09/10/12

The ‘gloves' incident that happened in the O.J. Simpson case and the subsequent assertion made by the defense attorney, Johnnie Cochran, as Simpson struggled to fit the gloves on his hands – “If it doesn't fit, you must acquit,” has become famous in the annals of criminal trials. However, nearly 17 years after O.J. Simpson was acquitted in his Los Angeles murder trial, a lead prosecutor in the case is alleging that defense lawyers had tampered with the ‘gloves.'


On Thursday, former Los Angeles deputy district attorney Christopher Darden accused late Johnnie Cochran, Simpson's defense lawyer, of “manipulating” the gloves, which the prosecution claimed to link Simpson to the double murder of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson, O.J.'s former wife.

Simpson was acquitted in the racially charged double-murder case in spite of the presence of what was a “mountain of evidence” to the prosecutors. The principal evidence included a blood-soaked glove found on Simpson's estate and a matching one found at the scene of murder.

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Though questions about the lining of the gloves did emerge at the trial, there were no allegations of tampering of evidence by the defense.

During a panel discussion on Thursday at the Pace Law School in New York, Darden said, “I think Johnnie tore the lining. There were some additional tears in the lining so that O.J.'s fingers couldn't go all the way up into the glove.”

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In a follow up interview on Friday, Darden said that he noticed the structure of the glove appeared to have changed when Simpson tried to put them on. He said, “A bailiff told me the defense had it during the lunch hour.” Though Darden didn't specifically accuse any person he said, “It's been my suspicion for a long time that the lining has been manipulated.”

Other key participants in the trial were surprised by Darden's charges. Alan Dershowitz, who was on Simpson's defense team then, and a professor at the Harvard Law now, claimed the charges of tampering with the fabric were “total fabrication.” He further said on Friday that “the defense doesn't get access to evidence except under controlled circumstances.” In an email, Dershowitz said that he “was certain” the Simpson defense team had no opportunity to access the evidence before trial in open court.

About Darden's charges, Dershowitz said, “Having made the greatest legal blunder of the 20th century … he's trying to blame it on the dead man (Johnnie Cochran).” He also said during the panel discussion that allowing Simpson to try on the gloves for the first time only before the jury was “the most stupid thing” a prosecutor could have done.

Dershowitz also said that in case Darden had such a suspicion as he alleges now, then he had an ethical obligation to report his suspicions on tampering of evidence or file a grievance with the state bar association. Darden responded by saying that such submission of grievance would not have changed anything and would have been a “whiny-little-snitch approach to life.”

Simpson, the former National Football League star and movie actor is currently serving 33 years in prison for an armed robbery allegedly undertaken by him to recover his own sports memorabilia.