Lola McClane provided a brief introduction of our speaker, Bill Hodgman, who was the lead trial lawyer in the securities fraud prosecution of Charles H. Keating, Jr.  After securing convictions in that case, he was selected as the 1992 Outstanding Prosecutor of the Year by the California District Attorneys Association and the Los Angeles County Association of Deputy District Attorneys.  In 1993, Mr. Hodgman was one of the lead prosecutors involved in the investigation of Michael Jackson regarding child molestation allegations.  In 1994 and 1995, he was one of the lead prosecutors in the double-murder prosecution of O.J.Simpson.  CLICK HERE to read a more extensive bio detailing various positions held and honors achieved before he retired as Assistant District Attorney with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

 

Bill began his presentation by stating that in 1994 he was in Los Angeles meeting with teammates.  He had just returned from being overseas looking into matters relating to the Michael Jackson child molestation investigation.  Due to a lack of witness cooperation, the team was discussion what would happen if Jackson were charged.  As the top entertainer in the world at the time, would it be possible to empanel an honest and fair panel of jurors?  It looked like the investigation was going to wind down.  During that meeting, the team was told that breaking news was that O. J. Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, had been found brutally murdered along with another victim, Ron Goldman.  The announcement began a case for the Special Trials Unity.  The O. J. Simpson case upended Bill's personal and business life for the following sixteen months. 

 

Bill explained that the book Helter Skelter was influential in his own career choice.  The book was authored by Vincent Bugliosi, Prosecutor of Charles Manson for the Manson Murders, so being involved in high profile cases was not outside of where he saw himself going in his profession.

 

He had a clip to share about when the verdict was delivered.  Even though Bill was not surprised by the verdict, when he heard the words, it seemed very surreal.  Social forces, media exposure and celebrity had all created a perfect storm.  He explained that the clip would set the stage for everything else he wanted to cover.  (The clip Bill showed is copyrighted and cannot be shared in the Messenger.) 

 

When Judge Ito discharged the jury, one juror raised his fist in the black power salute.  Everything was moving around Bill and he was feeling like he was in a trance.  After the camera was off,  and Judge Ito had gone out of sight and back to his chambers, O. J. Simpson went off.  He looked like a wild animal.  He was on his toes, his eyes and veins on his head and neck were bulging.  The sounds coming out of him were so guteral it was not understandable.  His own lawyers joined the bailiffs in pushing him out of the courtroom.

 

The higher the profile of the case, the stranger the events that surround it.

 

Before leaving the area, Bill spent some time with the Goldman family and his own staff - they all needed consolation.  After he got back in his own office, he was struck by the quiet.  After a while there was a knock at the door.  It was two deputies - deputies who had transported the jurors back to where they had been sequestered.  They said, "You guys never had a chance."  They said that during that trip the jurors were high-fiving each other saying "We got pay back for Rodney King."

 

The social forces that were at work creating that jubilation were from when four Los Angeles police officers were charged with beating Rodney King resulting in his death.  The four white officer were acquitted.  This added to tension that already existing in the community.  Bill said that an item worth watching was produced by ESPN entitled OJ Made in America.  CLICK HERE for a link to it.  That was the social context.

 

Celebrity is also a dynamic force.  Bill recalled Todd Bridges, a child star on "Different Strokes."  He was tried for attempted murder.  Bill confessed he didn't know that much about him, but it was obvious the jurors knew who Todd Bridges was.  He was a drug user and dealt with dealers on the street and the murder charge evolved from that lifestyle.  On the day his verdict was rendered, after his acquittal was announced, the jurors embraced Todd after the trial.

 

The OJ Case was a perfect storm.

 

Evidence supporting the case - a case where domestic violence evolved into murder.  Experts talk about the cycle of violence.  It can lead to the act of murder.  In order to convict OJ, they would have to knock him off his iconic pedestal.  They had evidence of his violence toward Nicole before, during and after their marriage.  In one case, OJ pleaded guilty to spousal battery.  In a safe deposit box which had been rented by Nicole at a bank, bank officials found polaroid photos she had taken of herself.  The box also held diary entries documenting the abuse.  There was a note that basically said if those items were found, it would likely be because she had lost her life and would likely have lost her life at the hand of OJ.

 

After Nicole and OJ were divorced in 1990, OJ continued to try to control her life.  Being able to convince the jury of the accelerating behavior was essential to knocking OJ off his pedestal.  That effort was sabotaged when, about two months into presentation of evidence, three jurors were discharged for juror misconduct.  They were admonished to not go to media until after the trial.  Instead, they not only went to the media, the created a video and even wrote a cheesy little book indicating that the domestic violence info had nothing to do with murder.

 

After that, it became a case about blood evidence.  There was a slide of the walkway into Nicole Brown's townhome.  There had been a lot of activity in the blood itself.  Her dog had nuzzled her fallen body.  She had experienced blunt force trauma to the head which likely occurred after she was incapacitated since there was little evidence of defense wounds.  There were no screams that anyone heard.  There were multiple knife wounds.  A massive wound on her neck nearly decapitated her.  There was a quarter inch nick in her vertebrae.  Ron's body, on the other hand, evidenced a struggle.  There were multiple knife wounds - one similar to Nicole's neck wound.  Within a few feet, a glove was found.  Human hair found in the glove was consistent with OJ's hair.  A heel-print of blood was found.  There was only one set of bloody shoe prints.   They were from a very unique shoe brand - Bruno Magli - from Italy.  From measurements of the distinct footprint, the shoes were the same size worn by OJ.  There were many blood drops at the scene of the murders.  Some drops matching only OJ were found at the scene.  

 

Two miles away was OJ's residence.  Blood was found in a vehicle at that residence.  Many other blood traces were found within the Bronco.  Dark black socks bloody with Nicole's blood were found there.  A critical piece of evidence was a pair of gloves.  One was found at the scene and another within OJ's estate.  It was soaked with blood which DNA verified was from both victims and OJ.  

 

Simpson had gone to Chicago to play in a Hertz sponsored golf tournament in the days following the murders.  He was not yet officially a suspect, but he did go in voluntarily to be questioned when he returned from Chicago.  He asked no questions about how the victims had died.  He was questioned about an injury on his hand which was photographed the day he was questioned.

 

Bill said it was a tactical mistake to have Simpson put the gloves on during the trial.  Leather gets stiff and shrinks as it dries.  Attempting to put them on over the rubber gloves that were required made it look like the gloves could not possible have been his.  He said he had never owned Bruno Magli shoes and would not be seen wearing anything that ugly.  He also indicated he did not have any leather gloves.  Sports photographers went to their archives and found Simpson wearing leather gloves as well as the shoes in question.

 

Bill said there were many lessons to be drawn form the case.  October 3, 1995 was verdict day.  After spending time alone in his office which was very quiet after months of frenetic activity, he wend down the freight elevator to the basement.  Because of death threats, he had been allowed to park in the basement secure parking.  A security guard stopped him.  The fellow came over and said, "I'm so sorry - you worked so hard."  The guard's own daughter had been murdered.  LAPD investigated.  The jury acaquitted in that case also.  Friends offered to take care of that guy.  He told them to stand down.  Some years later the gangster was found dead.  The guard said "The hand of God is on OJ.  Watch and see."

 

October some years later - justice worked in the Las Vegas case.  There are inequities in society that we need to learn from so we can do better in the future.

 

President Dan invited those in attendance to stay and ask questions.  Melodie Jackson asked about the mini-series wondering how accurate it was. Bill said they took very liberal variances from the truth, so much of it was wrong.  They did capture some of the salient event.  He said he could not watch it.  He said the ESPN documentary is the one to watch.

 

Chuck Flint wished he would have been one of the jurors, adding it was one of the most profound programs Mesa West Rotarians have heard at a club meeting.

 

Colleen Coons asked about someone she thought Bill might have known.  He did not.

 

Chuck reminded everyone of his "ask" to donate to Polio Plus.

 

Lola McClane topped the meeting off by proudly adding that Bill Hodgman is her cousin.