OJ Simpson’s ‘Dream Team’ defence attorney Alan Dershowitz says the acquitted double-murder suspect will “always have a mixed legacy”.
OJ Simpson’s ‘Dream Team’ defence attorney Alan Dershowitz says the acquitted double-murder suspect will ‘always have a mixed legacy’
Alan, 85, was one of nine attorneys – along with Robert Blasier, Carl Douglas, Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro, F Lee Bailey, Barry Scheck, Robert Kardashian, Peter Neufeld, Gerald F Uelmen and Shawn Holley – when Simpson, who died aged 76 from cancer on Wednesday (10.04.24) was put on trial for the killing of his ex-wife Nicole Brown, 35, and her friend Ron Goldman, 25, in 1994.
Alan told People: “He will always have a mixed legacy. But, he’ll always be remembered as the defendant in the very important trial of 1995.
“He was very smart. He didn’t always listen to his lawyers’ advice. (I) told (Simpson) once he got acquitted to assume a low profile. (He) did not.
“He did some foolish things writing a book (‘If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer’) or he went on a lot of television shows.
“(He) did not do himself very much good.”
Alan stressed Simpson’s ‘Trial of the Century’ which went on for 11 months from 1994 to 1995 “had a big impact on the American justice system, on media coverage of trials, on corruption”.
He added: “He had a big impact on racial divisions … he left a mark.
Simpson was arrested in 1994 in connection with the death of Ron and Nicole, who was stabbed so fiercely medical examiners said her head was almost decapitated.
The victims were stabbed to death outside Nicole’s Los Angeles home on June 12, 1994, and despite his acquittal in his criminal trial, Simpson was later found liable for the murders in a civil case, and ordered to pay $33.5million in compensation.
It’s been reported Simpson paid $50,000 a day for his huge defence team in the criminal trial, funded by memorabilia he signed while behind bars.