Mark Fuhrman

Last updated

Mark Fuhrman
Mark Fuhrman in 2008.jpg
Fuhrman in 2008
Born (1952-02-05) February 5, 1952 (age 72)
Eatonville, Washington, U.S. [1]
Police career
CountryFlag of the United States.svg  United States
DepartmentFlag of the Los Angeles Police Department.png Los Angeles Police Department
Service years1975–1995
StatusRetired
Rank
  • Sworn in as Officer (1975)
  • Officer (1975–1989)
  • Detective (1989–1995)
Other work
  • Author
  • Radio host
Military career
Allegiance Flag of the United States.svg United States
Service/branch USMC logo.svg United States Marine Corps
Years of service1970-1975
RankSergeant

Mark Fuhrman (born February 5, 1952) is a former detective of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He is primarily known for his part in the investigation of the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in the O. J. Simpson murder case.

Contents

In 1995, Fuhrman was called to testify regarding his discovery of evidence in the Simpson case, including a bloody glove recovered at Simpson's estate. During the trial, witnesses claimed that during the 1980s, Fuhrman frequently described African Americans with a racist epithet, claims he denied. In response, Simpson's defense team produced recorded interviews with Fuhrman and witnesses proved that he had repeatedly used racist language during those interviews. [2] As a result, the defense claimed that Fuhrman had committed perjury and was not a credible witness. The credibility of the prosecution has been cited as one reason Simpson was acquitted. [3] The defense claimed that Fuhrman planted key evidence as part of a racially motivated plot against Simpson. When asked under oath (with the jury not present), Fuhrman declined to answer all questions, invoking his Fifth Amendment right. These questions included whether he planted or manufactured evidence.

Fuhrman retired from the LAPD in 1995. In 1996, he pleaded no contest to perjury for his false testimony related to his use of racial epithets. Fuhrman has claimed that he is not a racist and apologized for his use of racist language. [4] Some of his former coworkers who are minorities have expressed support for him. [5] Fuhrman maintains that he did not plant or manufacture evidence in the Simpson case, and Simpson's defense team did not present any evidence to contradict this claim. [6]

Since his retirement from the LAPD, Fuhrman has written true crime books and hosted talk radio.

Life before the O. J. Simpson murder trial

Fuhrman was born in Eatonville, Washington, and attended Peninsula High School in Gig Harbor, Washington. Fuhrman's parents divorced when he was seven years old, and his mother remarried briefly. In 1970, aged 18, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he was trained as a machine gunner and military policeman. [1] He served during the Vietnam War era, [7] although his service in the Vietnam theater was restricted to being assigned to the USS New Orleans, an amphibious assault ship stationed offshore. Having attained the rank of sergeant, [1] he was honorably discharged in 1975. [8] After leaving the military, Fuhrman entered the Los Angeles Police Academy and graduated in 1975. [9]

In 1981, Fuhrman requested leave for workers' compensation. During a psychiatric interview regarding this claim, Fuhrman expressed racist sentiments, stating that he stopped enjoying military service because of alleged insubordination from Mexican-Americans and African-Americans, whom he described as "niggers". [10] [11] Fuhrman received workers' compensation and remained on paid leave until 1983. During this time, Fuhrman attempted to leave the police force permanently and receive a stress disability pension. In a 1982 psychiatric interview, he claimed that he had "tortur[ed] suspects and con[ned] internal affairs detectives", that he would choke suspects and break their arms and legs "if necessary", and that he had pounded suspects' faces to "mush". [10] [11] Fuhrman claimed that he was afraid he would kill someone if he were returned to street patrol. [11] Although several psychiatrists recommended that he be removed from duty completely, and others recommended that he not be allowed to carry a gun, [11] the City of Los Angeles argued that Fuhrman's statements were merely part of an elaborate ruse to win a pension. [10] In 1983, Fuhrman lost his case, and a subsequent appeal to Superior Court was rejected; therefore, Fuhrman returned to active duty as a police officer. [10] [11]

In 1985, Fuhrman responded to a domestic violence call between retired NFL football player O. J. Simpson and his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. [12] In 1989, a statement by Fuhrman about this call resulted in Simpson's arrest for spousal abuse. [13] Fuhrman was promoted to detective in 1989. [1] In October 1994, he worked to prove the innocence of Arrick Harris, an African-American male who Fuhrman believed had been falsely implicated for murder. [14] Fuhrman retired from the LAPD in early 1995, after serving as a police officer for 20 years. [15] [16]

Role in the O. J. Simpson murder trial

Background

During Simpson's and Brown's eight-year marriage, Simpson repeatedly physically abused her and threatened to kill her, leading her to call the police on several occasions. Fuhrman responded to one of these calls and encountered Brown hiding in her Mercedes as Simpson was trying to break the windshield with a baseball bat. In a 2016 interview with Ezra Edelman in O.J.: Made in America , Fuhrman claimed that he twice asked Simpson to put the bat down, and when Simpson refused, Fuhrman got his baton out and threatened him with violence if he continued. Simpson then obeyed and apologized, and Fuhrman offered Brown the chance to press charges so he could arrest Simpson; when she declined, Fuhrman went away telling her, "It's your life." [17]

Brown and Ron Goldman were murdered outside Brown's Brentwood, Los Angeles, condominium on the night of June 12, 1994. Robert Riske and his partner were the first police officers on the scene in the early morning of June 13, and Riske found a bloody left-hand glove at the scene. [18] At least 14 officers and supervisors, some of whom arrived on the scene before Fuhrman, reported seeing only one glove. [19] Fuhrman and his superior, Ronald Phillips, were the first detectives to arrive; Fuhrman's partner, Brad Roberts, arrived later. Fuhrman was familiar with Simpson and Brown because of the 1985 domestic violence call. Fuhrman left Brown's condominium with Ronald Phillips and lead detectives Tom Lange and Philip Vannatter, and went to Simpson's Rockingham residence. [20] At the Simpson residence, Fuhrman found a number of blood drops in and on a white Ford Bronco parked outside. [20] Fuhrman then climbed over the wall of the property in order to let the other detectives in. They later testified that they entered Simpson's estate without a search warrant due to exigent circumstances – specifically, a concern that Simpson himself might have been harmed. [21]

In Simpson's guest house, detectives found Kato Kaelin, who told detectives that he had heard thumping sounds earlier in the night. An investigation of the property by Fuhrman produced a second bloody glove, which was later determined to be the right-hand mate of the glove found at the murder scene. [22] The glove found on the Simpson estate, which – according to DNA testing – was soaked with the blood of both victims, was considered to be one of the strongest pieces of evidence for the prosecution. [23] When Simpson was asked to put on the gloves during the trial, they appeared to be too small for him. The reasons for this have been debated. [24] [25] Simpson was arrested on June 17. On July 8, a preliminary hearing determined that there was sufficient evidence for Simpson to stand trial. On July 22, Simpson pleaded not guilty. [26]

Defense team's strategy

In an article by Jeffrey Toobin in the July 25 issue of The New Yorker , the defense revealed that they planned to play "the race card". [10] Specifically, Simpson's defense team alleged that Fuhrman planted the glove found at Simpson's estate as part of a racially motivated effort to frame Simpson for the murders. [10] The article detailed Fuhrman's prior use of racist language and claims of violence made during his 1981–1982 psychiatric interviews. [10] Although Fuhrman's psychiatric reports were later ruled inadmissible in the case because they were determined to be too old to have direct relevance, [27] the New Yorker article was published before jury selection was finalized or jury sequestration had taken place. [26] [28] Potential jurors were asked how much exposure to the Simpson case they received from The New Yorker (among other media outlets) as part of the jury selection process. [29] They were also asked their opinions of Fuhrman and other witnesses who had testified at the preliminary hearing. [29]

The trial began on January 24, 1995, [26] and Fuhrman took the witness stand for the prosecution on March 9. [21] During cross-examination on March 15, attorney F. Lee Bailey asked Fuhrman whether he had used the word "nigger" in the previous 10 years, to which Fuhrman replied that he had not. [26] The defense tried to introduce witnesses and audiotape evidence to prove that Fuhrman had lied under oath, that he had a particular animus against interracial couples, that he had a history of perpetrating violence against African-Americans, and that he had a history of being willing to fabricate evidence or testimony. [30] [31] In accordance with the California Evidence Code, [32] the prosecution sought to exclude this evidence by arguing that it was too inflammatory and could prejudice the predominantly black jury. Although they conceded that Fuhrman used racial epithets on the tape, the prosecution suggested that the remainder of the material was merely exaggerated "puffing and blowing". [33]

On August 31, Judge Lance Ito ruled that evidence could be introduced to prove that Fuhrman had lied about use of the word "nigger", but that claims of violence and police misconduct were inadmissible. [30] On September 5, the defense produced multiple witnesses and audiotapes to establish that Fuhrman had used the word "nigger" within the last 10 years. [4] The tape eventually resulted in a perjury charge against Fuhrman, to which he pleaded no contest. First, Laura Hart McKinny took the stand. Between 1985 and 1994, Fuhrman gave taped interviews to McKinny, a writer working on a screenplay about female police officers. Fuhrman was working as a consultant for McKinny on the understanding that he would be paid $10,000 if a movie were produced. The recordings contain 41 instances of the word "nigger" used as recently as 1988, [34] including references in which Fuhrman claims to have perpetrated violence against African-Americans. [31] In the recordings, he also says he thinks it is sometimes necessary to lie as a police officer and that he has given testimony about events he did not actually witness. [31]

After McKinny, witness Kathleen Bell testified. She had met Fuhrman at a Marine recruiting station in 1985 or 1986, [34] where she claimed that he expressed animus against interracial couples and said, "If I had my way, all the niggers would be gathered together and burned." [34] [2] [35] Next, witness Natalie Singer, whose roommate had dated Fuhrman around 1987, testified that Fuhrman had told her, "The only good nigger is a dead nigger." [2] [34] On the television show Leeza , Singer later said that Fuhrman had also said, "Yeah, we work with niggers and gangs. You can take one of these niggers, drag 'em into the alley and beat the shit out of them and kick them. You can see them twitch. It really relieves your tension." [36] However, Ito restricted her from giving her complete statement during the trial. [37] Roderic Hodge then testified that while he was in police custody in 1987, Fuhrman had said to him, "I told you we would get you, nigger." [38] [39] Ultimately, the jury was allowed to hear only two excerpts from the Fuhrman tapes, which did not include the inflammatory violent content or material related to potential misconduct. Jurors heard Fuhrman say, "We have no niggers where I grew up", and "That's where niggers live." [30] With the jury absent on September 6, the defense asked Fuhrman whether he had ever falsified police reports or planted or manufactured evidence in the Simpson case. Although he had earlier responded "No" when asked this question, this time, on his lawyer's advice, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. [40]

During his closing argument, defense attorney Johnnie Cochran called Fuhrman "a lying, perjuring, genocidal racist", [41] likening him to Adolf Hitler. [42] He argued that Fuhrman had planted the bloody glove on Simpson's estate as part of a racially motivated plot against Simpson, which could be traced back to Fuhrman's first encounter with the interracial couple in 1985. [41] Although there was no evidence to suggest that Fuhrman had planted the glove, his perjury about his use of the word "nigger" was widely seen as severely damaging the prosecution's credibility in front of the mostly black jury, especially in the wake of the Rodney King trial, [43] and has been cited as one of the main reasons Simpson was acquitted. [3]

Aftermath

Fuhrman's words on the tapes resulted in his being widely condemned, including by the prosecution. His use of racial epithets and accusations that he had planted evidence became a focal point of the trial and attracted enormous media attention that for a time eclipsed coverage of the crime itself, such that Ron Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, sarcastically told the media, "This is now the Fuhrman trial. It is not the trial of O. J. Simpson, the man accused of murdering my son and Nicole." [44]

After the trial, there was widespread pressure on Los Angeles County district attorney Gil Garcetti to bring perjury charges against Fuhrman. Garcetti initially refused, saying that Fuhrman's use of racist language was "not material to the case", a major element of proving perjury. [45] As many members of Garcetti's office made public statements on the issue, Garcetti, citing the high emotions in his office about the case, opted to give the decision to prosecute to Dan Lungren, the California Attorney General, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. [46]

On July 5, 1996, Lungren announced that he would file perjury charges against Fuhrman and soon thereafter offered Fuhrman a plea bargain. On October 2, Fuhrman accepted the deal and pleaded no contest to the charges. He was sentenced to three years' probation and fined $200. [47] Fuhrman is the only person to have been convicted of criminal charges related to the Simpson case. [48] His probation ended early in 1998, and his felony charges were expunged 18 months later. [49]

In an October 1996 television interview with Diane Sawyer, Fuhrman said he did not plant evidence in the Simpson case. He said he is not a racist, and apologized for his use of racist language. He said he had forgotten about the existence of the audiotapes and that they were merely part of a misguided effort to have a fictional screenplay produced. [50] A police investigation of the claims of violence on the tapes found that Fuhrman had grossly exaggerated, [51] and many of his minority former coworkers have expressed support for Fuhrman and said they do not believe he is a racist. [5]

In his book Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O. J. Simpson Got Away with Murder , Vincent Bugliosi argues that planting the glove would have required a far-reaching and unlikely conspiracy between Fuhrman and other police officers. Anyone involved in such a conspiracy would have been risking their life, because Article 128 of the California Penal Code [52] states that anyone who fabricates evidence in a death penalty case — as the Brown and Goldman murder case might have become — can be sentenced to death themselves. [14] [53] Bugliosi further argues that Fuhrman was one of the victims in the case and that his lying under oath about racial epithets did not rise to the level of indictable perjury, because it was immaterial to the actual facts of the case. [14]

Post-trial career

Murder in Brentwood

After retiring from the LAPD in early 1995, Fuhrman moved to Sandpoint, Idaho. He wrote a book about the Simpson case, called Murder in Brentwood (1997, ISBN   0895264218), which includes a foreword by Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor of the Charles Manson case. In the book, Fuhrman apologized for the racist remarks on the audiotapes, terming them "immature, irresponsible ramblings" made because of a desire to make money; he contends that the tapes were merely part of a screenplay. He argued that Lungren had charged him to garner black support for a planned campaign for governor of California, in 1998.

Despite being told that Lungren's case was "flimsy at best", Fuhrman said that he felt that he had no choice but to plead no contest. He claimed that he could not afford to mount an adequate defense; he already owed thousands of dollars in legal bills, and the city's Police Protective League would not help him pay them. He also claimed that he could not pay the living expenses for a trial that would take several months (or years, in case of an appeal). He also believed that he could not get a fair trial in the racially charged climate of the time, and he thought that an acquittal would have caused a riot which would have been similar to the 1992 Los Angeles riots. He also wanted to protect his family from harassment by the press. [45]

Fuhrman has stated that he believes that the LAPD could have arrested Simpson on the afternoon of June 13, based on the blood evidence and his apparently contradictory statements during questioning; however, he believes that senior LAPD officials did not want to take a chance on being wrong about Simpson and they wanted to wait until the preliminary genetic evidence came in. [45] Fuhrman argues that several errors which were made by his LAPD colleagues permitted the defense team to allege that there was suspicious police conduct at Nicole Brown Simpson's residence. For instance, Fuhrman has claimed that the initial search warrant which was submitted by one of the detectives who was investigating the case, Phillip Vannatter, was too short and it did not include enough details regarding the probable cause and the evidence which was on hand at the time. Fuhrman has also argued that major pieces of evidence were mishandled and he also believes that his colleagues did not realize that their every move would be scrutinized in court due to the nature of the case. [45]

Fuhrman asserts that the police and the prosecution made other errors that reduced the chances of a guilty verdict. For example, Fuhrman and his partner, Brad Roberts, found a bloody fingerprint on the north walkway gate of Nicole Brown Simpson's house. According to Fuhrman, at least some of it belonged to the suspect, because there was enough blood at the scene to suggest that the suspect was bleeding. This piece of evidence was potentially critical; Simpson claimed that he'd cut himself on the night of the murders but he hadn't been to his ex-wife's house in a week. Had the fingerprint been tied to Simpson in any way, it could have been a crippling blow to his defense. It also could have contradicted the defense team's allegation that Fuhrman planted the glove, since Fuhrman did not know nor did he have a reason to know that it was Simpson's blood; [45] however, the fingerprint was destroyed at some point and at trial, it was only mentioned superficially. In fact, Fuhrman later discovered that Vannatter and Lange did not even know that the fingerprint was there because they never read Fuhrman's notes. Roberts could have offered testimony that would have corroborated the existence of the fingerprint and several of Fuhrman's other observations, but the leading prosecutor Marcia Clark never asked him to testify. This rankled Fuhrman almost as much as Vannatter's and Lange's failure to read his notes; Furhman believed that Clark decided not to call Roberts to avoid embarrassing Vannatter on the stand. [45]

Fuhrman has said that he feels that the prosecution abandoned him once the tapes were made public. He said that he pleaded the Fifth Amendment after he could not get the prosecution to call him to the stand for a redirect prior to the playing of the tapes for the jury. Fuhrman has said that once the tapes came out, his reputation as a credible witness would have been nearly beyond rehabilitation. [45] Fuhrman felt that Judge Lance Ito allowed the defense to control the trial. For instance, like Bugliosi, Fuhrman insists that relevant case law demanded that Ito foreclose the defense from asking him about racial slurs, since any potential relevance was outweighed by the prospect of prejudice against the prosecution's case. Fuhrman also asserts that Ito should have never been assigned to the case in the first place, [45] because Ito was married to Margaret "Peggy" York, an LAPD captain who had been Fuhrman's superior officer in the past. In the Fuhrman tapes which were recorded by Laura McKinny, Fuhrman disparages York's appearance and he also suggests that she used her sex to advance her career in the police force. [54] Fuhrman felt that Ito should have been challenged by the prosecution or he should have voluntarily recused himself from the case on that basis. [45] Although the prosecutors had asked Ito to step down, they later withdrew their request out of fear that it would result in a mistrial. [54]

Other books

For his next book, Murder in Greenwich (1998, ISBN   0060191414), Fuhrman investigated the then-unsolved 1975 murder of Martha Moxley and he theorized that the murderer was Michael Skakel, nephew of Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Skakel was convicted of Moxley's murder in June 2002, but later, his conviction was overturned. [55] [56] The book was adapted for a 2002 television movie starring Christopher Meloni as Fuhrman. [57]

In 2001, Fuhrman published Murder in Spokane: Catching a Serial Killer ( ISBN   0060194375), which investigated a serial killer's spree in Spokane, Washington. In 2003, he published Death and Justice: An Exposé of Oklahoma's Death Row Machine ( ISBN   0060009179), on the subject of capital punishment. In 2005, Fuhrman published Silent Witness: The Untold Story of Terri Schiavo's Death ( ISBN   0060853379 ), which emphasized gaps in the medical and legal records that might allow for the possibility that Schiavo was murdered.

In 2006, Fuhrman published A Simple Act of Murder: November 22, 1963 ( ISBN   0060721545), about the John F. Kennedy assassination. In it, Fuhrman advanced a theory challenging the single-bullet theory while still maintaining that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. He claimed that the Warren Commission was forced to ratify the single-bullet theory for political reasons. However, he said that a dent in the chrome above the windshield of the presidential limousine used that day vindicated the story told by John Connally that the first shot that hit President John F. Kennedy did not also hit him. [58] In 2009, he published The Murder Business: How the Media Turns Crime Into Entertainment and Subverts Justice ( ISBN   1596985844), which addressed the fine line between crime reporting and entertainment.

Radio and television commentary

Fuhrman is a forensic and crime scene expert for Fox News, [59] and he has been a frequent guest of Fox commentator Sean Hannity. He was also the host of the Mark Fuhrman Show on KGA-AM in Spokane. The show covered local and national topics and included guest callers. The show ended after the sale of the station by Citadel Broadcasting Corp. of Las Vegas to Mapleton Communications, LLC, of Monterey, California. [60]

Personal life

Fuhrman has been married three times. He was a collector of various war memorabilia and medals. [1]

In Murder in Greenwich , Fuhrman is portrayed by Christopher Meloni. In American Crime Story: The People v. O. J. Simpson , Fuhrman is portrayed by Steven Pasquale. He was portrayed by Alexander Man in Joshua Newton's film Nicole & O.J. . In Captain America: Civil War, he is mentioned by character Sam Wilson (Marvel Cinematic Universe).

Related Research Articles

In jurisprudence, prosecutorial misconduct or prosecutorial overreach is "an illegal act or failing to act, on the part of a prosecutor, especially an attempt to sway the jury to wrongly convict a defendant or to impose a harsher than appropriate punishment." It is similar to selective prosecution. Prosecutors are bound by a sets of rules which outline fair and dispassionate conduct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lance Ito</span> American judge (born 1950)

Lance Allan Ito is an American retired judge, best known for presiding over the criminal trial for the O. J. Simpson murder case, held in the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnnie Cochran</span> American attorney (1937–2005)

Johnnie Lee Cochran Jr. was an American attorney best known for his leading role in the defense during the murder trial of O.J. Simpson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Darden</span> American lawyer

Christopher Allen Darden is an American lawyer, author, lecturer, and judicial candidate. He worked for 15 years in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, where he gained national attention as a co-prosecutor in the O. J. Simpson murder case. Darden is currently running for Judge of the Superior Court in Los Angeles County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kato Kaelin</span> American television personality and O. J. Simpson trial witness

Brian Gerard "Kato" Kaelin is an American actor and radio and television personality, who was a witness in the O. J. Simpson murder case.

<i>Murder One</i> (TV series) American legal drama television series

Murder One is an American legal drama television series that aired on ABC from September 19, 1995, until May 29, 1997. The series was created by Steven Bochco, Charles H. Eglee, and Channing Gibson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F. Lee Bailey</span> American criminal defense attorney (1933–2021)

Francis Lee Bailey Jr., better known to the general public as F. Lee Bailey, was an American criminal defense attorney. Bailey's name first came to nationwide attention for his involvement in the second murder trial of Sam Sheppard, a surgeon accused of murdering his wife. He later served as the attorney in a number of other high-profile cases, such as Albert DeSalvo, a suspect in the "Boston Strangler" murders, heiress Patty Hearst's trial for bank robberies committed during her involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army, and US Army Captain Ernest Medina for the My Lai Massacre. He was a member of the "Dream Team" in the trial of former football player O. J. Simpson, who was accused of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. He is considered one of the greatest lawyers of the 20th century.

The Fuhrman tapes are 13 hours of taped interviews given by Mark Fuhrman, former detective of the Los Angeles Police Department, to writer Laura McKinny between 1985 and 1994.

Allen Cedric "A.C." Cowlings is a former American football player and actor. He began playing in the National Football League (NFL) during 1970, starting at various defensive positions for the Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, and the San Francisco 49ers, until retiring after the 1979 season. Cowlings was taken fifth overall in the first round by the Buffalo Bills in the 1970 NFL draft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Scheck</span> American attorney and legal scholar (born 1949)

Barry Charles Scheck is an American attorney and legal scholar. He received national media attention while serving on O. J. Simpson's defense team, collectively dubbed the "Dream Team", helping to win an acquittal in the highly publicized murder case. Scheck is the director of the Innocence Project and a professor at Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder trial of O. J. Simpson</span> 1995 US criminal trial

The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson was a criminal trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court starting in 1994, in which O. J. Simpson, a former National Football League (NFL) player, broadcaster and actor, was tried and found not guilty for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. The pair were stabbed to death outside the female victim's condominium in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles on the night of June 12, 1994. The trial spanned eleven months, from November 9, 1994, to October 3, 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O. J. Simpson</span> American football player (1947–2024)

Orenthal James Simpson was an American football player and actor. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills, and is regarded as one of the greatest running backs of all time. His professional success was overshadowed by his trial and controversial acquittal for the murders of his former wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.

<i>HM Advocate v Sheridan and Sheridan</i>

Her Majesty's Advocate v Thomas Sheridan and Gail Sheridan was the 2010 criminal prosecution of Tommy Sheridan, a former Member of the Scottish Parliament and his wife Gail Sheridan for perjury in relation to an earlier civil case called Sheridan v News Group Newspapers. Tommy Sheridan was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison, whereas Gail was acquitted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perry Mason moment</span> Moment during a trial that radically shifts the likely outcome

In court proceedings in the United States, a Perry Mason moment is said to have occurred whenever information is unexpectedly, and often dramatically, introduced into the record that changes the perception of the proceedings greatly and often influences the outcome. Often it takes the form of a witness's answer to a question, but it can sometimes come in the form of new evidence. It takes its name from Perry Mason, a fictional character in novels and stories written by Erle Stanley Gardner, where such dramatic reversals occurred, often in the form of witnesses confessing to crimes others were accused of in response to the sudden exposure of an inconsistency in their alibi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Sherri Rasmussen</span> 1986 murder in Los Angeles

On February 24, 1986, the body of Sherri Rasmussen was found in the apartment she shared with her husband, John Ruetten, in Van Nuys, California, United States. She had been beaten and shot three times in a struggle. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) initially considered the case a botched burglary and were unable to identify a suspect. Rasmussen's father believed that LAPD officer Stephanie Ilene Lazarus, who was formerly in a relationship with Ruetten, was a prime suspect.

The "Dream Team" refers to the team of trial lawyers that represented American athlete O. J. Simpson in his 1995 trial for the murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman. The team included Robert Shapiro, Johnnie Cochran, Carl Douglas, Shawn Chapman Holley, Gerald Uelmen, Robert Kardashian, Alan Dershowitz, F. Lee Bailey, Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld, Robert Blasier, and William Thompson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brett Cantor</span> Los Angeles nightclub owner killed in 1993

Brett Ross Cantor was an American record label executive, concert promoter and nightclub owner. He was born in New York to Rhonda and Paul Cantor, who managed acts such as B. J. Thomas and Dionne Warwick. In the early 1970s, he and his family moved to the Los Angeles area. In the early 1990s, he served as an A&R executive for the Chrysalis Music Group.

With no witnesses to the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, DNA evidence in the O. J. Simpson murder case was the key physical proof used by the prosecution to link O. J. Simpson to the crime. Over nine weeks of testimony, 108 exhibits of DNA evidence, including 61 drops of blood, were presented at trial. Testing was cross-referenced and validated at three separate labs using different tests with no discrepancies found. The prosecution offered the defense access to the evidence samples to conduct their own testing, but they declined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reaction to the verdict in the O. J. Simpson criminal trial</span> Responses to the 1995 acquittal

On Tuesday, October 3, 1995, the verdict in the O. J. Simpson murder case was announced and Simpson was acquitted on both counts of murder. Although the nation observed the same evidence presented at trial, a division along racial lines emerged in observers opinion of the verdict, which the media dubbed the "racial gap". Immediately following the trial, polling showed that most African Americans believed Simpson was innocent and justice had been served, while most White Americans felt he was guilty and the verdict was a racially motivated jury nullification by a mostly African-American jury. Current polling shows the gap has narrowed since the trial, with the majority of black respondents in 2016 stating they believed Simpson was guilty.

Margaret York was an American police officer, considered to have had a groundbreaking impact during her time in the Los Angeles Police Department. She was reported to be the inspiration for the American television show Cagney & Lacey.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Butterfield, Fox (March 2, 1996). "Behind the Badge: A Special Report". The New York Times .
  2. 1 2 3 "Witnesses Tell Jury of Fuhrman's Racial Epithets: Simpson trial: Ex-detective disparaged interracial couples and bragged about making up charges, two women say. The session ends with the playing of writer's tapes". Los Angeles Times. September 6, 1995.
  3. 1 2 "Why LAPD Det. Mark Fuhrman May Have Helped OJ Simpson Get Away With Murder". Mic. February 17, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  4. 1 2 Lewis, Claude. "A Chilling TV Interview Lays Bare Mark Fuhrman, Racist And Liar". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Co-Workers Paint Different Portrait of Mark Fuhrman LAPD: In contrast to racist boasts on tapes, black, Latino colleagues describe a hard-working, unbiased cop". Los Angeles Times . November 8, 1995.
  6. ↑ "Detective grilled about bloody glove at estate, past testimony O. J. SIMPSON TRIAL". The Baltimore Sun . March 15, 1995.
  7. ↑ Adams, Lorraine (August 22, 1995). "Stories Of Fuhrman Depict Racist Braggart". The Seattle Times .
  8. ↑ "Military Books − Mark Fuhrman". Military-Writers.com. 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Witness for the Prosecution". People .
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 An Incendiary Defense, The New Yorker, July 25, 1994; accessed March 6, 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Feldman, Paul; Lopez, Robert J. (October 2, 1995). "Fuhrman Case: How the City Kept Troubled Cop : Police: He showed racist views and boasted of violence in '83 disability claim. Officials said they didn't believe him". The Los Angeles Times . Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  12. ↑ "O.J. Trial Lawyer Asserts Conspiracy Is to Blame". The Moscow Times. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016.
  13. ↑ Neyfakh, Leon (February 2, 2016). "Fact vs. Fiction in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story?". Slate .
  14. 1 2 3 Bugliosi, Vincent (1996). Outrage: The Five Reasons O.J. Simpson Got Away With Murder. New York City: W. W. Norton. ISBN   0-393-04050-X.
  15. ↑ Adams, Lorraine (August 22, 1995). "Past Paints Troubling Portrait Of Simpson Case Detective". The Washington Post. ISSN   2641-9599 . Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  16. ↑ Feldman, Paul; Lopez, Robert J. (October 2, 1995). "Fuhrman Case: How the City Kept Troubled Cop: Police: He showed racist views and boasted of violence in '83 disability claim. Officials said they didn't believe him". Los Angeles Times. ISSN   2165-1736 . Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  17. ↑ Nemetz, Dave (June 17, 2016). "'O.J.: Made in America': 5 Things We Learned From Part 4". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  18. ↑ "First Officer at Scene Ends Long Simpson Testimony". Los Angeles Times. February 15, 1995.
  19. ↑ "New Straits Times - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  20. 1 2 "Philip Vannatter, 70, Dies; O. J. Simpson Investigator". The New York Times . January 24, 2012.
  21. 1 2 "O.J. Simpson trial: Mark Furhman denies being a racist".
  22. ↑ Craig Wolff (March 23, 1997). "Look Who's Talking". The New York Times.
  23. ↑ Amanda Remling (February 2, 2016). "O.J. Simpson Case: Facts About Nicole Brown Simpson's Death, The Murder Trial Before 'American Crime Story'". International Business Times.
  24. ↑ "List of the evidence in the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial". USA Today .
  25. ↑ "Ex-prosecutor: O.J. Simpson lawyer tampered with glove". USA Today .
  26. 1 2 3 4 "Chronology of the O. J. Simpson Case".
  27. ↑ "A Detective Could Become An Issue at Simpson Trial". The New York Times. February 21, 1995.
  28. ↑ "A Jury Is Chosen to Hear The Simpson Murder Case". The New York Times. November 4, 1994.
  29. 1 2 Rex Sorgatz (February 22, 2019). "Document: The Jury Selection Questionnaire from the OJ Simpson Trial". Medium.
  30. 1 2 3 "Ito's Final Decision on the Fuhrman Tapes". Court Document. Jack Walraven. January 20, 1995. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  31. 1 2 3 "My World and Welcome... Info Pages: Excerpts from the Fuhrman Tapes".
  32. ↑ Cal. Evid. Code § 352
  33. ↑ "Prosecutor To Ask Ito To Step Down Fuhrman Tapes Raise Conflict Of Interest". The Philadelphia Inquirer . August 16, 1995. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015.
  34. 1 2 3 4 Seigel, Jessica (September 6, 1995). "SIMPSON JURY FINALLY HEARS FUHRMAN'S SLURS". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  35. ↑ "FUHRMAN TAKES A BEATING". Time . September 5, 1995.
  36. ↑ "MARK FUHRMAN'S CHILDHOOD RACISM EXPOSED ON A 2-PART 'LEEZA'".[ permanent dead link ]
  37. ↑ "Simpson Jury Hears of Racist Incidents". The New York Times. September 6, 1995.
  38. ↑ Testimony of Roderic Hodge, umkc.edu; accessed March 6, 2016.
  39. ↑ Fuhrman's Comments Introduced At The O.j. Simpson Trial
  40. ↑ "Fuhrman Invokes 5th Amendment, Refuses to Testify". Los Angeles Times. September 7, 1995.
  41. 1 2 "Acquit Simpson and Send Police a Message, Cochran Urges Jury". Los Angeles Times. September 28, 1995.
  42. ↑ Dershowitz, Alan M. (February 19, 1997). Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case . Simon and Schuster. p.  119. ISBN   9780684832647 – via Internet Archive. lying, perjuring, genocidal racist.
  43. ↑ Ross, Janell (March 6, 2016). "That knife allegedly found on O.J. Simpson's property says plenty about why he was acquitted". The Washington Post . Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  44. ↑ Dunne, Dominick. "How O.J. Simpson's Dream Team Played the "Race Card" and Won". Vanity Fair.
  45. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Fuhrman, Mark (1997). Murder in Brentwood. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing. ISBN   0-89526-421-8.
  46. ↑ "Fuhrman May Be Charged With Perjury at Simpson Trial" November 1995 article originally appearing in the Los Angeles Times . Accessed January 8, 2008.
  47. ↑ "Fuhrman Bargains Out Of Jail Time". Chicago Tribune . October 3, 1996.
  48. ↑ Trex, Ethan. "Four Famous People Convicted of Perjury". Mental Floss . Archived from the original on August 31, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  49. ↑ "Mark Fuhrman's perjury probation ends". CNN. April 24, 1998. Archived from the original on November 7, 2015.
  50. ↑ "Fuhrman Grants Interview, Apologizes for Slurs". Los Angeles Times. October 8, 1996.
  51. ↑ Los Angeles Police Report Says Fuhrman Overstated Brutal Exploits, The New York Times, May 6, 1997.
  52. ↑ "2011 California Code :: Penal Code :: Part 1. Of Crimes and Punishments [25 - 680] :: Chapter 5. Perjury and Subornation of Perjury :: Section 128". Justia Law.
  53. ↑ "Law section". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
  54. 1 2 "Prosecutors Drop Demand That Ito Step Down In Case". The New York Times. August 17, 1995.
  55. ↑ The Martha Moxley Murder – Whirlpool of Doubts, trutv.com; accessed March 6, 2016.
  56. ↑ Rojas, Rick; Hussey, Kristin (May 4, 2018). "Connecticut Court Reverses Murder Conviction of Michael Skakel". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  57. ↑ Murder in Greenwich (TV Movie) details, IMDb.com; accessed March 6, 2016.
  58. ↑ Schauer, Edward J. (2008). Oliver, Willard M. (ed.). "Book Review: Fuhrman, M. (2006) A Simple Act of Murder: November 22, 1963" (PDF). The Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice. 5 (1): 87–88. ISSN   1939-442X . Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  59. ↑ "Mark Fuhrman". Fox News. June 15, 2022.
  60. ↑ "Mark Fuhrman, detective in O.J. Simpson case, loses talk show". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. November 16, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.