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OJ Simpson: Guilty, but not of murder - Bill C. Dear Documentary — Transcript

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0:00Now, on BBC 1, Tom Mangold presents
0:02Panorama, which contains strong
0:04language.
0:05Hi, I'm O.J. Simpson. Now, you may know
0:07me as a sportscaster, commercial
0:09pitchman, or an actor, but I also played
0:11some pro football a while back, but that
0:13was a couple of years ago.
0:15He was fast.
0:16He was strong. He was America's football
0:19hero, a super athlete with a nice guy
0:21image.
0:21He's in the Hall of Fame.
0:24There are moments of time when it seems
0:25that every
0:26He achieved even greater fame when he
0:27advertised Hertz cars coast to coast.
0:30It's a beautiful Hertz you're receiving.
0:32All right. Listen up everyone.
0:34I want you to calmly file towards the
0:36exit.
0:36And as a film actor, he promised his
0:38fans everything.
0:40Well, I must have done something good or
0:42something right to be here, and I just
0:43want you to know that I'll never let you
0:45guys down.
0:46I put
0:47But something went terribly wrong, and
0:49now an American hero is accused of two
0:51dreadful murders.
0:55So, is O.J. Simpson the sporting legend
0:58who adored his wife and family, or the
1:00ranting bully terrorizing her in this
1:02tape recorded by the police?
1:03911 emergency 5150.
1:04get someone over here now? He's back.
1:07Please.
1:08Okay, what does he look like?
1:09Simpson. I think you know his record.
1:11Okay, is he the sportscaster or
1:14whatever?
1:14Yeah.
1:15Okay, and what is Wait a minute, we're
1:17sending police. What is he doing? Is he
1:18threatening you?
1:20[ __ ] going nuts.
1:22Tonight, as America obsessively asks
1:24itself which is the real O.J., and did
1:26one of them brutally murder his wife and
1:28her friend, Panorama explores both the
1:30crime and the deeper issues raised by
1:32it. Issues that persistently trouble
1:34America at the end of the millennium:
1:36race, domestic violence, money and
1:38justice, and the power of fame.
2:11The crime itself was only too simple. On
2:14the night of June the 12th, someone
2:15called here at Nicole Simpson's house on
2:18South Bundy in the posh Los Angeles
2:19suburb of Brentwood.
2:22When she came to the garden gate and as
2:24the car drove by, she was noiselessly
2:27slashed to death in the shadows.
2:30At about the same time, Nicole's friend
2:31Ronald Goldman came to see her.
2:34The same killer then overpowered and
2:35knifed him to death, too.
2:38Even in a city that lives by excess,
2:40this was an awful crime.
2:48In the morning, detectives began
2:50investigating the nightmare on South
2:51Bundy. Nicole's throat had been cut.
2:54Goldman had been slashed in a maniacal
2:55frenzy. There was no apparent motive.
2:58Suspicion soon fell on Nicole's
3:00ex-husband, but O.J. Simpson was both
3:02the most and least likely man to have
3:04committed the murders.
3:07Why did Hertz invent number one club
3:09gold service?
3:10Having run into America's consciousness
3:12as a superb black athlete, O.J. Simpson
3:15next transcended color through the
3:17marketplace with these groundbreaking
3:18commercials.
3:20Yeah, it's a good feeling. I always
3:21wanted to play with this guy and I'm on
3:23a team that is a pretty exclusive
3:25consolidated his favored uncle image as
3:27a sports commentator, helping middle
3:29America convince itself it was color
3:31blind.
3:32Yeah, well, we got a great team that
3:33we've just joined in this Hall of Fame.
3:35This is as close as most Americans will
3:37come to having some member of their
3:40family on trial.
3:41What we see on the surface is never the
3:45real person and if there is one thing
3:47that I hope people will take out of this
3:50tragedy,
3:51it is to be very careful about thinking
3:55that we know somebody from their public
3:56persona, because we don't.
4:00The image required an appropriate
4:02lifestyle, and this is one of his three
4:04homes. $5 million worth of mock Tudor
4:07mansion, pool, and tennis courts in
4:09Brentwood. He told police he was asleep
4:11here during the murders.
4:14This is the exclusive golf course he
4:15played on.
4:17Closed to anyone without real money or
4:18fame. No problem in Brentwood. But some
4:21traditions die hard, and O.J. Simpson
4:24was a black man who didn't work as a
4:25caddy on the greens.
4:30And these are the streets and coffee
4:31houses of Brentwood where hanging out
4:33and looking fabulous are full-time
4:35occupations for most of the rich young
4:37film star and sporting wannabes. For
4:40O.J., all this was a million miles from
4:42home, yet just 1 hour's flight away.
4:46The number 32 jersey still covers the
4:48most famous son of the Potrero Hills
4:50district here in San Francisco, where
4:53O.J. Simpson was born. But this is the
4:55other side of the tracks. Indeed, it's a
4:56whole world away from Brentwood and
4:58Hollywood. This is the very humble place
5:00of his youth.
5:03He was born in one of these slum
5:05dwellings that still cling to a
5:06hillside. The poverty endures, and each
5:09generation faces the same uphill
5:11struggle. His father deserted him. His
5:14stern mother took charge. Today, the
5:16Juice, as he's called, is the one
5:18shining light on the narrow path out of
5:20this trap.
5:21We're from BBC Television. How are you?
5:24British Broadcasting. Hi. Thanks very
5:26much for asking us to talk.
5:31What did he mean? What did O.J., what
5:34does O.J. mean to the Potrero community
5:36here?
5:37O.J., O.J. meant quite a bit to us.
5:40To be perfectly honest, because he was a
5:42he he showed us that, coming from our
5:45area, that you can rise above.
5:48You can rise above your circumstances,
5:50be how meager they are. You see. And
5:53O.J. was like a role model, man.
5:55Everybody was proud of Juice.
5:59O.J. could see for himself how
6:01tantalizingly close he always was to the
6:03better life that hung like a backdrop on
6:06the other side of the slum hill of
6:07Potrero.
6:11He worked out at the recreation center
6:12which sits in no-man's-land.
6:17And his face remains an inspirational
6:19come-on, emblematically encouraging the
6:21young hopefuls who leave their homes as
6:23he did for a few hours a day to earn
6:26their passport to freedom.
6:30This is how and where O.J. trained
6:32himself to become the fastest man of his
6:34sport. It took strength to play his way
6:37out of Potrero, but what was the real
6:39cost of that achievement?
6:42Calvin Tennison was a close childhood
6:44friend. We met in the center's playing
6:46field.
6:47Being a black man,
6:50you have to be black till you hit the
6:52the dirt, until you're dead. I mean,
6:54there's no time in your life when you're
6:56not going to look in the mirror and be
6:58black. And I feel that with all the
7:02money, the fame, the camera, the lights,
7:05the action, at some point in his life,
7:08in the early '80s, around the time he
7:10met Nicole, he looked in the mirror and
7:12he didn't see a black man anymore. He
7:14seen a neutral man or another kind of
7:17man that could fit in with the the white
7:20society in in Hollywood without any
7:24problem. He felt comfortable with that.
7:26Maybe he became uncomfortable with being
7:29black.
7:30He said, "Love me for O.J., for what I
7:34am, and not for my image." But what
7:35you're saying is that the image was
7:37crucial to his existence.
7:38Yeah, he had to have that image, and the
7:40O.J. that he wanted you to love, I don't
7:43think it even exist no more. I think he
7:45left the real O.J. right here in in
7:48Potrero Hill.
7:56That was the world he left behind when
7:57his extraordinary sporting triumphs
7:59eventually elevated him here to Los
8:01Angeles in the suburb of Brentwood. He
8:04married Nicole, his second wife, in 1985
8:06and they divorced 2 years ago.
8:09But we now know that on O.J.'s part this
8:11remained a dangerously obsessive and
8:13violent relationship. It didn't end, it
8:15couldn't end, save in what the
8:17prosecution now claims was a conclusion
8:19of appalling finality.
8:23Simpson has vigorously denied both
8:25murders, but the problem for him is
8:26threefold. He had a motive, his alibi is
8:29weak, and the forensic evidence
8:31implicating him is powerful. The murder
8:33scene was drenched in blood.
8:38The killer seems to have worn gloves and
8:39one of them, heavily blood stained, was
8:41found at the scene.
8:44The police allege that the Nicole murder
8:46was carefully premeditated by Simpson.
8:48Goldman was just in the wrong place at
8:50the wrong time. They say Simpson then
8:52immediately drove the 2 miles home.
8:56Damning evidence is the second blood
8:58stained glove found in Simpson's own
8:59garden.
9:00And there are blood stains on the door
9:02and inside his white Ford Bronco Jeep.
9:05If Simpson did it and there are no other
9:07suspects, what could have been the
9:08motive?
9:09Here was a man who had everything money
9:11could buy into or out of.
9:13But evidence that Simpson was anything
9:15but a nice guy to his wife has now
9:17emerged. Evidence of another O.J.,
9:20selfish, spoiled, possessive, a dominant
9:22bully.
9:23This is the O.J. America praised doesn't
9:25exist, but he seems to be real enough.
9:28He was certainly a vicious wife beater
9:30struck by a social illness rampant
9:31throughout America as the prosecuting
9:33district attorney himself revealed.
9:37I've been talking about domestic
9:39violence and about the need to do
9:42something early on in domestic violence
9:45to protect
9:47not just the victim like Mr. like Ms.
9:50Simpson
9:52but others too.
9:54Los Angeles has one domestic murder
9:56every 9 days. O.J. frequently battered
9:59his wife.
10:01The vehemence of his verbal violence is
10:03heard on this police tape of an
10:05emergency phone call.
10:13Could you just please O.J. O.J. O.J.
10:16O.J.
10:21Please.
10:28O.J. please the kids.
10:31Is he leaving?
10:32No.
10:34This was one of several such calls.
10:36After one of them, Nicole went to seek
10:38help.
10:39She found it with Dr. Susan Forward, a
10:41distinguished psychologist and a world
10:43expert on domestic violence. She became
10:46Nicole Simpson's personal
10:47psychotherapist.
10:50What was your reaction when you heard
10:51the 911 tapes?
10:53I cried
10:55because I remembered her.
10:57The voice came back to me when she was
10:59sitting across from me crying. At one
11:01point, I went over and I put my arms
11:03around her and held her
11:04because and I said it's safe in here.
11:06You can say what you need to say and
11:08then you need to get angry. And when I
11:10heard the 911 tape, I heard some of the
11:12hopelessness and I heard a lot of the
11:15terror in her voice that I had heard in
11:16the office.
11:17Okay, and what Wait a minute. We're
11:19sending the police. What is he doing? Is
11:20he threatening you?
11:22He's [ __ ] going nuts.
11:24Okay, has he threatened you in any way
11:26or
11:28or is he just harassing you?
11:31You're going to hear him in a minute.
11:32He's about to come in again.
11:34Okay, just stay on the line.
11:35want to stay on the line. He's going to
11:36beat the [ __ ] out
11:37Wait a minute. Wait. You just stay on
11:38the line so we can know what's going on
11:40till the police get there, okay?
11:43When I saw her, hair was somewhat
11:45bedraggled. She wore no makeup. She had
11:47on blue jeans and a T-shirt.
11:49And um
11:51very ambivalent, very frightened about
11:54what she was doing both from the sense
11:58of having had many threats against her
12:00by O.J. that, you know, if you leave me,
12:02I'll kill you. If I can't have you,
12:04nobody can. If I can't have you, I'll
12:05kill you.
12:07Threats that she took very seriously
12:08knowing um
12:10how violent and volatile his his temper
12:12was.
12:14In 1989, Simpson was charged with wife
12:16beating. His fame may have helped him
12:18secure a minimum probationary sentence.
12:21Why didn't she take your advice and get
12:23out?
12:24He told her that he would get the kids.
12:27He would prove her to be an unfit
12:28mother. He He was powerful. He had
12:30friends in high places. He would use
12:32every weapon he could to get the kids
12:34and to cut her off without a cent. And I
12:36said, "Nicole, he can't do that."
12:39She believed him. He had so narrowed her
12:41world and he so defined reality for her
12:45because she had limited activities
12:48outside of what she did with him. And
12:50she literally had to go to him for
12:52permission to see friends.
12:54My wife, Nicole, who came into my life
12:57at what
12:59is probably the most difficult time for
13:01an athlete, at the end of my career. And
13:04she turned those years into some of the
13:05best years I've had in my life, babe.
13:08My dad
13:09But the public saw a devoted adoring
13:11family man.
13:13And uh
13:15I don't I don't I don't know what what
13:16you say about the most important person
13:18in your life.
13:19I'm just glad she's here today.
13:21My mother.
13:23I
13:28The impression he gives them
13:30is of an intensely loving man who loved
13:33his father, loved his mother, and
13:35certainly loved his wife Nicole. Are you
13:37saying that was all fake?
13:39Yes.
13:40You don't want people to know that you
13:42need to control and dominate and abuse
13:44your wife in order to assure yourself
13:46that you're the powerful one. You don't
13:47want people to know those things. I
13:49mean, he's never even acknowledged that
13:51he was abusive with his wife. He said
13:54that they had some normal family
13:57problems. So, the denial is enormous in
14:00this man.
14:02Simpson himself once spoke disarmingly
14:05about the difficulties he'd faced with
14:06Nicole.
14:07But, it was embarrassing. But, because
14:10our relationship was strong and all our
14:12friends knew it, and they knew what they
14:14were reading wasn't uh necessarily the
14:15truth. Um hey, we just tried to put it
14:18behind us and ignore it as much as we
14:20could.
14:22Nicole's funeral, O.J. was there.
14:25As the cortege moved sadly on, Nicole's
14:27mother asked him whether he'd murdered
14:29Nicole. "No," he answered, "I loved your
14:31daughter." But, the unbelievable was
14:34about to happen.
14:37Detectives and forensic scientists have
14:39been gathering more evidence, much of it
14:41from O.J.'s home. Blood stains sent for
14:43DNA testing returned with ominous
14:45results.
14:46Finally, the district attorney was ready
14:48to prosecute. O.J. being O.J., he was
14:51invited to submit himself for arrest,
14:53but he declined and simply did a runner.
14:56Mr. Simpson
14:58has not appeared.
15:03The Los Angeles Police Department right
15:06now
15:07is actively searching for Mr. Simpson.
15:12They wouldn't have to look far. Driven
15:14by his friend A.C. Cowlings, he was
15:16heading south on the freeway.
15:18I'm very confident we're going to find
15:20O.J. Simpson.
15:21Because this is a man who can't hide too
15:24easily.
15:26Now followed the mandatory but rather
15:27sedate police chase. A.C. Cowlings even
15:30called them on his mobile.
15:31911, what are you reporting?
15:33This is This is A.C. I have O.J. in the
15:35car.
15:36Okay, where are you?
15:37Please, I'm coming up the five freeway.
15:40Okay.
15:40Right now, we all we are okay, but you
15:42got to tell the police to just back off.
15:44He's still alive. He's got a gun to his
15:46head.
15:47Okay, hold on a minute.
15:49Okay.
15:50So, that's all I That's all we ask. He's
15:52got a gun to his head. All right.
15:53And And what's What's your name?
15:54My name is A.C. You know who I am,
15:56goddammit.
15:57We couldn't actually see O.J., but we
15:59seen the guy driving the car. IT WASN'T
16:01O.J., THOUGH.
16:02As the sky blackened with helicopters,
16:04the chase became a procession. Next, a
16:06friend of O.J.'s solemnly read what
16:08sounded like his suicide note.
16:10This letter
16:12was written by O.J. today.
16:16To whom it may concern.
16:21First,
16:23everyone understand I have nothing to do
16:27with Nicole's murder.
16:29I think of my life
16:32and feel I've done most of the right
16:35things.
16:37So, why do I end up like this?
16:41I can't go on.
16:43No matter what the outcome,
16:46people will look and point.
16:50I can't take that.
16:51Stay back, everybody.
16:55I've had a good life.
16:57I'm proud of how I lived. My mama taught
17:00me to do unto others.
17:03I treated people the way I wanted to be
17:06treated.
17:07This is a copy of that letter, and it
17:09does reveal a disturbing and
17:10manipulative character.
17:12It's maudlin, egocentric, and filled
17:14with self-pity. It targets his adoring
17:17public, yet oddly expresses not a word
17:19of curiosity about who may have killed
17:21his ex-wife.
17:23"Thank you for making my life so
17:25special.
17:26Think of me as the real O.J. and not
17:28this lost person."
17:30"I have been totally loving and
17:33understanding of what she's been going
17:35through.
17:36At times, I have felt like a battered
17:39husband or boyfriend."
17:42He says in his letter, the so-called
17:45suicide note.
17:45Which is I knew when it came out was not
17:48a suicide note because narcissistic,
17:51abusive, obsessive men do not commit
17:54suicide.
17:55He says, "There were times when I felt
17:57like a battered husband." Why did he say
17:59that?
17:59Classic. Abusers always make themselves
18:03the victims. The villain becomes the
18:05victim and the victim becomes the
18:06villain.
18:07But
18:09his ability to minimize and deny the
18:14vicious pummeling, beatings. He would
18:16kick her, throw her on the floor, kick
18:19her.
18:20He would punch her in the face. When the
18:23police came on that New Year's Day, she
18:25had choke marks. She had fingerprints on
18:28her neck from his hand where he had
18:30tried to choke her. This is what O.J.
18:32described in that letter as um problems
18:36that every relationship has.
18:39You're a doctor of psychology and a
18:41primary source in this story. Are you
18:43telling me in no uncertain terms that
18:45O.J. Simpson is mentally ill?
18:48Mentally ill in the sense of clinically
18:51certifiably insane, absolutely not. What
18:54I'm telling you is that O.J. Simpson
18:56falls into that category that we call
18:58character disorders, which means people
19:01who have a big missing piece inside and
19:03that big missing piece is conscience,
19:06compassion,
19:08empathy for other human beings, the
19:10ability to understand that behavior has
19:13consequences and the ability to take
19:15personal responsibility for what you do
19:18to another person.
19:19The word is psychopath.
19:22You said it, I didn't.
19:24Yeah, that's the word.
19:28O.J. eventually gave himself up and was
19:30driven like a visiting potentate to
19:32police headquarters, cheered by
19:34rubberneckers all the way.
19:36There was some evidence he'd been trying
19:37to flee from arrest. There was some
19:39suggesting he just couldn't face
19:41imprisonment on the run.
19:48Now his fame and his wealth began to
19:50work for him.
19:52Even as he was led away in handcuffs, a
19:54cavalry of lawyers was saddling up for
19:56the rescue.
20:00The biggest names in defense rode into
20:02town attracted by his fame and possibly
20:04his $10 million fortune. First, they
20:06strung up a free phone hotline to
20:08solicit any evidence on his behalf.
20:10If you have any information or evidence
20:12regarding the O.J. Simpson case, press
20:15two now. If you are an expert in the
20:17field relating to the O.J. Simpson case
20:20and would like to offer your services,
20:22press three now.
20:24If you have millions of dollars, the
20:26American legal system really can offer
20:28better odds of proving your innocence.
20:30You can buy as Simpson has a dream team
20:32to defend you, but you can never buy a
20:34jury.
20:35Nevertheless, American justice itself is
20:37on trial in the Simpson case. For as the
20:39hysteria subsides, the nation will
20:41eventually demand clear and unequivocal
20:44evidence that neither the accused's
20:46money, nor fame, nor image is going to
20:48lead to the wrong verdict.
20:50At this time, do you wish to enter a
20:51plea guilty or not guilty?
20:54Not guilty.
20:55O.J. will spend at least $4 million
20:57fighting to prove his innocence, but
20:59it's not so much what O.J. Simpson is
21:01buying as what many fellow black
21:02suspects can't buy that makes this case
21:05so controversial.
21:07What the average black defendant in a
21:10murder case?
21:12In a sense, uh
21:14the whole world is against him right
21:16from the beginning.
21:18Uh instead of being like O.J. Simpson in
21:21in that people don't want to believe
21:23that he's guilty, everybody wants to
21:25believe that he's guilty and does
21:27believe that he's guilty.
21:29But the most serious thing that affects
21:30him is that he has uh
21:33when he's on trial for his life, uh he
21:36has no uh champion.
21:38He He doesn't get to uh an adequate
21:41lawyer to do any of these things uh that
21:44that have been done for O.J. Simpson,
21:47not one of them. Um and that's so that
21:50there's a sense I keep wondering what
21:52these men in prison think as they watch
21:55uh the Simpson trial.
22:04San Quentin Prison, death row for some
22:07300 convicted murderers, many of them
22:09black.
22:13I went to visit three of them, all angry
22:15that O.J. Simpson has already been
22:17granted immunity from the death sentence
22:19if found guilty. Multiple murder is a
22:22capital offense in California.
22:26Inside one of the toughest prisons in
22:28America, they contemplate a justice
22:30system they believe is hand-tailored for
22:32the rich.
22:40Convicted men argue that indifferent
22:42lawyers, less consultation time, and
22:45less investigative work make their
22:47chances so much worse.
22:48Is this where you have your visits
22:50normally, Terry?
22:56To put it at its simplest, if you are
22:58poor
23:00and a minority in the United States, you
23:02just don't get the kind of justice that
23:04Simpson is getting. Is that what you're
23:05saying?
23:06If you're poor period in this country,
23:08you don't get that type of
23:09representation.
23:10Why not? Is it just a shortage of money?
23:15No, the system
23:17moves in a certain way and if you can't
23:20shake that
23:24way up, if you can't
23:29the fallacy about being proven
23:33guilty or being innocent until proven
23:35guilty, it just doesn't exist. Uh
23:37there's a basic misconception that where
23:39there is smoke, there is fire.
23:42And the average the average, not all,
23:45but the average 12 jurors in this
23:46country, if you're sitting in the
23:48defendant chair, you are guilty.
23:50Uh money
23:52can help buy you that assumption of
23:55innocence. And that's what O.J. has
23:58going for him.
24:08Were you surprised when the district
24:10attorney decided not to ask for the
24:11death penalty for Simpson?
24:14I was
24:15uh
24:17not surprised
24:19that he did not ask for it
24:21in that particular case.
24:23Why?
24:24Because uh
24:26it would have brought to the forefront
24:28the whole issue of the death penalty in
24:31those type of cases and people would
24:33have said, well, you know, O.J. Simpson
24:37friends in Hollywood places like that,
24:40these people that are normally used by
24:41the uh
24:42state to promote the death penalty, many
24:44of them would have came out against it
24:46simply because O.J. Simpson was their
24:48friend.
24:57Do you need money to get justice?
25:03Pointedly, I think yes.
25:06Seriously.
25:07There is a two-headed
25:09sword in the justice in the criminal
25:11courts
25:12that I can understand here in
25:13California. Um
25:15if you have money
25:17certain investigative services, um
25:20certain experts are available to you
25:22that are not available to you if you
25:25don't have the funds to pay for them.
25:27How would it have affected your case?
25:32I think that um
25:34the argument um in the areas of the lack
25:36of evidence that was in my case at the
25:38time
25:40it probably would have um ended in a
25:42much different
25:45situation. I don't think that I would be
25:46on death row right now.
25:48Really?
25:48Absolutely.
25:51The truth is the justice system is
25:53geared to speedy trials for the poor.
25:55Compromise deals cost less and don't
25:58drain the system of time and staff.
26:00That's why the rich benefit. What would
26:02happen if every accused were able to do
26:04what O.J. Simpson has done?
26:06The system would totally collapse. Uh
26:08the rights are there, but if everybody
26:11could
26:12could uh take advantage of them, that we
26:14don't have enough judges, enough
26:16courthouses, enough jails, enough police
26:19uh
26:20to uh to do that.
26:22As to Detective Fuhrman, uh three issues
26:25are raised. First of all, evidence of
26:27racial animosity.
26:29This is Detective Fuhrman. Someone on
26:31Simpson's defense team has leaked a
26:33smear that the detective is a racist, so
26:35biased that he might have set O.J.
26:37Simpson up. It's a dirty trick even by
26:39Californian standards.
26:43It was Fuhrman who found the
26:44incriminating blood stained glove.
26:46Nothing would serve Simpson's defense
26:48team better than to have the honesty and
26:50credibility of this key witness
26:52impugned.
26:53Now, the case of Detective Fuhrman is
26:55one example of a potentially dirty trick
26:57at work, for there is a subtext to this
26:59case. Everyone knows what it is, but
27:01says little about it in public. It's
27:03race.
27:04O.J. Simpson is a black man who made it
27:06in a white man's world. That image,
27:08unthreatening, a genuinely nice guy,
27:11affable, a corporate American you would
27:13rent a car from, broke the stereotype
27:15mold.
27:16He married a white woman. That's still a
27:18sensitive matter here. Now, it's alleged
27:20he killed her in a rage. The subtext for
27:22the racists in Southern California is
27:25obvious enough.
27:27This is a cafe in South Central, the
27:29black area of a city becoming the focus
27:31for racial tensions in America. The
27:33lines already being drawn over the O.J.
27:36Simpson case.
27:38Don't you understand where you are? This
27:40is an area where
27:42white people feel that they are losing
27:44ground.
27:45In the next decade, they will be a
27:47minority in the entire state of
27:49California. point, they are a minority
27:52in terms of numbers in the city of Los
27:54Angeles.
27:55Okay? They are afraid of people of color
27:58because of the decades and and and and
28:00centuries of uh
28:03uh
28:04sitting back unapologetically
28:06uh treating people of color the way they
28:08have.
28:10There are malign forces on all sides.
28:15In a car park, I met two private
28:17detectives who claimed to be working for
28:19the friends of Nicole Simpson, but whose
28:21real job seems to be to spread
28:23malevolent gossip, often with racial
28:25connotations, about O.J. Simpson to the
28:27press.
28:28In a nation closely tuned into any
28:30information about the case, men like
28:32this often find an audience.
28:34One of them is armed with smears.
28:37What have you learned about O.J. Simpson
28:40which you think you want to pass on to
28:42uh
28:42reporters like me?
28:43Well, I've learned that he uh he's not
28:46the Mr. Goody Two-Shoes uh you know,
28:48all-American hero athlete that he's
28:50perceived to be.
28:52The second detective is camera shy and
28:54hides in the back of the car. Both
28:56investigators are anxious to give
28:57answers that reflect badly on O.J., but
29:00they become more evasive about questions
29:02concerning the people who've hired them.
29:04Where does the money come from?
29:07How do you mean? Well, two of the people
29:09are just I would characterize them as
29:11independently wealthy, old money in this
29:14city, Los Angeles.
29:15And just explain to me what old money
29:17means.
29:18Old money being established, passed down
29:21generation to generation, having having
29:23been in the city a long time, their
29:25parents in in established large
29:28business ventures in this city.
29:30Old white money.
29:31Right, more or less, yeah.
29:33But what are the motives of the people
29:36who you won't name, who are sponsoring
29:38you? What is it that they want?
29:39Well, in the words of at least one, the
29:42way I remember the initial meeting was
29:44they want to see to make sure he was
29:45convicted in the words of one, see him
29:47fry.
29:48In a country where poverty, crime, and
29:50race remain inextricably linked in the
29:52ultra-conservative mind, comments like
29:55that identify these men's paymasters
29:57more clearly.
29:58You said rather enigmatically at the
29:59beginning of the interview that that
30:01some of the money was was coming from a
30:03political source and that it was old
30:05white money.
30:06Is that a kind of subtext for for racist
30:09money?
30:11No, not at all.
30:12Do you think it could be?
30:13No. In fact, I would characterize these
30:15people as liberals.
30:16It's not a liberal sentiment to say I
30:18hope he fries, is it?
30:19Right. Right. I think they're just so
30:21fed up with the crime in Los Angeles and
30:24the and the constant what the way they
30:25put it, the black eye for this city. And
30:27they haven't they didn't just move into
30:29town to get into show business. They've
30:30been here a long time. They've seen it
30:32change. They don't like it.
30:34Why for all of these very legitimate
30:35issues
30:37is the lightning rod persona an
30:39African-American man? Why does why does
30:41the focus only come when you have these
30:44scandals or when you have these
30:45tragedies?
30:46And I think the African-American
30:48community
30:49uh is starting to resent the atten- the
30:51negative attention and the unfair
30:53attention. Crime is has a black face.
31:01Secure in the embrace of their church
31:03and their history, many blacks still
31:04turn inwards for comfort. O.J.'s
31:07uniqueness was that he faced out and for
31:09most whites came to represent the
31:11acceptable face of black America,
31:13subdued, unthreatening, racially
31:15neutral.
31:19By living in the white man's world,
31:24His fame and wealth certainly protected
31:25him from some of the harsher realities
31:27of his crossover life.
31:29But leading members of the black
31:31community identify acute sensitivity
31:33about some of the racial dimensions of
31:35the Simpson case.
31:38On a racial
31:39basis, it will bring to the front
31:42one of the last taboos
31:45in the discussion of race, black man,
31:48white woman. It will bring that to the
31:50front.
31:51What is the subtext on the interracial
31:53marriage issue?
31:55That's a minefield.
31:57Uh the interracial marriage between an
31:59African-American man and a white woman
32:01in a in a society that used to be based
32:03on complete separation of the races in a
32:05society that stems from slavery of
32:07African-Americans, you have to
32:08understand how central it was to keep
32:10them separate. So, you're talking about
32:12the most central taboo in American
32:15culture is for an African-American man
32:17to marry a white woman.
32:19But will these undercurrents divert the
32:21true course of the justice that Simpson
32:23seeks and America deserves, or can
32:26prejudice and bigotry be cooled by the
32:28impartiality without which there is no
32:30justice in a democracy?
32:33Can
32:34a black jury member be impartial in this
32:36case?
32:37No.
32:40No black and a white man.
32:43Without a great deal of
32:47moral
32:49wherewithal.
32:51A majority of whites have already
32:52prejudged O.J. Simpson guilty. A
32:54majority of blacks are still thinking
32:56that he's innocent.
32:57Even very sophisticated people say, "All
33:00you have to do is put a couple of blacks
33:02on the jury and you're going to get a
33:03hung jury." It's much more complicated
33:06than that. I mean, anybody who thinks
33:08that, I think, is degrading the system.
33:12You you get these people, you think you
33:14know what they think, but when they get
33:16together and they
33:19exchange views,
33:21it's
33:23something that it's it's mystical
33:26and and it works most of the time.
33:29Justice will be done in this case. Will
33:33it be complete with justice?
33:36I can't really answer that. A lot of
33:39times
33:42people make decisions
33:45that they feel they can go home and sit
33:47comfortably
33:49and be able to defend.
33:50But if you don't believe that a juryman
33:53can be impartial on the matter of race
33:55alone, neither black nor white, how can
33:57justice be done?
33:59Welcome to Southern California.
34:01Good morning it's K-Rock 106.7 KROQ
34:047:56.
34:05The skeletal thoughts of the media
34:07invaders besieged Los Angeles
34:09courthouse.
34:13Journalists jostle with entertainers to
34:15scratch the nation's insatiable O.J.
34:17itch. Some despair at what they witness.
34:21Television itself has expanded to the
34:23point that there are so many options for
34:25viewers that the people operating
34:28elements of television are enormously
34:30fearful that if you don't give them
34:32something very catchy and exciting right
34:33away, somebody will turn to another
34:36channel.
34:36You talk about them. Sorry to interrupt.
34:37You talk about competition. I mean, just
34:39turn around, look at it. We've got CNN
34:40live, right? We've got Channel 4 live,
34:43that's NBC. Channel 2 live is CBS.
34:46And if I had three more monitors, you
34:47could
34:47at the top.
34:48three more monitors, you could see uh
34:50some other stations also covering it.
34:52All running the same picture.
34:53story. It's a What What's available on
34:55one screen is available on the other
34:56screen. And they're all enormously
34:58fearful that if
35:01they should be the first one to withdraw
35:03from the story, that somehow uh
35:06it'll it'll it'll taint them forever.
35:13It's very noisy out here, but the jury
35:15selection has begun in the O.J. Simpson
35:17But there is a logic behind this
35:18coverage. The demand is real, and no one
35:20should underestimate the public
35:22appetite, even if media dignity is the
35:25first casualty.
35:27O.J. Simpson button.
35:29O.J. Simpson button.
35:31How much you charging for them?
35:33$1.
35:33$1?
35:34$1.
35:34For one of those buttons?
35:35That's right.
35:36How much profit do you make from that?
35:39How much profit I make? 60 cents a
35:40button.
35:41Right.
35:41Yeah.
35:42Why do people buy them?
35:43Look,
35:44if you turn off the television, I'll
35:46tell them why.
35:47Okay. Why?
35:48They're crazy.
35:49They're crazy.
35:51You think people are crazy to buy the
35:53buttons? Do you think you're crazy to
35:54sell them?
35:55No. I'm here for one reason.
35:58This. Okay? I I did World Cup. I've done
36:02this. I was
36:03I was ready to do the Pope is coming. I
36:05do only big events.
36:07For weeks, crews have been constructing
36:09the scaffolding and high-rise camera
36:11O.J. Simpson's image has long outlasted
36:13his sporting talent. He became famous
36:15for being famous. Now he's become
36:17notorious.
36:18in recent history.
36:20They call it the O.J. media feeding
36:22frenzy, and there are certainly scenes
36:23here that you wouldn't see outside the
36:25Old Bailey. But things are not quite
36:27what they seem. Behind the circus and
36:29the carnival, behind the commerce and
36:30the nonsense, something profound is
36:33happening. America is talking to itself
36:35in one of those periodic bursts of
36:37self-examination
36:39when almost by accident it takes a great
36:41criminal trial to draw out the defining
36:44issues of the moment.
36:46Ironically, the nation has been
36:48galvanized into displaying the flags of
36:50endless controversy by the O.J. Simpson
36:52trial. It is a testament to the power of
36:55celebrity.
36:57Will his fame help or hinder him?
37:01I think it's going to help him.
37:04Will his color help or hinder him?
37:08Probably hinder him.
37:09And his wealth?
37:13Depends on the juror. That cuts both
37:14ways. There's resentment against wealth
37:16as well, but there's also a
37:17romanticization of people who have money
37:19and who've made it. It could cut either
37:21way.
37:22Do you think he did it?
37:23I have no opinion about that.
37:25Do you think he did it?
37:27My own personal view is uh that he is as
37:30guilty as homemade sin.
37:32Do you think he did it?
37:33Yes, I do.
37:35Do you think he did it?
37:37Why?
37:38Based on the evidence I've seen now, no.
37:41I want to hold
37:45until the last shred of evidence is in.
37:48I want to believe him innocent.
37:52The preliminary evidence weighs heavily
37:55towards guilty.
37:58Innocent or guilty, the man inside this
38:00prison has touched all the hot buttons
38:02on the American agenda.
38:04But sadly, the nation has already
38:06forgotten that murder is also a simple
38:08and profound tragedy. The lives of two
38:11innocents brutally and pointlessly
38:13extinguished. In this there is only one
38:15certainty, and that is the unquenchable
38:18loss of personal bereavement.
38:20I love my son dearly.
38:24And we're going to miss him a lot.
38:26And we'll And we'll miss him.
38:32Okay.
38:33Thank you.
38:58in
38:58American culture is for an
39:00African-American man to marry a white
39:02woman.
39:03But will these undercurrents divert the
39:05true course of the justice that Simpson
39:07seeks and America deserves? Or can
39:10prejudice and bigotry be cooled by the
39:12impartiality without which there is no
39:14justice in a democracy?
39:17Can
39:18a black jury member be impartial in this
39:20case?
39:21No.
39:24Nor can a white man.
39:27Without a great deal of
39:31moral
39:33wherewithal.
39:35A majority of whites have already
39:36prejudged O.J. Simpson guilty. A
39:38majority of blacks are still thinking
39:40that he's innocent.
39:41Even very sophisticated people say, "All
39:44you have to do is put a couple of blacks
39:46on the jury and you're going to get a
39:47hung jury." It's much more complicated
39:50than that. I mean, anybody who thinks
39:52that, I think, is degrading the system.
39:55Uh it You you get these people, you
39:58think you know what they think, but when
40:00they get together and they uh exchange
40:03views,
40:05uh
40:06um it it it's something that it's mis-
40:08it's mystical.
40:09Um and and it works most of the time.
40:13Uh justice will be done in this case.
40:17Uh will it be complete and wholesome
40:19justice?
40:20I can't really answer that.
40:22A lot of times
40:26people make decisions
40:29that they feel they can go home and sit
40:31comfortably
40:33and be able to defend.
40:34But if you don't believe that a juror
40:36man can be impartial on the matter of
40:39race alone, neither black nor white, how
40:41can justice be done?
40:43Welcome to Southern California.
40:45The world famous K-Rock 106.7 KROQ 756
40:48Kevin and Bean here.
40:49The skeletal thoughts of the media
40:51invaders besieged Los Angeles
40:53courthouse.
40:54That's as grueling a work as being a
40:55juror, isn't it?
40:55Almost.
40:57Journalists jostle with entertainers to
40:59scratch the nation's insatiable OJ itch.
41:02Some despair at what they witness.
41:05Television itself has expanded to the
41:07point that there's so many options for
41:09viewers that the people operating
41:12elements of television are enormously
41:14fearful that if you don't give them
41:16something very catchy and exciting right
41:17away, somebody will turn to another
41:19channel.
41:20You talk about I'm sorry to interrupt.
41:21You talk about competition. I mean just
41:23turn around, look at it. We've got CNN
41:24live, right? We've got Channel 4 live,
41:27that's NBC.
41:28Channel 2 live is CBS.
41:30And if I had three more monitors you
41:31at the top.
41:32had three more monitors you could see uh
41:34some other stations also covering
41:36All running the same picture.
41:36The same story. It's a What What's
41:38available on one screen is available on
41:40the other screen and they're all
41:42enormously fearful that if
41:45they should be the first one to withdraw
41:47from the story that somehow
41:50it'll it'll it'll taint them forever.
41:57It's very nice.
41:58Closed to anyone without real money or
41:59fame, no problem in Brentwood. But some
42:02traditions die hard and OJ Simpson was a
42:05black man who didn't work as a caddy on
42:07the greens.
42:11And these are the streets and coffee
42:12houses of Brentwood where hanging out
42:14and looking fabulous are full-time
42:16occupations for most of the rich young
42:18film star and sporting wannabes. For
42:21O.J., all this was a million miles from
42:23home, yet just 1 hour's flight away.
42:28The number 32 jersey still covers the
42:29most famous son of the Potrero Hills
42:31district here in San Francisco, where
42:34O.J. Simpson was born. But this is the
42:36other side of the tracks. Indeed, it's a
42:37whole world away from Brentwood and
42:39Hollywood. This is the very humble place
42:41of his youth.
42:44He was born in one of these slum
42:46dwellings that still cling to a
42:47hillside. The poverty endures and each
42:50generation faces the same uphill
42:52struggle. His father deserted him, his
42:55stern mother took charge. Today, the
42:57Juice, as he's called, is the one
42:59shining light on the narrow path out of
43:01this trap.
43:02We're from BBC Television. How are you?
43:05British Broadcasting. Hi. Thanks very
43:07much for asking us to come.
43:12What did he mean? What did O.J. What
43:15does O.J. mean to the Potrero community
43:17here?
43:18O.J. O.J. meant quite a bit to us.
43:21To be perfectly honest, because he was a
43:23he he showed us that coming from our
43:26area that you can rise above
43:29you can rise above your circumstances,
43:31be how meager they are. You see?
43:34And O.J. was like a role model, man.
43:36Everybody was proud of Juice.
43:40O.J. could see for himself how
43:42tantalizingly close he always was to the
43:44better life that hung like a backdrop on
43:47the other side of the slum hill of
43:48Potrero.
43:52He worked out at the recreation center,
43:53which sits in no-man's land.
43:58And his face remains an inspirational
44:00come on, emblematically encouraging the
44:02young hopefuls who leave their homes, as
44:04he did, for a few hours a day to earn
44:07their passport to freedom.
44:11This is how and where O.J. trained
44:13himself to become the fastest man of his
44:15sport. It took strength to play his way
44:18out of Potrero, but what was the real
44:20cost of that achievement?
44:23Calvin Tennison was a close childhood
44:25friend. We met in the center's playing
44:27field.
44:28Being a black man,
44:31you have to be black till you hit the
44:33the dirt, until you're dead. I mean,
44:35there's no time in your life when you're
44:37not going to look in the mirror and be
44:39black. And I feel that with all the
44:43money, the fame, the camera, the lights,
44:46the action, at some point in his life,
44:49in the early '80s, around the time he
44:51met Nicole, he looked in the mirror and
44:53he didn't see a black man anymore. He
44:55seen a neutral man or
45:18The crime itself was only too simple. On
45:21the night of June the 12th, someone
45:22called here at Nicole Simpson's house on
45:25South Bundy in the posh Los Angeles
45:26suburb of Brentwood.
45:29When she came to the garden gate, and as
45:31the cars drove by, she was noiselessly
45:34slashed to death in the shadows.
45:37At about the same time, Nicole's friend
45:38Ronald Goldman came to see her. The same
45:41killer then overpowered and knifed him
45:43to death, too.
45:45Even in a city that lives by excess,
45:47this was an awful crime.
45:55In the morning, detectives began
45:57investigating the nightmare on South
45:58Bundy. Nicole's throat had been cut.
46:01Goldman had been slashed in a maniacal
46:03frenzy. There was no apparent motive.
46:05Suspicion soon fell on Nicole's
46:07ex-husband, but O.J. Simpson was both
46:09the most and least likely man to have
46:11committed the murders.
46:14Why did Hertz invent number one club
46:16gold service?
46:17Having run into America's consciousness
46:19as a superb black athlete, O.J. Simpson
46:22next transcended color through the
46:24marketplace with these groundbreaking
46:25commercials.
46:27Yeah, it's a good feeling. I always
46:28wanted to play with this guy and now
46:30on a team that is a pretty exclusive
46:31He consolidated his favorite uncle image
46:34as a sports commentator, helping middle
46:36America convince itself it was
46:37colorblind.
46:39Yeah, well, we got a great team that
46:40we've just joined in this Hall of Fame.
46:42This is as close as most Americans will
46:44come to having some member of their
46:47family on trial.
46:48What we see on the surface is never the
46:52real person. And if there is one thing
46:54that I hope people will take out of this
46:57tragedy,
46:58it is to be very careful about thinking
47:01that we know somebody from their public
47:03persona, because we don't.
47:08The image required an appropriate
47:09lifestyle and this is one of his three
47:11homes. $5 million worth of mock Tudor
47:14mansion, pool and tennis courts in
47:16Brentwood. He told police he was asleep
47:18here during the murders.
47:21This is the exclusive golf course he
47:22played on.
47:24Closed to anyone without real money or
47:25fame. No problem in Brentwood, but some
47:28traditions die hard. And O.J. Simpson
47:31was a black man who didn't work as a
47:32caddy on the greens.
47:37And these are the streets and coffee
47:38houses of Brentwood where hanging out
47:40and looking fabulous are full-time
47:42occupations for most of the rich young
47:44film star and sporting wannabes. For
47:47O.J., all this was a million miles from
47:49home, yet just one hour's flight away.
47:54The number 32 jersey still covers the
47:55most famous son of the Potrero Hill
47:57district tours and each generation faces
48:00the same uphill struggle. His father
48:02deserted him, his stern mother took
48:04charge. Today, the juices he's called is
48:07the one shining light on the narrow path
48:09out of this trap.
48:10We're from BBC Television. How are you?
48:13British Broadcasting. Hi, thanks very
48:15much for asking us to come.
48:20What did he mean? What did OJ What does
48:23OJ mean to the Potrero community here?
48:26OJ OJ meant quite a bit to us.
48:29To be perfectly honest, because he was a
48:31he he showed us that coming from our
48:34area that you can rise above
48:37you can rise above your circumstances,
48:39be how meager they are.
48:41You see?
48:42And OJ was like a role model, man.
48:44Everybody was proud of Juice.
48:48OJ could see for himself how
48:50tantalizingly close he always was to the
48:52better life that hung like a backdrop on
48:55the other side of the slum hill of
48:56Potrero.
49:00He worked out at the recreation center,
49:01which sits in no-man's land.
49:06And his face remains an inspirational
49:08come-on, emblematically encouraging the
49:10young hopefuls who leave their homes as
49:13he did for a few hours a day to earn
49:15their passport to freedom.
49:19This is how and where OJ trained himself
49:22to become the fastest man of his sport.
49:24It took strength to play his way out of
49:26Potrero, but what was the real cost of
49:28that achievement?
49:31Calvin Tennison was a close childhood
49:33friend. We met in the center's playing
49:35field.
49:36Being a black man,
49:39you have to be black till you hit the
49:41the dirt, until you're dead. I mean,
49:43there's no time in your life when you're
49:45not going to look in the mirror and be
49:47black. And I feel that with all the
49:51money, the fame, the camera, the lights,
49:54the action, at some point in his life in
49:57the early '80s, around the time he met
49:59Nicole, he looked in the mirror and he
50:01didn't see a black man anymore. He seen
50:03a neutral man or another kind of man
50:07that could fit in with the the white
50:10society in in Hollywood without any
50:13problem. He felt comfortable with that.
50:15Maybe he became uncomfortable with being
50:18black.
50:19He said love me for O.J. for what I am
50:23and not for my image. But what you're
50:24saying is that the image was crucial to
50:26his existence.
50:27Yeah, he had to have that image and the
50:29O.J. that he wanted you to love, I don't
50:32think it even exist no more. I think he
50:34left the real O.J. right here in in
50:37Patrol Hill.
50:45That was the world he left behind when
50:46his extraordinary sporting triumphs
50:48eventually elevated him here to Los
50:50Angeles in the suburb of Brentwood. He
50:53married Nicole, his second wife in 1985
50:55and they divorced two years ago.
50:58Fuhrman, someone on Simpson's defense
51:00team has leaked a smear that the
51:01detective is a racist, so biased that he
51:04might have set O.J. Simpson up. It's a
51:06dirty trick even by Californian
51:08standards.
51:11It was Fuhrman who found the
51:12incriminating blood stained glove.
51:14Nothing would serve Simpson's defense
51:16team better than to have the honesty and
51:18credibility of this key witness
51:20impugned.
51:21Now, the case of Detective Fuhrman is
51:23one example of a potentially dirty trick
51:25at work, for there is a subtext to this
51:27case. Everyone knows what it is but says
51:29little about it in public. It's race.
51:32O.J. Simpson is a black man who made it
51:34in a white man's world. That image,
51:36unthreatening, a genuinely nice guy,
51:39affable or corporate American you would
51:41rent a car from, broke the stereotype
51:43mold.
51:44He married a white woman. That's still a
51:46sensitive matter here. Now it's alleged
51:48he killed her in a rage. The subtext for
51:50the racists in Southern California is
51:53obvious enough.
51:55This is a cafe in South Central, the
51:57black area of a city becoming the focus
51:59for racial tensions in America. The
52:01lines already being drawn over the O.J.
52:04Simpson case.
52:06I want you to understand where you are.
52:08This is an area where white people feel
52:11that they are losing ground.
52:13In the next decade, they will be a
52:15minority in the entire state of
52:17California. They are a minority in terms
52:20of numbers in the city of Los Angeles.
52:23Okay? They are afraid of people of color
52:26because of the decades and and and
52:28centuries of uh
52:32sitting back unapologetically
52:34uh treating people of color the way they
52:36have.
52:38There are malign forces on all sides.
52:43In a car park, I met two private
52:45detectives who claim to be working for
52:47the friends of Nicole Simpson, but whose
52:49real job seems to be to spread
52:51malevolent gossip, often with racial
52:53connotations, about O.J. Simpson to the
52:55press.
52:56In a nation closely tuned into any
52:58information about the case, men like
53:00this often find an audience.
53:02One of them is armed with smears.
53:05What have you learned about O.J. Simpson
53:08which you think you want to pass on to
53:10uh
53:10reporters like me?
53:11Well, I've learned that he uh he's not
53:14the Mr. Goody Two Shoes uh you know,
53:16all-American hero athlete that he's
53:18perceived to be.
53:20The second detective is camera-shy and
53:22hides in the back of the car. Both
53:24investigators are anxious to give
53:25answers that reflect badly on O.J., but
53:28they become more evasive about questions
53:30concerning the people who've hired them.
53:32Where does the money come from?
53:35How do you mean? Well, two of the people
53:37are just I would characterize them as
53:39independently wealthy, old money in this
53:42city, Los Angeles.
53:43And just explain to me what old money
53:45means.
53:46Old money being established, passed down
53:49generation to generation, having having
53:51been in the city a long time. Their
53:53parents in in established large
53:56business ventures in this
53:59They wouldn't have to look far. Driven
54:01by his friend A.C. Cowlings, he was
54:03heading south on the freeway.
54:05I'm very confident we're going to find
54:07O.J. Simpson.
54:08Because this is a man who can't hide too
54:11easily.
54:13Now followed the mandatory but rather
54:14sedate police chase. A.C. Cowlings even
54:17called them on his mobile.
54:18911, what are you reporting?
54:20This is This is A.C. I have O.J. in the
54:22car.
54:23Okay, where are you?
54:24Please, I'm coming up the 5 freeway.
54:27Okay.
54:27Right now we all we are okay, but you
54:29got to tell the police to just back off.
54:31He's still alive, but he's got a gun to
54:33his head.
54:34Okay, hold on a minute.
54:36Okay.
54:37Well, that's all I That's all we have.
54:39He's got a gun to his
54:40Okay, and what's what's your name?
54:42My name is A.C. You know who I am,
54:43goddammit.
54:44We couldn't actually see O.J., but we
54:46seen a guy driving the Bronco. It wasn't
54:48O.J., though.
54:49As the sky blackened with helicopters,
54:51the chase became a procession. Next, a
54:53friend of O.J.'s solemnly read what
54:55sounded like his suicide note.
54:57This letter
54:59was written by O.J. today.
55:03To whom it may concern.
55:08First,
55:10everyone understand I have nothing to do
55:14with Nicole's murder.
55:16I think of my life
55:19and feel I've done most of the right
55:22things.
55:24So, why do I end up like this?
55:28I can't go on.
55:31No matter what the outcome,
55:33people will look and point.
55:37I can't take that.
55:38Stay back, everybody.
55:42I've had a good life.
55:44I'm proud of how I lived. My mama taught
55:47me to do unto others.
55:50I treated people the way I wanted to be
55:53treated.
55:54This is a copy of that letter, and it
55:56does reveal a disturbing and
55:58manipulative character.
55:59It's maudlin, egocentric, and filled
56:01with self-pity. It targets his adoring
56:04public, yet oddly expresses not a word
56:06of curiosity about who may have killed
56:08his ex-wife.
56:10Thank you for making my life so special.
56:13Think of me as the real O.J. and not
56:15this lost person.
56:17I have been totally loving and
56:20understanding of what she's been going
56:22through.
56:24At times, I have felt like a battered
56:26husband or boyfriend.
56:30He says in his letter, the so-called
56:31suicide note
56:32Which is I knew when it came out was not
56:35a suicide note because narcissistic,
56:38abusive, obsessive men do not commit
56:41suicide.
56:42He says there were times when I felt
56:44like a battered husband. Why did he say
56:46that?
56:47Abusers always make themselves the
56:50victims. The villain becomes the victim,
56:52and the victim becomes the villain.
56:54But
56:56his ability to the
56:59But the most serious thing that affects
57:00him is that he has
57:02a
57:03when he's on trial for his life,
57:05he has no champion.
57:08He He doesn't get to an adequate lawyer
57:12to do any of these things that that have
57:15been done for O.J. Simpson. Not one of
57:17them.
57:18And that's so that there's a sense I
57:21keep wondering what these men in prison
57:23think as they watch
57:25the Simpson trial.
57:34San Quentin Prison, death row for some
57:37300 convicted murderers, many of them
57:39black.
57:43I went to visit three of them, all angry
57:45that O.J. Simpson has already been
57:47granted immunity from the death sentence
57:49if found guilty. Multiple murder is a
57:52capital offense in California.
57:56Inside one of the toughest prisons in
57:58America, they contemplate a justice
58:00system they believe is hand-tailored for
58:02the rich.
58:11Convicted men argue that indifferent
58:12lawyers, less consultation time, and
58:15less investigative work make their
58:17chances so much worse.
58:19Is this where you have your visits
58:20normally, Terry?
58:26To put it at its simplest, if you are
58:28poor
58:30and a minority in the United States, you
58:32just don't get the kind of justice that
58:34Simpson is getting. Is that what you're
58:35saying?
58:36If you're poor, period, in this country,
58:38you don't get that type of
58:39representation.
58:40Why not? Is it just a shortage of money?
58:45No, the system
58:47moves in a certain way, and if you can't
58:50shake that
58:54way up, if you can't
58:59The fallacy about being proven
59:03guilty or being innocent until proven
59:05guilty, it just doesn't exist. Uh
59:07there's a basic misconception that where
59:09there is smoke, there is fire.
59:12And the average The average, not all,
59:15but the average 12 jurors in this
59:16country, if you're sitting in the
59:18defendant chair, you are guilty.
59:20Uh money
59:22can help buy you that assumption
59:25of innocence.
59:26And that's what O.J. has going for him.
59:38Were you surprised when the District
59:40Attorney decided not to ask for the
59:41death penalty for Simpson?
59:44I was
59:45uh
59:47not surprised
59:49that he did not ask for
59:51in that particular case.
59:53Why?
59:54Because
59:56it would have brought to the forefront
59:58the entire state of California. They are
59:59a minority in terms of numbers in the
1:00:02city of Los Angeles.
1:00:04Okay? They are afraid of people of color
1:00:07because of the decades and and and
1:00:09centuries of
1:00:11uh
1:00:13sitting back unapologetically
1:00:15treating people of color the way they
1:00:17have.
1:00:19There are malign forces on all sides.
1:00:24In a car park, I met two private
1:00:26detectives who claim to be working for
1:00:28the friends of Nicole Simpson, but whose
1:00:30real job seems to be to spread
1:00:32malevolent gossip, often with racial
1:00:34connotations, about O.J. Simpson to the
1:00:36press. In a nation closely tuned into
1:00:39any information about the case, men like
1:00:41this often find an audience.
1:00:43One of them is armed with smears.
1:00:46What have you learned about O.J. Simpson
1:00:49which you think you want to pass on to
1:00:51reporters like me?
1:00:52Well, I've learned that he
1:00:55he's not the Mr. Goody Two-Shoes
1:00:57you know, all-American hero athlete that
1:00:59he's perceived to be.
1:01:01The second detective is camera-shy,
1:01:03hides in the back of the car. Both
1:01:05investigators are anxious to give
1:01:06answers that reflect badly on O.J., but
1:01:09they become more evasive about questions
1:01:11concerning the people who've hired them.
1:01:13Where does the money come from?
1:01:16How do you mean?
1:01:17Well, two of the people are just I would
1:01:19characterize them as independently
1:01:21wealthy, old money in this city, Los
1:01:24Angeles.
1:01:24And just explain to me what old money
1:01:26means.
1:01:27Old money being established, passed down
1:01:30generation to generation, having having
1:01:32been in the city a long time. Their
1:01:34parents in in established large
1:01:37business ventures in this city.
1:01:39Old white money.
1:01:40Right, more or less, yeah.
1:01:42But what are the motives of the people
1:01:45who you won't name who are sponsoring
1:01:47you? What is it that they want?
1:01:48Well, in the words of at least one, the
1:01:51way I remember the initial meeting was
1:01:53they wanted to see make sure he was
1:01:54convicted, in the words of one, see him
1:01:56fry.
1:01:57In a country where poverty, crime, and
1:01:59race remain inextricably linked in the
1:02:01ultra-conservative mind, comments like
1:02:04that identify these men's paymasters
1:02:06more clearly.
1:02:07You said rather enigmatically at the
1:02:08beginning of the interview that that
1:02:10some of the money was was coming from a
1:02:12political source and that it was old
1:02:14white money.
1:02:15Is that a kind of subtext for for racist
1:02:18money?
1:02:20No, not at all. In fact
1:02:21You mean it could be?
1:02:22No, in fact I would characterize these
1:02:24people as liberals.
1:02:25It's not a liberal sentiment to say I
1:02:27hope he fries, is it?
1:02:28Right, right. I think they're just so
1:02:30fed up with the crime in Los Angeles and
1:02:33the and the constant what the way they
1:02:34put it, the black eye for this city. And
1:02:37they haven't They didn't just move into
1:02:38town to get into show business. They've
1:02:39been here a long time. They've seen it
1:02:41change. They don't like it.
1:02:43Why, for all of these very legitimate
1:02:44issues,
1:02:46is the lightning rod persona an
1:02:48African-American man? Why does Why does
1:02:50the focus only come when you have these
1:02:53scandals or when you have these
1:02:54tragedies?
1:02:55And I think the African-American
1:02:57community
1:02:58in dollars fighting to prove his
1:02:59innocence, but it's not so much what
1:03:01O.J. Simpson is buying as what many
1:03:03fellow black suspects can't buy that
1:03:05makes this case so controversial.
1:03:08What faces the average black defendant
1:03:11in a murder case?
1:03:13In a sense, uh
1:03:15the whole world is against him right
1:03:17from the beginning.
1:03:19Instead of being like O.J. Simpson and
1:03:22and that people don't want to believe
1:03:24that he's guilty, everybody wants to
1:03:26believe that he's guilty and does
1:03:28believe that he's guilty.
1:03:30But the most serious thing that affects
1:03:31him is that he has
1:03:34when he's on trial for his life,
1:03:36he has no champion.
1:03:39He He doesn't get to an adequate lawyer
1:03:43to do any of these things that that have
1:03:46been done for O.J. Simpson, not one of
1:03:48them.
1:03:49And that's so that there's a sense I
1:03:52keep wondering what these men in prison
1:03:54think as they watch
1:03:56the Simpson trial.
1:04:05San Quentin Prison, death row for some
1:04:08300 convicted murderers, many of them
1:04:10black.
1:04:14I went to visit three of them, all angry
1:04:16that O.J. Simpson has already been
1:04:18granted immunity from the death sentence
1:04:20if found guilty. Multiple murder is a
1:04:23capital offense in California.
1:04:27Inside one of the toughest prisons in
1:04:29America, they contemplate a justice
1:04:31system they believe is hand tailored for
1:04:33the rich.
1:04:42Convicted men argue that indifferent
1:04:44lawyers, less consultation time, and
1:04:46less investigative work make their
1:04:48chances so much worse.
1:04:50Is this where you have your visits
1:04:51normally, Terry?
1:04:57To put it at its simplest, if you are
1:04:59poor
1:05:01and a minority in the United States, you
1:05:03just don't get the kind of justice that
1:05:05Simpson is getting. Is that what you're
1:05:06saying?
1:05:07If you're poor, period, in this country,
1:05:09you don't get that type of
1:05:10representation.
1:05:11Why not? Is it just a shortage of money?
1:05:16No, the system
1:05:18moves in a certain way and if you can't
1:05:21shake that
1:05:25way up, if you can't
1:05:30the fallacy about being proven
1:05:34guilty or being innocent until proven
1:05:36guilty, it just doesn't exist. Uh
1:05:38there's a basic misconception that where
1:05:40there is smoke, there is fire.
1:05:43And the average the average, not all,
1:05:46but the average 12 jurors in this
1:05:47country, if you're sitting in the
1:05:49defendant chair, you are guilty.
1:05:51Uh money
1:05:53can help buy you that assumption
1:05:56of innocence.
1:05:57And that

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