What They Said

After they were released from a court-imposed gag order Monday, a number of jurors in the O.J. Simpson civil trial explained their verdicts in a press conference or interviews. They discussed a wide range of issues, ranging from their views on Simpson’s credibility, to the issue of race to how they regarded the evidence. Here are some of their comments.

Simpson’s Credibility

“I thought Kato Kaelin was more credible.”

--Orville Bigelow

*

“Mr. Simpson, I feel, was a genuine hero to all of us...We found that we had a hero with feet of clay.”

--Jack Herlihy, foreman of the first phase of the trial

*

“He wasn’t credible. . . . Everything as it related to the evidence, the shoes, the hitting, where the gloves were, the sweatsuit. . .”

--Juror Seat 5, Badge 266

*

“I did have problems with some of his testimony, in his denials of testimony, in his absolute that ‘I have never worn these shoes, I would never own these shoes, I have never hit Nicole.’ He was very definite in certain aspects, and on other questions he evaded the question.”

--Stephen Strati, 35, foreman of the punitive phase

*

“He would change his mind. First he said he cut his fingers, which were obviously fingernail gouges from the attacks. He said he received those from rough-housing with his young son and then later. . . he changed his mind and said he cut his hand when he was in Chicago in the hotel room..”

--Juror Seat 10, Badge 400

Evidence

“Nobody says a murderer has to wear gloves that fit. Now shoes that fit . . .”

--Bigelow

*

“Allan Park helped. He filled in a lot of the times that we needed.”

--Strati

*

“The bottom line as far as I was concerned . . . was the testimony regarding his beating his ex-wife. We had two witnesses who testified that they had seen it. Once he said that [he had never beaten her], I felt that he was lying. Once we felt he wasn’t telling the truth, it went downhill from there.”

--Herlihy

*

“Finding O.J. Simpson liable of the murders and acting with oppression and malice was one of the easiest decisions I have ever had to make.”

--Juror Seat 11, Badge 88

*

“I really do think that the plaintiffs proved their preponderance of evidence. They really did make it more likely than not that O.J. Simpson was there that night.”

--Juror Seat 4, Badge 294

*

“Yeah, I believe beyond a reasonable doubt. In fact, 100% . . . there’s just no way anybody could have planted all of that evidence. And they called them [police] incompetent. How could incompetent people plant all this?” --Bigelow

*

“It was 100% for me. I really believe that Mr. Simpson was guilty.”

--Juror Seat 10, Badge 400

The Race Factor

“There’s been too much emphasis on the fact that . . . he’s a black man, the fact that we’re predominantly a white jury.”

--Bigelow

*

“Race did not come into play in the courtroom.”

--Strati

*

“We went by all of the evidence and it had nothing to do with the color of Mr. Simpson’s skin.”

--Juror Seat 10, Badge 400

Damages

“We all feel that Simpson has the potential to make a lot of money in the future. We didn’t buy the defense’s argument that he is washed out and worthless . . . book deals, videos. You know, his signature is still worth a lot of money to people, whether the defense wants to concur or not . . . . I thought the defense was way undershooting what Simpson was earning.”

--Juror Seat 4, Badge 294

*

“I felt that I could quantify the value of an adult son to . . . a man who’s a head of a household, so I started the discussion at $1 million per year . . . . I think you would have to pay 10 people, $100,000 a year to come to your house and give you unconditional love, solace, support and understanding and knowledge of your family. I felt I could quantify that.”

--Juror Seat 5, Badge 266

*

“When this was going on before, I could care less about what was happening. I didn’t know these people . . . It doesn’t affect me, but what I’ve learned from this is that the death of two people, two human beings, it really affects everybody. The punitive damages that we awarded is a deterrent for other murders, not just Mr. Simpson. So this really has a global effect, I think.”

--Juror Seat 4, Badge 294