you. ♪ o.j. simpson, on trial for two grisly murders. >> he killed her because he couldn't have her. >> after nine months after riveting twists and turns -- >> how about that? >> if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> the one moment -- >> we the jury find the defendant not guilty of the crime of murder. >> -- that mattered most. now, 20 years later, go behind

the scenes. you said you had your killer. why did he walk free? inside the jury room, and outside the courtroom for reaction. >> people said either he's guilty and terrible or an innocent victim of racism. >> the o.j. verdict, shock of the century. june 13th, 1994. los angeles police arrived to a crime scene at bundy drive in upscale brentwood. they find no witnesses, no murder weapon. just two victims. >> slash, stabbed, everything else. nicole was nearly decapitated. it was a very bloody scene.

>> nicole is nicole brown simpson. lying dead beside her, 25-year-old ron goldman. the prime suspect -- nicole's ex-husband, football legend o.j. simpson. simpson promises to surrender, and then disappears. >> the los angeles police department, right now, is actively searching for mr. simpson. >> gasps from the press room. only a sign of what is yet to come. >> i think i just saw o.j. simpson on the 5 freeway. >> the famous low-speed chase, covered live for hours, rivets the nation. and ends with simpson's eventual surrender at his home on rockingham avenue. >> here's what we know right now.

>> it was just the beginning. >> this was the perfect soap opera. the o.j. simpson murder case was the first true reality show for the country. >> okay, let's go. here we go. >> this was the first wall-to-wall televised trial. >> july 22, 1994. a month after the murders, the legal proceedings against o.j. simpson begin, when he enters this defiant plea. >> absolutely, 100% not guilty. >> and to help him prove that, simpson assembles a legal dream team. >> each one of them was famous. >> jeffrey toobin covered the trial for "the new yorker." >> there has never been in american history more prominent defense lawyers in a single trial than in the o.j. simpson.

>> there's harvard professor alan dershowitz. >> an intermediate between the ivory tower and the gritty world of trial practice. >> famed criminal attorney f. lee bailey. >> the person you go to when you are really in a lot of trouble and can afford it. >> and, of course, johnny cochran, who would take the lead. >> flamboyant, outgoing, approachable, fun, and extremely charismatic, while also having considerable mastery of the details of the case. >> and known for defending celebrities like child actor todd bridges, football legend jim brown, and superstar michael jackson. but would the all-star strategy work? >> the o.j. dream team was not a dream team. it was a nightmare team. most of the lawyers didn't get along with each other. there was a lot of competition

for the limelight. >> but despite all that competition, consensus does emerge. the key defense strategy -- racism. >> this is not just any city where an allegation of a racist cop is being made. this is the lapd. >> and simpson's attorneys know they can strike a chord. with secret knowledge of scathing recordings about to surface, they seek permission to ask mark fuhrman if he's ever used the "n" word. >> i'll use the word, because i'm quoting him, "all the niggers, put them together in a big group and burn them." >> but prosecutor chris darden wants no part of it. >> it is the filthest, nastiest word in the english language. it will upset the black jurors. the test will be, whose side are

you on, the side of the white prosecutors and policemen, or the side of this black defendant and his black lawyer? >> cochran fires back. >> not every african-american feels that way. it's the meaning to our jurors to say that african-americans cannot hear these offensive words. >> the battle lines are drawn, and race will now determine this trial's outcome. january 24th, 1995. the trial of orenthal james simpson gets under way. >> there was a forest of satellite trucks, satellite dishes, people working in trailers, all built so that this trial could go out to the world. >> walking into the courtroom every day was like the red carpet on an arrivals line or

the oscars, how are you feeling today, o.j.? marsha, how are you doing? what are you wearing? it's ridiculous. it was crazy. ♪ >> outside the courthouse, it's a circus. inside, a real-life drama unfolding. with millions of people watching. >> the simpson case combined everything that obsesses the american public. it had violence, sex, race, sports, and the only eyewitness was a dog. >> and the prosecution had it all. opening with a story of love, lust, and loss of control. >> he killed her because he couldn't have her. >> that trail of blood, from bundy through his own ford bronco, and into his house in

rockingham, is devastating proof of his guilt. >> but johnny cochran opens with a very different story. >> the evidence will show that the careless, slip shot, negligent collection, handling, and processing of samples by basically poorly trained personnel from lapd, has contaminated, compromised, and corrupted the dna evidence in this case. coming up, behind the scenes. >> this is the first time i've ever really seen a heisman trophy. >> and in court with a juror. how did mark fuhrman play a part in your decision when it came down to the verdict? at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like ordering wine equals pretending to know wine. pinot noir, which means peanut of the night. when you're not confident your company's data is secure,

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no. no. please, stop! sorta you, isn't you. start with a quote from esurance and get a set of discounts personalized to you, not someone sorta like you. esurance. backed by allstate. click or call. this is how we knew o.j. simpson. football icon. celebrity pitchman. >> nobody does it better than hertz. >> and movie star. but prosecutors say that dashing public persona hides a much darker truth, that simpson is a violent man, who beat his wife. and it didn't take long before a police detective testifies about

such an incident in 1989. >> a woman came running out of the bushes to my left, across the driveway. she was a female caucasian, blonde hair. she was wearing a bra only, as an upper garment, and she had on dark, lightweight sweat pants and started yelling, "he's going to kill me, he's going to kill me." >> then jurors hear it for themselves. another chilling 911 call from simpson's wife in 1993. >> my husband just broke into his house and ranting and raving. >> less than a year before her murder. >> he broke the back door to get in. >> what's your name? >> nicole simpson? >> is he the sports caster? >> yeah. >> now, 20 years later, juror

number four remembers that moment vividly. so that 911 tape made an imis that correct >> yeah, id it did. >> nicole's sister, denise, tells prosecutors she had seen simpson beat nicole in person. >> he told her to get out of his house, wanted us all out of his house. picked her up, threw her against the wall. then threw her out of the house. >> however, defense attorney robert shapiro counters with a completely different image of o.j. simpson. here he is with the brown family, just hours before nicole's murder. >> we put in front of the jury the june 12th tape, when you saw him that evening. he was kissing the brown family,

shaking hands, he picked his son up. he didn't look like a man who was bitter and raging. >> so is simpson a warm family man or a violent attacker who cornered and killed two innocent people? the jurors, and simpson, take a field trip to his house and the crime scene. >> i think this really assisted the jury in being able to understand the evidence better. >> what do you remember the most about visiting o.j.'s house, going to the crime scene? >> everyone was like oh, wow, the first time i've ever really seen a heisman trophy. we couldn't ask questions, nothing was told to us, don't talk amongst yourselves and don't touch anything. >> and it's this home visit that leads to the very heart of the prosecution's case, the physical evidence against o.j. simpson. >> can you please describe the appearance of the glove, sir?

>> it appeared dark leather glove. it appeared to be somewhat moist or sticky. i didn't touch it, but it appeared that parts were sticking to other parts of the glove. >> we don't know it just yet, but detective mark fuhrman was about to take on a starring role in this unfolding role. >> now, mark fuhrman came up and told you he made some diskov ris, is that correct? >> so it was mark fuhrman who allegedly found this glove out there near kato's room? >> yes. >> and it was mark fuhrman who allegedly found this spot on the outside of the bronco, is that correct? >> they can. >> then came this unforgettable witness. >> i heard a thumping noise. >> how many did you hear if >> three. >> simpson's shaggy house guest,

kato kaelin. >> did you ever expect what was going to happen when you took the demand >> no, not at all. it was my first time in a courtroom, in my entire life. i think i was 35 at the time. >> his four days on the stand thrust him into the national spotlight. >> i even come up with a thing saying never has a man done so little to be recognized by so many. >> he said o.j.'s maid never really liked him. sure, she had to work for her room and board. >> why was he so memorable? >> he's an idiot. >> really? >> he was so full of [ bleep ]. i'm sorry. >> that's pretty harsh. >> as a matter of fact, when we were doing our deliberations, he was the no-brainer. the guy is an idiot. nothing he says with can go with or against it. he's null and void. >> i was called so many things.

i was called a celebrity. i was called a traitor. a dummy. a free loader. >> it seems like you think you were misunderstood for a long time. >> 100% misunderstood. this is something i took so serious. i was making sure i answered everything correctly. so i was in deep thought, and that was it. if you pause, people go, he's lying. he's doing this. the furthest thing from the truth. it's for me to become even more honest and answer this thing 100% honest. >> which brings us to the night of the murder. they make a mcdonald's run. about what time was it when you got home? >> about 9:40. >> he goes to his bedroom and prosecutors say simpson disappears. a crucial hour passes before he hears a loud noise outside. >> where did that noise seem to be coming from? >> from the back of the wall.

>> that, prosecutors say, is simpson hitting an exterior wall and dropping a bloody glove. at 10:55, a limo driver, waiting to take simpson to the airport, spots a black person, six feet tall, 200 pounds. >> i saw a figure come into the entranceway of the house. >> allen park says he had been buzzing the intercom since 10:40 and received no response, proving, prosecutors say, simpson had not been home. >> this time there was an answer, which was mr. simpson. he told me that he overslept and he just got out of the shower and he would be down in a minute. >> but park and kalen notice a dark beautiful bag near the rear of simpson's bentley. >> kato offered to get the bag. he said no, no, i'll get it,

i'll get it. >> so what was in the bag and what did simpson do with it? detective tom lang has a theory. >> you want to know what happened to the knife and the clothes? a witness saw him getting out of the limousine and had his arm buried in a trash container. next, with so much evidence, what went wrong? >> chris darden blew it. (patrick 1) what's it like to be the boss of you? (patrick 2) pretty great. (patrick 1) how about a 10% raise? (patrick 2) how about 20? (patrick 1) how about done? (patrick 2) that's the kind of control i like... ...and that's what they give me at national car rental. i can choose any car in the aisle i want- without having to ask anyone. who better to be the boss of you... (patrick 1)than me. i mean, you...us.

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which makes us rebels with one cause. your health. ♪ no weapons. no witnesses. but a wealth of forensic evidence. the team prosecuting o.j. simpson for murder believes they can prove he butchered ron goldman and nicole brown simpson. >> it appeared to me to be an overkill or rage killing. >> there was blood everywhere. at the bundy crime scene. at simpson's rockingham estate. and scattered along the route in between. blood, prosecutors say, is

simpson's. >> does that mean that these characteristics that mr. simpson has, that are also found in the bundy walk blood stains, are only found in approximately 1 out of 170 million caucasians or african-americans? >> yes, approximately. >> and that's not all. blood consistent with both victims was found in simpson's bronco, on that glove discovered behind his house, and on these socks in his bedroom. >> you described that material or blood staining as matching nicole brown, is that right? >> that's correct. >> and then the bloody shoe prints in the bronco and on nicole's dress. fbi expert william bozniac says the prints came from bruno mali designer shoes, in simpson's size 12.

>> can you include him as a candidate who could have worn the shoes that created the impressions in this case in >> yes, i could include him for having possibly worn those shoes. >> as the trial wears on, attention turns from socks and shoes to gloves. one found at the murder scene. the other behind simpson's house. proof, prosecutors believe, that simpson is a cold blooded killer. >> i'm handing mr. simpson the glove. >> that's people's 77? >> yes. >> what were you thinking when you heard prosecutor christopher darden request that simpson try on those gloves in >> i was sitting in the courtroom. i couldn't find a seat, so i was in the back. when he did, f. lee bailey

whispered in my head and said, why in the hell did you let him do that? i didn't let him do that. chris is a good man, a bright man, a good prosecutor, but he should have known better. >> i remember watching the gloves in the courtroom and thinking to myself, he's not going to ask o.j. to put on the glove. that's too much of a risk. you never ask a question in a courtroom, much less do a demonstration where you don't know what the outcome is. and it was like a slow motion disaster movie for the prosecution, as o.j. milked the moment for all it was worth and pretended to try on those gloves. >> christopher darden would later admit that move was a mistake. >> when it happened in court, did you know you were in trouble? >> i knew that it hadn't gone as

well as i hoped it would. >> did you regard it earth shattering to the case? >> no, not necessarily. it wasn't until i went upstairs and left the courtroom did i realize people thought it was a monumental failure, a monumental mistake. >> was it chris darden that blew this case? >> chris darden blew this case but marcia clark contributed. but he blew it. when o.j. walked in front of the jury and said, it's too small, he didn't have to testify because he already testified and he wasn't cross examined. so for us, it was a win-win. >> he appears to have put the gloves on, counsel. >> but to the juror, it didn't seem like a big deal. so o.j. simpson was right in front of you when he put on that glove. >> maybe two feet away from me. >> what do you remember from that moment? >> you know, a lot of people

make a big deal about it, but i was a truck driver. i wear gloves all the time. i know that when my gloves get wet, they shrink up. >> after 92 exhausting days of testimony, 58 witnesses, and 488 exhibits -- >> we ask the court to receive all of the people's exhibits and the people rest. >> next -- >> the lapd's lavatory is a cess pool of contamination. >> the conference unleashes a blistering attack. but i've mana. except that managing my symptoms was all i was doing. and when i finally told my doctor, he said humira is for adults like me who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. and that in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira

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we think the evidence will show that he did not, could not, would not commit these particular crimes. >> johnny cochran on the attack, and on the offensive. >> the lapd's laboratory is a cess pool of contamination. >> citing police incompetence. >> some had gloves, some didn't have gloves, picking up the evidence. >> even suggesting a conspiracy to frame o.j. simpson. >> the fact that blood mysteriously appears on vital pieces of evidence is

devastating evidence of something far more sinister. >> then came a turn no one expected. >> how about that, mr. fung! >> defense lawyer barry shek blasts the lapd criminalologist. confronting him about not wearing gloves while handling evidence, and picking apart inconsistencies in his testimony. >> so you did begin evidence collection before the coroner? >> yes. >> so what you said before wasn't true? >> it was to the best of my recollection at the time. >> what do you remember the most about fung just getting torn apart by shek? >> oh, man. >> does that refresh your recollection? >> barry shek is one heck of an attorney. he just ripped him apart.

>> you truly believe that evidence was planted? >> yes, from this day till the day i die, i think it was planted. >> who does the defense accuse of planting evidence? mark fuhrman, the same detective prosecutors say found the glove outside of simpson's home. >> did you wipe a glove in the bronco, detective fuhrman? >> no. >> you did not? >> no. >> did you ever, for a moment, believe that the police wanted to frame o.j. simpson? >> frame him? i think that was in fuhrman's mind. >> you say under oath that you have not addressed any black person as a "nigger" or spoken about black people as" niggers?"

>> that's what i'm saying. >> so anyone who says you did would be a liar if >> yes, they would. >> all of them sp >> all of them. >> i was focused on mark fuhrman, his every twitch and so forth. i had no notes. i only wanted one thing from him, denial. >> no. >> never? >> no. >> once he said never in ten years have i ever used the "n" word, i knew we had him. when he was asked that question by f. lee bailey, everybody in the world knew he was being set up by him. >> what i didn't know was, we also had him on tape. >> four months after bailey versus fuhrman, the defense gets a tip from an unlikely source. screen writer laura hart mckinney. she interviewed fuhrman for a script she was writing. a very candid conversation, all

on tape. >> he's just a real racist scum. >> now we're going to look at fuhrman and what a scum bag he is. >> fuhrman says the n word dozens of times. but judge ito decides the jury will only hear two. the excerpts are brief, yet powerful and disturbing. fuhrman tapes, you broke down and cried at that moment. why? >> because i was worried at the ramifications, because i watched them, with this look of horror and disgust and watched them turn. i was like, that's it. >> that's it. fuhrman had lied on the stand, and used a racial slur.

the defense now feels confident they have a racist who planted evidence, a charge fuhrman denies today and refused to address at the time. >> detective fuhrman, did you plant or manufacture any evidence in this case? >> i assert my fifth amendment privilege. >> he refused to answer that question on the grounds it might incriminate him. what more does anyone need? >> fuhrman is disgraced and dismissed from the case. >> there's no doubt fuhrman's a liar. >> coming up -- >> if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> the unforgettable closing arguments. looks like some folks have had it with their airline credit card miles. sometimes those seats cost a ridiculous number of miles... or there's a fee to use them. i know. it's so frustrating. they'd be a lot happier with the capital one venture card.

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late september, 1995. for nine long months, the trial of the century has been a national obsession. >> stop domestic violence! stop the code of silence. >> but a casualty of the constant hype is the freedom of 14 men and women. the jury has been sequestered hundreds of days. >> we were told it was going to be about three months. when the third month came, it

was four, then five. it just went on and on and on. >> back in court, o.j. simpson cites the juror's fatigue as one reason he's not going to testify. >> i have confidence of the integrity that they will find, as the record stands now, that i did not, could not and would not have committed this crime. >> four days later, the end is finally in sight. >> you have heard all the evidence. >> no more witnesses. no more delays. just closing arguments. first up, lead prosecutor marcia clark. >> let me come back to mark fuhrman for a minute, just so it's clear. did he lie when he testified here in this courtroom, saying that he did not use racial slurs

in the last ten years? yes. is he a racist? yes. but the fact that mark fuhrman is a racist and lied about it on the witness stand does not mean that we haven't proven the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. >> how, in this country -- >> then comes defense attorney barry shek. >> there's no doubt fuhrman is a liar and a genocidal racist, no doubt about that. there is really no doubt either that they played with this sock, is there? and if that can happen, that's a reasonable doubt to this case, period, end of sentence. end of case. >> finishing for the defense, johnny cochran, with probably the most memorable quote of the trial. >> if it doesn't fit, you just acquit. >> you have not used that word -- >> after nine months of testimony, hundreds of exhibits.

more than 260 days isolated in a hotel, jurors are finally sent to determine o.j. simpson's fate. >> thanks for joining us on a day many of you probably thought would never arrive. >> and everybody had an opinion. >> i think it's going to be a conviction. >> i would probably say hung jury. >> i believe absolutely there's sufficient evidence to acquit. >> why were you so confident he was going to be found guilty? >> i just couldn't possibly grasp the notion that, with all of the overwhelming amount of evidence against him, that they could possibly find him anything other than guilty. >> by the time jury deliberations begin, the tensions surrounding the trial is transparent.

and a clear racial division emerges. >> this idea of race was something that the defense wanted out there. they wanted that in the dialogue, because it benefited them. >> two-thirds of americans think o.j. is guilty. 77% of whites think he's guilty. 72% of blacks think he's innocent. >> based on the way this case was going along racial lines by the end of the case, that if you had a videotaped confession, and even videotape of the murder, you would have people say, i don't believe it, that tape was doctored. that's how bad it got. >> despite ram pant speculation outside the courtroom, there are only 12 opinions that really matter. >> we walked into that room, what do you want to do first? let's just see where everybody stands. we went around the room, guilty, not guilty. >> it's two votes guilty, ten

not guilty. you guys had been sequestered for nine months. you were tired. you hadn't seen your families, your kids, your friends. you wanted to get out of there. were the majority of you working hard to get those two to come on board? >> actually, no. we weren't arguing or yelling or anything like that. we just came to take another vote and the other two came on board and they said not guilty. and it wasn't because they thought he was innocent. it was because the prosecution just didn't prove it. >> he still believes the police framed o.j. >> how is it that with all this evidence against o.j. that he's set free? >> some of that stuff was planted. and when some of it was planted, what was and what wasn't?

>> how did mark fuhrman play a part in your decision when it came down to the verdict? >> quite a bit, because everything that he had anything to do with pretty much got thrown out. i knew he was dirty. after a while, you get a sense of people. >> do you truly believe that the police, the detectives, the criminalologists were as incompetent as the defense had made them out to be? >> yeah, i think so. coming up -- >> mr. simpson, would you please stand and face the jury. >> the dramatic verdict revealed. and a country divided.

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after a marathon trial, millions of people hold their breath, waiting for the verdict to come. >> how long do you think they're going to debate? >> i would be surprised if they came back in less than two weeks. >> i think at least ten days. >> you just never know. >> people always think what's going happen? nobody knows. >> another development in the o.j. simpson trial. the jurors are being brought back into the courtroom. >> but no one expected this.

>> after eight months of trial, it took the 12 jurors just four hours to reach a unanimous conclusion. >> we couldn't believe it, that it was so fast. >> it took longer to read the jury instructions than their verdict. >> simpson's fate decided, but not revealed. >> we are missing, as you can tell, several of the attorneys. i've indicated to them i will accept the verdicts tomorrow morning at 10:00. >> judge ito decides to hold the verdict until the next morning. the world would have to wait one more day. >> stunned and shocked as far as reactions go. >> october 3rd, 1995. the sun rises and everyone, everywhere is waiting, and watching. >> we were at the hotel,

standing in the suite. the television is on. looked out, no one was in the street in benchly hi beverly hi. no one was on rodeo drive, no one. >> i heard there was no crime for like two hours because everybody was waiting for the verdict. >> people around the world stopped what they're doing. the final moment in the trial of the century will be broadcast live. >> would you please stand and face the jury. >> in the matter of the people of the state of california versus orenthal james simpson, case b-097211, we the jury find the defendant not guilty of the crime of murder. >> they read it and we heard that and i just fell apart. >> they are devastated. >> it was as if your insides got

yanked out of you. everything that we knew to be certain that he had killed nicole, suddenly, wait a minute, how is that possible? >> and then our side was in shock, and then you hear the cheers, the jubilee going on, on the other side. >> not guilty -- [ screams ] >> that division came what was scene across the tvs for several days. it was blacks cheering and whites crying. >> was that verdict about murder or was it about race? >> the verdict was undeniably about race. >> the people saw what they wanted to see, and it's interest how it was divided in this case

right along racial lines. >> i'll never forget when it was over, a woman came over to me and said the verdict was like being punched in the stomach. and i said, you don't know any of the people, why was it like being punched in the stomach? she said it was as if this was my brother and sister. everybody was involved. everybody took sides. >> everyone had an opinion, and now -- how do you feel 20 years later, did he do it? >> my opinion still is i think he's guilty. that hasn't changed. i found him innocent and i believe he's innocent. >> with all your heart? >> all my heart. >> what's the one thing you can't get out of your mind 20 years later? from that trial? >> that's easy for me. son of a bitch got away with it. >> as for simpson, he returns to

his home in brentwood. but the goldman and brown families don't give up. they sue simpson for wrongful death in civil court. cameras are not allowed this time. but o.j. simpson's deposition tapes are later revealed to the world. abc's "20/20" played excerpts from the tape. the goldman family attorney questions o.j. simpson. watch as he explains the bruising on nicole's face. >> you see those bruises on her face? >> no. >> you don't see anything is >> no, i see this eye thing. >> you don't see this picture reflects bruises or marks on nicole's face? >> no, i don't. >> what do you think it reflects? >> it reflects a movie that we were doing and it's makeup. >> what about the shoes that left the bloody foot prints? >> i know if bruno makes shoes,

like that, i would have never worn those ugly ass shoes. >> he denies wearing the bruno mali shoes. but the attorney does something the prosecutors in the criminal trial never could, he proves o.j. simpson owned the very same pair of shoes. >> that is a picture of you looking at exhibit one, correct? >> it appears to be me, yes. >> you believe those are shoes you owned at that sometimetime? >> no. >> the families win millions, but o.j. simpson still leaves a free man. untilt 2007. >> simpson back in jail, accused of rounding up a middle aged posse and sticking someone up in a vegas hotel room. >> o.j. simpson was on trial again forearmed robbery and

kidnapping in nevada. but this time, a different verdict. >> the state of nevada plaintiff versus orenthal james simpson defendant, we the jury find the defendant guilty. >> exactly 13 years to the day after he was acquitted in the murders of nicole brown simpson and ron goldman, o.j. simpson is found guilty on all charges. he's sentenced to 33 years in prison. at his age, it's possible he'll spend the rest of his life behind bars. but in the eyes of lapd detective tom lang, it's for the wrong crime. does o.j. simpson deserve to rot in jail? >> not for what he's there for now, that's almost laughable. but yeah, he deserves to be in

jail for murder, for slaughtering two people. and not giving a damn one way or the other. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com he was a rising nfl star racing toward greatness. >> he was projected to be one of the best tight ends of this generation. >> he was a regular guy trying to figure out what his future would be. >> my son had a lot of love. >> then their unlikely paths cross. >> i know. i am sorry mom, but your son was shot and killed. >> tonight, the evidence. >> he said he was innocent.