this is "nightline." >> tonight the sensational court case that rivets america more than 20 years later. >> not. what we're learning about the trial of the century with new insight from the familiar names and faces who made history. >> plus way before kate lycaitl jenn jenner, there was jazz. a heart to heart with jazz on fame, her fight on the bathroom wars front that began long before we heard about it, and what jazz has to say about growing up. and even the vice president joining the rising chorus of those in solidarity. >> to girls everywhere. >> i am with you. >> with the stanford sexual assault survivor, almost two dozen who say they too are

survivors, coming forward tonightlit to "nightline." tonight, the "nightline" five. >> celebrate all dad does. save up to 50% on shorts, tees and swim wear. get 10 off when you spend 25 or more with coupon. get your penny's worth. >> tired of redosing in one tablet, try duo fusion from the makers of zantac wannwith sodastreamter? you turn plain water into sparkling water

in seconds. and because it's so delicious, you'll drink 43% more water every day. sodastream. love your water. enthal. it is the courtroom saga that has entranced america for decades.

tonight we're gaining new insights into the o.j. simpson trial, including some surprising tactics by the defense. thanks to a documentary project. here's my "nightline" co-anchor. >> when you would walk up the grand staircase, there was a large wall with pictures of the family, pictures of friends. >> reporter: tonight a rare look inside o.j.'s infamous rocking ham estate. >> the problem was the overwhelming majority of pictures were of caucasian friends. >> reporter: yes, there was the glove. >> if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> reporter: but there was also this long forgotten trip the jury took to o.j.'s house. the jurors, nine african americans, eight of them women. >> we took all his white friends down, put all his black people up. pictures he'd probably never seen before. we made him blacker.

>> reporter: o.j.'s agent and defense attorney speaking out on the plan to sway the jury, ruling on the brutal murders of his wife and ron goldman. the lead prosecutor said she on the objected time and again to blatant defense tactics. >>. >> she said, you know he's never had this many black people on his wall in his entire life. i said marsha, what are you talking about? how dare you accuse us of such things. if we had a latin jury, we would have had a picture of him with a mariakhi band. >> there's a documentary, o.j. made in america, exploring bitter race relations plaguing lapd for decades. >> reporter: so many americans say there's racism in this country, police brutality, and

yet o.j. simpson used those facts to get away with murder. >> the defense team did. the defense team's job is to use all the arrows in their quiver. >> reporter: did the defen team cross a line ethically? >> they crossed iter time they walked into court. every single time. >> reporter: what was the most egregious? >> i think the extreme nature of the way in which race was injected went too far. >> reporter: you get this allegation a lot. you were amoral and crossed ethical line and lost your moral compass. >> i take great umbrage with that perspective. there was a judge calling balls and strikes. it's my job to push. >> even though it's been more than two decades, the o.j. case continues to fascinate. >> i'm trying to win. >> reporter: this year alone there was a made for tv drama. >> i'm not black i'm o.j. >> reporter: the hit fx menini

series, and then a glimpse of o.j. today, locked behind bars for the last eight years for robbery. a shadow of the young man who once graced the covers of magazines. >> at the university of southern california, they have a living legend. >> reporter: and who won a heisman for his agile moves. >> when you saw him on campus, it was like wow, there's o.j. >> reporter: a celebrity who didn't just cross color lines. he seemed to erase them. >> he was one of my heros. >> reporter: he was one of the first black men to be fully accepted in white america. >> nobody does it better than hearse. >> reporter: no black athlete had ever been on tv hocking products. he had deals before he played in the nfl. >> reporter: he played with the buffalo bills, unstoppable, even by a young abc reporter, peter

jennings. his legendary history by abuse and a murder. and the moment she said she tried to stop from happening. >> o.j. struggling to put on the gloves. >> i didn't want to do it. i on jektded. i said they've shrunk. the rest is history. >> reporter: a member of the defense dubbed the dream team. >> it's part of our efforts to prove an innocent man has been falsely accused. >> reporter: tens of millions of americans were riveted by the unfolding drama, but for the prosecutor, it was a much more personal attack on her appearance and her curly hair. >> i was sure the jury didn't care about my hair. the focus was the judge. to the extent the judge treats me like less than, the jury

takes their cue from him, and so it would be mr. cochran and shapiro and marsha. >> reporter: every move in the courtroom scrutinized. >> reporter: you said o.j. was the quarterback, not the running back. >> there were occasions when he came over to make sure his questions were asked. i remember during the closiing arguments he took notes making sure that his attorneys would hit his points that he thought was important. and o.j. know how things played. >> reporter: and that played out in the courtroom was the racial tension outside the courtroom. >> reporter: his famous quote was i'm not black. i'm o.j. he achieved a colorlessness, and yet, when he was charged with murder, he used his racial identity as his defense. >> that's sort of one of the great ironies of the story. >> we were playing the evidence card. we were playing the credibility card where the credibility of

the central witness was at issue. >> reporter: when audiotape surfaced of the police officer who found the bloody glove ranting racial slurs -- it was seen as a touchdown for the defense. >> reporter: who says things like that? it was so foul. it was so despicable that it was nauseating to listen to. >> it was like mana from heaven. it was, indeed, a gift. >> when you heard the tapes did you think this is a get out of jail free card? >> it was a block buster. we knew that some of the things that he was talking about would resonate with this jury. >> reporter: after nine grueling months of testimony, the jury reached a verdict in a matter of hours zblc hours. >> we find the defendant not. >> it was very painful. two innocent people were brutally murdered, and i just

thought no one cares. no one cares, and it was extremely heart breaking. >> reporter: did you lose your faith in the criminal justice system? >> i did, and it wasn't just the verdict. it was watching the insanity of the circus every single day. i couldn't get the judge to pick up the reigns at any point in the trial, and watching somebody like that happen, it's like i have nothing left to believe in. i can't do this. >> reporter: but life after the not verdict was not as orng may have imagined. he was found liable in a civil trial and had to pay money to the families. >> we have justice for ron and nick coal. >> o.j. wanted nothing more than to be beloved by all of america. >> reporter: and get, that's most of what he lost after the verdict, because he was no longer accepted in white america. >> and i think that really sent

him into a tail spin. >> reporter: o.j. left brent wood for florida. even starring in his own prank tv show, "juiced". here posing as a used car salesman. >> there's no bodies in this thing. the car has escapability. >> reporter: and a baffling attempt to steal back his own memorabilia, this time a different sounding verdict landing him in prison with a 33 year sentence for robbery. >> that must feel like a vindication for you? >> he's not serving time for the murders. that's what would be vindicating. >> reporter: the former prosecutor has since left the courtroom fulfilling the childhood dream of becoming a novelist. >> i think it's really nice to be understood. it's really nice. >> you can catch the first

installment of o.j. made in america on abc this saturday night at 9:00 eastern an the rest on our sister network, e espn next week. and next, she's jazzed. and clearer skin. this is my body of proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis with humira. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. humira is the number #1 prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure.

before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. want more proof? ask your rheumatologist about humira. what's your body of proof? get your own liquid gold. go on, git! there's gold in them thar shells. liquid gold. ♪ ♪

♪ take on the unexpected with a car that could stop for you. nissan safety shield technologies, available in the altima, sentra and maxima.

long before caitlyn jenner catapulted transgender into the spotlight, there was jazz, and now a new chapter.

here's abc's deborah roberts. >> what bathroom do do you use? >> i use the female rest rooms because i am female. >> i think it's a sick thing. >> reporter: this is the kind of prejudice jazz jennings says she's been fighting most of her life. >> it's just a bathroom, and it's not that important. we should just get over it and not create problems that don't exist and move on. >> reporter: the question over which public bathrooms transgender people can use has set off a fiery debate. for jazz, the 15-year-old star of the tlc reality show, i am jazz, it's a familiar struggle. >> i'm a girl inside but not fully on the outside. >> reporter: ten years ago when jazz was in kindergarten, her school refused to let her use the girl's restroom. >> in the second grade i snuck into the girl's bathroom. i got in trouble from the

librarian. this was the first time i realized i was being treated differently because i was transgender. >> reporter: she later made a video employee to the president. >> i'm not different from anybody else, and can i lock the door and make sure they don't walk in. >> reporter: jazz won that fight. her willingness to take on others has made her one of the most recognizable transgender teens in the country. jazz says she felt like a girl for as long as she can remember. >> when i was four, i was at a dance recital, and all the other girls were wearing tutus, and i had to wear a pair of shorts. i was devastated. i wanted to look like a other girls. i stared at my mom. she knew i was struggling. >> reporter: that was a turning point for you and your mom? >> she was able to let me express myself as a girl like i wanted. >> reporter: it hasn't been easy. she shares her life in a new

memoir. jazz first stepped into the spotlight at age six in this revealing interview with barbara walters. one of the first transgender kids to step out of the shadows. >> if people say to you, are you a boy or a girl, what do you say? >> a girl. >> reporter: when "nightline" met her last year, she showed us the implant in her arm that stops her body from going through male puberty. >> if i get the surgery, i will have my testicles removed and i won't need anymore blockers. >> reporter: today she's gettingegetting estrogen. do you ever find yourself looking at your sister and thinking you have it all. you have it together. >> i have bigger bobs than her now.

>> reporter: her openness endeared her to many. long before caitlyn jenner, there was jazz jennings. how different do you think you are in terms of your journey? >> she grew up at a different time, at a place where sharing those feelings could get you in big trouble. it was harder for her, i imagine, but the fact that she was still able to come out and be her true self is a brave thing. i'm happy for her. >> reporter: jazz is determined to educate about tolerance. she held a town hall with supporters and opponents alike to discuss her children's book about transgender kids, following a controversy that made headlines when a conservative group threatened to sue an elementary school that scheduled a reading of her book. this shows the family confronting bias aimed at them. >> so basically you're trying to bane wash some of these kids? >> reporter: why was it important to confront them?

>> i felt it was important to do so. pull back the curtain and see what's back there. >> doesn't it make her into a freak when you give her the hormones and she's the other. >> i wanted to jump out of my chair and take her on. >> i prevented her from doing that. >> if i didn't feel comfortable in my body, it would be harder for me to live. >> i apologize if i insulted you, but i have difficulty with the issue of having everything. >> that's okay, but when you call me a freak, it takes it to another level. >> she handled it more mature than i did. >> reporter: in addition to public bttattles, she's reveali a private one. she was diagnosed with depression in middle school. this first year of high school has been rough. how dark did it get? >> i was at a place where i felt no self-worth. i didn't want to do anything. >> i'd say where is my little

girl? come back to me. she was taken over by another person. >> reporter: do you think her public journey has caused her to grow up fast? >> when you're faced with discrimination as a young kid, it takes away some of your youth. >> it's hard for me to talk to my friends about drama. i'm looking at the broader picture of life. they're talking about jake broke up with kelly, and that is not relevant in 20 years for my life. that's my motto. will it matter in 20 years? >> reporter: they say there's less darkness and more light these days with jazz motivated more than ever to be a public voice for transgender youth. >> sometimes we even get messages from kids who said that they were going to commit suicide but they decided not to because they thought about the messages that my family was sharing. it's such an incredible feeling knowing that you're able to save a life just by sharing your story. >> i love you.

>> reporter: deborah roberts in new york for "nightline." next, the rising tide of words and sport fortunate woman at the center of the stanford sexual assault case. if yo...well do i haveen it all, a surprise for you. it's red lobster's new lobster and shrimp summerfest! with the lobster and shrimp... ...you love in so many new dishes, you're gonna wanna try... ...every last one. like the new coastal lobster & shrimp. with a wood-grilled lobster tail,

...wild-caught red shrimp crusted with panko, ...and shrimp fresh off the grill and brushed with... ...summer ale bbq sauce. or try the new lobster & shrimp overboard, ...because when a dish can wow you like this, ...overboard's the only way to describe it. but hurry, this ends soon. text mom. i'll be right back. be good. boys have been really good today. send. let's get mark his own cell phone. nice. send. brad could use a new bike. send. [google] message. you decide. they're your kids. why are you guys texting grandma? it was him. it was him. keep your family connected. app-connect. on the redesigned passat. from volkswagen. don't let dust and allergies get and life's beautiful moments. with flonase allergy relief, they wont. most allergy pills only control one inflammatory substance. flonase controls six. and six is greater than one. flonase changes everything.

finally here tonight, the young woman at the center of a sexual assault case making national headlines has a powerful new ally. the vice president showing his support for the young woman sexually assaulted by a star athlete at stanford. her letter to an attacker read aloud in open court has gone viral. today the vice president says i do not know your name, but your words are forever sered on my soul, and i am filled with furious anger both that this happened to you but that our country is so broken that you were put in this position. so far she has said she's every woman. >> you have been inside me, and that's why we're here today.

>> reporter: to help give voice to her letter, "nightline" collected these videos from 22 others who say they too have survived sexual assault. >> and to girls everywhere, i am with you. >> on nights when you feel alone, i am with you. >> when people doubt you or dismiss you, i am with you. >> reporter: and you can watch the full video on our "nightline" facebook page and on abc news.com.c it's very much worth watching. good night nichlt night