1994 Simpson's ex-wife Nicole and her boyfriend Goldman were found dead at home. Simpson, who has a violent criminal record, was locked up as a wife-killing suspect for trial. However, because the evidence provided by the prosecution and witnesses failed to convince the jury, Simpson was finally acquitted with 1995. But many Americans insist that "even God saw Simpson's blood kill his wife, but the law didn't see it, so Simpson is innocent". This high-profile trial in the United States is called the "trial of the century" and is one of the most controversial cases in contemporary America.
However, it is reported that Simpson will now tell the details of his "wife killing" in a hypothetical tone in a two-hour TV interview. His book "If I did it" is also called "wife killing book" by public opinion. It is reported that Simpson has been acquitted because of the "double jeopardy" principle of the American judicial system. No matter how sensational he exaggerates the details of his murder in the book, he will not be prosecuted again for the same case.
Some British media commented that although Simpson was acquitted, in the eyes of many Americans, he was the murderer. American News Group, which planned and published Simpson's Wife Killing Book, was criticized by public opinion. Some critics say that publishing Simpson's "wife-killing book" is a mercenary move regardless of social justice. Simpson's book is tantamount to admitting the fact that he denied it in disguise in court, and it is also a challenge to American judicial justice.
However, these critics may be only half right. There were many arguments about the right and wrong of Simpson's case at that time and later. The publication of Simpson's Wife Killing Book is of course mercenary for publishers, but it is also a supplement to clarify the historical truth. It is not a bad thing if the result of "challenging the judiciary" can promote the progress of the judiciary.
165438+1On October 20th, Murdoch, the "boss" of News Corporation, finally stood up and publicly apologized, announcing the cancellation of the TV interview and book publishing plan about Simpson, and apologizing for the harm that these plans might bring to the Simpson victims.
With Murdoch's apology, this "wife-killing book" farce has also entered a state of shock. However, this "past" more than 10 years ago still left us a lot of aftertaste. ...
Simpson
James Simpson, an American football superstar, was born in a poor black family in San Francisco from 65438 to 0947. After he participated in the football match, he won the Heisman Award, which is the highest honor award in the National College Football League. Later, Simpson entered the professional league, and successively served as the main force for the new york Buffalo Hawk Mouth Team and the San Francisco Gold Miners Team, creating an amazing record of sprinting 2,003 yards with the ball in a season, which has not been broken so far and is regarded as the best running forward in the history of professional football.
After retiring from sports, Simpson devoted himself to movies, television and advertisements, and played the leading role in the film. Simpson plays a black policeman in Cassandra Bridge released in China. He is also a sports commentator for ABC and NBC. As the ambassador of Hertz, the largest taxi company in America.
Simpson's struggle history is a typical American dream. He was born in a black slum, his parents are nobody, and he suffers from rickets. However, with his sports talent, Simpson has become a hero, sports star and Hollywood movie star in the hearts of Americans, and is almost a household name in the United States.
1977, Simpson fell in love with a beautiful blonde 18-year-old white waitress Nicole in an upscale restaurant, and soon divorced her first black wife. After Simpson married Nicole on 1985, because Nicole suspected that he had a mistress outside, Simpson also suspected that Nicole was having an affair with a male model. Nicole repeatedly called the police and accused Simpson of punching and kicking her.
1In March, 992, Simpson and Nicole divorced. Since then, they have often made public appearances together and even continued to live together. 1June, 994 12, Nicole and her boyfriend Goldman were both killed in their apartment in Los Angeles. After the incident, Simpson was the first murder suspect locked by the police. He was arrested and sent to court. The case was full of twists and turns, culminating in Simpson's dramatic acquittal.
The "century trial" is still confusing.
"Trial of the Century", "black" and "white" are reversed.
1995 10/0.3, morning of American western time10, when the Simpson verdict was about to be announced, the whole country came to a standstill. It is said that President Clinton pushed aside military affairs at this time; Former Secretary of State Baker postponed the speech; Trading on wall street is light; Long distance telephone lines are silent. Thousands of policemen are armed to the teeth and are all over the streets of Los Angeles. According to CNN statistics, about 654.38+400 million Americans watched or listened to the final verdict of "Trial of the Century".
The jury found Simpson not guilty.
After the Simpson trial, the prosecution produced 723 pieces of evidence, including a mountain of blood evidence; The defense refuted "insufficient evidence" with 392 pieces of evidence. A strong defense accused the police officer in charge of the case of using insulting words against blacks; In addition, some people in the police station deliberately planted Simpson and fabricated evidence of racial prejudice. During the trial, Simpson was unable to wear "killing gloves" in full view of the public, and a pair of socks stained with Simpson's and his ex-wife's blood as important evidence of the police proved to be laboratory products, which stunned the jury.
After 460 days of acrimony between the prosecution and the defense, Simpson was finally acquitted by the jury, and the most famous murder trial in American history came to an end. More than 65,438+0,000 journalists interviewed the case. The American news media called the Simpson trial "the trial of the century" and was rated as one of the "1995 Top Ten News in the World" by the Associated Press.
After the verdict was read, a white woman burst into tears and sighed, "America is finished." In the black residential areas, blacks cheered, sang and danced to celebrate the victory. At that time, President Clinton asked the American people to respect the verdict of the jury.
A year later, the civil division of the California High Court began to hear the case. Four months later, the jury found Simpson responsible for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole and her boyfriend, and ordered Simpson to compensate Goldman's parents for $8.5 million. Five days later, the same jury again awarded Simpson $25 million in punitive damages. In this way, he has to pay a total of $33.5 million in civil liability. Simpson immediately moved to Florida, where laws can protect his property from compensation. It is reported that Simpson has never lost a penny so far, but the huge lawyer fees and the collapse of personality have exhausted Simpson.
The diametrically opposite results of criminal trial and civil trial are attributed by some critics to the composition of the jury: the nine members of the jury in the civil trial are all white, while the jury in the criminal trial is composed of nine blacks, two whites and 1 Hispanic.
After the criminal verdict came out, prosecutor Clark once said: Although liberals are unwilling to admit this, it is impossible for a jury led by blacks to make a fair judgment on such cases. This remark caused an uproar in the media, and the degree of media coverage and ratings greatly overshadowed President Clinton's State of the Union address that day.
It is said that after the verdict of this case, whites and blacks in the streets of Los Angeles and other places even parted ways, and even blacks and whites working in the same department also became estranged.
"Kill your wife and publish a book."
Do not distinguish between true and false.
The mystery of Simpson's "after-the-case case" is probably Simpson's autobiography: If I Did It, which is about to be published by the publisher of American News Group.
Reagan, the publisher, has recently been criticized by all sides for agreeing to publish this book. Reagan argued that she was willing to publish Simpson's book because she was a victim of domestic violence, and she felt that the proceeds of the book would go to Simpson's children. Reagan said that Simpson found her and put forward the idea of publishing a book. In this book, Simpson will put forward in an imaginary way how he would do it if he was involved in the murder.
Although Reagan admitted that Simpson did not directly say that he killed his ex-wife and her ex-boyfriend, she thought this book would be Simpson's confession.
An American newspaper has disclosed part of this book to the public in advance and described this autobiography as a "blockbuster". According to people who have read this book, Simpson's murder scene described in the book is "so real that no one will doubt that he is telling the truth". Therefore, American public opinion is generally dissatisfied with Simpson's new book release and American media hype. Nicole's sister said that Reagan Bookstore was encouraging "the arrogance of criminals" by publishing such books.
The practice of Reagan Bookstore has attracted a lot of criticism in the American publishing industry. Authorities believe that "this is not for the public to listen to a story, its real purpose is to make money", which is "disgusting". Many large bookstores claim that they are likely to refuse to accept this "notorious new book". Some American TV media, including NBC, refused to broadcast Simpson's interview on TV. The families of the victims and the press and publication circles said that this was a challenge to the American judicial system.
In the face of surging public criticism, American News Group had to cancel the Simpson plan. President Murdoch issued a statement saying, "The senior management and I agree with the criticism of the American people on this inappropriate plan." "We are very sorry for the pain caused to the families of the victims."
However, it is reported that although the listing of If I Want was cancelled, some books have been shipped to bookstores all over the country. Some media speculate that even if the interview is not broadcast on TV, the interview that has been done may appear on the Internet at any time.
Keywords "Xin case"
"nigger"
In the Simpson trial, the prosecution's "star witness" officer foreman was the most suspicious and unlucky person. During the trial of the case, the defense set up a toll-free hotline, and it was found that the police officer made many extremely bad racist remarks. The defense lawyer also received a recording of a female playwright interviewing foreman many times in 10. In the recorded conversation, whenever black people are mentioned, Officer Foreman always uses the insulting name "nigger", * * * as many as 4 1 time. Foreman also boasted: "I am a key witness in the major case of the century. If I don't help the prosecution hold on, they will lose this major lawsuit. Blood gloves decide everything. If there are no gloves, goodbye and stop playing. " Defense lawyers called Foreman "a racist who supported the policy of genocide, a perjury guy, America's worst nightmare, the incarnation of the devil".
After the Xin case ended, the Los Angeles District Attorney relentlessly filed a lawsuit against Officer Foreman. Results He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for perjury and executed outside prison.
"There can only be one bug in the noodles."
The Simpson case is quite dramatic. Some media believe that the police have enough evidence to prove that Simpson killed his ex-wife and her boyfriend, but in order to make the case more "bloody", they foolishly forged a pair of socks stained with Simpson and his murdered ex-wife Nicole. It was this pair of socks that were finally proved by the defendant to be laboratory products, and the jury was in an uproar.
There is a famous evidence rule in American law: "There can only be one bug in noodles". This is an image metaphor: when anyone finds a bug in his noodle bowl, he will never look for the second one again, but will only throw out the whole bowl of noodles. Some critics believe that even if the police get a lot of evidence to prove Simpson guilty, as long as one of the evidence, such as this sock, is illegally obtained, all the evidence will not be accepted by the court. Therefore, although Clark, the female prosecutor of the prosecution, made a generous speech in her concluding speech, which touched a large audience, she did not impress the jury and unanimously ruled that the defendant was not guilty.
"beyond reasonable doubt"
Some experts believe that the key to Simpson's innocence lies in the fact that in the American judicial system, the conviction standard adopted in criminal cases is "excluding reasonable doubt". This term contains an extremely important principle: because life and death are of paramount importance in criminal cases, the jury does not have to be convinced of the defendant's innocence when declaring innocence. As long as the evidence presented by the prosecution is flawed, it cannot meet the strict standard of "excluding reasonable doubt". Although there are many signs that the defendant is suspected of committing a crime, the jury can still acquit the defendant.
For "beyond reasonable doubt", Professor Wigmore, the authority of American evidence law, thinks that the meaning of this legal term is "elusive and undefined". However, this term contains an extremely important principle: since human life is a matter of life in a criminal case, the jury does not have to be convinced of the defendant's innocence when deciding innocence. As long as the evidence presented by the prosecution is flawed and fails to meet the strict standard of "excluding reasonable doubt", the jury can still acquit the defendant, although there are many signs that the defendant is suspected of committing a crime. Some people say that an important feature of the judicial system in the United States is that "it is better to miss a thousand nets than to wronged one person." The media called this statement "extremely vivid."
"If the gloves don't fit, acquit him."
There is a very important material evidence in Simpson's case of killing his wife: a pair of gloves stained with blood. But when Simpson showed the gloves to the jury, he found that the gloves didn't fit his hands. Later, Johnny Koklen, a famous American black lawyer and defender of Samplin, famously said, "If the gloves don't fit, you must acquit him."
Some legal experts pointed out that it was this sentence that caused a shocking reversal of Simpson's case. Soon, the court acquitted Simpson. And his sentence has since become a classic dialogue that Americans often quote.
Koklen was born in 1937. His great-grandfather was a slave and his father was an insurance salesman. When he was a child, he loved to argue. In high school, he did well in the debate class. After graduating from high school, he entered UCLA and later obtained a law degree. Cochrane died of a brain tumor in Los Angeles on March 29th, 2005 at the age of 67.