I Still Remember the Day of the Verdict
The Netflix four-part documentary series revisiting the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman and the trial of O.J. Simpson is riveting.
When I moved to California in the mid-nineties, I landed smack in the middle of the trial.
O.J. Simpson was a big deal here, yet, he was largely unknown in Europe. Juice who? What’s a Heisman trophy? A Bronco is a car? Oh, the black guy in the Naked Gun movie. That was the extent of what I knew about O.J. Simpson.
I arrived in the summer of 1995 in California. The shock of the murders and the excitement of the white Bronco chase from 1994 was well behind us. Also, the novelty of being able to watch a trial from your couch had worn off. Among my friends, the trial had become background noise.
I barely watched anything about it. While I knew who Judge Ito and Johnnie Cochran were, the Kardashian last name didn’t mean anything to me until a decade later..
The trial and public attention shifted when LAPD’s Mark Fuhrman took the stand. For many, Fuhrman’s racist comments evoked memories of 1992 when LAPD officers beat Rodney King, which eventually resulted in the LA riots. Johnny Cochran knew Fuhrman had dealt him a winning hand.
That brings me to the day of the verdict. The jury reached a decision in record time, in less than a day. Not guilty!
I can still remember that October Tuesday in San Jose. The weather was warm. In the evening, my friends picked me up in a 70s Ford LTD convertible to go to downtown. Would there be celebrations? Would there be riots? They were prepared for everything: they were packing! It was one of the first time America’s gun culture hit me in the face. Young men and women don’t walk around with guns where I grew up.
I will always equate the verdict of OJ’s trail with my innocence shattered.