Evidence doesn’t win the day. Jurors go with the narrative that makes sense. We’re here to tell the story. Our job is to tell that story better than the other side tells theirs.
Johnnie Cochran (Courtney T. Vance) in the multi-award winning The People v OJ Simpson (2016). The 10 part miniseries covers the hugely controversial and highly divisive trial of high profile former American Football player O J Simpson, accused of a double murder.
Alex Raphael 
i remember everything about this trial, including my shock at the verdict
I don’t really recall it, which meant a lot of the stuff was a big shock. I’d heard the glove was vital and a racist cop was pivotal to the verdict, but there were still a lot of surprises. That TIME magazine cover was outrageous. And Furman’s comments made me sick. I still can’t get over the Rodney King verdict either.
Absolutely loved this series and that right there is my favourite line.
We do think alike 🙂 It was an incredible series. The acting was just sensational. No surprise so many won and were nominated. You can’t look past Courtney T Vance as Johnnie and Sarah Coulsen as Marcia Clark, but so many impressed me. An incredible serie I’d recommend to anyone. What happened to all the main protagonists in the description at the end was interesting too. No surprise the losing team retired. Must have taken so much out of them.
The race card won the case. Ironic, since OJ waa an affluent, well beloved sports icon. He was so far removed from his race he might as well been have been purple or neon. There’s no question racial disparity exists in our court system It’s a disgrace but it was far from true in OJ saga.
The episode was actually called The Race Card. It starts with the hugely offensive TIME cover. Not long after after the scandalous Rodney King verdict, and including such a bigoted racist cop, there was no way round it, was there? That idea of OJ forgetting his roots was touched on in the show, but wasn’t mentioned much by the defence team, according to the show. That really did look a mistake.
The prosecution dropped the ball with the glove thing. Honestly that was such a poor decision.
It really was a bad move. And letting Furman go on the stand. One of the quotes shown in the show that was taken from real life events was from the parents of one of the victims, saying it wasn’t the Mark Furhman trial but a trial for the victims.
Oh yeah, that was a huge distraction. My heart really went out to the families, especially the Goldmens. Ron was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was such a brutal crime and felt personal.
I remember the actual trial – it really was as surreal as a film. I’ll have to check out the series. But no one was ‘really’ surprised at the verdict.
The victims deserved justice. And they didn’t get it. You feel so sorry for the families. I really do recommend the series. One of the best things I’ve seen.
They certainly did. I will definitely have to watch it. Thanks, Alex.
I’m currently on my third viewing of this series. It’s a triumph!
It is. Anything you’ve noticed on the later viewings you didn’t pick up on before?
I was in college during this trial. I remember my roommates huddled around my tiny black and white portable TV in our kitchen awaiting the verdict. Her poor family. Such a sad story.
Very sad. There’s a moment at the end where her family get in the car after the verdict and they say, “And now what do we do?”
Heartbreaking, I can’t imagine what that must feel like.