📄 Verdict announcement — Tuesday, October 3, 1995
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C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\OCT\3\VERDICT-ANNOUNCEMENT.DOC
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▲ Day 166 of 167

Verdict announcement

Date: Tuesday, October 3, 1995 • Utterances: 68
Judge Ito presided over the reading of the not guilty verdicts in the O.J. Simpson criminal murder trial. The clerk read both counts aloud — not guilty for the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and not guilty for the murder of Ronald Lyle Goldman — and each of the twelve jurors was individually polled and confirmed both verdicts. Judge Ito then thanked the jury for their service and warned them about intense media interest.
1

THE COURT: All right. Deputy Trower, let's have the jurors, please. (The following proceedings were held in open court, in the presence of the jury:)

2 THE COURT:

All right. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Please be seated. And the record should reflect that we have now been rejoined by all the members of our jury panel and our alternates. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

THE JURY: Good morning.

3 THE COURT:

All right. Mrs. Robertson, would you--do you have the envelope with the sealed verdict forms, please?

4 THE CLERK:

Yes, your Honor.

5 THE COURT:

Would you give those to Deputy Trower. And would you return those to our Foreperson, juror no. 1. Madam Foreperson, would you please open the envelope and check the condition of the verdict forms.

6 (The Foreperson complies.)
7 THE COURT:

Madam Foreperson, juror no. 1, you've had the opportunity to review the verdict forms?

8 THE FOREPERSON:

Yes.

9 THE COURT:

Are they the same for you, signed and are they in order?

10 THE FOREPERSON:

Yes, they are.

11 THE COURT:

Would you hand those, please, to Deputy Trower. And you have signed and dated those verdict forms, indicated the jury's verdicts?

12 THE FOREPERSON:

Yes, I have.

13 THE COURT:

All right. Thank you. All right. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I'm going to ask that you carefully listen to the verdicts as they are being read by the clerk, Mrs. Robertson, as after the verdicts have been read, you will be asked if these are your verdicts. And I would caution the audience during the course of the reading of these verdicts to remain calm and that any--if there is any disruption during the reading of the verdicts, the bailiffs will have the obligation to remove any persons disrupting these proceedings. All right. Mrs. Robertson. All right. Mr. Simpson, would you please stand and face the jury. Mrs. Robertson.

14 THE CLERK:

"Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. In the matter of People of the State of California versus Orenthal James Simpson, case number BA097211. We, the jury, in the above-entitled action, find the Defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal code section 187(A), a felony, upon Nicole Brown Simpson, a human being, as charged in Count I of the information.

"Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, in the matter of People of the State of California versus Orenthal James Simpson. We, the jury, in the above-entitled action, find the Defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal code section 187(A), a felony, upon Ronald Lyle Goldman, a human being, as charged in Count II of the information. "We, the jury, in the above-entitled action, further find the special circumstances that the Defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, has in this case been convicted of at least one crime of murder of the first degree and one or more crimes of murder of the first or second degree to be not true. "Signed this 2nd day of October, 1995. "Juror 230." Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is this your verdict, so say you one, so say you all?

THE JURY: Yes.

15 THE COURT:

All right. Counsel, Mr. Simpson, would you be seated, please. Let's have it quiet in the courtroom, please. Mrs. Robertson, would you please poll the jurors.

16 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 1, as to Count I, is this your verdict?

17 JUROR NO. 1:

Yes.

18 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 2, as to Count I, is this your verdict?

19 JUROR NO. 2:

Yes.

20 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 3, as to Count I, is this your verdict?

21 JUROR NO. 3:

Yes.

22 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 4, as to count 1, is this your verdict?

23 JUROR NO. 4:

Yes.

24 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 5, as to Count I, is this your verdict?

25 JUROR NO. 5:

Yes.

26 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 6, as to Count I, is this your verdict?

27 JUROR NO. 6:

Yes.

28 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 7, as to Count I, is this your verdict?

29 JUROR NO. 7:

Yes.

30 THE CLERK:

Juror no 8, as to Count I, is this your verdict?

31 JUROR NO. 8:

Yes.

32 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 9, as to Count I, is this your verdict?

33 JUROR NO. 9:

Yes.

34 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 1o, as to Count I, is this your verdict?

35 JUROR NO. 10:

Yes.

36 THE CLERK:

Juror no 11, as to Count I, is this your verdict?

37 JUROR NO. 11:

Yes.

38 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 12. As to Count I, is this your verdict?

39 JUROR NO. 12:

Yes.

40 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 1, as to Count II, is this your verdict?

41 JUROR NO. 1:

Yes.

42 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 2, as to Count II, is this your verdict?

43 JUROR NO. 2:

Yes.

44 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 3, as to Count II, is this your verdict?

45 JUROR NO. 3:

Yes.

46 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 4, as to Count II, is this your verdict?

47 JUROR NO. 4:

Yes.

48 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 5, as to Count II, is this your verdict?

49 JUROR NO. 5:

Yes.

50 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 6, as to Count II, is this your verdict?

51 JUROR NO. 6:

Yes.

52 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 7, as to Count II, is this your verdict?

53 JUROR NO. 7:

Yes.

54 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 8, as to Count II, is this your verdict?

55 JUROR NO. 8:

Yes.

56 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 9, as to Count II, is this your verdict?

57 JUROR NO. 9:

Yes.

58 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 10, as to Count II, is this your verdict?

59 JUROR NO. 10:

Yes.

60 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 11, as to Count II, is this your verdict?

61 JUROR NO. 11:

Yes.

62 THE CLERK:

Juror no. 12, as to Count II, is this your verdict?

63 JUROR NO. 12:

Yes.

64 THE COURT:

All right. The clerk is directed to record the verdicts as read. Parties agree to waive reading of the verdicts as recorded? Mr. Cochran, do you waive reading of the verdicts as recorded?

65 MR. COCHRAN:

Yes, we do.

66 THE COURT:

Miss Clark?

67 MS. CLARK:

Yes, your Honor.

68 THE COURT:

Thank you. All right. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to at this time take this opportunity to publicly thank you for the service that you've given to us. The burdens that we placed upon you were enormous and words can't begin to express the debt that we owe to you for the time and patience and exertion that you've given to us during the course of this case. I will have an opportunity to meet with you privately later, and I'll give you my private comment when we have a chance to meet. I want to caution you at this time that there is, as you know, intense media interest in this case. The news media will probably seek you out at your home or at your place of business, and I would implore that the news media act responsibly to avoid harassing you or identifying you without your consent or otherwise causing you concern. Whether you wish to cooperate with the news media is, of course, entirely up to you. However, I must warn you to expect the worse as far as that is concerned. We want to--I know I share with you in expressing our thanks to the bailiffs and the Sheriff's Department, to our court reporters, Miss Moxham and Miss Olson, to the research attorney, John Byrne, who has assisted our Pepperdine law clerks, Mr. Golob and Miss Carswell, our media liaison, Jerrianne Hayslett and her staff and, of course, the jury commissioner, Gloria Gomez, and her staff. All right. Counsel, is there anything we need to take up before we excuse the jurors? Mr. Cochran?

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

The Clerk
We, the jury, in the above-entitled action, find the Defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal code section 187(A), a felony, upon Nicole Brown Simpson, a human being, as charged in Count I of the information.
The formal legal declaration of not guilty on the first count — the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson — one of the most watched verdicts in American history.
The Clerk
We, the jury, in the above-entitled action, find the Defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal code section 187(A), a felony, upon Ronald Lyle Goldman, a human being, as charged in Count II of the information.
The second not guilty verdict, acquitting Simpson of the murder of Ron Goldman.
Lance A. Ito
The burdens that we placed upon you were enormous and words can't begin to express the debt that we owe to you for the time and patience and exertion that you've given to us during the course of this case.
Ito's public acknowledgment of the extraordinary demands placed on the jury over the nine-month trial.
Lance A. Ito
I must warn you to expect the worse as far as that is concerned.
A rare candid moment from the judge, frankly warning jurors about the media frenzy they were about to face.

Notable Exchanges (2)

Lance A. ItoThe Foreperson
Judge Ito directed the foreperson to open the sealed verdict envelope, check the forms, confirm they were signed and in order, and return them through the bailiff — a careful procedural chain of custody for the verdict forms.
procedural
The ClerkAll 12 Jurors
Each of the twelve jurors was individually polled on both Count I and Count II, each answering 'Yes' — 24 individual confirmations of the unanimous not guilty verdicts.
procedural

Objections

None recorded
Proceeding 7897 • 68 utterances
Criminal Trial
Department 103
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📂 OCT 3, 1995 📄 Verdict announcement
OCT 3, 1995 KRT DvH TD