O.J. Simpson death: Former FOX 29 veteran reporter recalls covering Simpson trial verdict
Former FOX 29 veteran reporter recalls covering Simpson trial verdict
OJ Simpson, the pro football star whose celebrity and fame was eclipsed by his high-profile murder trial, has died of prostate cancer. As Simpson faced a jury after the trial, veteran journalist Dave Schratwieser recalls the raw emotion of the verdict.
CAPE MAY COUNTY, N.J. - O.J. Simpson, the pro football star whose celebrity and fame was eclipsed by his high-profile murder trial, has died of prostate cancer.
Simpson went from NFL star to criminal defendant accused and acquitted in the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman. After the murder trial, Simpson was convicted in 2008 of felony kidnapping and armed robbery in Nevadea, where he served nine years in prison.
"I would say it was riveting. Probably the biggest trial I’ve seen and or covered in my 40-year career. Possibly in my entire life," said former FOX 29 veteran reporter Dave Schratwieser about what is talked about and remembered as the trial of the century.
"There was incredible news coverage there like I haven’t seen in a very long time," he said. It was October of 1995 when he was sent out to the West Coast to cover the last week of it as the defense got ready to wrap.
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"In front of the LA County Courthouse, it was like a circus. The street was filled with supporters, detractors and protesters. The families were coming and going every day. The dream team defense team was coming and going every day. The prosecution was coming and going every day and they were under a lot of fire," said Schratwieser. He recalls the start of closing arguments leading to the acquittal of OJ Simpson.
"The famous line from Johnny Cochran. If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit," he recited. Then the verdict.
"It was kind of surreal on the street. There were people gasping, shocked. There were people celebrating that he was found not guilty and then there were people in stunned silence," said Schratwieser.
The 11-month trial thrust the major players into the national spotlight and even across the world, they became household names.
"If you just look at the dream team that was assembled - Johnnie Cochran, Barry Scheck. F. Lee Bailey was one of the best attorneys in the country. Robert Kardashian, Robert Shapiro, those guys unto themselves as lawyers were celebrities. By the end of the trial Marcia Clark and Chris Darden were celebrities, the two prosecutors that handled the case," said Schratwieser. The trial and murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman so colossal, it’s seared in people’s memory.
"Even today it was the topic of conversation and I think it will always be a topic of conversation for the people that were around at that time," said Schratwieser.