The People of the State of California v. Simpson was tried and acquitted for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman , who were stabbed to death outside Brown's condominium in Los Angeles on June 12, The trial spanned eight months, from January 24 to October 3, Though prosecutors argued that Simpson was implicated by a significant amount of forensic evidence , he was acquitted of both murders on October 3.
Simpson was represented by a high-profile defense team, referred to as the " Dream Team ", initially led by Robert Shapiro [ 11 ] [ 12 ] and subsequently directed by Johnnie Cochran. The team included F. Douglas , and Gerald Uelmen.
Simpson was also instrumental in his own defense. The use of DNA evidence in trials was relatively new, and many laypersons did not understand how to evaluate it. The trial was considered significant for the wide division in reaction to the verdict. After the trial, Goldman's father filed a civil suit against Simpson. In , the jury unanimously found Simpson responsible for the deaths of Goldman and Brown.
Brown met Simpson in [ 22 ] when he was 30 and she was 18, working as a waitress at the Daisy a Beverly Hills private club. Simpson and Brown married on February 2, According to psychologist Lenore E. Walker , the SimpsonβBrown marriage was a "textbook example of domestic abuse ". Brown said that Simpson stalked and harassed her after they divorced β an intimidation tactic meant to force the victim to return to the abuser.
A few months before the killings, Simpson finished filming a pilot for Frogmen , an adventure series comparable to The A-Team. He underwent "a fair amount of" military training for Frogmen, including the use of a knife, and in one scene, he held a knife to the throat of a woman playing his daughter.
