdict, that is the jury's, uh, position.
That's their voice.
And I accept that verdict.
Uh... we came here in search of justice.
And you'll have to be the judges, I expect, as to whether or not, uh, any of us found it today.
But I'm not bitter.
And I'm not angry.
But I'd also like to thank the, uh, lawyers on our prosecution team.
I am honored to have, uh...
(crying)
Reporter: Gil?
Gil? Gil?
You gonna look for the real k*ller now?
(car alarm chirps)
(engine starts)
Female reporter: repeat of the 1992 Rodney King trial, the scenes of v*olence the LAPD feared might result from the verdict have failed to materialize thus far.
Male reporter: If anything, what we're seeing, Tracy, are people taking to the streets not to riot, but to celebr...
What are we gonna do now?
Got a minute?
I...
I appreciate how hard you fought.
Especially that closing.
This was w*r.
And you did a superb job.
I respect that.
I...
I know how difficult this has been on you.
And when the dust settles...
I'd like to help bring you back into the community.
Hmm.
Well, I never left.
You think I don't understand the situation? I get it.
It's payback.
O.J.'s the first black defendant in history to get off because he's black.
The people will see who the police really are...
And the people saw was how well you can twist the system.
This isn't some civil rights milestone.
Police in this country will keep arresting us, keep b*ating us, keep k*lling us.
You haven't changed anything for black people here.
Unless, of course, you're a famous, rich one in Brentwood.
Whoa!
(all cheering)
Look at what we got here!
Thank you.
Look at this spread.
It's so...
Last minute.
It's the best we could find at the market.
Thank you. Thank you, darling.
You're welcome.
From the very beginning, you encouraged me to do it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And to you, brother, the whole way.
To you all, thank you.
To you, for the journey.
It has been a journey.
Hey, Johnnie?
Yes, darling?
They talking about you.
Uh-oh.
Oh, honey, should... ?
Yes.
Don't now...
Come on!
Go!
I ain't got to run no more?
Today that's a good thing.
Ain't got to run no more now. No more running.
Look at this.
It will be very interesting to see what this verdict will mean for the future of the LAPD.
Johnnie Cochran has shed a light on long-hidden practices of excessive force.
The Justice Department is said to be launching an investigation of the standards and practices of the LAPD.
So I-I have nothing to add to that...
My God, that's Clinton!
You got the president.
In terms of the way Americans see the world differently generally based on their race... uh... that troubles me.
I think the only answer to that is for us to spend more time listening to each other.
And try to under... try to put ourselves in each other's shoes and understand why we see the world in different ways, uh, and keep trying to overcome that.
I would say that, uh, even though it's disturbing, That's the victory.
Uh, we have succeeded so far, in managing the world's most multi-ethnic diverse democracy.
Our story is now out of the shadows.
Smaller than we are with fewer differences...
(television audio fades)
(crowd clamoring outside)
Hey, big time.
Did you see outside?
People are celebrating.
They're celebrating him.
Celebrating the verdict.
I'm gonna resign.
No, no.
No, you can't do that.
I was ready to resign before this case.
Everything else here comes before doing the good.
The politics, image, career.
And it's not me.
Maybe you're lucky it isn't.
Maybe you have to have some... thing inside you already when you get here.
Something that you have to make right.
Something that you have to avenge.
When I was 17, I was r*ped.
I was r*ped in Italy by a waiter.
And I buried it.
Didn't forget it.
Just... sort of stuffed it.
When I had my first r*pe case, what happened to me, of course, came flying out from whatever rock I had jammed it under and...
I had to deal with it.
And it was hell all over again, in a way.
But it made something very, very clear to me.
I have something...
This thing in me...
That wants vengeance.
Vengeance for victims.
That's what justice is to me.
And I have always, always had faith that when I look at a jury, we have that in common.
Everyone wants justice for victims, right?
I never doubted that... until this.
After all they heard, after all they know, a man who b*at and b*at and terrorized his wife, until he just... snuffed her out.
And they let him go.
For reasons that have nothing to do with what he did to those two people.
I don't know why there were here.
And so I don't know why I'm here.
What happened to the waiter?
The same thing that happened today.
(sighs)
So, what do you want to do now?
Is it too early for a drink?
No.
♪ Birds flyin' high ♪
♪ You know how I feel ♪
♪ Sun in the sky ♪
♪ You know how I feel ♪
♪ Breeze driftin' on by ♪
♪ You know how I feel ♪
♪ It's a new dawn ♪
♪ It's a new day ♪
♪ It's a new life for me ♪
♪ Ooh, woo-woo-woo-woo. ♪
(sighs)
Bobby.
Bobby, Bobby.
Bobby.
(chuckles)
Thank you.
You were always there for me.
You never doubted.
(sighs)
I got a surprise for you.
Want to guess what it is?
Something special.
The first day I was in here, you gave me your Bible.
(chuckles) I know how much it means to you, so I'm gonna give it back to you.
Yes, it does.
Aw, man.
Nah, Bobby, we did it.
We won.
Come on, man, it's time to celebrate.
Get the hell out of here.
(gate buzzes, beeping)
Aw, that better not be a Bronco.
I ain't going up the 405 in no damn Bronco.
It's, uh... (clears throat)
It's a Ford Aerostar.
(laughs)
Yeah, man.
(helicopter blades whirring)
Reporter: Live picture now of the van carrying O.J. Simpson, returning to his home at 360 North Rockingham...
Reporter 2: more than a year later, watching a white vehicle heading for the Los Angeles Expressway, with an innocent man in it.
Reporter 3: We saw jubilation at the courthouse. It'll be interesting to see what type of reaction he gets in his neighborhood. They have time to head over there now...
Reporter 4: Well, remember the reaction during the, uh, infamous slow-speed chase... People actually standing over freeway, uh, uh... viaducts and bridges, holding signs...
Reporter 5: O.J. Simpson returns home a free man, not guilty.
This is the first time O.J. Simpson has been here since February 12, 1995... That was the jury visit.
Ah, it's all so beautiful.
I miss Brentwood.
So, what are you gonna do first?
Well, tonight, I'm gonna party.
We got a real rager planned!
Star Magazine is paying $400,000 for the exclusive rights to take photos.
I'm done dealing with the Trial of the Century.
Tonight...
I'm throwing the party of the century!
(laughs)
I'm back, Brentwood.
I'm back.
(indistinct shouting)
Go back! Go back!
Get out of here!
Go on, get out of here!
The hell are they doing here?
I was found not guilty.
Some bullshit.
(reporters clamoring)
(applause)
(crowd whooping)
Woman: All right! Yeah!
Mama.
Orenthal.
Welcome home, Dad.
All right.
Welcome home, Juice.
Where's Sydney and Justin?
The Browns didn't want to bring 'em over.
A.C.: Come on.
You all right, baby.
Let's get you in the house, Juice.
You all right.
Welcome home, brother.
(sighs)
♪ ♪
(sighs)
(sobbing quietly)
(knocking)
Uh, (clears throat) yeah, come in.
(door opens)
Hey.
Jason: Hey, Dad.
Hey, uh, you good?
Yeah, I'm good, I'm good.
It's a... (chuckles) it's a big day.
Feels big, right?
Yeah.
(puppy whimpering)
What you got going on under there?
(laughs)
Who is this?
Well, he doesn't have a name yet.
(chuckles)
Hey.
But he's all yours though.
Why the hell'd you give me a puppy?
(laughs)
I don't know, I just, uh... just wanted to make sure you always had a friend.
Yeah.
Barbara Walters: You've been called the architect of the defense team.
You were the first one hired by O.J. Simpson.
It was the day after the murders.
Who hired Johnnie Cochran?
I did.
You had to.
(all snickers)
Walters: Johnnie Cochran was hired not just because he was a good lawyer, but because he was black?
A combination of both.
Walters: Mr. Shapiro, you said in the beginning that race would not be a determining part of this case, and you would not play the race card.
The race card was surely played.
Barbara, my position has always been the same: race should not and would not be part of this case.
I was wrong.
We not only played the race card, we dealt it from the bottom of the deck.
Oh, now he's trying to take it back.
Trying to get back in with his West L.A. friends.
Jerk.
No, no, no, baby.
That's the kind of shifty stuff that makes him the man to call when you need that.
It's just Shapiro being Shapiro.
(TV clicks off)
That's enough of that.
Time to party, y'all.
(chattering excitedly)
Hey, Jason. Yeah.
Call the Riviera and get my table for tomorrow.
Okay.
Reservation for ten.
Yeah.
Uh, matter of fact, 15.
Okay.
Enough for everybody and then a couple more too.
Okay.
Come on, let's celebrate!
A.C.: Juice!
Welcome home!
("Everybody Everybody" by Black Box plays)
♪ You don't belong to me... ♪
Who are all these people?
I don't know.
Friends of friends, maybe?
Well, where are the guys from the club?
Where's Jerry, Craig, Don?
Hell, where-where's Kato?
I don't know, Juice.
♪ Sad and free... ♪
Okay. Okay.
♪ Sad and free ♪
♪ Sad and free... ♪
Excuse me, excuse me, everyone!
I just want to make a brief statement.
(music stops)
Okay, uh, I am relieved that this incredible part of the nightmare that occurred on June 12, 1994, is over.
My first obligation is to my young children, Sydney and Justin, who will be raised the way that Nicole and I had always planned.
Then when things settle down a bit, I will pursue as my primary goal in life the k*ller or K*llers who slaughtered Nicole and Mr. Goldman.
They're out there somewhere.
Whatever it takes, I will bring them in.
Thank you.
(light applause)
Okay.
Music. ("Everybody Everybody" resumes)
Let's dance, y'all!
♪ Ooh... ♪
♪ Ooh... ♪
Hey, Uncle Bobby.
Leaving already?
I'm done, Jason.
(distorted music echoing)
♪ I let you down ♪
♪ I walk around and see your night skyline ♪
♪ I feel the light, but you don't want to stay ♪
♪ So lonely now, just let me off downtown ♪
♪ Sad and free ♪
♪ Sad and free... ♪
Hey, man.
I knew you were innocent the whole time.
Oh. Thank you.
Congrats.
(chuckles)
I'm sorry, I'm a little...
How-how do we know each other?
Did-did we play golf together or something?
No, no, I'm a waiter.
Oh.
Do you want your drink refilled?
No, no, I'm...
♪ ... all my love ♪
♪ But I'll feel it forever... ♪
Hey, Dad.
Oh, hey, son.
Hey, uh, called the Riviera.
They can't take us.
What do you mean?
Call 'em back, ask for Marco.
He'll make room for me.
I did, Dad.
Marco said he doesn't have room for you.
♪ Everybody, everybody... ♪
Well, the hell with the Riviera.
I'll find another place.
♪ Everybody, everybody... ♪
(music fades)
(music continues indistinctly)
(sighs)
(quietly): ♪ Sad and free ♪
♪ Sad and free ♪
♪ Sad and free... ♪
(echoing crowd cheering)
Announcer: O.J. Simpson!
(echoing cheers)
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ It's not warm when she's away ♪
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ And she's always gone too long ♪
♪ Anytime she goes away ♪
♪ Wonder this time where she's gone ♪
♪ Wonder if she's gone to stay ♪
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ And this house just ain't no home ♪
♪ Anytime she goes away ♪
♪ And I know, I know, I know, I know ♪
♪ I know, I know, I know, I know, I know ♪
♪ I know, I know, I know, I know, I know ♪
♪ I know, I know, I know, I know, I know ♪
♪ I know, I know, hey, I ought to leave the young thing alone ♪
♪ But ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa ♪
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ Only darkness ♪
♪ Every day ♪
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ And this house just ain't no home ♪
♪ Anytime she goes away ♪
♪ Anytime she goes away ♪
♪ Anytime she goes away ♪
♪ Anytime she goes away. ♪
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
♪ ♪
How do I look?
Like a star.
Now, we don't know what Ito's gonna allow, but we know that Marcia's gonna go crazy.
So if you get a chance to start talking, don't you stop.
Let's go.
Ito: Mr. Cochran, it is my understanding that you have discussed with your client his right to testify.
Yes, Your Honor.
Mr. Simpson is waiving his right.
But if the court pleases, he would like to make a brief statement regarding the waiver.
Your Honor, the People object to the defendant making any statement other than the waiver at this time.
Counsel, he's not before the jury.
Yes, but we are all aware of the realities of this case, the problem with conjugal visits and telephone calls that are only monitored on one side.
This is an obvious attempt by the defense to get material to the jury that has not been admitted in court.
It is inappropriate and deliberate.
I strongly urge the court to exercise control and not permit testimony without cross-examination.
Please, Your Honor, don't do this.
Johnnie: My goodness.
There's a great deal of fear of the truth in this case.
Your Honor, this is still America.
Can we still talk?
All right, go ahead, Mr. Simpson, briefly.
Good morning, Your Honor.
As much as I'd like to address some of the misrepresentations made about myself and my Nicole, concerning our life together, I am mindful of the mood and the stamina of this jury.
(scoffs)
I am confident... a lot more, it seems, than Miss Clark...
About their integrity, and that they will find, as it now stands, that I did not and could not and would not commit this crime.
I have four kids.
Two kids I haven't seen in a year.
And every week, they ask me, "Dad, when are you coming home?
How much longer?"
(clears throat)
All right...
Just want this trial to be over.
All right, thank you, Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Your Honor.
You want to address misrepresentations about you and Nicole, take a seat in the blue chair, and we can have a discussion.
Ito: (clears throat) Mr. Cochran, does the defense plan on calling any further witnesses?
(clears throat)
No, Your Honor.
The defense rests.
Bailey: We have ten jurors.
We have nine.
We have ten.
And then there's that freaking demon.
She hates me.
I've gotten that look from all my ex-wives.
(chuckles) Jesus, you and that demon.
What did she ever do to you?
Shawn.
Mm?
What's up?
Johnnie just got another d*ath thr*at.
D*ath thr*at?
How many has he gotten?
It's up to 20 now.
What?!
It's scary.
Johnnie needs protection.
I'm gonna insist he hire someone.
Come on.
"If the glove's too small... easy call."
No.
(clears throat)
"If the gloves... don't fit... "
(indistinct chanting)
Reporter: Today, the trial of the century reaches a crescendo as closing statements begin. Vegas oddsmakers are offering six-to-five in favor of conviction.
Marcia.
Yeah.
Please, nail this.
Good morning.
Jurors: Good morning.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are coming close to the end, I promise.
And I want you all to know how much I appreciate what you're doing here...
For justice...
And to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the incredible sacrifices that you've made.
Thank you.
I would like to begin by first addressing the issue of Mark Fuhrman.
Just to be clear, is he a r*cist?
Yes.
Is he the worst LAPD has to offer?
Yes.
Should LAPD ever have hired him?
No.
Should such a person be a police officer?
No.
In fact, do we wish there were no such person on the planet?
Yes.
But the fact that Mark Fuhrman is a r*cist and lied about it on the witness stand does not mean that we haven't proven that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
And it would be a tragedy if O.J. Simpson were found not guilty because of the r*cist attitudes of one police officer.
There is an ocean of evidence that has been unchallenged by the defense.
In an attempt to distract you from it, they took you through a twisted road.
One moment saying the police are bumbling idiots, the next moment saying the police are cunning conspirators.
They threw out alternate theories, hoping one would stick.
But instead of focusing on those distractions, I ask you to consider the evidence the defense did not, and cannot, refute.
The shoe prints at Bundy were from a size-12 Bruno Magli shoe.
The defendant wears a size-12.
Hair from the defendant was on the knit cap at Bundy.
Hair from the defendant was on Ron Goldman's shirt.
The glove found at Rockingham contains fibers that match Ron's hair.
The glove contains fibers that match Nicole's hair.
It has Nicole's blood.
It has Ron's blood.
It has the defendant's blood.
The gloves are extra-large, the defendant's size.
Here are photos of the defendant wearing the Aris gloves at numerous football games.
When limo driver Allan Park arrived, there was no Bronco out front.
When he left with the defendant, there was now a Bronco parked outside.
A drop of blood in the Bundy driveway matches the defendant at a rate of one-in-170-million.
Nicole's blood was on the defendant's sock.
This was a match at the rate of one-in-6.8-billion.
The blood on the rear gate at Bundy matches the defendant at rate of one-in-57-billion.
There are only five billion people on the planet.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is an identification.
When the defendant was informed of his wife's d*ath, he did not ask how she d*ed.
Think about that.
He did not ask how she d*ed.
And then ask yourself, "Why?"
Chris: Ladies and gentlemen, to grasp this crime, you must first understand Mr. Simpson's relationship to his ex-wife, Nicole.
It was a ticking time b*mb.
The fuse was lit in 1985, the very year they were married.
Officers responded after Mr. Simpson b*at Nicole and took a baseball bat to her Mercedes.
Then in 1989, Nicole had to call 911 again, fearing for her life.
When officers arrived, Nicole ran towards them, yelling, "He's going to k*ll me. He's going to k*ll me."
She had a black eye, a cut forehead, a swollen cheek.
In her torn bra, Nicole pleaded with the officers, "You've come up here eight times. You never do anything about him."
(scoffs)
And they want to tell you that the police conspired against Mr. Simpson.
This case is not about the "N" word.
It is about O.J. Simpson and the "M" word, "m*rder."
I'm not afraid to point to him and say he did it.
Why not?
The evidence all points to him.
In February 1992, Nicole filed for divorce.
She was running away from the man who said he'd k*ll her.
She saw the expl*si*n coming.
Why else fill a safe-deposit box with threatening letters from the defendant, a will and police photos of past beatings?
She knew that the b*mb could go off at any second.
And then it did.
On June 12, 1994, while their daughter danced, the defendant kept his eyes fixed on Nicole.
Spurned.
Now imagine this defendant in the Bronco.
He is full of anger, and he is full of rage, and it is nighttime, and he is driving, and the focus of his anger is Nicole.
It is 10:00, and he's driving as fast as he can.
He is out of control, folks.
The fact that the kids are in the house means nothing to this man.
Simpson has lost Nicole, and he is upset and angry.
The fuse is getting shorter.
The anger is building.
The rage he has, the anger, the hate, flows out of him and into the Kn*fe and from the Kn*fe into her.
With each thrust of the Kn*fe into her body, there's a release, a small release.
And he stabs and cuts and slices until that rage is gone.
Until Nicole and Ron are gone.
He's a m*rder*r.
He was also one hell of a great football player.
But he's still a m*rder*r.
At the outset... let me say that not one bit of domestic v*olence is tolerable.
O.J. Simpson is not proud of some of the things that happened during his marriage.
Does that add up to m*rder?
No.
Mr. Darden talked about 1985, but he missed the whole point.
Something interesting happened in 1985.
Mark Fuhrman responded to a call on Rockingham.
He saw a white woman married to a powerful black man.
He didn't like that. He didn't like that.
'Cause he's a hardened r*cist.
Mark Fuhrman is the one who said, "If I see an interracial couple, I'm gonna stop them. If I don't have a reason, I'm gonna make something up."
So you have a lying Mark Fuhrman, the personification of evil, who found the gloves.
But don't be fooled.
This isn't just one officer.
Mark Fuhrman represents the entire...
LAPD.
Now, you may not know this, but you are... empowered.
Your decision has a major implication both in this courtroom and outside of it.
Things happen for a reason in life.
Maybe that's why we're gathered together.
Something in your background, your character, helps you to know that this is wrong.
Maybe you're the right people at the right time to be able to say, "No more."
We can't have this."
What they have done is disgraceful.
O.J. Simpson is entitled to an acquittal.
They have entrusted this case to a man who says he'd like to see all n*gg*r*s gathered together and k*lled.
That is genocide.
That man speaks like Adolf H1tler.
Now, since you can't trust the man and you don't trust the People, is it any wonder, in the defining moment in this trial, when they asked O.J. Simpson to try on the glove and the glove didn't fit.
It didn't fit because it wasn't his.
If you don't stop this cover-up, who will?
Send them a message.
Let them know that your verdict will travel far outside these walls.
Ladies and gentlemen, remember these words: if it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
If it doesn't fit... you must acquit.
(loud, indistinct chatter)
Well, that's it. There's nothing else we can do.
How long do you think they'll take?
(elevator bell dings)
On this trial, nothing's gone fast.
Could be forever.
Somebody hold the elevator, please?
Well, I'm getting the hell out.
Taking my kids to Santa Barbara for some real family time.
Call me if anything happens.
Chris: And what if nothing happens?
Then call me in a month to say "hi."
Well, I've got a speech in Laguna Beach.
A snack food convention.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
I'm flying back to New York.
Vacation talk? Whew. I need one.
Heading to the airport.
I got a speech in San Francisco.
Shapiro: You know what I would do, if I had the spare time?
I would go up to Oscar De La Hoya's training camp and I would spend my day sparring and-and hitting the heavy bag.
Bob, airport.
(ticking) ARMANDA: Okay.
I've never been a foreperson before.
I've never even been on a jury before, so if any of you have suggestions, I'm open to hearing them.
Why not take a vote? Already?
I mean, just to get a sense of the room.
Like a straw poll.
Yeah. That's good.
Um, but the instructions say that the voting should be done in secret, so nobody feels uncomfortable.
So, uh, why don't we just do paper ballots?
Just write "guilty" or "not guilty."
♪ ♪
Okay.
Do I have everybody?
All right.
Here we go.
Anise, would you tally for us?
Sure.
Okay.
"Not guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Not guilty."
"Guilty."
"Not guilty."
And...
"not guilty."
So the tally is...
We can all do the math.
Okay, I'll just say it.
I voted guilty.
I mean, look at all the evidence.
There is just so much.
And what about all the facts that the defense didn't even bother to address?
I mean, just that alone...
Why wasn't there more blood in the Bronco?
There was so much blood at the scene.
I'd make more of a mess in my car if I spilt a milkshake.
Goldman had injuries on his hands, like he was defending himself.
Why didn't O.J. have any marks on him?
What about the cut on his hand?
The gloves did not fit.
Oh, now, they did kind of fit.
Looked to me like O.J. was just trying to not make 'em fit.
Why were they not inside out?
That's how they would be if he take 'em off. Mm-hmm.
Shouldn't there have been more blood around the glove they found at O.J.'s house?
And wouldn't there be blood on the leaves?
You can just ask Mark Fuhrman about that.
(sighs)
Lionel: There's too many mess-ups.
Too much strange stuff going on in the thing.
You will never convince me that he did it without a doubt.
Anise: Beyond a reasonable doubt.
Whatever.
All right, all right. Look.
You might think he did it.
Hell, I might think he did it.
But can we honestly sit here and say they proved it?
I will never, ever think they proved it.
Never.
Never, ever.
(phone rings)
Yes?
Are you sh1tting me?
(typing)
They have a verdict.
You need to get down to court.
How can they have a verdict?
They can't.
It's impossible.
Oh, come on. You're kidding!
You're joking!
It's been half a day!
Johnnie: Four hours.
Four hours!
Bailey: It's only good.
There's no way a jury convicts on a double homicide after four hours of debate.
Not even four.
To fill out the forms for "guilty" takes an hour.
Then, they had a lunch break.
My God, they've discussed this case less than anybody in America.
(Es screech)
What are these people doing here?
Bob, you know I've been receiving d*ath threats.
I don't take my safety lightly, especially not today.
You couldn't do this without the help of Louis Farrakhan?
Robert, did you know about this?
Not until I got here, no.
Do you know what this looks like?
These are the same people that think that some Jews are the devil and that... and that my people have no claim to Israel!
I had nothing to do with it, Bob.
Johnnie: I don't speak for Louis Farrakhan, but I trust him with my personal security and yours.
How could you? You-you know appearance better than anyone.
How could you, on the day of the verdict...
This verdict... you arrive with strident black extremists.
Jesus, Bob! It's a secure way to get in and out of what could explode into hell.
Just get in the van or I'll tell them you're Jewish.
Oh, bullshit. This is bullsh... Step back!
This is just wrong!
♪ ♪
(engines starting, tires squealing)
(people shouting) REPORTER: What the police department has done is increase the number of uniformed officers...
Officer: Just to assess the situation as it changes and then adjust as it changes.
And be prepared for, for whatever comes about.
(singing) Has justice been done in the courtroom? We pray...
By the time you all see this, you will already know the O.J. verdict.
Who's nervous? Is anybody nervous? Yeah.
(chanting, shouting)
You know he didn't do it!
(gate opening)
(shackles jingle)
It's a big day, huh, O.J.?
The biggest.
Hey, man, I just want you to know...
Guarding you in here...
It's been a pleasure.
There's a lot of real assholes that come through this place and... you've always been a stand-up guy.
Thanks, Eddie.
Blade me.
And, uh, I was hoping before we go in, that maybe you could sign this.
For my kid.
Uh, sure, Eddie, no problem.
I could do that.
Thank you.
So nervous.
Hope I don't cut myself.
(splashing)
You know, I don't think you need to be nervous.
I've been talking to my buddies over at the-the hotel where they're keeping the jurors.
Let's just say I don't think you need to be nervous at all.
♪ ♪
(people shouting)
(crowd clamoring)
Four hours.
But how is that even possible?
Four hours?
All this, all of it, and they go into a room and they talk about it for four hours?
I thought I'd have weeks to get a statement ready; two statements.
And now I got... aw, sh*t.
I'll see you guys later.
You know, statistically, a deliberation this fast spells guilty.
Statistically, I know, but...
All they asked to be read back was the limo driver testimony.
That... that sounds good.
Really good.
I'm not going to say it.
Then I will.
Marcia, what if we won?
(gavel bangs)
(sighs)
(ticks loudly)
All right, can we have the jury, please?
Ito: Thank you.
May the record reflect we've now been rejoined by all the members of our jury panel and our alternates.
All right, Mrs. Robertson, do you have the envelope with the sealed verdict for us?
Yes.
Would you please hand those forms over to Deputy Trower?
And would you please return them to our foreperson, Juror Number 1?
(footsteps echoing)
Madam Foreperson, would you please open the envelope and check the condition of those verdict forms?
Are they in order?
Yes, Your Honor.
You have signed and dated those verdict forms?
Yes, Your Honor.
Thank you very much.
Please hand them back to Deputy Trower.
Thank you.
All right, Mrs. Robertson.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Mr. Simpson?
Would you please stand and face the jury?
I would caution the audience during the course of the reading of these verdicts to remain calm.
If there's any disruption, the bailiffs will remove the persons responsible.
(car horns honking)
All right, Mrs. Robertson.
Robertson: "Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles in the matter of People of the State of California "versus Orenthal James Simpson, case number BA097211. We the jury in the above-entitled action find the defendant Orenja... Orenthal James Simpson... not guilty of the crime (gallery murmuring) of m*rder in violation of penal code section 187(A), a felony, (gavel bangs) upon Nicole Brown Simpson, a human being, as charged in count one of the information."
(all cheering)
(indistinct clamoring)
"We the jury in the above-entitled action "find the defendant Orenthal James Simpson not guilty of the crime of m*rder (sobbing) in violation of penal code section 187(A), a felony upon Ronald Lyle Goldman, a human being, as charged in count two of the information."
(sobbing continues)
Ito: All right, thank you.
(clears throat)
Will you please be seated?
Ladies and the gentlemen of the jury, I am now going to excuse you from any further service on this trial.
The burdens that we put upon you were enormous.
And words cannot to begin to express the debt that we owe you for your time and your patience that you have provided to us, so thank you very much.
(soft chuckle)
(high-pitched squealing)
(retching)
(spits)
(coughing)
Reporter: Mr. Kardashian...
I have nothing to say now, sorry.
Crowd (chanting): O.J.! O.J.! O.J.! O.J.! O.J.! O.J.! O.J.!
(indistinct clamoring)
(shouting continues faintly)
(sighs)
20 years in public service... and I feel like my headstone will say, "He lost O.J."
(door opens)
Woman: They're waiting.
Chris: I can't do it.
I just can't go out there.
We owe it to the families.
(crying): I'm so ashamed.
Look, I don't...
I don't want you to be hard on yourself.
Yeah, because there are plenty of other people who can do that for me.
(stammers) Look.
I want you to know I admire you (chuckles) for what you did.
For what? For botching an air-tight case?
For... for making the case for the people of California.
Given what they threw at you, there were a lot of temptations to play their game.
And you didn't.
(cameras clicking)
We are all profoundly disappointed with this verdict.
But it was clear to me and to the prosecution that this was an emotional trial.
And apparently, the jury's decision was based on... emotion and not reason.
None of you will know the sacrifices that this team and their families made.
We're very proud of them.
And we stand here in front of you with our heads held high.
I'd like to give Marcia the opportunity to say thank you.
I first want to extend my deepest thanks to the families of the victims.
To the Goldmans and to the Browns.
Their strength, their dignity and their support throughout this trial has been a tremendous source of inspiration and strength to all of us.
This case was fought as a battle for victims of domestic v*olence.
We hope this verdict does not discourage the victims who are out there throughout this country from seeking help.
I know there are women who are, at this very moment, living in fear, living in v*olence.
Please, don't let this make you lose faith in our system.
Thank you.
Chris?
Uh... if there is anything that ever motivated me throughout the trial, it was the, the idea, the notion that one day I would have to turn and... to the Goldmans and, uh... with the realization that he had been acquitted.
But that is the verdict, that is the jury's, uh, position.
That's their voice.
And I accept that verdict.
Uh... we came here in search of justice.
And you'll have to be the judges, I expect, as to whether or not, uh, any of us found it today.
But I'm not bitter.
And I'm not angry.
But I'd also like to thank the, uh, lawyers on our prosecution team.
I am honored to have, uh...
(crying)
Reporter: Gil?
Gil? Gil?
You gonna look for the real k*ller now?
(car alarm chirps)
(engine starts)
Female reporter: repeat of the 1992 Rodney King trial, the scenes of v*olence the LAPD feared might result from the verdict have failed to materialize thus far.
Male reporter: If anything, what we're seeing, Tracy, are people taking to the streets not to riot, but to celebr...
What are we gonna do now?
Got a minute?
I...
I appreciate how hard you fought.
Especially that closing.
This was w*r.
And you did a superb job.
I respect that.
I...
I know how difficult this has been on you.
And when the dust settles...
I'd like to help bring you back into the community.
Hmm.
Well, I never left.
You think I don't understand the situation? I get it.
It's payback.
O.J.'s the first black defendant in history to get off because he's black.
The people will see who the police really are...
And the people saw was how well you can twist the system.
This isn't some civil rights milestone.
Police in this country will keep arresting us, keep b*ating us, keep k*lling us.
You haven't changed anything for black people here.
Unless, of course, you're a famous, rich one in Brentwood.
Whoa!
(all cheering)
Look at what we got here!
Thank you.
Look at this spread.
It's so...
Last minute.
It's the best we could find at the market.
Thank you. Thank you, darling.
You're welcome.
From the very beginning, you encouraged me to do it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And to you, brother, the whole way.
To you all, thank you.
To you, for the journey.
It has been a journey.
Hey, Johnnie?
Yes, darling?
They talking about you.
Uh-oh.
Oh, honey, should... ?
Yes.
Don't now...
Come on!
Go!
I ain't got to run no more?
Today that's a good thing.
Ain't got to run no more now. No more running.
Look at this.
It will be very interesting to see what this verdict will mean for the future of the LAPD.
Johnnie Cochran has shed a light on long-hidden practices of excessive force.
The Justice Department is said to be launching an investigation of the standards and practices of the LAPD.
So I-I have nothing to add to that...
My God, that's Clinton!
You got the president.
In terms of the way Americans see the world differently generally based on their race... uh... that troubles me.
I think the only answer to that is for us to spend more time listening to each other.
And try to under... try to put ourselves in each other's shoes and understand why we see the world in different ways, uh, and keep trying to overcome that.
I would say that, uh, even though it's disturbing, That's the victory.
Uh, we have succeeded so far, in managing the world's most multi-ethnic diverse democracy.
Our story is now out of the shadows.
Smaller than we are with fewer differences...
(television audio fades)
(crowd clamoring outside)
Hey, big time.
Did you see outside?
People are celebrating.
They're celebrating him.
Celebrating the verdict.
I'm gonna resign.
No, no.
No, you can't do that.
I was ready to resign before this case.
Everything else here comes before doing the good.
The politics, image, career.
And it's not me.
Maybe you're lucky it isn't.
Maybe you have to have some... thing inside you already when you get here.
Something that you have to make right.
Something that you have to avenge.
When I was 17, I was r*ped.
I was r*ped in Italy by a waiter.
And I buried it.
Didn't forget it.
Just... sort of stuffed it.
When I had my first r*pe case, what happened to me, of course, came flying out from whatever rock I had jammed it under and...
I had to deal with it.
And it was hell all over again, in a way.
But it made something very, very clear to me.
I have something...
This thing in me...
That wants vengeance.
Vengeance for victims.
That's what justice is to me.
And I have always, always had faith that when I look at a jury, we have that in common.
Everyone wants justice for victims, right?
I never doubted that... until this.
After all they heard, after all they know, a man who b*at and b*at and terrorized his wife, until he just... snuffed her out.
And they let him go.
For reasons that have nothing to do with what he did to those two people.
I don't know why there were here.
And so I don't know why I'm here.
What happened to the waiter?
The same thing that happened today.
(sighs)
So, what do you want to do now?
Is it too early for a drink?
No.
♪ Birds flyin' high ♪
♪ You know how I feel ♪
♪ Sun in the sky ♪
♪ You know how I feel ♪
♪ Breeze driftin' on by ♪
♪ You know how I feel ♪
♪ It's a new dawn ♪
♪ It's a new day ♪
♪ It's a new life for me ♪
♪ Ooh, woo-woo-woo-woo. ♪
(sighs)
Bobby.
Bobby, Bobby.
Bobby.
(chuckles)
Thank you.
You were always there for me.
You never doubted.
(sighs)
I got a surprise for you.
Want to guess what it is?
Something special.
The first day I was in here, you gave me your Bible.
(chuckles) I know how much it means to you, so I'm gonna give it back to you.
Yes, it does.
Aw, man.
Nah, Bobby, we did it.
We won.
Come on, man, it's time to celebrate.
Get the hell out of here.
(gate buzzes, beeping)
Aw, that better not be a Bronco.
I ain't going up the 405 in no damn Bronco.
It's, uh... (clears throat)
It's a Ford Aerostar.
(laughs)
Yeah, man.
(helicopter blades whirring)
Reporter: Live picture now of the van carrying O.J. Simpson, returning to his home at 360 North Rockingham...
Reporter 2: more than a year later, watching a white vehicle heading for the Los Angeles Expressway, with an innocent man in it.
Reporter 3: We saw jubilation at the courthouse. It'll be interesting to see what type of reaction he gets in his neighborhood. They have time to head over there now...
Reporter 4: Well, remember the reaction during the, uh, infamous slow-speed chase... People actually standing over freeway, uh, uh... viaducts and bridges, holding signs...
Reporter 5: O.J. Simpson returns home a free man, not guilty.
This is the first time O.J. Simpson has been here since February 12, 1995... That was the jury visit.
Ah, it's all so beautiful.
I miss Brentwood.
So, what are you gonna do first?
Well, tonight, I'm gonna party.
We got a real rager planned!
Star Magazine is paying $400,000 for the exclusive rights to take photos.
I'm done dealing with the Trial of the Century.
Tonight...
I'm throwing the party of the century!
(laughs)
I'm back, Brentwood.
I'm back.
(indistinct shouting)
Go back! Go back!
Get out of here!
Go on, get out of here!
The hell are they doing here?
I was found not guilty.
Some bullshit.
(reporters clamoring)
(applause)
(crowd whooping)
Woman: All right! Yeah!
Mama.
Orenthal.
Welcome home, Dad.
All right.
Welcome home, Juice.
Where's Sydney and Justin?
The Browns didn't want to bring 'em over.
A.C.: Come on.
You all right, baby.
Let's get you in the house, Juice.
You all right.
Welcome home, brother.
(sighs)
♪ ♪
(sighs)
(sobbing quietly)
(knocking)
Uh, (clears throat) yeah, come in.
(door opens)
Hey.
Jason: Hey, Dad.
Hey, uh, you good?
Yeah, I'm good, I'm good.
It's a... (chuckles) it's a big day.
Feels big, right?
Yeah.
(puppy whimpering)
What you got going on under there?
(laughs)
Who is this?
Well, he doesn't have a name yet.
(chuckles)
Hey.
But he's all yours though.
Why the hell'd you give me a puppy?
(laughs)
I don't know, I just, uh... just wanted to make sure you always had a friend.
Yeah.
Barbara Walters: You've been called the architect of the defense team.
You were the first one hired by O.J. Simpson.
It was the day after the murders.
Who hired Johnnie Cochran?
I did.
You had to.
(all snickers)
Walters: Johnnie Cochran was hired not just because he was a good lawyer, but because he was black?
A combination of both.
Walters: Mr. Shapiro, you said in the beginning that race would not be a determining part of this case, and you would not play the race card.
The race card was surely played.
Barbara, my position has always been the same: race should not and would not be part of this case.
I was wrong.
We not only played the race card, we dealt it from the bottom of the deck.
Oh, now he's trying to take it back.
Trying to get back in with his West L.A. friends.
Jerk.
No, no, no, baby.
That's the kind of shifty stuff that makes him the man to call when you need that.
It's just Shapiro being Shapiro.
(TV clicks off)
That's enough of that.
Time to party, y'all.
(chattering excitedly)
Hey, Jason. Yeah.
Call the Riviera and get my table for tomorrow.
Okay.
Reservation for ten.
Yeah.
Uh, matter of fact, 15.
Okay.
Enough for everybody and then a couple more too.
Okay.
Come on, let's celebrate!
A.C.: Juice!
Welcome home!
("Everybody Everybody" by Black Box plays)
♪ You don't belong to me... ♪
Who are all these people?
I don't know.
Friends of friends, maybe?
Well, where are the guys from the club?
Where's Jerry, Craig, Don?
Hell, where-where's Kato?
I don't know, Juice.
♪ Sad and free... ♪
Okay. Okay.
♪ Sad and free ♪
♪ Sad and free... ♪
Excuse me, excuse me, everyone!
I just want to make a brief statement.
(music stops)
Okay, uh, I am relieved that this incredible part of the nightmare that occurred on June 12, 1994, is over.
My first obligation is to my young children, Sydney and Justin, who will be raised the way that Nicole and I had always planned.
Then when things settle down a bit, I will pursue as my primary goal in life the k*ller or K*llers who slaughtered Nicole and Mr. Goldman.
They're out there somewhere.
Whatever it takes, I will bring them in.
Thank you.
(light applause)
Okay.
Music. ("Everybody Everybody" resumes)
Let's dance, y'all!
♪ Ooh... ♪
♪ Ooh... ♪
Hey, Uncle Bobby.
Leaving already?
I'm done, Jason.
(distorted music echoing)
♪ I let you down ♪
♪ I walk around and see your night skyline ♪
♪ I feel the light, but you don't want to stay ♪
♪ So lonely now, just let me off downtown ♪
♪ Sad and free ♪
♪ Sad and free... ♪
Hey, man.
I knew you were innocent the whole time.
Oh. Thank you.
Congrats.
(chuckles)
I'm sorry, I'm a little...
How-how do we know each other?
Did-did we play golf together or something?
No, no, I'm a waiter.
Oh.
Do you want your drink refilled?
No, no, I'm...
♪ ... all my love ♪
♪ But I'll feel it forever... ♪
Hey, Dad.
Oh, hey, son.
Hey, uh, called the Riviera.
They can't take us.
What do you mean?
Call 'em back, ask for Marco.
He'll make room for me.
I did, Dad.
Marco said he doesn't have room for you.
♪ Everybody, everybody... ♪
Well, the hell with the Riviera.
I'll find another place.
♪ Everybody, everybody... ♪
(music fades)
(music continues indistinctly)
(sighs)
(quietly): ♪ Sad and free ♪
♪ Sad and free ♪
♪ Sad and free... ♪
(echoing crowd cheering)
Announcer: O.J. Simpson!
(echoing cheers)
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ It's not warm when she's away ♪
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ And she's always gone too long ♪
♪ Anytime she goes away ♪
♪ Wonder this time where she's gone ♪
♪ Wonder if she's gone to stay ♪
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ And this house just ain't no home ♪
♪ Anytime she goes away ♪
♪ And I know, I know, I know, I know ♪
♪ I know, I know, I know, I know, I know ♪
♪ I know, I know, I know, I know, I know ♪
♪ I know, I know, I know, I know, I know ♪
♪ I know, I know, hey, I ought to leave the young thing alone ♪
♪ But ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa ♪
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ Only darkness ♪
♪ Every day ♪
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ And this house just ain't no home ♪
♪ Anytime she goes away ♪
♪ Anytime she goes away ♪
♪ Anytime she goes away ♪
♪ Anytime she goes away. ♪
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪