Objection Analytics — O.J. Simpson Trial

The Objection Timeline

Every objection across 228 trial days

Criminal Trial Jan 11 – Oct 3, 1995

Jan '95Feb '95Mar '95Apr '95May '95Jun '95Jul '95Aug '95Sep '95

174 — Cross-examination of Collin Yamauch

121 — Cross-examination of William Bodzia

Civil Trial Oct 23, 1996 – Feb 10, 1997

Oct '96Nov '96Dec '96Jan '97Feb '97

109 — Cross-examination of Dennis Fung (p

132 — Redirect examination of Philip Vann

Depositions Jan 22 – Jun 7, 1996 · No judge present

Jan '96Feb '96Mar '96Apr '96May '96Jun '96

236 — Direct examination of Allen Cowling

185 — Direct examination of Marcus Allen

Sustained Overruled Unresolved Bar height = objection count that day (max: 236)

Attorney Leaderboard

Prosecution / Plaintiff vs. Defense — who objected more, who won more

Prosecution / Plaintiff → Attorney ← Defense

Marcia Clark CRIM PRELIM 1335 obj · 42.8% sustained

Christopher Darden CRIM 801 obj · 42.9% sustained

Rockne Harmon CRIM 603 obj · 54.7% sustained

Edward Medvene CRIM CIVIL DEPO 423 obj · 55.6% sustained

George Clarke CRIM 391 obj · 44.3% sustained

John Kelly CRIM CIVIL DEPO 335 obj · 56.5% sustained

Tom Lambert CIVIL 335 obj · 54.4% sustained

Daniel Petrocelli CRIM CIVIL DEPO 258 obj · 62.1% sustained

Peter Gelblum CRIM CIVIL DEPO 211 obj · 51.7% sustained

Brian Kelberg CRIM 117 obj · 61.7% sustained

Hank Goldberg CRIM 85 obj · 57.3% sustained

Cheri Lewis CRIM 14 obj · 15.4% sustained

Dan Leonard CIVIL DEPO 1248 obj · 42.8% sustained

Robert Blasier CRIM CIVIL DEPO 599 obj · 50.1% sustained

Barry Scheck CRIM 556 obj · 47% sustained

Johnnie Cochran CRIM 508 obj · 40.1% sustained

Robert Shapiro CRIM PRELIM 446 obj · 41.6% sustained

Peter Neufeld CRIM 407 obj · 48.6% sustained

Robert Baker CIVIL DEPO 367 obj · 39.3% sustained

F. Lee Bailey CRIM CIVIL 131 obj · 44% sustained

Carl Douglas CRIM 33 obj · 52% sustained

Phillip Baker DEPO 19 obj · 0% sustained

Gerald Uelmen CRIM PRELIM 10 obj · 50% sustained

Shawn Chapman CRIM 1 obj · 0% sustained

Objection Grounds

Which objections actually work?

Speculation

1086 49.6%

Relevance

1062 37.7%

Foundation

1059 51.5%

Argumentative

874 56.5%

Leading

858 50.5%

Hearsay

787 54.1%

Vague / Ambiguous

621 33.2%

Misstates / Mischaracterizes

459 44.6%

Beyond Scope

442 41.6%

Asked & Answered

404 28.4%

Assumes Facts

296 43.1%

Compound

193 42.6%

Non-responsive

90 43.5%

Prejudicial (352)

19 26.7%

Improper Opinion

17 35.7%

Narrative

13 36.4%

Sidebar

7 50%

Best Evidence

1 0%

Sustained rate Overruled rate Bar width = total objections on that ground

By Trial Phase

Criminal Trial

5,856

objections

46%
sustained

2354 S 2750 O 752 ?

Civil Trial

2,184

objections

49%
sustained

838 S 859 O 487 ?

Preliminary Hearing

64

objections

73%
sustained

32 S 12 O 20 ?

Depositions

1,243

objections

No judge present
0 rulings

0 S 0 O 1243 ?

Methodology

Objections identified by utterances starting with "Objection", "I object", or similar phrases. Rulings paired by scanning forward up to 6 utterances for judge responses starting with "Sustained", "Overruled", or implicit equivalents ("Rephrase the question" = sustained, "You may answer" = overruled). Objection grounds extracted via keyword matching. 73.2% of objections paired with a ruling. Source: 9,347 utterances from 526,378 total across all trial phases.