section_path: Legal history/Criminal trial for murder/Prosecution and defense cases
section_name: Prosecution and defense cases
paragraph_text: Prosecution and defense cases
  
  Before the trial began, it was discovered the police investigation had been flawed: "Photo evidence had been lost or mislabeled; DNA had been collected and stored improperly, raising a possibility that it was tainted."
  
  Prosecutors provided DNA evidence, including both victims' blood being found in Simpson's car, Brown's blood being found on Simpson's socks, and hair and clothing fibers consistent with Simpson, Brown, and Goldman, as well as fibers from a 1993–94 Ford Bronco and Brown's dog, being found on a black leather glove recovered from Simpson's home. The other glove in the pair was found at Brown's condo. The defense claimed that the glove found at Brown's condo did not fit Simpson's hand. In response, prosecutors theorized that Simpson had not been taking anti-inflammatory medications for his arthritis, which would make his hand swell if he tried to put on the glove during the trial. Johnnie Cochran informed Judge Ito the next day that Shawn Chapman contacted the Los Angeles County Jail doctor, who confirmed Simpson was taking his arthritis medication every day, and that the jail's medical records verified this. Cochran claimed during the defense's closing argument, "If the glove don't fit, you must acquit." The phrase became famous in popular culture. Prosecutors also raised concerns that because the glove had been soaked in blood, and was repeatedly frozen and thawed before the trial, that it would have shrunk. Cochran denied this claim. When Simpson tried the glove on in court, he struggled to put it on. Nevertheless, Aris Isotoner Inc. vice president Richard Rubin would later testify that the gloves were of his company's rare Aris Light model and that a new pair of extra large gloves would fit Simpson. People magazine wrote that the moment was crucial to his eventual acquittal.
  
  The trial came in the context of multiple incidents involving the Los Angeles criminal justice system in the previous years. In 1991, Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old Black girl, was shot in the head by store owner Soon Ja Du, who accused her of stealing a bottle of orange juice. A jury convicted Du of involuntary manslaughter, but a judge only sentenced her to probation. Also in 1991, four police officers allegedly beat Rodney King, a Black man; in 1992, all of the officers were acquitted. These incidents led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
  
  The defense alleged that the crime scene had been compromised, and presented audiotape recordings of Mark Fuhrman, an officer who was at the scene and collected evidence, repeatedly using the racial slur " nigger " in an interview with an aspiring screenwriter. Fuhrman was later charged with perjury for lying about not saying the slur, and pleaded no contest. This added to the popular perception that LAPD officers were racist, which worked against the police reforms being made by the city of Los Angeles since the beating of Rodney King.
  
  The trial created a public discourse on race relations, motivated by Bailey and Cochran's cross-examination of Fuhrman over the tapes. It "divided the nation" along racial lines; white people were more likely to believe in Simpsons' guilt, while Black people were more likely to believe in his innocence. Many believed Simpson was being set up by the police, taking into consideration the LAPD's history of corruption, the acquittal of the officers who beat Rodney King, and that Fuhrman, who found the glove at Simpson's home, entered the home without a search warrant. The defense argued that Fuhrman had planted the glove. Charles F. Coleman Jr. wrote for MSNBC that "Black people didn't love O.J. Simpson, they hated the LAPD." Jim Newton wrote for the Los Angeles Times that "the effect on the jury was inescapable."
  
  "On the evidence that they gave me to evaluate, it was crooked by the cops," juror David Aldana said in an interview. "The evidence given to me to look at, I could not convict. Did he do it? Maybe, maybe not." Juror Sheila Woods denied the jury's decision was based on race in an interview with Vulture. When asked if she believed Simpson was framed, Woods stated, "I don't know if he was necessarily framed. I think O.J. may know something about what happened, but I just don't think he did it. I think it was more than one person, just because of the way she was killed. I don't know how he could have just left that bloody scene — because it was bloody — and got back into his Bronco and not have it filled with blood. And then go back home and go in the front door, up the stairs to his bedroom... That carpet was snow white in his house. He should have blood all over him or bruises because Ron Goldman was definitely fighting for his life. He had defensive cuts on his shoes and on his hands. O.J. only had that little cut on his finger. If Goldman was kicking to death, you would think that the killer would have gotten some bruises on his body. They showed us photos of O.J. with just his underwear just two days after, and he had no bruises or anything on his body." In an interview with CNN following Simpson's death, juror Yolanda Adams said she was still comfortable with her decision to render a not guilty verdict and denied the verdict was based on payback for Rodney King, citing the reasonable doubt in the case presented by the defense and the actions of the police officers involved in the case like Mark Fuhrman pleading the fifth when he was asked if he planted or manufactured any evidence against Simpson.
  
  Before the trial began, it was discovered the police investigation had been flawed: "Photo evidence had been lost or mislabeled; DNA had been collected and stored improperly, raising a possibility that it was tainted."
  
  Prosecutors provided DNA evidence, including both victims' blood being found in Simpson's car, Brown's blood being found on Simpson's socks, and hair and clothing fibers consistent with Simpson, Brown, and Goldman, as well as fibers from a 1993–94 Ford Bronco and Brown's dog, being found on a black leather glove recovered from Simpson's home. The other glove in the pair was found at Brown's condo. The defense claimed that the glove found at Brown's condo did not fit Simpson's hand. In response, prosecutors theorized that Simpson had not been taking anti-inflammatory medications for his arthritis, which would make his hand swell if he tried to put on the glove during the trial. Johnnie Cochran informed Judge Ito the next day that Shawn Chapman contacted the Los Angeles County Jail doctor, who confirmed Simpson was taking his arthritis medication every day, and that the jail's medical records verified this. Cochran claimed during the defense's closing argument, "If the glove don't fit, you must acquit." The phrase became famous in popular culture. Prosecutors also raised concerns that because the glove had been soaked in blood, and was repeatedly frozen and thawed before the trial, that it would have shrunk. Cochran denied this claim. When Simpson tried the glove on in court, he struggled to put it on. Nevertheless, Aris Isotoner Inc. vice president Richard Rubin would later testify that the gloves were of his company's rare Aris Light model and that a new pair of extra large gloves would fit Simpson. People magazine wrote that the moment was crucial to his eventual acquittal.
  
  The trial came in the context of multiple incidents involving the Los Angeles criminal justice system in the previous years. In 1991, Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old Black girl, was shot in the head by store owner Soon Ja Du, who accused her of stealing a bottle of orange juice. A jury convicted Du of involuntary manslaughter, but a judge only sentenced her to probation. Also in 1991, four police officers allegedly beat Rodney King, a Black man; in 1992, all of the officers were acquitted. These incidents led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
  
  The defense alleged that the crime scene had been compromised, and presented audiotape recordings of Mark Fuhrman, an officer who was at the scene and collected evidence, repeatedly using the racial slur " nigger " in an interview with an aspiring screenwriter. Fuhrman was later charged with perjury for lying about not saying the slur, and pleaded no contest. This added to the popular perception that LAPD officers were racist, which worked against the police reforms being made by the city of Los Angeles since the beating of Rodney King.
  
  The trial created a public discourse on race relations, motivated by Bailey and Cochran's cross-examination of Fuhrman over the tapes. It "divided the nation" along racial lines; white people were more likely to believe in Simpsons' guilt, while Black people were more likely to believe in his innocence. Many believed Simpson was being set up by the police, taking into consideration the LAPD's history of corruption, the acquittal of the officers who beat Rodney King, and that Fuhrman, who found the glove at Simpson's home, entered the home without a search warrant. The defense argued that Fuhrman had planted the glove. Charles F. Coleman Jr. wrote for MSNBC that "Black people didn't love O.J. Simpson, they hated the LAPD." Jim Newton wrote for the Los Angeles Times that "the effect on the jury was inescapable."
  
  "On the evidence that they gave me to evaluate, it was crooked by the cops," juror David Aldana said in an interview. "The evidence given to me to look at, I could not convict. Did he do it? Maybe, maybe not." Juror Sheila Woods denied the jury's decision was based on race in an interview with Vulture. When asked if she believed Simpson was framed, Woods stated, "I don't know if he was necessarily framed. I think O.J. may know something about what happened, but I just don't think he did it. I think it was more than one person, just because of the way she was killed. I don't know how he could have just left that bloody scene — because it was bloody — and got back into his Bronco and not have it filled with blood. And then go back home and go in the front door, up the stairs to his bedroom... That carpet was snow white in his house. He should have blood all over him or bruises because Ron Goldman was definitely fighting for his life. He had defensive cuts on his shoes and on his hands. O.J. only had that little cut on his finger. If Goldman was kicking to death, you would think that the killer would have gotten some bruises on his body. They showed us photos of O.J. with just his underwear just two days after, and he had no bruises or anything on his body." In an interview with CNN following Simpson's death, juror Yolanda Adams said she was still comfortable with her decision to render a not guilty verdict and denied the verdict was based on payback for Rodney King, citing the reasonable doubt in the case presented by the defense and the actions of the police officers involved in the case like Mark Fuhrman pleading the fifth when he was asked if he planted or manufactured any evidence against Simpson.