Racism and Simpson Verdict

The lesson of the Simpson case? If the facts aren’t on your side, resort to race-baiting demagoguery.

That is precisely what the defense did throughout the trial. In case anyone missed the point, it was driven home in the most blatant and unambiguous manner during the closing arguments of Johnnie Cochran, with the hysterical comparison of Mark Fuhrman to Hitler and the appeal to the jury to send a message--an invitation, eagerly accepted, to commit “jury nullification.” To then stand up before the world after the trial and deny doing so, as the defense team did, is the depth of hypocrisy.

Appeals to race do work, and sadly, that will be the lesson, and the legacy, of the Simpson trial. I agree with Fred Goldman: “Justice was not served.”

S. BRUCE CHESSER

La Crescenta

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* Set into historical context, the Simpson verdict provides the following dismal irony. Our failure to end the racism long dominant in American society--including the criminal justice system--has led to the perversion of justice in the name of fighting racism.

Demagoguery, linked to great wealth and the star system, has yet again won out, as “Baby Justice” was stifled in the smoke. What the verdict portends for women involved in abusive relationships is equally dismal.

When demagogic lawyers talk, rich murderers walk. Is this to be our motto for the 21st Century?

WILLIAM A. SMITH

Professor of History, Emeritus

Cal Poly Pomona

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* Return all people to prison who were cleared by DNA evidence. Don’t believe the DNA results which identify the 78-year-old corpses as Czar Nicholas II and his family.

For 72 years I’ve believed money does not “buy” in court. I’m wrong, money buys dismissal and/or acquittal.

WOODROW B. RUIKKA

Redondo Beach

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* Because of racism and sexism, the killer of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman was declared not guilty by the jury. Not the racism and sexism of the jury, but of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The LAPD’s sexism caused Nicole’s cries to be unheard for years because they refused to accept that men do not own women. The LAPD’s racism resulted in evidence that was specious and professional behavior that made a guilty conviction impossible for any jury. Every time Simpson looks at his children he will face the aftermath of this tragedy.

Unfortunately the losers in this are the victims, the family, the children and the people of Los Angeles.

DIANA de NOYELLES

Pasadena

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* Whatever moral high ground black Americans may have had has vanished with the Simpson verdict. Given by a predominantly black jury and supported by a majority of African Americans, this verdict is the mirror image of the Rodney King verdict. That verdict outraged blacks, but how credible is that outrage now? The innocent verdict for Simpson was racial, given the overwhelming evidence against him. But there will be no rioting by whites. The real response will come at the ballot box, and by a more sensible appraisal of black charges of racism.

BILL Van DAALEN

Los Angeles

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* The verdict in the Simpson trial didn’t stun me more than Cochran’s statements about how we must now focus on what “unites us all.” After shoving a crowbar into the Pandora’s box of racism and yanking it open it with glee, Cochran now lectures us on this? Sort of like setting the theater on fire and then telling us all to enjoy the show.

By “playing the race card,” he’s dealt us all a hateful hand.

BART BAKER

West Hills

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* Robert Shapiro’s complaints about the “race card” (Oct. 4) come a little too late, I’m afraid. If he really objected to this strategy, he should have prevented it or quit the defense (without collecting a fee) when it was played. Now he must accept tacit responsibility for pushing American black/non-black race relations to a serious new low. If, like Cochran, he protests that he was “just doing his job,” I would remind him that the guards at the concentration camps were also “just doing their job.”

What Cochran, F. Lee Bailey, Shapiro & Co. don’t seem to understand is that what is legal is not always what is right.

RICHARD MARKEN

Los Angeles

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* In the aftermath of the verdict, I am deeply disturbed by some of the comments that I have heard and read. People seem to forget that both the prosecution and the defense agreed upon the jurors as being competent to serve after an intense screening process. While I don’t necessarily agree with the decision the jury reached, nor the speed by which that decision was reached, I definitely believe that the jurors did the best job they could.

For those people who are upset because the verdict was a not guilty, consider this: Virtually every ruling which determined the legal playing field for this case went in the prosecution’s favor. With that huge advantage, the blame for not getting a conviction falls squarely on the prosecution’s collective shoulders. As for those who have lost faith in our legal system, no one ever said that our system is foolproof. Good or bad, our system is only what we make it.

DEREK K. HOLLINSHEAD

Covina

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* The only thing worse than a cowardly wife beater is a cowardly jury. What a sad day for our nation’s justice system.

JAMES K. ANDERSON

Brentwood

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* Nicole said it all: “He’s going to kill me and get away with it.”

ANNIE J. COX

Los Angeles

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* To prosecutors Marcia Clark, Christopher Darden and all the others: Thanks for everything. I know you put your heart and soul into this. I know you had no lives outside of your job for over a year. You did your jobs. Twelve others did not do their jobs.

DANIEL HORTON

Chino Hills

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* There are three lessons to be learned from the Simpson trial:

* You can get away with murder if you are rich and famous.

* African Americans are every bit as racist as whites.

* The LAPD crime lab and its workers need to clean up their act, and we need to give them the funds to do it, or this will become known as the “O.J. Defense.”

LORI JONES

Burbank

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* For years rich white men have been able to buy their way out of really ugly legal and moral situations. As of today, we’ve seen that rich black men have reached the stage where they can purchase these same privileges. Who needs affirmative action?

TONY M. ENOS

San Francisco

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* Now we know what it takes to be found innocent of any crime, regardless of the evidence: money and celebrity. The rest of us get a different brand of justice.

RAY CLOUSE

Cypress

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* If, as someone once said, judges are politicians in robes, we now know that jurors are politicians with notebooks.

WESLEY WELLMAN

Santa Monica

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* Lest we forget, the Simpson trial was also a trial by a jury of our peers, not only O.J.’s but also peers of the district attorney’s office, the LAPD and the community as a whole. And, whether we like it or not, the jury spoke and justice was served.

VINCENT HEDGES

Valencia

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* Even Robert A. Jones, who seems to applaud the verdict in his Oct. 4 column, stepped in the truth when he wrote, “the verdict may not have addressed the evidence at hand.” The verdict was a political statement, but perhaps another statement was made as well--a wealthy black person was able to beat the system just as a wealthy white person could have. If I had been accused of this crime, I would have been convicted in a heartbeat, just as would a black person of limited means. Maybe the system is more equal than we realize.

The message of the jury was sent and received loud and clear. But please, let’s not confuse it with justice in the double murder trial of Simpson. A political message was sent and the probable murderer walked free.

MARK A. NICOLAY

Pasadena

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* Jones is absolutely right. There is a huge divide that separates blacks and whites and he perpetuates that chasm. Racism is pervasive on both sides of that chasm. Jones’ assertion that a white person’s birthright exempts him or her from the criminal justice system is like the argument that you can’t understand the mind of an alcoholic or drug addict if you don’t suffer from the same addiction. In other words, white people can never know how bad the other side has it. Case closed. End of discussion.

Is this true? Does it even matter? How does this help bridge the chasm? Mr. Jones, how about entering into a constructive dialogue rather than preempting further discussion with closed-end reasoning.

TANYA B. EVANS

Monrovia

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* I’m less troubled by the verdict in the Simpson trial than by the devaluation of the word justice . The mantle of righteousness was tailored to people of ideas and principles such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. But what are we doing when we bestow it with equal passion on men such as Simpson, who stand for nothing but themselves? When we rap on our symbols, they shouldn’t sound hollow.

MARTIN J. SMITH

Los Alamitos

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* The not-guilty verdict is unfortunately consistent with many surprises in this trial. Did you expect a “normal” ending to this “abnormal” trial?

RUBEN MENDOZA

Northridge

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* Now that I can finally read a newspaper and watch television without seeing the “Trial of the Century,” O.J. is not the only one singing, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last!”

RALPH JOSEPH NOVOTNEY JR.

Woodland Hills

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* In a sense, O.J. Simpson has received a sentence . . . he now has to live with himself.

BARBARA CLINE

Sierra Madre