Should it be the trial of the century, "The Simpsons Case"? !
In 1994, Simpson's ex-wife Nicole and her boyfriend Goldman were found dead at home. Simpson, who had a history of violence, was targeted for trial as a suspect in the murder of his wife, but due to flaws in the evidence and witnesses provided by the prosecution failed to convince the jury, Simpson was eventually acquitted in 1995. But many Americans insist that "even God saw the blood of Simpson's murder of his wife, but the law did not, so Simpson is not guilty." This nationally watched trial is known as the "Trial of the Century" and is one of the most controversial cases in contemporary America.
However, it is reported that Simpson will now narrate the details of his "killing his wife" in a hypothetical tone in a two-hour television interview, and his book "If I Did It" has also been Public opinion called it the "Wife-Killing Book". According to reports, due to the principle of "double jeopardy" in the American judicial system, Simpson has been acquitted and will not be prosecuted again for the same case no matter how sensational he exaggerates the details of his murder in the book.
Some British media commented that although Simpson was acquitted, in the eyes of many Americans, he is a murderer. The American News Corporation, which planned and published Simpson's "book on killing his wife," has been criticized by public opinion. Some critics said that the publisher's publication of Simpson's "Book on Murdering His Wife" was a mercenary move that ignored social justice. Simpson's book was tantamount to a disguised admission of facts that he denied in court, and it was a challenge to American justice.
However, these commentators are probably only half right. Simpson case, there were many debates about the rights and wrongs at that time and in the future. The publication of Simpson's "Book on Murdering His Wife" is of course the publisher's mercenary motive, but it is also a supplement to clarifying the historical truth. And if the result of "challenging justice" can promote the progress of justice, it is not a bad thing.
On November 20, Murdoch, the “boss” of News Corporation, finally stood up and publicly apologized, announced the cancellation of TV interviews and book plans about Simpson, and raised concerns about the impact these plans may have on the victims of the Simpson case. To apologize for the harm.
With Murdoch’s apology, the “Killing Wife Book” farce also came to a “shock”. But this "revisiting of old events" more than 10 years ago still left us with a lot of aftertaste...
Simpson the person
James Simpson is an American football super The star was born in a poor black family in San Francisco in 1947. After he devoted himself to football, he won the Heisman Trophy, the highest honor in the National College Football League. Later, Simpson entered the professional league and served as the main force for the New York Buffaloes and the San Francisco Argonauts. He set an astonishing record of 2,003 yards rushing in a season, which has not been broken yet. He is known as the best in the history of professional football games. running back.
After retiring from sports, Simpson returned to the film, television and advertising industries, playing leading roles in movies. Simpson played the role of the black Interpol in "Cassandra Bridge", which was released in my country. He also serves as a sports commentator for ABC and NBC; and serves as an ambassador for Hertz, the largest taxi company in the United States.
Simpson’s history of struggle is a typical American dream. He was born in a black slum, his parents were small people, and he suffered from rickets. However, with his sports talent, Simpson became a hero in the hearts of Americans, a sports star and a Hollywood film and television star. He was almost a household name in the United States.
In 1977, Simpson fell in love at first sight with Nicole, a charming, blond, 18-year-old white waitress in a high-end restaurant, and soon divorced his first black wife. After Simpson married Nicole in 1985, because Nicole suspected that he had a "mistress" outside, Simpson also suspected that Nicole was having an affair with a male model. Nicole called the police multiple times, accusing Simpson of punching and kicking her.
In March 1992, Simpson and Nicole divorced. Since then, they have often appeared together and even continued to live together. On June 12, 1994, Nicole and her boyfriend Goldman were both murdered in their Los Angeles apartment. After the incident, the first murder suspect targeted by the police was Simpson, who was arrested and brought to court.
The case had many twists and turns and climaxes, and finally Simpson was dramatically acquitted.
The "Trial of the Century" is still confusing
The "Trial of the Century" is "black" and "white" reversed
October 3, 1995, 10 am Western Time, United States point, when the Simpson case verdict was about to be announced, the entire United States came to a standstill. It is said that at this time, President Clinton pushed back military aircraft; former Secretary of State Baker postponed a speech; Wall Street stock market trading was light; and long-distance phone lines were silent. Thousands of police officers, heavily armed, were on the streets of Los Angeles as if facing a formidable enemy. CNN statistics show that approximately 140 million Americans watched or listened to the final verdict of the "Trial of the Century."
Jury verdict: Simpson not guilty.
After the trial of the Simpson case began, the prosecution presented 723 pieces of evidence, including a mountain of bloody evidence; the defense counter-proven "insufficient evidence" with 392 pieces of evidence. The powerful defense accused the police officer who was mainly responsible for the case of using words that insulted black people; in addition, someone in the police department deliberately framed Simpson and fabricated evidence for the sake of racial prejudice. During the trial, Simpson was unable to put on the "killing gloves" in full view of the public, and a pair of socks stained with the blood of Simpson and his ex-wife, which were important evidence for the police, were proven to be the product of a laboratory, shocking the jury.
The prosecution and defense argued at each other for 460 days. Finally, the jury ruled that Simpson was acquitted, and the most famous murder trial in American history came to an end. More than 1,000 reporters covered the case. The American news media called the Simpson trial the "trial of the century" and was named one of the "Top Ten News in the World in 1995" by the Associated Press.
After the verdict was read out, a white woman burst into tears and sighed: "America is over." In the black residential area, black people cheered, sang and danced to celebrate the victory. Then-President Clinton asked the American people to respect the jury's verdict.
A year later, a civil division of the California Superior Court began hearing the case. Four months later, the jury ruled that Simpson was responsible for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her boyfriend, and ordered Simpson to pay $8.5 million in damages to Goldman's parents. Five days later, the same jury again ordered Simpson to pay $25 million in punitive damages. In this way, he will have to pay a total of US$33.5 million in civil liability. Simpson then moved to Florida, where state law protects his property from damages. According to reports, Simpson has not compensated a penny so far, but the huge legal fees and personality breakdown have made Simpson unable to recover.
The diametrically opposite results in the criminal trial and the civil trial have been attributed by some critics to the composition of the jury: all 9 members of the civil trial jury were white, while 9 of the criminal jury members were white. black, 2 white and 1 Hispanic.
After the criminal verdict was issued, prosecutor Clark once said: Although liberals do not want to admit this, it is impossible for a jury composed mainly of blacks to make a fair verdict in such a case. This remark caused an uproar in the media. The extent of media coverage and ratings greatly overwhelmed President Clinton's State of the Union address that day.
It is said that after the verdict of this case was announced, whites and blacks on the streets of Los Angeles and other places even went their separate ways, and even blacks and whites working in the same department became estranged.
“Killing Wife to Publish a Book”
It’s hard to tell whether it’s true or false
The mystery behind Simpson’s “case after case” probably lies in the publishers owned by the American News Corporation Simpson's autobiography: "If I Did It".
Publisher Reagan has recently come under criticism for agreeing to publish the book. Regan argued that she was willing to publish Simpson's book because she herself was a victim of domestic violence and she felt the proceeds from the book would go to Simpson's children. Reagan said Simpson came to her with the idea of ??a book in which Simpson would hypothetically describe what he would have done if he had been involved in the killings.
Although Regan admitted that Simpson did not directly say that he killed his ex-wife and her ex-wife's boyfriend, she believed that the book would be Simpson's confession.
An American newspaper has disclosed part of the book to the public in advance and described the autobiography as "a bombshell." According to people who have read the book, the murder scenes described by Simpson in the book are "so chillingly real that no one will doubt that what he said is the truth." Therefore, American public opinion is generally dissatisfied with the release of Simpson's new book and the hype in the American media. The sister of the murdered Nicole said that publishing such a book by Reagan Bookstore was encouraging "the arrogance of criminals."
Reagan Bookstore’s approach has aroused a lot of criticism in the American publishing industry. Authoritative sources believe: "This is not to let the public listen to a story, its real purpose is to make money." This approach is "disgusting." Many major bookstores announced that they would probably reject this "infamous new book." Some American television media, including NBC, refused to broadcast Simpson's interview. Victims' families and the press and publishing industry said this was a challenge to the American justice system.
Faced with the onslaught of public criticism, American News Corporation had to cancel the "Simpson Project." President Murdoch issued a statement saying, "Senior managers and I agree with the American people's criticism that this plan is inappropriate." "We are deeply sorry for the pain this has caused to the families of the victims."
However, According to reports, although the launch of "If I Did It" has been canceled, some books have been shipped to bookstores around the world. Some media speculated that even if the interview is not publicly broadcast on television, the completed interview may appear on the Internet at any time.
Key words of "Xin case"
"Nigger"
During the Simpson trial, the prosecutor's "star witness" Officer Forman was the most disappointing The most unlucky person in life. During the trial of the case, the defense specially set up a toll-free reporting hotline and learned that the police officer had made many extremely vile racial remarks. The defense attorney also received audio recordings of a female playwright’s interviews with Forman over a period of 10 years. In the recorded conversation, Officer Foreman used the insulting term "nigger" whenever he mentioned black people, as many as 41 times. Forman also boasted: "I am a key witness in the big case of the century. If I don't help the prosecution, they will lose this big case. Bloody gloves decide everything. If you don't have gloves, don't play anymore." Lawyer Fang called Foreman "a racist who supports genocidal policies, a perjurer, America's worst nightmare and the devil incarnate."
After the Xin case ended, the Los Angeles District Attorney showed no mercy and formally filed a case against Officer Foreman. As a result, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison and supervised release for perjury.
"There can only be one bedbug in a noodle"
The Simpson case is quite dramatic. Some media believe that the police already had enough evidence to prove that Simpson killed his ex-wife and her boyfriend, but in order to make the case more "bloody evidence", they foolishly forged a pair of socks stained with the blood of Simpson and his murdered ex-wife Nicole. It was this pair of socks that was finally proven by the defendant to be a product of the laboratory, and the jury was in an uproar.
There is a famous rule of evidence in American law: "There can only be one bedbug in a noodle." This is a vivid metaphor: When anyone finds a bed bug in his noodle bowl, he will never look for a second one, but simply throw away the entire bowl of noodles. Some critics believe that even if the police obtain a large amount of evidence that can prove Simpson's guilt, as long as one piece of evidence, such as the sock, was obtained illegally, all the evidence will not be admissible in court. Therefore, although the prosecutor Clark's impassioned speech in her closing speech moved a large number of viewers, it did not impress the jury and unanimously acquitted the defendant.
"Beyond reasonable doubt"
Some experts believe that the key to Simpson being able to clear his name is that in the American judicial system, the standard for conviction in criminal cases is "beyond reasonable doubt." .
The term embodies an extremely important principle: because human lives are at stake in criminal cases, the jury does not necessarily have to be convinced of the defendant's innocence before it reaches a verdict of not guilty. As long as the evidence presented by the prosecutor has many flaws and does not meet the strict standard of "beyond reasonable doubt," the jury can still acquit the defendant despite many signs that the defendant is suspected of committing a crime.
As for "beyond reasonable doubt," Professor Wei Gemo, an authority on American evidence law, believes that the meaning of this legal term is "elusive and undefinable." However, the term encompasses an extremely important principle: since human lives are at stake in criminal cases, a jury does not necessarily have to be convinced of the defendant's innocence when it reaches a not guilty verdict. As long as the evidence presented by the prosecutor has many flaws and does not meet the strict standard of "beyond reasonable doubt," even though there are many signs that the defendant is suspected of committing a crime, the jury can still acquit the defendant. Some people say that an important feature of the American judicial system is that "it is better to miss a thousand cases than to unjustly accuse one person." The media called this statement "extremely vivid".
"If the glove doesn't fit, he is acquitted"
There is a very important piece of physical evidence in Simpson's murder case: a pair of blood-stained gloves. But when Simpson wore the gloves and showed them to the jury, they discovered they didn't fit his hands. Later, Johnny Cochran, a famous black lawyer in the United States and Simplin's defender, said a famous saying: "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit him."
Some legal experts It was pointed out that it was this sentence that brought about a shocking reversal in Simpson's case. Soon, the court acquitted Simpson. And his words have since become a classic dialogue often quoted by Americans.
Corcoran was born in 1937. His great-grandfather was a black slave and his father was an insurance salesman. As a child he loved debating, and in high school he excelled in his debating class. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he later obtained a law degree. Corcoran died of a brain tumor in Los Angeles, USA on March 29, 2005 at the age of 67.