OJ Simpson

OJ Simpson
O. J. Simpson (1990)
Position (s): running back	Jersey number (s): 32
born July 9, 1947 in San Francisco , California
Career information
Active : 1969 - 1979
NFL Draft : 1969 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st
College : USC
Teams
Buffalo Bills (1969–1977) San Francisco 49ers (1978–1979)
Career statistics
Running game	11,236 yards
average	4.7 yards per run
Touchdowns	61
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Career highlights and awards
Heisman Trophy (1968) 6 × Pro Bowl (1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 ) 5 × AP First-Team All-Pro (1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976) 4 × NFL Rushing Champion (1972, 1973, 1975, 1976) Pro Bowl MVP (1972) NFL MVP (1973) NFL 1970s All-Decade Team NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team College Football Hall of Fame (1983) Pro Football Hall of Fame (1985)
Pro Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame

Orenthal James Simpson (* 9 July 1947 in San Francisco , California ) is a former American American football poker players and actors . Simpson also gained worldwide attention in 1994 through the suspicion of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her acquaintance Ronald Goldman. Of importance in the criminal case against OJ Simpson was the DNA evidence against him and the circumstances in which it came about. In 2008, he was convicted of armed robbery and hostage-taking guilty and to a 33-year prison sentence in Lovelock Correctional Center in the State of Nevada sentenced with dismissal option ( Parole ) after at least nine years. After nine years, he was released on parole on October 1, 2017.

Life and family

Orenthal James Simpson is the son of Jimmy Lee Simpson (born January 29, 1920 , † June 9, 1986 ) and Eunice Simpson, née Durden (born October 23, 1921 , † November 9, 2001 ). He grew up with three siblings. In 1952 his parents divorced. Although he wore greaves until he was five due to rickets , he developed extraordinary athletic talent and received scholarships from numerous sports schools. After graduating from high school, he studied at the University of Southern California and started his professional career in New York based on his early successes in American football. As a teenager he joined the street gang “Persian Warriors” in San Francisco and was then imprisoned in 1960 for a week. On June 24, 1967, he married Marguerite L. Whitley. This marriage resulted in three children, born in 1968, 1970 and 1977. In August 1979, his daughter, born in 1977, drowned in the family pool. Shortly thereafter, Simpson and Marguerite, who had been separated since 1978, divorced.

Surprisingly, he resigned from professional football a short time later and worked as a sports commentator. Attempts as a golf player brought Simpson no success. However, he became a popular advertising figure for car rental company Hertz .

In 1985 he married Nicole Brown, whom he had met seven years earlier. She took on the double name Brown Simpson. This marriage resulted in two children born in 1985 and 1988. In his second marriage, OJ Simpson showed himself to be an extremely jealous husband. Nicole Brown Simpson told family friends several times that she had been beaten by her husband. On May 24, 1989, OJ was sentenced to social service and a fine and a two-year suspended sentence for mistreating his wife. In October 1992, OJ Simpson and Nicole Brown were divorced.

American football

OJ Simpson was one of the best running backs in the 1970s, both in college and later with the pros in the National Football League . Simpson's nickname "The Juice" comes from the abbreviation of his first name O. J. = Orange Juice . His nickname is also a synonym for his fluid running style.

college

He spent his college years at the University of Southern California (USC). Together with his university colleagues, he set a new world record over 4 × 110 yards on June 17, 1967, which was also a world record over 4 × 100 m . He then won the Heisman Trophy there in 1968 - the highest honor in college football . He played with his team, the USC Trojans , three times in the Rose Bowl , in 1968 his team won the title 14: 3 against Indiana University Bloomington . Simpson's performance in the running game was phenomenal - he averaged 171 yards of space per game.

NFL

In 1969, O. J. Simpson was the first player to be selected in the 1969 NFL Draft - by the Buffalo Bills . Against his will, Simpson was repeatedly used as a kick-off and punt returner by his trainer John Rauch . The mediocre team of the Bills did not improve in the period that followed, while Simpson was seriously injured on a return and threatened his career. His new coach Harvey Johnson had an understanding and from 1971 Simpson used his skills. After another coach change to Lou Saban Simpson developed from 1972 to a top player. In 1973, he became the first National Football League player to break the 2,000-yard mark in one season. He played at the Bills for almost all of his professional time. In 1978 he went to the San Francisco 49ers for two seasons before ending his career. During his career he scored 13,378 yards and 61 touchdowns in the regular season .

Honors

In 1985 O. J. Simpson became the first Heisman Trophy winner (1968), who was also elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (election year 1985). O. J. Simpson is to this day the NFL record holder with six games in which he ran over 200 yards. Simpson was named NFL Most Valuable Player in 1973 and 1975 and received the Bert Bell Award in 1973 . In the same year he was also honored with the Associated Press' Athlete of the Year award . He played six times in the Pro Bowl and has been a member of the College Football Hall of Fame since 1983 .

Acting career

During his career as an athlete, Simpson played in feature films and television films from the late 1960s. This included, for example, successful productions such as Roots or Capricorn . He played one of the leading roles in the television series California Bulls between 1986 and 1991. In particular, through his role as Detective Nordberg in the three Die-Nackte-Kanone film comedies with Leslie Nielsen , he became known beyond the borders of the United States. His last feature film was released in 1994.

Processes

Murder trial

→ Main article: Criminal trial against OJ Simpson

In 1994 he was charged with the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson , from whom he was divorced in 1992, and her acquaintance Ronald Goldman.

As the main suspect, O. J. Simpson fled in a white Ford Bronco from Los Angeles police who were about to arrest him. The chase across Beverly Hills on June 17, 1994 was broadcast live on a US television station, although the National Basketball Association's final series was taking place at the same time , and David Hasselhoff's first live appearance was to be broadcast on US television. It was the first real chase to be broadcast live by helicopter.

In a trial that was also broadcast live on US television, the jury acquitted him on October 3, 1995. Whether the question of the extent to which the American racial conflicts played a role in the process, he was under great media and public pressure. There were demonstrations and looting. Against this background, Simpson's lawyer, Johnnie Cochran , succeeded in presenting various unilaterally determined facts as a conspiracy against his client, which he demonstrated in particular on the basis of racist statements by the chief investigator. The decisive trigger for the acquittal was then a bloody glove, which was named by the investigating police authorities as the perpetrator's clothing, but Simpson did not fit when trying on in the courtroom.

The appreciation of the DNA analyzes as evidence was considered by some experts to be too little. The blood on the glove discovered in Simpson's garden came from the murdered Ron Goldman, according to an expert opinion. The socks found in Simpson's bedroom were found to have traces of blood from the ex-wife who was killed. Conversely, traces of blood that could be attributed to O. J. Simpson were found on the property of the murdered.

The acquittal for Simpson therefore sparked criticism of the American judicial system at the time: the prosecutor and defense attorney vied for the favor of jury who, as lay judges, decided on the guilt of the accused. According to the critics, they often lacked knowledge and experience in connection with the calculation of probability, the reliability of testimony and other factors essential for finding evidence in court. It is therefore not uncommon for lawyers on both sides to try to reach the jury on an emotional rather than a factual level and deliberately rely on them not correctly understanding the factual evidence.

In the Simpson trial, the DNA traces found were the decisive evidence. Their presentation and analysis in the process, however, was a dry matter, tiresome for the jury, while the trying on of the glove was more vivid. In addition, the majority of the hearing before the mainly African-American jury revolved around the alleged and real racism of the investigators.

Civil litigation

Despite the acquittal in the criminal process , a civil court sentenced Simpson in February 1997 to pay a total of 33.5 million US dollars in damages to the bereaved. This was possible because the acquittal in the criminal process was not binding on the civil process. Since pension payments and real estate that the defendant lives in cannot be seized in Florida, the claim has not yet been enforced.

Convicted of armed robbery

Later, Simpson was in prison Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock ( Nevada on). He was sentenced to a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 33 years in prison in 2008 after he and accomplices in Las Vegas forced two collectors of fan articles to hand over memorabilia at gunpoint on September 13, 2007. On September 16, 2007, he was arrested for this. US media broadcast recordings of a tape of unknown origin on which Simpson accused the collectors of stealing these collectibles from him. Simpson was found guilty on all charges and sentenced on December 5, 2008 to 33 years in prison for armed robbery and hostage-taking. After nine years at the earliest, i.e. in 2017, he was given the chance to be fired because of good conduct. In 2010 Simpson appealed unsuccessfully ; it was dismissed as unfounded by the Nevada State Supreme Court on October 22, 2010. A retrial before the criminal court in Las Vegas also failed.

On October 1, 2017, Simpson was released early from prison. After nearly nine years in prison, the remainder of his sentence was suspended.

book

For November 2006 an interview was announced on the US broadcaster Fox , in which Simpson wanted to advertise his new book If I Did It . Simpson describes in this book how he would have acted as a possible murderer of Nicole Brown Simpson and what he would have felt.

In response to this announcement, Ron Goldman's father called for a boycott of Fox and publisher HarperCollins . In a CNN interview, he said he was deeply disappointed with Fox and HarperCollins for trying to make such profit from the murders. As a result, the planned interview was canceled and the publication of the book was withdrawn. The parent company News Corporation had all printed copies destroyed. The media entrepreneur Rupert Murdoch personally apologized to the relatives of the families.

Some copies of the book had already been delivered to the book trade but were reclaimed. Apparently a few copies escaped this recall. At the online bookseller Amazon, the book entered the top 20 straight away due to pre-orders. One example was sold on eBay . The price rose to $ 1,600 within three hours. However, the auction platform banned the auction. However, the distribution of the online version of the book could not be stopped; it is now available for download on the Internet from various sites and file sharing sites.

As Simpson continued to refuse to pay the $ 33.5 million to the bereaved, a judge from the Goldman family awarded the rights to If I Did It in March 2007 . It was released on September 13, 2007 under the title If I did it - Confessions of the Killer . The text was printed unchanged, but supplemented by detailed comments. Ninety percent of the sales would go to Ron Goldman's family, with the remaining ten percent being shared among the surviving dependents of Nicole Brown Simpson and a bankruptcy administrator. However, Ron Goldman's family did not want to keep the proceeds from the book sale themselves, but instead put them into a foundation named after their son.

Filmography (selection)

• 1968: Her appearance, Al Mundy ( It Takes a Thief; TV series, 1 episode)
• 1974: Cursed They All (The Klansman)
• 1974: Flammendes Inferno (The Towering Inferno)
• 1975: The Mercenaries (Killer Force)
• 1976: Meeting Point Death Bridge (The Cassandra Crossing)
• 1977: Roots (TV miniseries, 1 episode)
• 1978: Capricorn Company (Capricorn One)
• 1979: Firepower
• 1986–1991: California Bulls ( 1st & Ten; TV series, 67 episodes)
• 1988: The Naked Gun (The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!)
• 1991: The Naked Gun 2½ (The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear)
• 1992: CIA code name: Alexa
• 1993: Cold Heart (No Place to Hide)
• 1994: The Naked Gun 33⅓ (The Final Insult)

Autobiography

OJ Simpson: I want to tell you: my response to your letters, your messages, your questions , Boston [u. a.]: Little, Brown and Co., 1995, ISBN 978-0-316-34100-4

documentary

• Ezra Edelman: OJ Simpson: Made in America ( ESPN )

TV series

• The People v. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story Docu-Drama, Twentieth Century Fox, 2016. Original first broadcast from February 2, 2016, German first broadcast from January 6, 2017 on Sky Atlantic

literature

• Donald Freed, Raymond P. Briggs: KILLING TIME: the first full investigation into the unsolved murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Macmillan, New York 1996, ISBN 0-02-861340-6 .
• Robert L. Shapiro: The search for justice: a defense attorney's brief on the OJ Simpson case. Warner Books, New York 1996, ISBN 0-446-52081-0 .
• Alan M. Dershowitz : Reasonable doubts: the OJ Simpson case and the criminal justice system. Simon & Schuster, New York 1996, ISBN 0-684-83021-3 .
• Vincent Bugliosi : Outrage. Norton, New York 1996, ISBN 0-393-04050-X .
• Robert Schnabl: The OJ Simpson Trial . Duncker & Humblot, 1999, ISBN 3-428-09721-1 .
• Jens Plassmann: NFL American Football. Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-499-19445-7 .
• Igor Petri: Anatomy of a Double Murder: The OJ Simpson Case. Das Neue Berlin, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-360-01245-3 .
• Lawrence Schiller, James Willwerth: American Tragedy. The Uncensored Story of the Simpson Defense. New York 1996, ISBN 0-679-45682-1 .
• Tom Lange, Philip Vannatter: Evidence dismissed: the inside story of the police investigation of OJ Simpson . Pocket Book, New York 1997, ISBN 0-671-00960-5 .
• Michael Moore: Cross Shots - Downsize This! 8th edition. Piper, 2004, ISBN 3-492-04564-2 .
• Manfred Rowold: The acquittal for OJ Simpson: A judgment divides America. In: The world . 5th September 1995
• Marcia Clark : Without A Doubt. Viking Penguin, 1997; New edition Graymalkin Media, 2016, ISBN 978-1-63168-068-7

Web links

Commons : OJ Simpson  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• OJ Simpson in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• OJ Simpson biography (English)
• Marc Pitzke : love, death and racial hatred. one day , June 12, 2014; Articles and photos related to the murder trial of OJ Simpson

Individual evidence

1. ^ OJ Simpson walks out of Nevada prison after 9 years , CNN , October 1, 2017, accessed October 1, 2017.
2. ^ OJ Simpson , whoswho.de, accessed on August 19, 2013.
3. ↑ life data from OJSimpson. edition.cnn.com; accessed on August 14, 2018.
4. ↑ life data from OJSimpson. edition.cnn.com; Retrieved August 19, 2013.
5. ^ OJ Simpson nickname. factmonster.com; Retrieved August 19, 2013.
6. ↑ Rüdiger Dilloo: A hotline for tipsters. In: The world . July 29, 1994, accessed January 4, 2013 . 
7. ↑ Application of genetic engineering in forensics. ( Memento of the original from March 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Criminology. 50, 1996, pp. 481-483, slightly abbreviated. 
8. ^ West's Encyclopedia of American Law on Answers.com, accessed March 31, 2011.
9. ↑ OJ Simpson has been imprisoned for at least nine years. In: Spiegel Online . December 5, 2008.
10. ↑ Marc Pitzke: OJ Simpson: The smear comedy gets serious. In: Spiegel-Online. September 19, 2007.
11. ^ OJ Simpson found guilty on all counts. ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: ORF . October 4, 2008. 
12. ↑ This is just revenge. In: Spiegel-Online. October 5, 2008.
13. Jump up ↑ OJ Simpson in prison for up to 33 years , Die Presse, December 6, 2008
14. ^ Ashley Powers, Harriet Ryan: Sentencing reveals a contrite Simpson. In: Los Angeles Times . December 6, 2008.
15. ↑ OJ Simpson fails with appeal. In: Spiegel Online. October 22, 2010.
16. ↑ Ex-football star: OJ Simpson goes back to court. In: Spiegel Online. May 13, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
17. ↑ OJ Simpson is free again. October 1, 2017, accessed October 1, 2017 . 
18. ↑ OJ Simpson is released early. July 20, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2017 . 
19. ^ Andrian Kreye: Low point of cultural history In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. November 21, 2006.
20. ^ Frank Patalong: Black Market: Simpson Book on eBay. In: Spiegel Online. November 23, 2006.
21. ↑ Amy Whittle: OJ Simpson's 'If I Did It' Ebook Leaked on Internet ( Memento of the original of May 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Yahoo! Voices, June 20, 2007.
22. ↑ OJ Simpson's "murder confession". In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. August 16, 2007.
23. ↑ OJ: Made in America ( Memento of the original from July 10, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , arte.tv 
24. ↑ Documentary on OJ Simpson at Arte: They let him go , FAZ, July 7, 2017
25. ↑ Karoline Meta Beisel: "I'm not black, I'm OJ" In: sueddeutsche.de . 2017, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed October 26, 2017]).