Blu-Ray/Documentary Review: O.J.: Made in America

 

O.J.: Made in America is a five-part documentary produced by ESPN and released in 2016. Each part runs approximately an hour and a half. As a whole, it tells of the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson, from his childhood growing up in the projects of San Fransisco, his excellent college career at USC, his professional football career, his life outside of football, of course, the murder of his ex-wife and friend and the resulting trial, his post-trial life, and ends with his arrest in Las Vegas for armed robbery and kidnapping. Within that, it also tells the story of the LA police department and the interaction with the black community which is essential to understanding why the trial played out as it did.

The series gives a raw, uncensored look at OJ's life, revealing the parts that he really tried to keep hidden, and shows that he was basically an arrogant, abusive, womanizing jackass who used whomever he could, yet managed to be so charming and charismatic that even the people being used had a hard time cutting themselves free from him and seeing him for what he is. The last two parts really focusing on the trial itself, and what an s-show it really was all around. One of the more interesting things was seeing the finger-pointing between the defense attorneys, the prosecution, and the police, between not only the other sides but oftentimes on their own side. A couple of the jurors also agreed to be interviewed for the documentary. One of who basically said she thought the prosecution really failed to prove their case, with the colossal blunder of Chris Darden (whom she thought was in over his head and only brought in at the last minute because he was black (which the DA basically admitted) of having O.J try on the gloves in court. While another juror admitted she was always going to find him innocent as "revenge" for Rodney King, the black motorist who was nearly beaten to death by a group of LA cops who were later acquitted when tried for the beating. The documentary went over some of the mistakes that were made by the prosecution, the judge, and the brazen crap that the defense was allowed to get away with. You also hear how people who knew OJ, including his former friends, and former agent (to whom O.J. basically admitted he was guilty to) come to the realization that he was guilty, while others maintain he could have never committed murder. It is also interesting to see how the defense attorneys who agreed to be interviewed put their spin on things, with Barry Sheck twisting himself into a pretzel to avoid answering the question of whether he actually believed the blood evidence was planted or tainted. I have always found it ironic that a guy that did everything he could to turn his back on the black community, was never shy about referring to poor blacks using the n-word, actually palled around with LA police officers, and was treated with kid gloves by the police both before the murders and during the murder investigation was let off the hook by jurors who (at least some) wanted to stick it to the LA police and court system that had screwed blacks for decades.

The set comes with three DVDs and two Blu-rays, each of which has the exact same content. There is a lot of swearing in the documentary and you see unedited crime scene photographs, including the pictures of the horrific neck wounds on both Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman as one of the prosecutors talked through how he believes the actual murders were carried out. So, it is definitely not something that you would want kids to see. For bonus material, there are a collection of ESPN shows in which O.J. was interviewed throughout the years.

Overall, it is a wonderful, eye-opening documentary. I think the fact that it did not just focus on the murder trial itself was good. It was definitely not a re-hash of everything else that had been produced about the trial and provided a lot of new information, even for people who, like me, watched a lot of the trial as it was going on. It is a great retrospective, and definitely worth watching.

Book Review: Helter Skelter

 

Helter Skelter is the novel written by Vincent Bugliosi, the lead prosecutor in the prosecution and conviction of Charles Manson and his followers for the series of murders that they carried out in the late 1960s, including the murder of the actress Sharon Tate. The book details not only the crimes but the investigation that was carried out and the prosecution of those involved. Most interesting, especially for those of us who are lawyers, is the strategy Bugliosi used to convict Manson even though he did not help carry out the murders, and his followers were basically brainwashed cult members who were reluctant to flip on him.

As anyone who has read any of Bugliosi's books, he has a pretty snarky writing style and is not shy about sharing his personal feelings about the people he is writing about. So, his characterization of Manson and his band of followers could be quite humorous at times. The book is organized into multiple parts that detail the murders, then detail the killers, the investigation of the crime, determining a motive, catching those involved, and the trial and its aftermath. It is a very entertaining read and provides a lot of information that only Bugliosi and a handful of other people were privy to. So, if you are a history buff and/or a true crime enthusiast, this is definitely worth reading.

Book Review: Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

 

Reclaiming history is a massive book on the Kennedy Assassination by the noted prosecutor and author Vince Bugliosi. It is broken into two "books". Book One, titled "Matters of Fact: What Happened" discusses the Assassination, the various investigations, the evidence, details Oswald's past and movements, and the mountain of evidence against him, and pointing to the fact that he was the only shooter.

In the second book, titled "Delusions of Conspiracy: What Didn't Happen", Bugliosi swats down the most prevalent conspiracy theories, refuting them point-by-point with detailed evidence and citations to bolster his conclusions. Of course, his ultimate conclusion is that there is no proof of conspiracy. He is quite condescending to most of the major conspiracy theorists, holding a special derision for Mark Lane and Oliver Stone, and makes no bones about the fact that he finds most of the conspiracy advocates to be batshit crazy.

The book reads like an extremely long law review article. Almost every sentence is footnoted, and many of the footnotes include a paragraph or more of text. The amount of text in the footnotes can probably fill their own book. As a result, it is not exactly the easiest thing to read but it provides a lot of detail. Obviously, the Kennedy Assassination is one of the most contentious points of debate in history. For people who don't believe there was a conspiracy, this book will just deepen their resolve. For those who do, nothing Bugliosi says, including the fact that such a conspiracy would require multiple people to stay quiet forever and never reveal anything, or that many of the various conspiracies contradict each other, will ever change their mind. So, it is pretty likely if you think that Oswald acted alone you will love this book and if you think something more nefarious was behind the Assassination, you will hate it. Personally, I think it is worth reading regardless of where you stand on the conspiracy issue, if nothing else, just for the fact that it is one of the most detailed books on the Kennedy Assassination out there.

Book Review: The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson

The Run Of His Life gives a detailed view of the O.J. Simpson murder trial from a quasi-insider's view. Toobin was a reporter, not a member of the prosecution or defense, nor did he personally know any of the people involved. But what he had was a ton of access to both sides. On the defense side, largely because of the article he wrote in the New Yorker detailing what at that point was merely a troubling past and a lot of red flags about detective Mark Fuhrman surrounding a possible racist past, and in the prosecution, because he was around the courthouse constantly and knew whom to talk to. As a result, he was able to provide a lot of narrative in the book about what was going on in both camps, and because he is a Harvard-trained lawyer, was able to provide a lot of insight into the (mainly poor) job that both sides did. So you find out things like what O.J. was really like behind the scenes (according to Toobin he was not involved in his defense strategy at all), Toobin also claims that Simpson's lawyers all knew he was guilty and did not care, not necessarily because they through every defendant deserved a zealous defense, but because they wanted to stick it to the cops, make money, or both, and that many of the defense attorneys could not stand working with each other. He presents the prosecution as being almost an equal mix of incompetence and arrogance, which, along with a jury that was mostly pre-disposed to acquit Simpson no matter what, made the outcome almost a foregone conclusion. He also presented a lot of inside knowledge on what was going on with the jury while they were sequestered as well as detailing a lot of behind-the-scenes details of what he saw as Judge Ito's utter incompetence and worrying as much about his reputation in the media as making correct legal rulings.

Overall, the book is very well written and sourced. While Toobin makes it clear that the evidence is overwhelming that Simpson committed the crimes, he is not biassed toward either side remaining neutral in his criticism and praise. He praised the few things that anyone on either side did well and excoriated the things they messed up. Unlike many who wrote books after the conclusion of the trial, he did not have a vested interest in presenting a 'side" or defending any action or decision. It has a lot of good information that even people who watched the trial from beginning to end and read some of the other books may not be aware of (or have forgotten over the course of time). It is definitely worth the read for those of us who lived through the trial, or people who are just fans of true crime books.