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January 15, 2008
Posted: 09:45 AM ET

NEW YORK — Before you start throwing peanuts at your screen, let me tell you why I, for one, am NOT sick of O.J. Simpson.

ALT TEXT

Ashleigh Banfield

Sure, he makes for good ratings. Sure, there’s an element of Schadenfreude that’s associated with him. But every move he makes delivers one more ounce of justice to the people who have suffered the most by his actions.

For the last 13 years, the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson have lived with pictures of a carefree O.J. Simpson golfing his way around America, while hundreds of thousands of people applaud him, pay for autographs, and buy into his innocence.

Thanks to one of the worst examples of American jurisprudence in history, Simpson was found not guilty of murder. But with every miss-step caught by the press, with every chapter penned about How He Would Have Done It Had He Actually Done It, with every sordid character he befriends, and with every snub to the bail system, public support for OJ Simpson has been hemorrhaging.

Back in October of 1995, a survey reported in the NY Times showed just 12 percent of black people said they believed Simpson was guilty of murder.

Fast forward to this past September, post book deal and post arrest. The Washington Post conducted a poll showing that disdain for O.J, Simpson had ballooned within the black community A whopping 45 percent of black respondents now said they believe OJ was guilty of murder.

Is hindsight 20/20? Or has the spotlight on a reckless criminal revealed his lack of contrition, his propensity for violence, and his sordid lifestyle?

Thanks to relentless coverage of Simpson’s travails, a window has been provided into this man’s true soul. You might call it a little clarity for those who were once blinded by his Heisman.

Ashleigh Banfield, In Session anchor

Filed under: Ashleigh Banfield • O.J. Simpson


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NANCIE JELLISON   January 15th, 2008 11:06 am ET

DITTO…DITTO…DITTO.

YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD, AS ALWAYS.

peggy   January 15th, 2008 2:54 pm ET

OJ HAS OUTLIVED HIS FAME. HE WAS AN IDOL IN HIS FOOTBALL DAYS. NOW HE IS REMEMBERED FOR THE MURDER OF HIS WIFE, AND HER FRIEND, RON GOLDMAN. I GUESS IT IS TIME HE ANSWERS FOR SOMETHING HE DID, AND ANSWER FOR IT WITH TIME…BEHIND BARS. HOW ABSURD TO THINK HE COULD JUST WALK IN THERE WITH TWO OF HIS HENCHMEN, AND RETRIEVE THE SPORTS THINGS THAT WERE NOT HIS TO BEGIN WITH. THEY SHOULD HAVE GONE TO THE GOLDMAN’S LONG AGO.
I WILL NEVER FEEL SORRY FOR HIM. HE HAS HAD ALL THESE YEARS TO PLAY IN THE SUN, WHILE THAT POOR FAMILY HAD TO BURY THEIR SON. I HOPE THAT THIS DOES GO TO TRIAL, AND HE GETS WHAT HE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN YEARS AGO

June H. Lewis   January 15th, 2008 3:05 pm ET

Hi Ashleigh,
Boy, you are so right on!! He is getting deeper and deeper. I only pray that one day he will pay for what he has done. One way or the other, he will get his. I hope I am around to see that happen. For someone who said that he would do whatever he could to find the person or persons responsible for the murders, the only thing I see is him playing golf all of the time. How sincere is that? Thanks Ashleigh for seeing the real truth.
June, Chesapeake, VA

Doug Martin   January 15th, 2008 3:20 pm ET

The simple explanation for the actions of this man is that his actions are, in his mind, his only remaining path to fame and fortune. Having escaped the legal system’s attempts in the murder trial to put him away he quite simply believes he is untouchable. When the numbers drop at his personal appearances and autograph signings he simply puts himself in the “news”.

I would have thought that the first trial and his “dream team” would have bankrupted him but he seems to have unlimited resources with which to fight charges that would put the average person’s fate in the hands of the public defender.

Just the media coverage is enough to bloat even the most humble person’s ego to the size of a blimp. If he’s successful, he’s given another period of time where the public will regain interest in the O.J. story. Hopefully he’ll be found guilty and his ego upon bursting will cause him to go into cardiac arrest and that will be the final chapter of this pathetic person’s story.

Trish Jensen   January 15th, 2008 3:46 pm ET

You said it, Ashleigh! I’m shocked that a majority of African Americans STILL buy into his innocence. Or is it more insidious? Do they not care that he’s guilty? How would they feel if it had been a white superstar who’d murdered his black wife? There could very well have been riots again on the streets of Los Angeles. With every glare of a camera’s spotlight, the cracks in his arrogant armor grow. I, for one, did not cry buckets when I heard he was back in the pokie. It is, after all, where he’s belonged for thirteen years.

tonycalneva   January 15th, 2008 4:26 pm ET

This guy is a nasty piece of work who will get his just desserts in time - stay tuned! What goes around, comes around.

Linda Kohn   January 15th, 2008 5:39 pm ET

Double jeopardy prevents Simpson from being tried criminally again for the 2 murders. But why? If he admits it, sort of admits it, or if there is new evidence — why should that stop us from trying him again?

Also, I’d like someone to do a story on the 12 jurors who let him go. I’d like to know how they feel about what they did. Do they feel like heroes or do they feel like idiots for delivering their verdict?

And is “karma” taking care of them?

Ross J   January 15th, 2008 7:42 pm ET

I’m sure it has not gone unnoticed that the quality of the players has gone way, way down since 1994. Most of the people in OJ’s circle in 1994 were of class and money, now they are thugs or of at the very least of questionable character.
Even the guy, Tom that is OJ’s friend that was married in Vegas that set the wheels in motion for this lastest episode, is at the very least flacky. The guy acts like an OJ puppet, that can’t speak with an ounce of common sense.
While there maybe many that are tired of hearing about OJ, I love it when he gets himself into messes like this, and the reason why is that it puts a nice smile across the faces of Fred and Kim Goldman. If it was not for them OJ would have walked away from the Civil Judgement just has he had the murder trial……..without any punishment. They are the only ones that have aggressively persued OJ, while the Browns do little or nothing. All Denise can do is get in the media and whine about the effect this or that the Goldmans do with a book has on
” the children” when they are no longer ” children”.
My hat is off to Fred and Kim, and with every mess OJ gets into like this, its one step closer each time for at least a little satisfaction for the Goldmans.
The minute I heard OJ had went back to jail for a violation of the terms of his bail I thought to myself ……….somewhere Fred and Kim Goldman has a bright smile on their face, I hope that smile gets to stay there.

AJ Mills   January 15th, 2008 10:19 pm ET

BRAVO Ashleigh, I am sssooo glad that you aren’t one of those “mamby-pamby” commentators who are afraid to say what they really feel OR that you’re not like Jami Floyd who thinks that every white person in the world is “out to get our poor black boys” - P L E E Z E — he is as GUILTY as he is ARROGANT and IGNORANT and sooner or later, he will get what he has deserved for many many years. I just hope that Las Vegas is the place to do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paco   January 16th, 2008 3:52 am ET

Sorry Asheligh… I love you but I’d rather see coverage of Iraq, the election, or Darfur.

NANCIE   January 17th, 2008 11:20 am ET

COMMENT TO COMMENT…A J MILLS, YOU ARE INDEED CORRECT ON BOTH COUNTS! ASHLEIGH IS NOT AFRAID TO SPEAK OUT AND JAMIE THINKS ALL WHITES ASSUME THAT ALL BLACKS ARE “GUILTY TILL PROVEN INNOCENT.”

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Sidebar takes you behind the scenes of the day's legal headlines with breaking news and in-depth analysis from In Session's anchors and correspondents.

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Ashleigh Banfield
Co-anchor of the daily trial program Banfield and Ford: Courtside
Ashleigh Banfield
Jack Ford
A former prosecutor and co-anchor of the daily trial program Banfield & Ford: Courtside
Jack Ford
Lisa Bloom
Anchor of the daily trial program Lisa Bloom: Open Court
Lisa Bloom
Jami Floyd
Former defense attorney and anchor of her own daily program Jami Floyd: Best Defense
Jami Floyd
Fred Graham
Senior Editor Fred Graham covers legal news in Washington, D.C.
Fred Graham
Jean Casarez
Attorney Jean Casarez covers trials around the country
Jean Casarez
Beth Karas
Former prosecutor Beth Karas covers trials around the country
Beth Karas
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