The O.J. Simpson Civil Trial

Illustration: Outside the Simpson civil trial, bystanders express opposing
viewpoints.

 After holding America spellbound for three years, the O.J. Simpson trial finally came to a close in February, 1997. A civil jury found Simpson responsible for the 1994 murders of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman. Simpson was ordered to pay $33 million in damages to the victims' familiey.

It was Simpson's second trial for the killings. Charged with murder, he was aquitted in October, 1995, after a long criminal trial. The Victims' families then filed a civil suit against him, on the grounds that he had caused the "wrongful death" of the victims. The jusy in the civil trial heard much of the same evidence that had been presented in the criminal trial, but reached a different verdict. In a criminal case, a just must find the defendant guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt." In a civil case, they only need to find that a "perponderance" of the evidance(most of it) shows guilty. Simpson was required to testify in the civil case, and he repeatedly contrdicted himself. A pair of expensive shoes played a key role. Simpson denied that he had ever owned shoes like the ones that left bloody footprints at the crime scene, but lawyers for the victims' families produced 30 photographs showing him wearing this type of shoe.

DID YOU KNOW....The intense media coverage of the criminal trial was widely criticized, so the judge barred cameras from the civil trial.

IN MY OPINION.....I can honestly say that I do not know if Simpson was guilty or not, but I do know this, Their was so much media coverage (both good and bad) during the criminal trial that I do not think that there was any way possible for Simpson to get a fair, unbiased trial. An it is also my opinion the after being aquitted, the civil trial should either never been allowed to take place or he should have been aquitted there as well. But that's just My Opinion!!

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