After O.J. Simpson was found guilty of charges--13 years to the day he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman-- related to a Las Vegas robbery last year, the tabloids put the new verdict on their covers today. The Post recalled its 1995 "Not Guilty" cover, and offered this quote from lawyer Gloria Allred, who represented the Brown family, "O.J. Simpson is finally being held accountable for his crime. O.J. Simpson's favorite song appeared to be 'If I Only Had a Brain.' If he only had a brain, he would never have committed the crime he did in Las Vegas. And if he only had a heart, he would never have killed Nicole and Ron Goldman."
The Daily News spoke to a lawyer for the Goldman family, who suggested that "trial evidence [be] sold as memorabilia" and that Simpson's prison salary become part of the $33.5 million that Simpson owes from the wrongful death judgment. Lawyer David Cook's pitch: "You too can own the autographed football that put Mr. Simpson behind bars!" He added, "We'll look forward to collecting that 83 cents an hour."
Simpson's lawyer is planning an appeal; one reason cited was the fact there were no blacks on the jury. Simpson's friend Tom Scotto said, "What happened here is a total lynching. Obviously the jury wanted to make a statement. Everybody is devastated." Some black Los Angeles residents were also skeptical about whether he received a fair trial, especially given the timing of the verdict, one telling the LA Times, "These jurors wanted payback, and they were going to have the payback to the day."
However one juror, Anne Sorge, said, "We never once referred to the past. We had so much information in front of us to cover." And Simpson's former "Dream Team" lawyer Robert Shapiro told the Post, "He got a fair trial from, what I read."
