The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson

We have this notion in our legal system that people guilty of a crime or crimes are punished, by incarceration if the crime is egregious enough. But that's not exactly how our legal system works. A person can only be put into prison for a heinous crime if the government can prove to 12 jurors if they committed the crime, unless the defendant admits his or her guilt. So just because a lot of White people in the OJ Simpson case believed he was guilty he should therefore be incarcerated has no bearing on his going to prison. It was up to the 12 jurors to decide if the government had made its case against Simpson, wrong or right.Jeffrey Toobin has offered what has to be the definitive exposé of the O.J. Simpson criminal trial and eventual acquittal. In what many have called the biggest media firestorm regarding a criminal trial since the Lindbergh kidnapping case of the 1930's, the trial of football and movie star O.J. Simpson ("The Juice") touched a chord of racial morays that had been underneath the radar since after circa 1980. We often forget that the late 1960's and early 1970's was a virulent time in regards to race relations, particularly with the rise of militant groups such as the Black Panthers and the Weather Underground. By the 1980's, race relations appeared outwardly somewhat better, until the Rodney King beating of the early 1990's. Much oppression of African-American Los Angelians was not getting much national attention until the officers who beat King were indicted, tried, and acquitted, causing some of the most virulent race riots since the 1960's and 1970's. The murder of O.J. Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman occurred shortly after the Rodney King beating and trial.If there is anything to be gleaned from Toobin's detailed account of the prosecution and defense of O. J. Simpson, it is that any attorney misstep in a trial by either side with this kind of national coverage and scrutiny can have long-ranging effects. Probably the most obvious is the bloody glove found at the Simpson estate on Rockingham in Brentwood. The defense argued the retrieval of the glove was illegal and therefore should not used as evidence. The prosecution believed they had retrieved the glove within their legal bounds and wanted it admitted into evidence. The prosecution also failed to properly vet Mark Fuhrman who had found the glove. Both these decisions by the prosecution, the admission of the glove and Fuhrman into their case would have irreversible repercussions later in the trial. On the defense side, Robert Kardashian held press conferences in which he offered information to the press, some of which could be interpreted were violating attorney-client privilege, in which attorneys are bound to keep confidential most if not all information given to them by their clients. According to Toobin, other small incidences also influenced the outcome of the trial, such as Judge Ito being start-struck by celebrities. He was not only star-struck by Simpson, but he allowed Larry King to visit him in his office during recesses. (At one point, King even said to Ito that he should return to the trial, shouldn't he?) While jurors were sequestered for the duration, Ito often engaged in media interviews which some argue compromised his ability to be an impartial jurist.While I gather Toobin does believe in Simpson's guilt, that is not the main point of his book. Toobin's overall message is to open up the curtain which often conceals what goes on behind closed doors in a criminal trial with such huge media attention. Many mistakes were made by all parties involved, especially prosecution, defense and judge. While most single decisions or incidents did not push the trial towards one direction or the other, the perfect storm of circumstances made for an inevitable outcome. Of course the mast damaging decisions in terms of the prosecution were the glove and Fuhrman. Toobin puts the blame on prosecutors Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden; Clark for insisting the glove be included which would by definition include Fuhrman as the "finder" of the glove, and Darden for requesting Simpson wear the glove. After Simpson apparently struggles to put the glove on his hand, Johnny Cochran, a movie-star caliber attorney, invoked the line which would become synonymous with the trial: if it doesn't fit you must acquit.There's an old saying in trial: you don't ask a question in which you don't already know the answer. In some sense, the O.J. Simpson trial had ended before it began. Aside from O.J.'s guilt or innocence, much of the racism and ineptitude of the L.A. legal system came to the fore. According to Toobin, Los Angeles had for a long time tolerated a police and justice system which had run amok since as long as the 1940's. Unwarranted stopping, questioning and arresting of African-Americans had been going on for a long time. These incidences continued and eventually climax with the Rodney King beating. Whether justice was served regarding the victims will be debated ad infinitum, the case did expose so much about LAPD and its justice department.

FX’s “American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson” was the key that opened my memory’s locked vault of the O.J. Simpson trial. While I found the event both tragic and fascinating over twenty years ago, the media’s smothering coverage eventually wore on me and after reading Chris Darden’s and Mark Fuhrman’s books, I was done with “all-things-OJ”. But, after being completely mesmerized by the “American Crime Story” mini-series, I was compelled to read the book it was based on: Jeff Toobin’s THE RUN OF HIS LIFE. I found Toobin’s book presenting itself as an unequaled authority on the subject matter, similar to how Bugliosi’s “Helter Skelter” masterfully chronicled the Manson murders and subsequent trial.Why it took me 20 years to read this book is easy to explain … I watched that trial daily during lunch breaks at work and was disgusted with the direction it took, especially how a jury could be seemingly manipulated to believe that the entire LAPD (or a large part of it) had secretly and unanimously conspired to frame a has-been athlete for murder. Issues of national security known by select few individuals can’t be kept secret for days, weeks or months but after twenty years, the LAPD’s lips are, amazingly, still sealed … yeah right. But, after all this time, I realize the Simpson trial was less about convicting someone of murder than a personal battle of wills between a savvy defenders and bumbling prosecutors. Add personal grudges, huge egos, racial tension and the media/celebrity hype to the mix and there is quite an interesting story to tell. Toobin masterfully adds/stirs all these ingredients at the right moments to create a condensed soup that is easy and enjoyable to consume.From beginning to end, the RUN OF HIS LIFE is interesting and thought-provoking. The book provides bookend coverage of the entire case, from the murder scene discovery to the verdict. In between, Toobin merges a truly fascinating series of storylines that never fail to generate interest. The author digs deep to bring forth details that seem to answer a lot of the “why” questions I remember thinking while watching events unfurl in 1994/95. What makes the book even more credible is Toobin’s legal expertise (1986 magna cum laude Harvard Law graduate). This allows him to disseminate the intense legal wrangling that occurred during the trial that lets readers appreciate the intense gamesmanship between trial lawyers and the court itself. Toobin often injects his personal/professional legal opinion to further illustrate the consequences of actions taken by lawyers and the judge (Lance Ito) and manages to do so in an unbiased manner. At no point in the book did I sense the author leaning to one side of the case; his presentation is remarkably neutral. By doing so, readers get a centralized/neutral perspective of the courtroom atmosphere and see the complicated, tense relationships that all participants in the trial shared with each other throughout the ordeal. Additionally, readers are presented with a thorough background on all major players in the case as the author strategically injects detailed biographies of individuals throughout the book (not all at once). These biographies expose backgrounds, upbringings, beliefs and character flaws that eventually surface at various moments throughout the trial. We see the petulance of Robert Shapiro, the brilliance of Johnnie Cochran, the arrogance of F. Lee Bailey, the frantic nature of Marcia Clark and O.J. Simpson giving credence to the “dumb-jock” persona. While I found the trial rather boring to watch, Toobin manages to make it interesting by elaborating on all the behind-the-scenes drama that occurred throughout. In fact, I felt the inter-lawyer drama stealing attention from the main issue: a murder trial.THE RUN OF HIS LIFE is a thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking read that encompasses every imaginable facet of the Simpson case and more. The screen-adaptation of the book (the FX miniseries) is simply outstanding (and the motivation behind me reading this book). Looking back, the Simpson case leaves an indelible and tragic mark in modern American history. It, in many ways, parallels the Manson case in terms of notoriety, media hype and trial longevity. There is an abundance of books covering both subjects, but sifting through it all to find the most comprehensive and informative source is made simple. For the Manson case, it’s arguably Bugliosi’s “Helter Skelter” and for the Simpson case, it’s Toobin’s THE RUN OF HIS LIFE.

Having watched the series, I went straight on to the book and was surprised by how much additional information it contained.I watched the trial almost every night at the time and was never in any doubt as to Simpson's guilt, but this book tells me things I never new or fully appreciated. The blood evidence alone should have been enough to convict, especially the trail of blood to the left, and him having a new unexplained cut on his left hand, but Cochrane was so successful in playing the race card that facts didn't matter.The jury might as well have consisted of his mother alone, given that they'd never have convicted one of their own, no matter what evidence was provided. As for the players, Shapiro is portrayed as very vain and doubting his client's innocence, whereas Cochrane is simply a cynical, charismatic manipulator.Darden comes across as more incompetent than I'd realised, especially over insisting the glove was tried on, but Clark was definitely the star prosecutor, bedevilled by a flash defence team, inadequate resources, a difficult personal life and a naive belief that the jury would be unbiased.Even if you've seen the series, this book is well worth reading for the extra information, including quite a lot on peripheral characters who never made the series.

An American football celebrity and movie star of ‘Naked Gun’, OJ Simpson (‘OJ’) is charged for murdering his wife Nicole Brown (aged 35) and her friend Ronald Goldman, a waiter aged (25). The murders took place on 25 June 1994. This book was published in 1997, but remains to this day, probably the best written book on the case, considering that almost everybody involved in the case except the judge, Lance Ito, had written their own books on it. Toobin is a fine writer of law books including, ‘The Nine’. His next book is on the Investigations of Donald Trump. A Harvard Law graduate, Toobin covered the OJ trial as a journalist for The New Yorker. His account is the most balanced of all the books. Toobin exposed how the prosecutors, Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden managed to turn a formidable case into a losing one. The basic flaw of the lead prosecutor, Marcia Clark, was her arrogance. Her deputy, Christopher Darden, was tempestuous and inexperienced. The book examines how these flaws generated mistake after mistake for the prosecution. Toobin also exposes the internecine tension in the defence camp even though it comprised a star-studded team of Robert Shapiro, Johnnie Cochrane, F Lee Bailee, Alan Dershowitz, and Barry Schek. The drama of the great ego fights is mesmerising. In the end, the defence played their card right – they transformed the defence from ‘He didn’t do it’ to ‘The LAPD was racist and inept’. It worked. How that worked is told in almost fiction-like writing by Toobin. Of course, the defence had benefited from a lot of luck, incompetent police and forensic experts, and a last-minute surprise witness – Laura McKinny. The account of how 12 jurors and 12 alternates ran down to 12 jurors and 2 alternates towards the end of the trial added more drama and tension to the trial. For lawyers, this trial as recorded by Toobin, has lots to teach by way of courtcraft and strategy. Toobin is of the view that the least well-known defence lawyer turned out to be the real star with his cross-examination of the forensic experts. There is humour and lessons on what not to say to a witness aplenty. Chris Darden, out of frustration, asked a witness, Rosa Lopez: You are not very conscious of time, correct? Lopez replied: I am very conscious of the time I waste here. This book is definitely not a time waster.

We all know the story of OJ Simpson. Or think we do.Simpson, the 'Juice', was an extraordinarily successful and feted figure. His glittering life in the Hollywood and media spotlight was the envy of millions. But he threw it all away. I bought this book after watching the extensive BBC documentary, one of the best I've ever seen, and reading the book The Ten Types of Human by Dexter Dias (and indeed Robert Sapolsky's Behave). Dias writes about how deep inner drives can sabotage our lives and I wanted an example of that - and here on Amazon's Violence in Society bestseller list The Ten Types of Human and The People v. OJ Simpson were No. 1 and 2. A happy coincidence.Using Dias's analysis, Simpson embodies the Aggressor - those violent submerged urges that unquestionably have marred the development of our species. Like the men in the section called the Beholder, who crave beauty and react with rage when it is taken away, Simpson unleashes a torrent of brutal violence (I don't want to give any other spoilers but see Part 4 of Dias).Thus: I urge you to read both this book in tandem with The Ten Types of Human (esp. parts 4 and 5). It will open your eyes. You may also find Sapolsky's book useful for the neuroscience, but it is for the more sciencey-geeky.Review by David Jones(I am a researcher in the human sciences and volunteer at a charity when can)

This book is extremely well written and researched.It gives a comprehensive and fascinating insight into American Society and the phenomenon of O.J.Simpson. I purchased it as I din't get the opportunity to watch the entire accompanying TV series which was aired recently in the UK, and the book was able to demonstrate a lot of minutiae which could easily be missed by watching the TV shows. I believe that the cast was well chosen except for the choice of Cuba Gooding junior as O.J. - for me he was the wrong choice because he is not as good-looking as O.J which of course added to O.J's ability to charm and develop charisma. The character and role of Robert Kardashian was surprisingly underplayed in this book. I can definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the trial, and believe it is the definitive version of events.

I tried watching the BBC series when I noticed that it was based on this book. It is one of my bugbears that when there is so much actual footage available why use actors especially John Travolta who was woefully miscast. Although I watched most of it live this book opens up so much that could not be reported and has information and facts that do not fit into a 10 minute news slot on TV. It covers the people involved much better that actors can and it only reiterates what a miscarriage of justice this was and what is wrong when the facts are twisted and slanted. Well worth reading .