The Media

I wondered if I would ever see this day. I’m glad I lived to see it. 13 years after his double murder acquittal and after 13 hours of juror deliberation - GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY.
As I recently wrote (see column below: OJ Simpson’s Baggage - Sept 20, 08) I’ve been reporting on the exploits of Orethal James Simpson since that day in June 1994 when I stood in the blood of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman.
With his trusty, longtime defense attorney Yale Galanter at his side Simpson had maintained to a Las Vegas jury that it was okay for him to burst into a hotel room with a group of goons with guns and take back his memorabilia. And I’m sure deep in his heart he believes that. It was not an act - Simpson truly believes the world is out to get him and that he can operate under a different set of rules. He likely never thought that when he burst in and barked out the command that “No body leaves this room,” that that constitutes kidnapping. Kidnapping was one of the dozen charges Simpson was found guilty of committing.
Part of me says, “Finally! Justice has caught up with him.” What I really mean by that is that he’s finally going to be where he should have been 13 years ago after he murdered Nicole and Ron. But make no mistake about it. OJ Simpson is not going to prison for that. He’s going to prison because his escapade in that Vegas hotel room was caught on both audio and video tape and this time there was just no talking his celebrity way out of it.
I guess it doesn’t matter why he’s in prison. After his December 5th sentencing we may learn he’s in for what amouts to a life sentence. But if I’m the family of Nicole or Ron Goldman I’m not sure I’m feeling satisfied or particularly victorious.
There will be an appeal and as I predicted it will likely be based, in part, on the make-up of the all-white jury.
So be it. For now it feels good to say, “Mr. Simpson, meet Lady Justice…..”
~ DD

Nicole Brown Simpson - one of two victims

I had never seen so much blood in my life.

As the coroner’s wagon pulled away - there it was. Puddles of it. Some of it had oozed down the cracks in between the pathway pavers and toward the sidewalk. As I looked closer I could see paw prints from a large dog and patterned traces of wispy blood that its dragging leash had left behind. Up toward the gate of the fancy condo statuesque Agapanthus stood, its purple flower heads dotted with drops of this blood.

It was June 1994, about ten a.m. on a sunny Sunday in Brentwood, California. My cameraman and I, the reporter on duty that weekend, had been assigned to go to the home of Nicole Brown Simpson. Word was O.J.’s ex-wife had been murdered.

My first thoughts that beautiful morning were: Why didn’t someone take a hose and wash away this horror - and - where were the police?

With no one to stop us, and with camera rolling, we gingerly tiptoed to the gate and opened it. Across a shallow courtyard was the plate glass window behind which Nicole had lived. We could see inside the cozy living room with its overhead balcony leading off to the side bedrooms. Candles were still burning, framed photos of a smiling Nicole and her kids were everywhere. Outside, there were bloody footprints and what seemed to be a bloody handprint on the side of the house. Eerie, and to this day I remember it vividly.

Is OJ’s voice on the audio tape evidence enough?
Vote in my online poll after the jump…

[click to continue...]

David is a convicted child molester, a registered sex offender, who has served his time and currently lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

So what should society do with him now that he’s out? Watch him like a hawk? Well, that’s already being done via the registry through which he must regularly report his every lifestyle move - where he lives, where he works, what car he drives, where he spends his time.

For many of us the quick answer would be, “Lock him up and throw away the key!” And until I met David I would have joined in that chorus. Once a sex offender always a sex offender - that’s been my mantra.

To make a very long story short David’s estranged wife accused him of sexually touching their 5 year old daughter during a visitation. Their 7 year old son allegedly saw it happen during a naptime when all three of them had laid down to take a quick snooze. [click to continue...]

Defense attorney Mickey Sherman (center) surrounded by media at the murder trial of Michael Skakel

You’ll never guess what they’re teaching in law schools these days.

They’re teaching ripped from the TV plot lines – and the art of TV punditry.

I bet its happening across the country but I’ll stick to what I know first hand. [click to continue...]

Why isn’t there a hue and cry across the land about the crime rate in this country?

If true leadership starts at the top why aren’t any of the presidential candidates talking about crime in America? Why aren’t any of them proposing an anti-crime plan along with their Iraq package, their health care ideas and their Social Security solutions? It is something that affects all of us every single day…and it’s getting worse.

We recently learned that 1 in every 100 Americans is already in prison. More than 2 million people are incarcerated in the United States costing states and the federal government (read that us - you and me) billions – yes, BILLIONS - of dollars every year. How bad does it have to get before the public starts demanding something be done? How much higher must those numbers go before our leaders start talking about, and doing something about, this thing that plagues and drains us all? [click to continue...]