Criminal Justice Case Processing
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Criminal Justice Case Processing
O. J. Simpson’s murder case was one of the most publicized cases in the history of the United States. The case was between the people of the state of California vs. Orenthal James Simpson. It was a criminal case held in the Supreme Court of Los Angeles in California. O. J. Simpson was a former football star as well as an actor accused of murdering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and a waiter by the name Ronald Goldman. The case came to rest with the acquittal of Simpson after more than eight months of trial. The paper delineates further on the various stages the case went through until its conclusion.
Arrest
O. J Simpson’s arrest was made on June 17, 1994 after the murder that was committed on June 12 1994 (Shapiro, 1996). The arrest was made after the burial of the victims. Simpson was arrested as he tried to escape from the Robert Kardashiari’s home after a police chase, on his return to his home at Rockingham.
Initial appearance, Grand jury or preliminary hearing and arraignment
In the initial appearance, O. J. pleaded absolutely 100 percent not guilty to the charges. This was after a six-day preliminary hearing that saw Judge Kathleen Kennedy Powell rule that there was enough evidence to charge Simpson for two counts of murder (Shapiro, 1996). After this initial appearance on July 22, 1994, a new Judge by the name Lance Ito was appointed to hear the case. Therefore, Simpson was to be arraigned in the court for the two counts of murder.
Pretrial activities
Various activities followed as both the prosecution and the defense begun to prepare for the case. The district attorney sequestered jury and announcement that a death penalty was not going to be sought. The judge allowed for the search of the home of Simpson for gathering of evidence to help in the case. A jury panel was also selected that consisted of people from different races. It had one white, eight blacks, two mixed races, and one Hispanic (Cochran, 1997). The women were eight while men were four. An alternate jury was also selected. The defense team waived the hearing thus challenging prosecution of DNA evidence, making the hearing to be based on domestic abuse evidence. The defense team of Simpson led by attorney Johnnie Cochran and prosecutor Christopher Garden complained over use of racist language in connection with the upcoming testimony of Fuhrman Mark.
Trial activities
The persecutors delivered their opening statements on 24 January 1995, while Johnnie Cochran was also allowed to make his statement on behalf of the defense on 25 January 1995. During the trial, Simpson published his book titled “I want to tell you”. This period also saw a number of activities including testimonies from both the prosecution and the defense. Nicole Brown’s sister Denise testified in the court as well as Simpson’s daughter. Some of the jurors visited Simpson’s home and at the Bundy drive crime scene for collection of evidence. This period also saw cross-examination of the evidences provided by the defense team. In the quest to link Simpson in the alleged murders, DNA testimony also commenced.
Sentence
After arguments in the Court, both the defense and persecution gave closing remarks and the case went back to the jury. On October 3, 1995, the jury found O. J. Simpson not guilty of the two counts of murder and was acquitted (Cotterill, 2002).
The case was done professionally as both parties in the case were given enough time to argue and present their evidence. Therefore, I believe that the case was done well and the ruling was based on the tangible evidence presented. In such cases, there must be a winner and a loser and in this case, O. J. Simpson’s defense team managed to prove beyond doubt that their client was not a murderer.

References
Cochran, J. (1997). Journey to Justice. Ballantine Books.
Cotterill, J. (2002). Language and power in court, a linguistic analysis of the O. J. Simpson trial, Basingstoke: Palgrave
Shapiro, R. (1996). The Search for Justice: A Defense Attorney’s Belief on the O.J. Simpson Case. Warner Books