ORENTHAL JAMES SIMPSON

Again this will be something of a departure from my normal essay. This subject is not political nor is it financial. No, it is none of those things. This is a personal thing with me.

I followed O.J. when he was at USC. I watched with awe his prowess as a runner of the football. I watched as he then moved up to the NFL. Of course with the initials O.J. he acquired the nickname “the Juice”. For years I thought no one would ever compare as a runner. He would seem to explode through the secondary and no one could catch him. Toward the end of his career he was sought out for movie roles and television commercials. Remember the airport runs for some car rental company I think. I only remember O.J. not what he was pitching.

Then one day, I was fishing at a lake in central Washington, the news reported his ex-wife’s murder and that of a young man who was bringing her glasses home from a restaurant. I, along with I suppose the world, was shocked. O.J. was in Chicago it was reported.

I won’t bore you with a rehashing of the details that followed, the investigation, the attempted arrest, and of course the infamous slow car chase in the white Bronco. Then came the trial. Ah yes, the trial. A.K.A the trial of the century. I watched virtually every minute of the trial.

No person of reasonable intelligence given the testimony and evidence presented at trial could find any verdict but guilty. Guilty of murder. There was never any doubt. He not only murdered his ex-wife and the young man, Ron Goldman, but he did it viciously and with his own children upstairs asleep in their beds.

The jury found another way. O.J.’s legal team figured out a way to nullify the jury and thus subvert the justice system. This cold blooded killer was then released back on a society that for the most part didn’t seem to care.

Most of you know the rest of the story, how he went looking for the real killers on the golf course. He had minor scrapes with the local law enforcement in Florida, but for the most part he stayed out of trouble.

Then the inevitable happened. His arrogance got the best of him. He decided that he was going to retrieve what he said was his property from some so-called memorabilia dealers. To insure his success, he called together a group of thugs with guns and stormed the room and took possession of this memorabilia. Sadly for this moron, everything was on tape. Everything was recorded. O.J. was arrested along with his co-conspirators. Most of his thug friends took the prosecutor up on his offer to turn states evidence and confess. They got reduced sentences.

O.J.’s arrogance once again got in the way. He probably thought, “Hey, I got away with murder, this should be no sweat.” He was wrong. This time the jury found him guilty on all counts. Last Friday he was sentenced to thirty three years in prison. He won’t even be eligible for parole for nine years.

You may wonder how this is personal to me. It is because I was so greatly disillusioned by the trial of the century. I watched as a media star with money, along with the help of his (dream team high dollar) lawyers, made a mockery of the police department of Los Angeles, the Judicial System of Los Angeles County, and the entire jury process. Not only was I disillusioned but I lost confidence in the judicial system. I frankly haven’t gotten over it yet and probably never will.

But, here’s what I know now. This arrogant murderer will probably never again breathe free air. He will be warehoused in a cage for the rest of his miserable life. It is my hope that he sees his dead victim’s bloody faces every time he tries to close his eyes.

Now the media circus is over. The main clown is in prison. I also hope the media just forgets that O.J. ever lived or became a star. That is what I intend to do.

Ron Scarbro December 6, 2008