OT OJ Simpson Made in America
Haven't seen this discussed. ESPN / ABC put out this ~ 10 hr documentary this week and it got rave reviews. Its well deserved. It didn't feel like there was a wasted minute despite the epic length.
The whole thing is about OJ, but its not just the case. It gives all the context as to why the black community, especially in LA at the time, wanted him to be found not guilty, and how he was such an unworthy cause. It traces his political and civil angosticism all the way back to the 60's and essentially casts him as the antithesis to Muhammad Ali.
This is the best work ESPN has ever done imo.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
The Masons really do control everything. I knew it.
. . .
. . .
. . . he gets acquitted under questionable circumstances.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
DAMN IT, I scrolled down to far!
I thought the director did a good job of explaining just how messed up things were in LA in the decades leading up to the trial and how the trial unfolded played into those dynamics. It was really the only OJ doc where I found myself thinking "well, that verdict kinda makes sense". Especially after seeing the way Cochran implored the jurors to use this trial and verdict as a place to make a stand on injustice with the LAPD -- evidence be damned.
I didn't remember that part, or the Hitler comparison part of his closing argument. To me watching it now with all the backstory now in place, that was way more impactful than the famous "if it doesn't fit, you must acquit" line.
Not sure they mentioned this in the documentary, but his lawyers had him stop taking arthritis medicine so his hands would swell up just in case the prosecution pulled such a stupid stunt.
That was probably the prosecutions biggest blunder.
Their biggest blunder was trying to frame a guilty man.
Read up on some of the KKK trials back in the 50/60s if you want to see what jury nullification is all about.
I was only 5 years old at the time so I knew nothing about the circumstances. I knew OJ was guilty, but my god, this ESPN documentary makes me wonder how in the hell he got off. The previous, numerous domestic abuse incidents, the blood found on OJ's vehicle, the glove found at OJ's house, the obvious guilt of a man fleeing from police. I understand the lingering hate for LAPD in lieu of the Rodney King, but OJ was probably the least deserving of anyone to reap the benefits of the pushback against the LAPD.
And the defense team doctoring OJ's house by removing pictures of his white friends and replacing them with pictures of black friends? How is that not tampering with evidence?
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
The problem was not just the prosecution, but the homicide detectives who did everything wrong in terms of collecting evidence and chain of custody. A friend who is in forensics said the case is used as a what not to do example in schools now.
Honestly, due to how all the evidence was handled, the jury did the right thing. I certainly believe that OJ murdered Ron and Nicole, but the defense was able to present enough reasonable doubt that he should not have been convicted.
I disagree with you that the jury did the right thing. When Juror #9 says that, basically, her decision was payback for Rodney King, it's hard to justify that. I doubt either one of us will change our mind though, which is fine.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
foolish decision. should have filed it in the west judicial district where the crime occurred. fools.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
If they had that trial in west L.A. and a mostly white jury convicted him, L.A. might've been burned to the ground and Garcetti probably would've had a hard time being re-elected.
there was a huge difference in the dynamic to OJ's case and rodney king's. minor rioting at most.
That was tried out in Simi Valley...
Just like the doc pointed out...King should've been tried down and OJ out in the suburbs.
But people crack me up getting outraged about OJ, but not about any of the 4-5 other injustices the SAME documentary touches on.
Not saying that's you in this case...just making a general statement when reading the reaction.
Whether their motivations were right doesn't change the end result, which I believe was right based on how the law works.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
this is the exact opposite of how the law is supposed to work.
And it's what people have been saying all along...
"OJ did it...and after watching how the court system works and how the prosecution mishandled the case...he should've been acquitted."
It's one of those sad, but true type deals.
That's all I believe the poster is saying...that they didn't do their jobs and the law did what it's supposed to do in that essence.
However, we all know that the point is to put bad people behind bars...in that sense, it failed miserably.
you have clearly never tried a murder case
it would be automatic reversible error, at least for the defense. OJ's case was unique of course, but a couple of murder trials i had only went a few days. depends mightily on the facts. plus, i am a minimalist in that area: get the plane up, over the mountain, land it, and let the other side start worrying.
but if I remember correctly he has not paid a dime to his defense team.
And he was acquitted because he was framed. Not because he wasn't guilty.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
I understand the dynamics that resulted in an acquittal, but (OJ was guilty and) Fuhrmann didn't frame him.......because it was virtually impossible to do so. As the doc makes clear, and is simply the truth, at the time Fuhrmann found the glove, he wouldn't have known if OJ had a untouchable alibi.
"OJ was probably the least deserving of anyone to reap the benefits of the pushback against the LAPD"
That's true but it was inevitable. He was the only one who reaped them because he was the only one who could afford the resources to gain them. No one else was going to reap that benefit
That he was the only one who could afford those resources goes to my point. There is a quote in part 5 along the lines of, 'This wasn't a victory for African Americans, this was a victory for some rich guy named OJ Simpson'.
i do agree it was inevitable. I just think it's sad that that it was the wrong guy who benefited from that inevitability.
The balance of it is already available on streaming, so I went ahead and finished it this afternoon. I really enjoyed it actually and I would recommend it to anyone here not familiar with both Simpson himself as well as how events unfolded (and I know some of you were quite young when this was going on). I remember watching the chase and parts of the trial on TV and simply being mesmerized not only by what was going on but the circus that all of it seemed to be. It was an interesting experience to relive.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
It's on watchespn or on demand if you have comcast.
And Steven Avery was the dude in Making a Murderer. Both fascinating documentaries.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
In my opinion, Avery was guilty as hell. For the murder. He was obviously innocent of the rape.
Manitowoc County may have tampered with evidence, but Avery committed that murder.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
duration of the trial.
In 94/95, I watched way beyond the good use of time point, and I knew it at the time. So I watched the documentary as a way of reliving the circus and remembering how so many were hooked on the soap opera.
It's amazing to think how much that story dominated the national discourse. Everyone was into it, even people who had never heard of OJ before. I was in high school when it happened and we actually stopped class to watch the verdict being read.
It was strange after the trial was finally over and the news outlets started covering other stories again.
The director/producer must have tracked down every single piece of OJ video there is. Its incredible how much unseen stuff there has been in this series. Even the crime scene photos. No idea how he got those, or how no one else has shown them.
Meant in a documentary. Obviously everything is on the internet if you want to look for it.
should be on death row, but instead he's doing time in nevada for an armed robbery.