The first 25 minutes are dedicated to the verdict and the immediate aftermath of the verdict of the criminal case against OJ. There are reactions from just about everyone involved in the case and interviewed for the documentary. Most striking about this may be the way in which the verdict divided America. Some people thought it was about the murder of Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ron Goldman whereas for others it was about the bigger issue of a black celebrity getting treated the way a white celebrity would get treated. As one of the jurors who was interviewed for the documentary pointed out, if the prosecution and investigators had handled the case differently and more professionally (not her words exactly but I think this is the gist of what she was getting at) then maybe the verdict would have been different. The other juror who was interviewed for the documentary made it clear that this was all about payback for Rodney King.
The second trial, the civil case brought by the parents of Ron Goldman, gets considerably less coverage is the documentary and presumably in the media at the time than the first trial did. The outcome of the case is that Simpson is held responsible for the deaths of Nicole and Ron and ordered to pay $33 million in damages. Fred Goldman, Ron's father, was interviewed and appeared in both this and the prior two installments. He had quite a bit to say. He understandably will never fully recover from the murder of his son but is for the most part very clear spoken and adamant in his conviction that Simpson deserves to be punished for what he did.
Simpson's life following the second trial, over the next 10 years, goes into what many would see as a downward spiral. Even though he gets custody of his son and daughter from his marriage with Nicole he is far from a responsible parent. He tries to return to being the celebrity he once was but quickly comes to realize that he has been tainted by the criminal case even though he was acquitted. He is able to make money (mostly through signing autographs and celebrity appearances) and does what he can to keep that money from getting used to pay the debt that he owes to the Goldmans.
He moves to Florida where no one seems to care if he murdered Ron and Nicole. He starts hanging out with a more dangerous element. His public behavior becomes more outrageous. He starts dating a woman who to many looks like Nicole.
The final chapter is the incident that landed him jail where he remains to this day. In an effort to recover some of his personal possessions he holds up a sports memorabilia dealer in a Las Vegas casino. The Vegas judge in charge of the case throws the book at him when it comes time for sentencing and he is sent to prison for 33 years. Was what he did armed robbery? Yes, but it is questionable whether he deserved to receive that long a prison sentence for the crimes he committed in Las Vegas.
One of the more interesting characters in this installment, who also appeared in the last couple installments is Mike Gilbert. He was OJ Simpson's agent. He helped OJ during and after the trial. He helped to move lots of OJ's memorabilia and personal possessions out of his home before they could be seized by authorities to help satisfy his debt to the Goldman family. He is implicated by one of the sports memorabilia dealers in this segment for selling off OJ's possessions. He does not respond to this claim. Not discussed in the documentary is his book, How I Helped O.J. Get Away with Murder. He claims that this is something he will have to live with for the rest of his life but the dispassionate way he says it makes me wonder how culpable he feels.
This installment of the series was probably the least satisfying for me. It lacked the juxtaposition of counter narratives found in the earlier installments. In some way OJ, at least as portrayed in this installment became a considerably less compelling personality as he began to indulge himself more and more.
Overall I thought all 7.5 hours plus of the documentary were worth my time but it probably isn't everyone's up of tea. Other opinions exist. I'm glad I watched it but I am ready to move on and watch something else. I don't see myself revisiting this documentary in the future. I think that for the most part my summaries in this blog will suffice to jog my memory in case I do want to revisit the story of OJ Simpson.
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