# Black Myth Bustin'...OJ Simpson **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 15, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474 "2009-05-15T00:04:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/81 "2009-05-15T16:39:10Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > Honestly? They were leather, soaked with a fair amount of blood, then stored for a long time. Wet leather tightens up considerably. Plus he was wearing latex gloves to try them on, which might have made even a well-fitting pair of leather gloves more difficult to put on. This is precisely the sort of impeached evidence that could have been restored with proper testimony. And poetry 🙂 > [@](#): > I remember Robert Kardashian’s face when the verdict was read- he looked like he was going to faint. I think he knew damned well that OJ did it- it was Kardashian who disposed of at least one gym bag full of stuff for OJ (on camera, no less). I always wondered if the only reason Kardashian was on the defense team was to insure that he couldn’t be called to tesitfy… [/QUOTE] Now, that is from the release of seeing your hard work over a period of time come to fruition. And I am sure you can see the same thing at almost any trial where there is emotional release about the verdict from one side or the other. It is just how those things go, in any courthouse. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/82 "2009-05-15T16:42:45Z")
After the trial Kardashian made some statements implying OJ did it. The CA bar association even looked into what he said. But by the time he died he had reconciled with OJ. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/83 "2009-05-15T16:43:46Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > Now, that is from the release of seeing your hard work over a period of time come to fruition. > > And I am sure you can see the same thing at almost any trial where there is emotional release about the verdict from one side or the other. It is just how those things go, in any courthouse. I disagree- I am married to a prosecutor and he disagrees as well. That was the look of someone who cannot believe that their client was found not guilty. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/84 "2009-05-15T16:45:45Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > What? > > 1. OJ could live anywhere he wanted to live. Who was stopping him? Any assets he brought out of a limited number of places (such as Florida) could have been instantly attached in the civil verdict. IANAL, but IIRC he probably could not have so much as rented an apartment or bought a slurpee in his own name in most of the country. The elder goldman made that pretty plain himself on numerous occasions. > [@](#): > > 1. Is OJ debt-ridden, besides the judgment against him from the civil trial? Probably the usual life stuff - whatever mortgage was on the property being the main part I suppose, various credit cards. What investments he may have been liable for, I can’t say. > [@](#): > > 1. Even if I cannot earn another penny, that $25,000 I get EVERY FUCKING MONTH should take care of my needs. Sure, me too, but it is a major reduction in his earning power from the time, maybe by 90%. And he can’t even invest it lest if be seized by Goldman. So are you prepared to reduce your income up to 90% and nevr be able to work again and be forced to live in Florida and be happy? Why would you sit in judgment that someone else should be satisfied with those circumstances? ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/85 "2009-05-15T16:49:49Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > I disagree- I am married to a prosecutor and he disagrees as well. That was the look of someone who cannot believe that their client was found not guilty. Of course the verdict was in doubt until it was announced. No one could have been certain, so of course everyone would be surprised. But is it possible that your husband’s opinion is biased by his profession and role, maybe he had some sort of cheering interest in seeing the prosecution win? Even if he is right and it is not relief but surprise that they “got away with it”, your husband knows that is entirely the fault of the prosecution, because the burden of persuading the jury is 100% on them, doesn’t he? Did he also think the prosecutor’s reactions were those of whom had let a guilty man get away due to their own failings? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/86 "2009-05-15T16:52:02Z")
There was a story that someone tipped off OJ in jail the night before that the verdict was not guilty. If true it was not a surprise to him. The tip came from a jailer - how he knew was not explained. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/87 "2009-05-15T16:59:37Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > After the trial Kardashian made some statements implying OJ did it. The CA bar association even looked into what he said. But by the time he died he had reconciled with OJ. Even if OJ DID do it, and even if Kardashian and others on defense team suspected if (they were not eyewitnesses, so they could only suspect), they are not obligated to or even allowed to turn him in. they are ethically obligated to advocate effectively for him, no more, no less. This they did. Although now that I think about it, I wonder if, in the early days, Kardashian himself was not at least indirectly related to some early alternate theories that were dropped. I am possibly misremembering, but if so, that could doubly account for his reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/88 "2009-05-15T17:13:32Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > I was in a restaurant in Brookline Massachussetts at the same time, probably 50 people there, few if any blacks, and the same eruption occurred. So what? Really? A restaurant full of white people in Brookline, Massachusetts erupted in celebration at OJ being found not guilty? _Really?_ ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/89 "2009-05-15T17:44:24Z")
> [@](#): > > The best way to explain the black reaction to whites (as I often tried to after the trial), is that it was comprised of 50% morbid comfort in the fact that finally, at least in this ONE instance, it was a black person that was effectively above the law due to his position/wealth, as opposed to the usual disenfranchisement we associate with blacks navigating the legal system; and 50% racial schadenfraude at the white reaction to this travesty of justice, which seemed extremely excessive in comparison to the white NON-reaction to the countless travesties of justice that blacks had endured in this country until then. This is what I thought as well. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/90 "2009-05-15T17:49:35Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Really? A restaurant full of white people in Brookline, Massachusetts erupted in celebration at OJ being found not guilty? _Really?_ Yup. I remember being surprised at what I learned of the wider reaction later, but I think if you get folks in a predominantly liberal area about 4 blocks form the birthplace of President Kennedy with a very high education level and finely refined sense of justice (what with Harvard Law next door practically) and synagogues on every block a long tradition of careful study and awareness of persecution in the air, and an overall academic sense of inquiry rather than gut level emotional responses, yeah, you might get that. More people should try it IMHO 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/91 "2009-05-15T17:51:41Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > ..and be forced to live in Florida and be happy? At last check a few people live in Florida without even being forced to. Some of us are even happy.. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/92 "2009-05-15T17:58:06Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > And who knew 15 years later the Kardashian kids would have a reality TV show? Which reminds me—after killing Hitler, I have one more stop to make in my time machine. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/93 "2009-05-15T18:07:53Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Which reminds me—after killing Hitler, I have one more stop to make in my time machine. Slaughter Robert Kardashian or pluck all his chickens in one fell swoop? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/94 "2009-05-15T18:29:25Z")
BTW a lot of lawyers turned OJ down. They all said it was a “sure loser” case so they wanted no part of it. And he asked a lot of the big names in the LA area too. Shapiro and Cochran were far from his first 2 choices. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/95 "2009-05-15T18:37:27Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > But, most blacks I know think he is guilty, and just don’t care that he got off. I have a friend who teaches law at a traditionally black school. All the law students convened in an assembly to hear the verdict. When it was read, they rose as one and cheered. I was working on a framing crew when the verdict was read, about 3/4 black and 1/4 white. We stopped to listen to it, and when it was over, everyone went back to work without a word. FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/96 "2009-05-15T18:44:40Z")
reconsidered, and deleted until I can revisit. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/97 "2009-05-15T19:55:59Z")
I was selling electronics when the verdict in Simpson’s first case was announced. We were required to have the TVs one whenever the store was open, so I was forced to watch the entire trial; I’d not have watched otherwise, as he’s jstu a guy to me. But it was clear from what I saw that he was probably guilty but that the prosecution had not met its burden, and thus the acquittal was–well, I was going to write _righteous_, but that’s not quite it. Distasteful but appropriate. That said, one of my friends actually began _dancing in joy_ when we heard the news that he had been found not guilty. I was horrified. Given her statements during the trial, it was clear to me that she too thought he was guilty, but his being acquitted represented, to her, partial compensation for centuries of oppression. Both of us are black. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/98 "2009-05-15T19:57:15Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > I have a friend who teaches law at a traditionally black school. All the law students convened in an assembly to hear the verdict. When it was read, they rose as one and cheered. > > I was working on a framing crew when the verdict was read, about 3/4 black and 1/4 white. We stopped to listen to it, and when it was over, everyone went back to work without a word. > > FWIW. Dope is blocked at work, gotta post from phone, please excuse my jacked up posting. I know folks celebrated. See, there was definitely some racial shit going on. Anyone who says, “it was just the injustice! Nothing more!” is hilarious… Funny all the worlds other injustices doesnt get everyone as riled up. There was a bunch of white folks and a bunch of black folks that were way too invested for all the wrong reasons. When the black folks ‘won’, the white ones felt better pretending they were dumb enough to actually think him innocent. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/99 "2009-05-15T20:04:24Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Both of us are black. Knock me over with a feather. For some reason I pictured you as Scandanavian/Nordic, blond haired, blue eyed as they come. I don’t know where “Skald” comes from, maybe the whole name struck me as related to to “Hagar the Horrible”, a comic strip character. This will be the most unexpected thing I learn all week! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474/100 "2009-05-15T20:05:11Z")
Sorry to double post, but wanted to stress, I know folks celebrated. Shame on them. They knew he was guilty though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-myth-bustin-oj-simpson/496474.md?page=6)