Free The Murder Case of O.J. Simpson Essay Sample

The murder case of the former American Football superstar, Orenthal Simpson, was considered one of the most publicized trials of a criminal case in the history of America. In this case, OJ Simpson was charged with the murder of her wife Nicole Brown Simpson and his son Ronald Goldman in the Brentwood  section of  Los Angeles following  a divorce of the couple two years earlier. According to medical reports of examinations done on Brown’s body, she had an open wound through the larynx and an incision on a section of the cervical section of the vertebral column. The unfortunate eventuality of the case was an acquittal of the OJ Simpson by the presiding judge Lance Ito.

A great variety of forensic evidence was collected for this case. For instance, during the preliminary stages of this criminal trial, the prosecution brought forward several witnesses who gave testimony to the fact that OJ Simpson had purchased a bone handled knife at the Ross Cutlery in Los Angeles. They described the knife as having a six inch long and 3/4" wide blade that was manually locking. Indeed, these features were a perfect match of the victims’ wounds. Similar testimonies also revealed that Mr. Simpson had a wound his left hand on the middle finger, something he vehemently denied as being related to the supposed crime. Besides, strands of black hair that were recovered on a blue knit cap at the crime scene were positively identified as being similar to the hair in his head. In addition, a blood stained glove fitting on the right hand that was recovered from behind the garage was matched to a left hand glove that had been found at the scene of crime. These blood stains were taken for serological tests that pointed to them having come from Mr. Simpson and his wife Nicole. Around this time, DNA tests were not properly established as to give evidence that would be held as legally credible.

Manner of Evidence Collection

Most of the evidence presented with respect to this case before the jury was properly collected. However, it may be rightly claimed that defense counsel made errors in the actual presentation of the evidence. For instance, the incident of the mystery envelop that occurred during the preliminary hearing of the case was a typical example. It involved a case of a manila envelope that was waved before the judges in front of the cameras.

According to inside sources as later revealed, the defense had arranged for envelop to be tested and results delivered before the jury without the knowledge of the prosecution team. This was interpreted as an attempt to ambush the prosecutor contrary to the legal procedures regarding disclosure of criminal evidence. However, the judge revealed their strategy to the whole world leaving them quite very horrified. This led to its subsequent withdrawal from the case as possible exonerating evidence that was supposed to dilute the prosecution evidence of the knife that had been recovered from the medicine cabinet of the accused. 

The other supposed evidence that did not leave to see the light of day in the court of law was the issue of the “farewell note”. This was basically a small note jotted by Ms Nicole that was attached to video cassettes she was delivering back to OJ Simpson. The two cassettes included a video of their marriage and another contained tribute to Mr. Simpson. As a matter of fact, this note did not contain any leading evidence to the effect of the case. As it was later established, it was only an innocent note underlining her reasons for returning them. She only meant that she did not intend to call OJ Simpson any time soon except for an emergency. And the speed dial on the kitchen telephone conformed to this theory. In light of these inadequacies regarding the evidence presented in respect of this case, it can be rightly deduced that the teams either was not properly collected or just did not meet the threshold for a typical criminal evidence.

Forensic Evidence Presented in the Court

A section of the forensic evidence collected was nonetheless presented before the jury for perusal. For example, scientific analysis of the DNA from the blood stains recovered from the pair of socks belonging to Mr. Simpson positively identified it as similar to the DNA pattern of Ms. Nicole’s. This was actually a match of one in 9.7 billion. However, doubts were raised as to its authenticity when tests from two different laboratories found almost conflicting results. Besides, the pair of socks had up to 20 different blood stains thereby complicating further its authenticity. On the other hand, DNA tests carried out on the left-hand glove that had been recovered from outside Brown's homestead showed it was actually a blood mixture of all the three people involved at the crime scene as postulated by this case.

Another set of forensic evidence that was presented before the jury was the bloody footprints that were discovered by the FBI at the crime scene.  These footprints were identified as a very rare type that could only be associated with the expensive lifestyle of Mr. Simpson. In fact, by this time only 299 pairs had been sold in the entire market of the United States.  However, in the course of the criminal trial the defense attorney claimed that there was no proof as to whether the said suspect really bought the pair of shoes.  It was at this juncture that a photographer came forward with photo that he had supposedly captured at a public event that showed Mr. Simpson in this pair of shoes way back in 1993. In response, the defense team of the accused Mr. Simpson vehemently questioned the authenticity of these photos claiming they had been doctored. This evidence was eventually struck out on technicality grounds.

Implications of the Current Forensic Technology

The advancement of medical technology would no doubt have significant impact on the case were it to reappear today. For instance, the enzyme chain reaction method of DNA analysis would properly suffice. This method works by amplifying the DNA strands of the evidence sample and effectively finds a perfect match of DNA strands from among the suspects. As currently stands, this test gives very specific results that leave absolutely no chance for legal dispute. Ideally, for any case of DNA tests the results would only match with a single individual in the global population.

Further, on the case involving the pair of shoes would be much easier to associate with Mr. Simpson in this era where most of purchases are made using credit cards. A review of the history of his credit purchases would show the specific time and place where the shoes were bought. Probably, this would have applied to the knife that had been bought from the Ross Cutlery in Los Angeles.. In addition, the photographs would probably have been found acceptable by the jury because the legislations regarding the presentation of photograph as evidence in the courts of law have changed considerably. A simple procedure aimed at authenticating the photographic evidence would see it sail through as a possible cause of OJ Simpson’s conviction by the said court. Clearly, the judicial discretion of the judges has significantly undergone some changes. 

 

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