The People V. . . . A & E Channel's specials

Apparently the series on FX about OJ has caused a stir.  We keep finding another two to four hours of TV specials on the case every few days.  We ran across A & E's two last night (April 4).  

In my view they were poorly titled.  They used "The Secret Tapes" and "O. J. Speaks, The Hidden Tapes."  They should have said, "The Fred Goldman Story, Parts I and II."  The scripts couldn't have been more biased in Mr. Goldman's favor.  The two shows were based on opinions and presumptions of those who agreed with him.

Most disconcerting from a professional point of view was the use of a psychologist who did not have OJ as a patient nor have extensive interviews with him.  The psychologist formed his opinions based on his reading of books and looking at videos.  While such research has merit to open up lines of inquiry for further exploration on behalf of a patient, it is unprofessional to take such observations as being valid for the purpose of diagnosing the person on TV.

But even a biased program can show some things of value in understanding the whole situation facing us as we look for the truth in OJ's case.

For one, it was helpful to get some details about the Santa Monica trial that helped us understand it better.  Paul Marciano of Guess, Inc. was revealed to have helped the Goldmans.  The level of proof ("preponderance of evidence") was mentioned as was the need for only 9 of the 12 jurors to agree to rule against OJ.  Also noted was the racial composition of the jury, 9 of which were white.  There could be no hung jury.  But it took the jury nearly two weeks to come back with their verdict!  

For another, it showed the strategy of defeating OJ in civil trial.  The lawyer for Goldman used interrogation techniques guaranteed to expose any weakness and even lies in OJ's responses.  It took eleven days of intensive questioning during the deposition period leading up to the trial before Dan Petrocelli could find enough of what he felt were inconsistencies he could use in the trial itself.

The most prominent of those were OJ's inability to remember a voice mail message from his girl friend on the morning of June 12, 1994, breaking things off with him.  He also had no explanation about how the blood from Ron and Nicole got into his Bronco and onto his socks, as if he was supposed to know if he did not do it himself.  He didn't know about his wife's diary, as if she would want him to know about it while she kept it in a safety deposit box.  And OJ didn't remember owning the Bruno Magli shoes, saying he hated their style and would never wear them.

For another bit of information, the law firm that took Goldman's case is probably the largest in Santa Monica and perhaps the most prestigious in the Los Angeles area, able to put six of their staff on the case which lasted many months.  OJ was able to afford only two.  Yet the script said that it was a David and Goliath scene with Fred Goldman as the David.  OJ did not have that much left after paying the legal fees for the criminal trial, and the costs of the child custody battle OJ was in during the civil trial.

Finally, the suing parties had the privilege of testifying.  The special included practically nothing from the Browns but it contained a great deal of emotional testimony from Goldman.  

"Preponderance of evidence" was all that was needed, no matter its quality.  There was an enormous amount of emotion included.  

And the shoes . . . .  The coincidence of the shoes.  In my reading on the criminal trial, there were two ways the gloves and shoes could have been taken from OJ's house.  One, OJ was very generous and gave away a lot of the stuff because his various sponsors had overloaded him with their products.  Two, OJ found his home unlocked the night before he left for Chicago.  The alarm was not set, either.  It is possible someone was able to access his house looking for things they could use to implicate OJ in a future crime.  

Maybe the section of OJ's brain that remembers things had been damaged by football injuries.  Maybe in his narcissism he could block out things and not realize it.  Maybe . . ., we can speculate for two reasons, one to show that there may be other explanations just as plausible as the ones condemning OJ, and two, offer areas to explore in our search for truth.  The A & E specials used speculation as truth.

It is hard to watch opinions presumed to be facts and people reading OJ's mind and diagnosing his character without any feedback from those who might disagree.  The A & E channel's offerings about OJ stressed me a lot.  But I did learn some new things and I hope they have also helped you, my reader.