The O.J. Simpson case: Where are they now?
Where are all the key figures from the O.J. Simpson double murder trial 25 years after the slayings of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson?
The October 1995 "The Trial of the Century" ended with the acquittal, by an overwhelmingly black jury, of former football star O.J. Simpson for the murders of his ex-wife and her friend, both found dead in Los Angeles the night of June 12, 1994. It took the jury just four hours to come back with a "not guilty" verdict. The murders, the Bronco car chase, trial and acquittal riveted and polarized the nation.
In this photo, O.J. Simpson (R), prosecutor Marcia Clark (2nd L) and defense attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. (C) look over documents during the afternoon session of the trial in L.A., February 21, 1995. Defense attorney Carl Douglas is sitting to the left.
O.J. Simpson
June 21, 1995: O.J. Simpson holds up his hands before the jury after putting on a new pair of gloves similar to the infamous bloody gloves during his double-murder trial in L.A.
Victims: Nicole Brown Simpson, Ron Goldman
O.J. Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, left, and her friend Ron Lyle Goldman, were killed on June 12, 1994.
O.J. Simpson
May 13, 2013: O.J. Simpson at an evidentiary hearing in Clark County District Court, in Las Vegas.
After his acquittal for the murders of his ex-wife and Goldman, Simpson was arrested in September 16, 2007 for his involvement in a botched robbery in Las Vegas. Simpson admitted to taking various sports memorabilia, but denied breaking into a hotel room with a group of men for the items.
On Oct. 3, 2008, exactly 13 years after Simpson's acquittal for the murders of Brown and Goldman, an all-white jury in Nevada convicted him of all 10 charges related to leading the gunpoint robbery of two sports memorability dealers. Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison and incarcerated at Lovelock Correctional Center in Nevada.
Simpson's request for a re-trial, based on his belief errors were made by his defense counsel, was denied in November 2013.
O.J. Simpson
Simpson was granted parole on July 20, 2017 after serving nine years for the Las Vegas robbery. He was released from prison Oct. 1, 2017.
O.J. Simpson
This Thursday, June 6, 2019, photo shows O.J. Simpson in his Las Vegas area home. After 25 years living under the shadow of one of the nation's most notorious murder cases, Simpson told The Associated Press his life now is fine.
The 71-year-old said he is happy and healthy living in Las Vegas, plays golf almost every day and stays in touch with his children. He said he didn't want to speak about the murders of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.
"The subject of the moment is the subject I will never revisit again. My family and I have moved on to what we call the 'no negative zone.' We focus on the positives," Simpson said.
Relatives of the two victims told the AP they are disgusted Simpson is able to live the way he does while their loved ones' lives were cut short.
LAPD Det. Mark Fuhrman
Los Angeles Police Department detective Mark Fuhrman, whose alleged racist past sparked outrage and helped acquit O.J. Simpson, is seen in this trial photo. Furhman testified he found a blood-stained glove at Brown's condo and another one at O.J. Simpson's home in Brentwood, California. In addition, he said he saw blood at the football player's home and in his car. Simpson's defense team alleged Fuhrman planted the glove and raised his prior use of racist language as part of his motivation.
Fuhrman, who worked out a plea bargain after being charged with perjury for lying in court and denying he used "the N-word," was given three years probation and fined $200. He retired from the police force before the plea deal.
Fuhrman has since written true crime books, including "Murder in Brentwood," and hosted talk radio programs. He frequently appears as a commentator on Fox News.
In a 2016 interview with The New York Post, Fuhrman slammed the FX docu-series "The People Vs. O.J. Simpson," saying, "it is sad that this movie will be the historical word on this infamous trial."
Denise Brown
February 3, 1995: Denise Brown, sister of murder victim Nicole Brown Simpson, cries as she testifies on the witness stand during the O.J. Simpson murder trial in Los Angeles. Brown had recalled an incident she witnessed when O.J. Simpson became angry at his ex-wife, throwing her to the ground outside their home.
Denise Brown
August 15, 2007: Denise Brown talks with Beaufort Books President Eric Kampmann, during a segment of the NBC "Today" television program in New York. Kampmann's imprint was to publish "If I Did It," O.J. Simpson's tome about the slaying of his ex-wife and Ronald Goldman. Brown wanted the book boycotted.
Since her sister's murder, Denise Brown channeled her grief into advocacy work against domestic violence, urging both men and women to leave abusive relationships. Denise Brown travels nationwide to speak and help raise money for women's shelters. She advocated for the passage of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. Shortly after the murders, Lou Brown, Nicole's father, established The Nicole Brown Foundation. He died in 2014.
An outspoken critic of O.J. Simpson, Brown — like the Goldman family — refuses to speak Simpson's name.
Goldman family
October 3, 1995: From L to R, Kim, Fred and Patti Goldman react to the not guilty verdicts in the O.J. Simpson trial in Los Angeles. In the foreground is LAPD Detective Tom Lange who investigated the murders.
Fred Goldman
May 20, 2014: Fred Goldman, father of murder victim Ronald Goldman, in his home in Peoria, Arizona. Goldman has not rested since a jury acquitted O.J. Simpson in the murder case 20 years ago.
The Goldman and Brown families pursued the former football hero in civil court for more than a decade and won a $33.5 million judgment - $8.5 million in compensatory damages to the Goldmans and $25 million in punitive damages split between the Goldmans and Nicole's children. More important to Goldman than the money for both families, was the fact that the jury found Simpson responsible for the murders. Simpson never paid the judgement. In lieu of the settlement, the Goldman family seized Simpson's Heisman Trophy and rights to his movies as well as a book he wrote about the murders. Proceeds from those seizures went into the Ron Goldman Foundation for Justice the family created.
Fred Goldman is now 78.
Kim Goldman
October 3, 1995: Kim Goldman, the sister of murder victim Ron Goldman, cries after the not guilty verdicts were read in the O.J. Simpson trial in Los Angeles.
May, 15, 2014: Kim Goldman holds a photo of her with her late brother, Ronald Goldman during an interview at her home in Santa Clarita, California.
Kim Goldman is a victim's advocate and the executive director of the California non-profit the Youth Project. She has also written a book, "Can't Forgive," about the murder of her brother.
Kim Goldman
Kim Goldman poses for a portrait with The Associated Press June 7, 2019 in Los Angeles.
To coincide with the 25th anniversary of the murders of her brother and Nicole Brown Simpson on June 12, Kim Goldman is launching a podcast called "Confronting: O.J. Simpson," in which she will interview her brother's friends, the detective who investigated the killings, attorneys for the defense and prosecution and two of the 12 jurors who acquitted Simpson, according to the AP.
She will continue to make the case that Simpson was guilty.
"I don't suffocate in my grief," Goldman told the AP in a June 2019 interview. "But every milestone that my kid hits, every milestone that I hit, you know, those are just reminders of what I'm not able to share with my brother and what he is missing out on."
Judge Lance Ito
Sept. 29, 1995: Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lance Ito yells in court during the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial in Los Angeles.
Judge Lance Ito
Jan. 16, 2013: Judge Lance Ito sits in his closed courtroom.
On the Los Angeles Superior Court bench, Ito presided over some 500 trials since the Simpson case made him famous. He took his name plate off his courtroom door because it kept getting stolen. Ito decided not to stand for re-election in 2014 and retired with few plans other than to learn to play guitar.
Prosecutor Marcia Clark
Sept. 26, 1995: Prosecutor Marcia Clark demonstrates to the jury how the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were committed during her closing arguments in the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial in Los Angeles.
Prosecutor Marcia Clark
In this Feb. 5, 2019, file photo, former O.J. Simpson prosecutor Marcia Clark participates in the "The Fix" panel during the ABC presentation at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif.
After the trial, Clark was paid $4 million for her memoir of the case and wrote a series of mystery novels. She never tried another case and stopped practicing law, though she has appeared as a TV commentator on high-profile trials.
Prosecutor Christopher Darden
Sept. 29, 1995: Prosecutor Christopher Darden points at a chart during his closing arguments as co-prosecutor Marcia Clark looks on in a an L.A. courtroom during the O.J. Simpson trial. Darden was heavily criticized for having Simpson try on the so-called murder gloves.
Prosecutor Christopher Darden
In this April 4, 2019, file photo, defense attorney Christopher Darden stands with Eric Holder, the suspect in the killing of rapper Nipsey Hussle, in a Los Angeles arraignment court.
Darden left the district attorney's office in 1995, following the Simpson trial. He joined the faculty of California State University, Los Angeles teaching criminal law. Darden later became a defense attorney and now has a thriving practice. He recently represented the man charged with killing hip-hop mogul Nipsey Hussle before withdrawing from the case, reports The Associated Press, saying his family had received death threats.
Darden wrote a memoir of the trial and has also published several mystery novels. He was given the Crystal Heart Award from Loved Ones of Homicide Victims in 1998. He was also named "Humanitarian of the Year" by Eli Horne, a California shelter for abused women and children.
Defense Attorney Robert Shapiro
Robert Shapiro, the first member of Simpson's defense team, speaks with reporters outside court in this June 24, 1994 photo.
Simpson's lawyers were nicknamed the "Dream Team."
Kato Kaelin
Witness Brian "Kato" Kaelin testifies under direct examination during the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial at the Los Angeles Criminal Courts Building in this Tuesday, March 21, 1995 photo.
Kaelin, a struggling actor living in a guest house on Simpson's property, testified he heard a bump during the night of the murders and went outside to find Simpson in the yard, something prosecutors say showed Simpson was sneaking back home after the killings. In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times written in June 2014, Kaelin says the Simpson trial made him "a celebrity, a pariah, the world's most famous house guest, a traitor, a dummy, a liar, a freeloader and even an assassin's target. Never has a man done so little to be recognized by so many."
Kaelin traded on hist notoriety in the years since the trial. Among other things he posed for Playgirl magazine soon after the trial. In 2010 Kaelin parodied himself on "Real Time with Bill Maher" and in 2012 hosted a sports show called "Tailgating With Kato."
Defense Attorney Robert Shapiro
In this April 26, 2017, file photo, Robert Shapiro arrives at Wolfgang Puck's Post-Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Ceremony Celebration at Spago in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Shapiro achieved a certain celebrity after the Simpson case, and has appeared as himself in films and television.
Shapiro launched a foundation to help drug addicted youngsters after his son, Brent, fatally overdosed in 2005. He is the co-founder of LegalZoom.com, a do-it-yourself document service for people bringing lawsuits. Shapiro also co-founded Shoedazzle.com.
In 2013, he was on the list of "The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America" established by the National Law Journal. He continues to practice law.
Defense Attorney Alan Dershowitz
Defense attorney Alan Dershowitz accuses the prosecution of juror targeting, hiding witnesses and aiming for a retrial in the O. J. Simpson double-murder trial in Los Angeles, June 16, 1995.
Defense Attorney Alan Dershowitz
April 25, 2012: Attorney Alan Dershowitz at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
Dershowitz is the author of numerous books, including "Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case" and "The Case for Israel." He has written many articles on criminal and constitutional law and is a commentator on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Defense Attorney Robert Kardashian
Robert Kardashian, one of O.J. Simpson's defense attorneys, sits in a court in Los Angeles Friday, June 9, 1995.
A close friend of Simpson's, Kardashian renewed his legal license to give assistance to the ex-football star's legal defense team. He died of esophageal cancer in September 2003 at the age of 59. His wife, Kris, was a close friend of Nicole Brown Simpson.
Kris, and Kardashian's children, Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Rob, became famous after his death with their reality show, "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."
Defense Attorney Barry Scheck
Sept. 15, 1995: Defense attorney Barry Scheck cross examines a prosecution witness. Scheck, the lawyer who introduced the science of DNA to jurors and to the public watching the trial on TV, attacked police methods of evidence collection and demolished the prosecution's forensic evidence case.
Defense Attorney Barry Scheck
In this Aug. 31, 2016, file photo, Darryl Howard wipes away tears as he and his lawyer, Barry Scheck, co-director of the based Innocence Project, listen as Judge Orlando Hudson threw out Howard's double-murder conviction after reviewing new DNA evidence, in Durham, N.C.
Scheck founded the Innocence Project organization along with fellow Simpson case co-counsel Peter Neufeld in 1992. The Innocence Project uses DNA evidence to exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners. The project has helped overturn hundreds of convictions.
Defense Attorney F. Lee Bailey
May 22, 2014: F. Lee Bailey, an attorney for O.J. Simpson in 1994, poses in his office in Yarmouth, Maine. In the background hangs a photo of Bailey, Simpson, and attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. reacting the moment the "not guilty" verdict was announced 20 years ago in Los Angeles. Bailey, famed for his role in the trials of Dr. Sam Shepard and heiress Patty Hearst, was a part-time member of the Simpson "Dream Team." He distinguished himself by finding crucial evidence to unmask police detective Mark Fuhrman as a racist.
Bailey later was disbarred in Massachusetts and Florida for misconduct in handling client Claude DuBoc's case. He was also denied a law license in Maine in 2014 based on issues of good moral character and the issue of $2 million owed in back taxes.
Lead Defense Attorney Johnnie Cochran
O.J. Simpson lead attorney Johnnie Cochran addresses students at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, October 28, 1995. He established himself in police brutality and civil rights cases, and received significant attention for his role as lead attorney for the defense in the Simpson trial. During the Simpson trial he famously said, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." Cochran wrote a memoir revealing his rift with Shapiro over control of the defense case.
He expanded his law firm to 15 states and was the success story of the team until he was stricken with brain cancer and died in March 2005 at 68.