William Hodgman | |
---|---|
Born | La Habra, California, U.S. | December 14, 1952
Education | University of California, Los Angeles (BA) University of California, Hastings (JD) |
Occupation(s) | Attorney, prosecutor |
Years active | 1978–present |
Children | 1 |
William Hodgman (born December 14, 1952) is an American lawyer and prosecutor. He served as a prosecutor during the O. J. Simpson murder trial, a role in which he gained international attention. [1] He also served as the Assistant District Attorney for line operations in the Los Angeles District Attorney's office. [2]
Hodgman was born and raised in La Habra, California, a suburban community in southern California. He is the oldest of four children. [3] He graduated from UCLA and then the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1978. [4]
Upon graduation from law school, Hodgman started his career as a junior prosecutor in the Los Angeles District Attorney's office. [4] He was officially hired by Johnnie Cochran, who was the Assistant District Attorney of Los Angeles, at the time. [4] In 1982, Hodgman left the Los Angeles District Attorney's office to work in private practice at a local law firm. However, after just one year, he returned to the District Attorney's office.
Hodgman was the lead attorney in the prosecution of Charles Keating, who was convicted for fraud. [5] As a result of his work, he was awarded with the 1992 Outstanding Prosecutor of the Year by the California District Attorneys Association and the Los Angeles County Association of Deputy District Attorneys. [6] In 1993, Hodgman led the investigation into the child sexual abuse accusations against Michael Jackson. [7]
Hodgman was assigned to be a co-prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial and was present during opening statements. However, during a meeting with other prosecutors, he began to suffer from chest pains and collapsed. Hodgman was rushed to the hospital and his condition was attributed to stress from his case. Testing at the hospital also revealed that he had a chronic heart defect. [8] [4] Hodgman did not return to the O.J. Simpson trial and was replaced by Chris Darden as the co-prosecutor.
Hodgman successfully prosecuted record label owner Suge Knight for a probation violation in 1997. [9]
Hodgman served as the Assistant District Attorney for line operations in the Los Angeles District Attorney's office until 2019 when he retired after 40 years working with the Los Angeles District Attorney's office. [10]
Hodgman is played by Christian Clemenson in the 2016 television series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story .
Hodgman is married and has a son. [4]
Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. is an American record executive and convicted felon who is the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Knight was a central figure in gangsta rap's commercial success in the 1990s. This feat is attributed to the record label's first two album releases: Dr. Dre's The Chronic in 1992 and Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle in 1993. Knight is currently serving a 28-year sentence in prison for a fatal hit-and-run in 2015.
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Robert George Kardashian was an American attorney and businessman. He gained recognition as O. J. Simpson's friend and defense attorney during Simpson's 1995 murder trial. He had four children with his first wife, Kris Kardashian: Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Rob, who appear on their family reality television series, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and its spinoffs.
Vincent T. Bugliosi Jr. was an American prosecutor and author who served as Deputy District Attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office between 1964 and 1972. He became best known for successfully prosecuting Charles Manson and other defendants accused of the Tate–LaBianca murders that took place between August 9 and August 10, 1969.
Ronald Lyle Goldman was an American restaurant waiter and aspiring actor.
Marcia Rachel Clark is an American prosecutor, author, television correspondent, and television producer. She is best known for having been the lead prosecutor in the O. J. Simpson murder case.
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Stephen Lawrence Cooley is an American politician and prosecutor. He was the Los Angeles County District Attorney from 2000 to 2012. Cooley was re-elected in 2004 and again in 2008.
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An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal government of the United States in civil and appellate litigation and in federal criminal prosecutions. Assistant U.S. attorneys working in their office's criminal section are often called federal prosecutors.
The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson was a criminal trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court, in which former NFL player and actor O. J. Simpson was tried and acquitted for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, who were stabbed to death outside Brown's condominium in Los Angeles on June 12, 1994. The trial spanned eight months, from January 24 to October 3, 1995.
Gilbert Salvador Iberri Garcetti is an American politician and lawyer. He served as Los Angeles County's 40th district attorney for two terms, from 1992 until November 7, 2000. He is the father of U.S. Ambassador to India and former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Orenthal James Simpson, also known by his nickname "the Juice", was an American professional football player, actor, and media personality who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. Simpson is regarded as one of the greatest running backs of all time, but his success was overshadowed by his criminal trial and controversial acquittal for the murders of his former wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.
Laurie Lou Levenson is a professor of law, William M. Rains Fellow, the David W. Burcham Chair in Ethical Advocacy, and Director of the Center for Legal Advocacy at Loyola Law School of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She teaches evidence, criminal law, criminal procedure, ethics, anti-terrorism, and white collar crime. She served as Loyola's Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 1996 to 1999. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she is the Director of the Loyola Center for Ethical Advocacy. She received the 2003 Professor of the Year awards from both Loyola Law School and the Federal Judicial Center.
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.
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.