OJ Simpson got away with murder because he was a rich black man.

[Smith_3]

Is this a racist statement?

[yourout]

1. Duh.

[cynatnite]

2. It wasn't because he was a rich black man...it was because he was a rich famous man n/t

[Tuesday Afternoon]

22. Bingo!

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Folks, We have a winner!

[TheDebbieDee]

24. Yep, it's all about the Benjamins..........

[enid602]

41. No

No, OJ Simpson got away with murder because the LAPD tampered with the evidence, which in turn had to be dismissed.

[cynatnite]

46. If it was anyone else who wasn't rich and famous like he was...

they would have been convicted...easily.

No way could you or I have afforded a dream team of lawyers. The prosecution and LAPD screwed up, but it doesn't change the fact that wealth and celebrity is what got OJ off.

[Jawja]

3. OJ Simpson got away with murder

because he was a football legend/celebrity who was seen in TV advertising and movies.

Because of that status, he could afford the "dream team" in criminal defense attorneys.

on edit: the rest of my thought - a WHITE legend/celebrity would have gotten away with murder under the same circumstances.

[CanonRay]

4. Try incompetent prosecutor, idiot judge, stupid, careless cops.

The tirfecta.

[DAGDA56]

32. Not to mention an enabling media all of the above could play to...

[itsrobert]

37. And the jurors were stupid

yes

[OmahaBlueDog]

45. None of that would have mattered without Johnnie Cochran

[Retired AF Dem]

5. I would say that

he got away with murder because he was rich and could afford the best legal team.

[patrice]

6. He got away with it because he was Rich. He would have anyway, even if he were "White".

Johnny Cochran would have worked just as hard for a white-guy, believe me, with attorneys EVERYTHING is about WINNING and ONLY winning.

[AZ Criminal JD]

51. The jurors would not have responded.

He got away with it because he was rich and black.

[saltpoint]

7. Thank god we're discussing OJ and not the federal deficit, health care

reform, inhumanity in the Middle East, and other issues that would just distract us from the Simpson trial and Anna Nicole Smith's tragic death.

[cynatnite]

8. It's a good thing we can talk about whatever we damn well please...

and not only about what someone else considers 'acceptable'. :eyes:

[saltpoint]

9. You bet. And if we aren't talkin OJ and Anna Nicole, I'm leavin'.

[cynatnite]

13. I won't leave until we talk about that Cyrus kid...

:P

[saltpoint]

15. LOL! Good lord. Good lord good lord good lord.

[patrice]

18. People come at understanding through various avenues. Yes, they SHOULD be challenged to grow,

but you don't do so by closing the doors on what they are interested in, but rather by taking what they are interested in and making connections between it and what you know to be important.

P.S. You'll never persuade anyone by telling them that what they think is important isn't important. All that does is divide you from them because you are basically saying "What matters to you does not matter to me." When people are distracted by "shiny objects", they need to be validated to whatever extent possible, i.e. find SOMETHING that you can at least demonstrate your understanding, if not approval, of - and then expand that thing to INCLUDE what you are trying to tell them by showing them similarities and, eventually, differences. Try it; it works.

[saltpoint]

20. got it.

[patrice]

25. Please accept my apologies about my preaching.

I have a lot of experience in this area (teaching seniors in highschool) and I think this could be a very important skill for me and anyone else to refine, for the sake of our country.

[saltpoint]

27. Hi, patrice. We're cool.

:hi:

[Rosemary2205]

26. Hope the OP appreciates the kick.

You might be able to live your whole life never ever never thinking of or discussing anything trivial like what to have for supper or a ballgame, or the little grandson's first skinned knee, but us mere humans on the board tend to waste our time and brainpower on all sorts of things -- including the role of race in America.

:crazy:

[NoGOPZone]

50. An 'amen' to your thank God

what small interest i had in the case is, like the events themselves, long gone.

[Kali]

10. He didn't get away with anything - he was innocent.

And any minute now, he will catch the perp.
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:eyes:

[Kajsa]

43. Whew! Damn you, Kali!

You really had me going there!

I was getting all fired up with a quick response
and then----

( good one)

:rofl:

[shadowknows69]

11. Because being black has always helped when in legal trouble

:crazy:

[AndyTiedye]

12. We Will Never Know

To determine guilt or innocence requires evidence that has not been tampered with.
This would have required keeping Officer Furman far away from this case.
Furman's specialty was framing black people for crimes they did not commit.

A poor black man faced with a Furman frame-job would have been convicted, guilty or not.

[Smarmie Doofus]

29. This is correct:

>>>A poor black man faced with a Furman frame-job would have been convicted, guilty or not.>>>

As is this:

>>>We Will Never Know>>>

[fadedrose]

14. No and Yes

OJ was acquitted because the prosecution made so many blunders and left room for doubt as to his guilt. I watched the whole trial (am white) and I thought he was innocent too (still do) but NOT because he was black and rich.

So I think the statement IS a racist statement.

[MNDemNY]

34. Do you really think that he was "innocent"?

Or do you , as I, think he was not proven guilty?

[fadedrose]

47. Agree that guilt was not decisively proven....

I could see where there was possible involvement of other people in the crime. A few that worked in that restaurant had already been murdered..

I never bought the eyeglasses thing. The phone call about whether or not the glasses were at the restaurant was so short, according to phone records, that the waitress would not have had time to check the table, floor, wherever, and finally the sidewalk. A minute and a half just wasn't enough time. And there were other things, mostly forgotten, but that phone call stood out in my mind....unless it was a tiny restaurant. Could the eyeglasses have been lifted or found sooner and just held, waiting for a call?

I'm done with this topic.

[AlCzervik]

16. why did you bring this up, did he get arrested again?

the Rich and famous sometimes get away with murder, see Robert Blake and Phil spector and countless other rich and famous people.

[moondust]

17. Is it racist to assume that OJ "got away with murder?"

Despite a jury that heard and saw ALL the evidence up close and decided otherwise? The (white owned and operated) media certainly convicted him but they have also essentially convicted Jeremiah Wright of whatever.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

19. Rich is the new Racism and is what is truly dividing this Nation

:patriot:

[patrice]

23. Racism is based on un-founded inequities.Rich IS rich and, therefore, quite different from not rich.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

35. ok

if you say so...:eyes:

[patrice]

36. Do you care to expand on your reply any?

Or are smilie faces all you've got?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

38. no.not really and yeah

smilies is all I got ;)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

21. The only color that mattered in this case was green

And OJ had a lot of green to spread around.

[Smarmie Doofus]

28. Less racist than simplistic.

Race had a good deal to do with it; the 9 AA jurors seemed to have perceived the case differently than the non-AAs... just as AAs in general perceived the case differently outside of the courtroom.

I'm convinced by the *overwhelming* prepronderance of the circumstantial evidence that he was guilty ( ok, I wasn't... thank dog... the courtoom) but the prosecution and police made huge foulups including police shenanigans and screw-ups that at least created the suspicion that the case was a frame-up. ( Indeed, in part, imo, the case *was* a frame-up; he was guilty anyway.)

Re. "rich": a destitute defendant in comparable circumstances would have struck a deal and probably be reaching the end of his sentence right about now.

[China_cat]

30. OJ got away with it

because the prosecution bungled it badly. For all the fact that it was likely the wrongest verdict ever it showed the American Justice system working the way it's supposed to...those bringing the claim (prosecution), couldn't back it up with enough evidence to get past that 'beyond a reasonable doubt'.

The shame is that it doesn't work that way for everybody.

[Turbineguy]

31. He got away with murder because the

prosecution failed to prove their case.

They still have to do that.

At least they did back then.

[stillcool]

33. The best lawyers money can buy!

Not too many people of color can afford to buy a not guilty verdict.

[JDPriestly]

39. I thought it was because the prosecutor got the timeline wrong,

and the police department made some serious mistakes. He is not the only defendant to go free because the prosecution goofed. His wealth bought him good lawyers, but had the prosecution and the police been a little more careful, he would be in jail.

[rocktivity]

40. The defense littered the trial with racial red herrings, intimidated the judge

put the police on trial, and stacked the jury with black women--a perfect storm of sorts.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Raejeanowl]

42. I Can't Believe The Responses Here

Try to remember the defense scenario predicated on everything the police did or didn't do as a result of THEIR RACISM. Especially, remember Mark Fuhrmann (sp?). Then look at the composition of the jury and the constantly racially inflammatory way Johnnie Cochran presented the remainder of the case to them (the ear-witness who thought the shouting sounded like an AA male, the watch-cap testimony, the implication that the victim was a white slut and deserved it).

No, none of that had anything to do with pleading black victimhood (i.e., "The Race Card").

:sarcasm:

It didn't hurt that he was rich and famous. But dismissing the racial component in that verdict is just absurd.

[jmowreader]

44. It's an untrue statement

The OJ Simpson verdict was a triumph for us all. The Chain of Custody in that case was so fucking bad the whole thing SHOULD have been thrown out before it ever saw trial--on the grounds you can't convict someone for murder when you've got no admissable evidence. And how the hell could you ever murder two people with a knife and drive home without leaving puddles of blood? The inside of OJ's car had "drops" of blood in it. Drops. From a guy who just cut two people in half with a big knife. Yeah, THAT happens ALL the time!!!

Besides, if there's anyone in America a racist jury would have wanted to hang, a rich, famous black man with a pretty white ex-wife is real high on the list.

[varkam]

48. I think the fact that he was black has nothing to do with it.

I think the more relevant factors are his wealth and, consequently, the caliber of counsel that he was able to obtain.

[fortyfeetunder]

49. I am puzzled, why is this now an issue?

??????