Effect+of+Case+on+Society

media type="custom" key="6584459" The slideshow covers the public reaction to the O.J. Simpson murder case. The first image used, is a police chase, which represents Simpson's highway chase after the murder of Nicole Brown. After the murder of Nicole Brown, Simpson was spotted fleeing the scene in a white Bronco, which intensified into a highway pursuit. Coverage of the incident shifted from the NBA finals. The following image is a television, which symbolizes the publicity of the trial. The case has been described as the most publicized criminal trial in American history. Simpson was acquitted after a lengthy trial that lasted over nine months—the longest jury trial in California history. The trial was covered in 2,237 new outlets. The O. J. Simpson trial is the official "Trial of the Century" according to NBC and its viewers, beating out even the Nuremberg trials following World War II. NBC feared that publicity of the trial, in the courtroom could cause race riots, if Simpson was pronounced guilty( as was the case for Rodney King.) The third picture is a half and half creamer, which stands for the divided public opinion amongst whites and blacks. Public opinion was divided between whites, who, for the most part, believed he was guilty, and blacks, who believed he was innocent. By the end of the criminal trial, national surveys showed dramatic differences between most blacks and most whites in terms of their assessment of Simpson's guilt. The fourth picture is Simpson on the cover of Time magazine after the trial. His picture is darkened and altered to give him a more intimidating image, which received much criticism from the public for racist editiorializing and yellow journalism. The final picture is a graph, which shows the poll taken by NBC in 2004 reporting that, although 77% of 1,186 people sampled thought Simpson was guilty, only 27% of blacks in the sample believed so, compared to 87% of whites. I chose the song "Know Your Enemy," by Green Day, which summarizes O.J.'s situation in the trial. Ross Cutlery provided store receipts indicating that Simpson had purchased a 12-inch stiletto knife six weeks before the murders. The knife was determined to be similar to the one the coroner said caused the stab wounds. The prosecution did not present this evidence at trial after discovering that store employees had sold their story to The National Enquirer for $12,500. This represents the mystery of people who could have testified or held evidence against Simpson.

Wordle of words regarding the publicity of O.J. Simpson Trial