Introduction
In this unit you will be exploring the O.J. Simpson double murder investigation. Orenthal James Simpson, also known as "The Juice", was born July 9, 1947, in San Francisco, CA. He played professional football for the USC Trojans, where he gained fame as two-time All-American halfback, setting NCAA records and winning the Heisman Trophy. He went on to play for the Buffalo Bills for a few years, then retired from the San Francisco 49ers in 1979. Then he began a career as sports caster and an actor, which subsided after the murders occured.
Simpson is now best remembered for his arrest and trial in the 1994 murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, of which he was found not guilty by a jury of his peers. However, he is currently serving time in prison for kidnapping and armed robbery convictions that he received, in Las Vegas, in 2008.
Happy Investigating!!
Task
You will look at evidence from various sources, such as police reports, articles, pictures, and videos, etc... You will need to determine, based on the evidence, if you feel O.J. Simpson is guilty of murdering, being accessory to murder, or a conspiracy to commit murder role in the Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman homicides.
You will analyze the evidence, answer questions, and if you're smart...take NOTES!! The final project will be an argumentative essay that you will write, based on all of the evidence you have found from the sources.
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Process
The following article was tells about a 911 domestic violence call to police, from Simpson's Brentwood mansion, on January 1, 1989. Read the article, take some notes, and answer the questions.
http://articles.latimes.com/1994-06-17/news/mn-5290_1_jail-time
1. What is the most shocking thing that you see in the article, about the scene?
2. What does O.J.'s actions after police showed up tell you about his character?