BY JAMES SIMONS
For the first time since the civil trial that found OJ Simpson guilty of the murder of his ex wife, Nocola Simpson and her new boyfriend, Nick Goldman, documents revealing some of the pathetic answers he gave that pointed to his guilt have been publicly released for the first time. And they will be shown on American television on ET 20/20 on October 1st at 9 pm, entitled OJ speaks: ‘The hidden tapes’. A separate documentary : The second Tapes of the OJ case: The untold story, will be beamed at 8pm next Monday.
It has been 21 years since the trial of OJ Simpson for the murder of his ex wife Nicole Simpson and her boyfriend, Nick Goldman, was beamed across the world because of the celebrity status of the former American sportsman. I was only 6 at the time, so could not possibly have comprehended the workings of a court case and so would not have benefited from this international legal showcase. However, I remember my parents following the case on television and discussing it with their friends on social issues. I was smart to understand what was going on: a famous person was being accused of killing his former wife because of jealousy he was with someone else. In my late teens, I eventually watched videos of the court case myself in order to form an opinion myself of what actually happened.
In that case, OJ’s lawyer, Johnny Cokran achieved wide acclaim for his legal skills in winning the case for OJ Simpson, though the general consensus among the British public was that the racist policeman in the case had just given the case to OJ and let a man get away with murder. OJ had refused to give testimony for that trial, allowing instead , his lawyer to do the talking for him and use lots of smart legal jargons to make it incredibly difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that OJ in fact did kill his ex wife. The blatant and unrestrained racism demonstrated by one of the investigating officers put a spanner in the meticulous hard work of the Prosecution who would have probably nailed him without that. OJ eventually lost a civil case brought against him for the same crimes in 1997, and was later jailed for Kidnapping and armed robbery. He remains in jail today. A poll taking by the Washington post reveals that most Americans are now convinced he got away with murder and in fact did commit a cold blooded murder out of jealousy. At the time, the verdict had divided America, with many blacks supporting OJ Simpson and believing him to be innocent, mainly because of the disgraceful racism of the officer in question which was exposed on tape. Most now believe OJ was incredibly lucky and owes it to the indiscretion of the racist officer.
DEPOSITION
In newly released deposition, tapes taken just before the civil trial in which the former star football player was found liable for their deaths, Simpson says he didn’t like “the look” or “the style” of the shoes, according to America’s ABC News.
“I know that Bruno Magli makes shoes that look like the shoes they had in court that’s involved with this case, I would have never worn those ugly-ass shoes,” Simpson strongly stated at the time, according to the depositions
The shoes were a key piece of evidence in the murder case – the killer left a bloody size 12 Bruno Magli shoeprint at the scene of the crime. Attorney Daniel Petrocelli notes during the deposition that only 299 pairs of Bruno Magli shoes in that size have ever been sold in the United States.
Still, Simpson insists that he would never wear them. “They were ugly to me. Aesthetically, I felt that they were ugly and I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and to me they were ugly shoes,” he says.
Except Simpson was photographed wearing Bruno Magli shoes nine months before the murders in a picture first published by The National Enquirer. During
the deposition, after Simpson says the shoes were “ugly,” Petrocelli produces this photo and asks if the man in the photo is him.
PUBLIC PERCEPTION
For the first time since the civil trial that found OJ guilty of both murders, a tape of what was actually said been disclosed to the public.
ON HIS WHEREABOUTS AT THE TIME OF THE MURDER
1. On the tapes, Simpson tells Petrocelli, “Ask me the question like they asked me and I’ll give you an answer,” referring to how police detectives asked him
questions during an interrogation.
When Petrocelli asks where Simpson was the night of the murders between 10 and 11 p.m., Simpson responded, “I don’t know if they asked me that
question. I was home.”
“They did ask you. What did you say?” Petrocelli responds.
“I don’t recall if they asked me so I don’t know what I said. Why don’t you ask me?” Simpson says.
Petrocelli: “I just did, where were—“
Simpson pushes back, “Why don’t you ask me?”
2. O.J. Simpson on Blood Found in the White Bronco
The O.J. Simpson car chase is one of the most infamous police chases in criminal justice history.
On June 17, 1994, Simpson was ordered to surrender to police to be arrested for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. That afternoon, Simpson and his friend and former pro-football teammate Al Cowlings jumped into Cowlings’ white Ford Bronco and led police on a low-speed chase for hours on the Los Angeles freeways. Television news stations provided non-stop coverage of the chase until Simpson finally surrendered at his estate that evening.
In the deposition tapes for the Goldmans’ civil suit, Petrocelli asks Simpson if he knew why there was blood found on the Bronco’s console that “was consistent with a mixture” of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman’s blood.
Simpson replied, “No.”
3. O.J. Simpson’s Response to Photos of an Allegedly Battered Nicole Brown Simpson
During the deposition, Petrocelli quizzed Simpson on his and Nicole’s relationship and showed him police photographs of Nicole with a bruised face and a cut lip. Simpson denies hitting his ex-wife and claims he thought what Petrocelli was calling “bruises” on Nicole’s face was actually make-up.
Petrocelli: “Do you see those bruises on her face?”
Simpson: “No.”
Petrocelli: “You don’t see anything?”
Simpson: “No, I mean, I see this eye thing.”
Petrocelli: “You don’t think this picture reflects any bruising or injuries or marks on Nicole’s face?”
Simpson: “No, I don’t.”
Petrocelli: “What do you think this reflects?”
Simpson: “It reflects doing a movie that we’re doing and we’re doing make-up.”
4. O.J. Simpson’s Response to Hurting Nicole Brown Simpson
Eventually in the deposition, Simpson admits to hurting his ex-wife, but won’t say how he hurt her.
Petrocelli: “You never struck anyone in their face, correct?”
Simpson: “Correct.”
Petrocelli: “And you never hurt your wife either, correct?”
Simpson: “No, I hurt my wife, yes.”
Simpson then goes on to tell Petrocelli that he never struck his wife, but when Petrocelli asks Simpson again if he had ever hurt her, Simpson says, “Yes.”
Petrocelli: “Did you physically hurt her?”
Simpson: “Yes.”
Petrocelli: “Did you ever bruise her?”
Simpson: “Yes.”
Petrocelli: “Did you ever make her black and blue?”
Simpson: “I think any marks that’s on her, I take full responsibility for. I don’t know what else you want to do. I take total responsibility.”
Petrocelli: “Why?”
Simpson: “Because I shouldn’t have handled the situation the way I did. I’ve — all my life with Nicole, no matter what was going on, I handled it without being physical with her. And that time I got physical with her and I’m ashamed of it. I wish it not had happened.”
Petrocelli then clarifies that he is not asking Simpson about the moral responsibility of Nicole’s death, but asking for Simpson to tell him what happened the night she was killed. So he tries to ask him again about hurting Nicole on prior occasions in the years before her murder.
Petrocelli: “You had your fingers around her throat, correct?”
Simpson: “I could have touched her neck, yes.”
Petrocelli: “What do you mean, you could have touched her?”
Simpson: “I could have.”
Petrocelli: “—violent episode, wasn’t it?”
Simpson: “Yes, it was.”
Petrocelli: “And rage is a fair description of your state of mind, correct?”
Simpson: No, it was not.”
Petrocelli: “Not anger?”
Simpson: “Anger, yes.”
Petrocelli: “Intense anger?”
Simpson: “Anger.”
Petrocelli then asks Simpson, “angry enough to hit her?” but Simpson’s attorney Bob Baker then put an end to the line of questioning.
5. O.J. Simpson on ‘Bleeding’ The Night of the Murders
During the deposition, Petrocelli asks Simpson if he remembered cutting his finger the night that Nicole was killed. Simpson responds, “I remember bleeding.” Petrocelli proceeds to inquire from Simpson if he cut his finger on a piece of glass. Simpson says “yeah,” then requests a break. After Petrocelli agrees, Simpson inexplicably mutters “Jesus Christ.” He didn’t think of Jesus when he was committing the murders, but thought of him when put under grueling questioning about the murder.
6. O.J. Simpson on the Bruno Magli Shoe Print Found at Crime Scene
Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman’s killer left a key piece of evidence at the crime scene — a men’s size 12 Bruno Magli brand shoe print stamped in the victims’ blood.
Only 9 percent of the U.S. population wears a size 12 shoe, according to Petrocelli, and only 299 pairs of Bruno Magli shoes in that size have ever been sold in the U.S., meaning it’s not a common shoe, Petrocelli said.
During the deposition, Petrocelli asks Simpson if he ever bought Bruno Magli shoes. Simpson says, “No.”
“I know that Bruno Magli makes shoes that look like the shoes they had in court that’s involved with this case, I would have never worn those ugly ass shoes,” Simpson replies.
Petrocelli then asks Simpson to explain why he thought they were ugly, and he replies that he didn’t like “the look of them, the style of them.”
“They were ugly to me. Esthetically, I felt that they were ugly and I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and to me they were ugly shoes,” he said.
7. O.J. Simpson on The National Enquirer Photo Showing Him Wearing Bruno Magli Shoes
After Simpson says he thought the Bruno Magli shoes were “ugly,” Petrocelli shows him a photograph, which was first published in the National Enquirer, showing Simpson wearing Bruno Magli shoes at a football game nine months before the murders.
“His story was, ‘well yeah, that’s me in the picture, but those are not my shoes,’” Petrocelli told 20/20. “He says, ‘I don’t remember what shoes I had on that day… but I didn’t have those shoes on.’ What a muppet! He says that now that he realizes he has been caught out.
During the deposition, Petrocelli asks Simpson if the man in the photo was him. “It appears to be me, yes,” Simpson responded. Petrocelli goes on to ask Simpson if he could describe the jacket he is wearing in the photo and asks if he remembered wearing it. Simpson responds in the negative to both questions.
Petrocelli then brings up the shoes again.
Petrocelli: “Looking at the close up of the shoes, can you believe that those were shoes that you owned at the time?”
Simpson: “No. By the time the civil trial began in 1997, 30 more photographs of Simpson wearing the same Bruno Magli shoes were entered into evidence. He has clearly been caught out and he knows it. He somehow got his cama, which probably explains why he is now sitting in jail for crimes of kidnap and robbery. Shocking how a man can go from hero to zero.
