(2024-0529-F Segment 1) O.J. Simpson

The materials in FOIA 2024-0529-F (Segment 1) are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. The researcher submitted a request for electronic records related to Orenthal James “O.J.” Simpson. On June 13, 1994, Mr. Simpson’s former spouse, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her acquaintance, Ronald Goldman, were found brutally murdered outside Ms. Simpson’s condo in Brentwood, an affluent neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Following a police investigation, Mr. Simpson was charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances. Mr. Simpson’s attorneys arranged for him to turn himself in to the Los Angeles Police Department on the morning of June 17, 1994. Rather than doing so, Mr. Simpson led police on a low-speed chase down the 405 Freeway through Los Angeles, driven by his longtime friend Al “AC” Cowlings in Mr. Cowlings’ white 1993 Ford Bronco. According to the New York Times, the hours-long chase was shown live on “nearly every television network, even pre-empting the N.B.A. Finals.”1 The subsequent criminal trial was presided over by 1 Mather, Victor. “The Life of O.J. Simpson: A Timeline.” The New York Times, 11 April 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/11/us/oj-simpson-timeline.html. Accessed 31 July 2024. 2 Judge Lance Ito and was broadcast live daily for its duration, nearly nine months. It has been dubbed “the trial of the century” for the way it gripped national attention and even received widespread international publicity. In October 1995, after less than four hours of deliberation, a jury found Mr. Simpson “not guilty,” and he was acquitted of the charges. In 1997, a civil case was brought against Mr. Simpson by the parents of Ms. Simpson and Mr. Goldman, and a jury found Mr. Simpson liable in the wrongful-death lawsuit. Prior to the events of the 1990s, Mr. Simpson, often referred to by his nickname “The Juice” or just “Juice,” was an American athlete, media personality, and actor. He was a star running back at the University of Southern California in the 1960s, where he won the Heisman Trophy his senior year. In 1969, he was drafted first overall to the Buffalo Bills of New York. He spent his last two seasons as a professional athlete with the San Francisco 49ers before retiring in 1979 to pursue acting full time. His on-camera career included sports commentary, commercials for companies such as Hertz and Chevrolet, and TV/films such as The Naked Gun trilogy and Roots. Mr. Simpson was arrested again in 2008, on charges of armed robbery and kidnapping following an incident in Las Vegas in 2007. He was found guilty & ultimately served nine years of a 33-year sentence in prison. He was granted parole in 2017 and then granted an early discharge from parole for good behavior in December 2021. Mr. Simpson passed away at the age of 76, on April 10, 2024, after a battle with cancer. Materials responsive to this FOIA request primarily include emails between White House staffers sharing information and discussing the O.J. Simpson arrest and trial. There are also USIA media reports of international news coverage regarding O.J. Simpson and transcripts of interviews with President Clinton where he discusses the O.J. Simpson trial or race relations stemming from the trial.