TRIAL OF THE CENTURY

Marcia Clark who was the Los Angeles County prosecutor and lead attorney on the O.J. Simpson murder case often states that the 1994-95 trial was a nightmare for her every day. Clark together with other people who were part of the “Trial of the Century” talked with NBC’s Dateline for an episode that aired Sunday night.

Clark also recalled that that she did not have a good feeling because of the way things were headed in this murder trial in which Simpson was being tried for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.

Clark further stated that there were many days when going to work felt like one minefield after another. Every day walking into court and often something else was blowing up. She was referring to a series of setbacks experienced by the prosecution, from the leather glove that did not fit to former detective Fuhrman’s decision to invoke 5^th Amendment right when he was asked if he planted evidence after tapes appeared in which he repeated used the n-word. She also noted that her closing argument was not her best moments. It was co-prosecutor Chris Darden’s decision to ask Simpson to try on the glove during the trial and is believed by Clark to be the wrong move at that time. The mistake turned out to be very costly and led to defense attorney Johnnie Cochran’s famous line: “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”   You should never try a demonstration in court when you are not sure what is going to happen.

Viewers of The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story have seen much of this dramatized in the FX miniseries starring Sarah Paulson as Clark and Cuba Gooding Jr. as Simpson.

The not-guilty verdict was physically painful for Clark and she still believes was not justice. She ultimately blames herself.

One of the dramatized moment on last week episode was when the defense team “staged” O.J.’s house by removing photos of Simpson with white women and instead displayed more photos of him with his mother.

After acquittal Simpson was found guilty it a civil trial  brought by Ron Goldman’s parents and Sharon Rufo, and Brown’s estate. The plaintiffs were awarded $33.5 million in punitive damages but have only received a fraction of that amount.