Loss of confidence in Saint Mary's leadership | SaltWireWASHINGTON -O.J. Simpson, the American football star and actor who was acquitted in a sensational 1995 trial of murdering his former wife but was found responsible for her death in a civil lawsuit and was later imprisoned for armed robbery and kidnapping, has died at the age of 76.
Simpson parlayed his football stardom into a career as a sportscaster, advertising pitchman and Hollywood actor in films including the"Naked Gun" series. O.J. Simpson, with his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and their children, daughter Sidney Brooke, 9, and son Justin, 6, at the March 16, 1994, premiere of Simpson's film"Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult,"in Los Angeles. - Fred Prouser / File / Reuters
A Ford Bronco carrying O.J. Simpson is driven by Simpson's former teammate Al Cowlings and chased by dozens of police cars during an hour-long pursuit through Los Angeles area freeways, June 17, 1994. Simpson was charged in the double murder of his ex-wife and her friend by Los Angeles Police. - Sam Mircovich / File via Reuters - Reuters
"What this verdict tells you is how fame and money can buy the best defence, can take a case of overwhelming incriminating physical evidence and transform it into a case riddled with reasonable doubt," Peter Arenella, a UCLA law professor, told the New York Times after the verdict. The Goldman and Brown families subsequently pursued a wrongful death lawsuit against Simpson in civil court. In 1997, a predominately white jury in Santa Monica, California, found Simpson liable for the two deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages.
After the civil case, some of Simpson's belongings, including memorabilia from his football days, were taken and auctioned off to help pay the damages he owed. Simpson was released on parole in 2017 and moved into a gated community in Las Vegas. He was granted early release from parole in 2021 due to good behavior at age 74.