Ron Goldman – Found murdered at the home of Nicole Brown Simpson on June 12, 1994. At the time of the murder, Goldman was working as a waiter at a restaurant in Los Angeles called Mezzaluna Trattoria. Reportedly, Brown Simpson called Goldman at the restaurant the night of the murder and asked him to bring to her home a pair of sunglasses she had left behind at Mezzaluna Trattoria. Goldman and Brown Simpson were friends, although some sources indicate they may have been romantically involved. In a 1997 civil trial, O.J. Simpson was found guilty of Goldman’s wrongful death. The earlier criminal trial in 1995 returned a verdict of “not guilty” on Simpson’s behalf.
Lance Ito – Presiding judge in the O.J. Simpson trial. Ito became famous due to the trial, often becoming the subject of parody including Jay Leno’s “Dancing Itos” skit. Ito is married to Margaret Ann York, the current chief of the Los Angeles County Police, which prompted concern about Ito’s impartiality during the Simpson trial. Ito rarely excluded evidence from the trial, and allowed the controversial Mark Fuhrman tapes to be played during the trial to prove evidence of bias.
Kato Kaelin – Friend of O.J. Simpson. At the time of the murders, Kaelin was staying at Simpson’s residence and became a minor witness in the criminal trial who contradicted Simpson’s recollection of the events. Due to his erratic behavior and rambling during his testimony, Marcia Clark declared him a “hostile witness.”
Robert Kardashian – Lawyer and friend of O.J. Simpson. Simpson stayed at Kardashian’s home in the days following the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, and Kardashian read a letter from Simpson, which many believed to be a suicide note, to the media when Simpson failed to turn himself in following a low-speed police chase. Kardashian, who had not practiced law in the 20 years preceding the case, re-activated his license in order to be at Simpson’s side throughout the trial. Following the trial, Kardashian expressed hesitancy about Simpson’s innocence, but the friends ultimately reconciled before Kardashian’s death in 2003 of esophageal cancer at the age of 59.
Barry Scheck – A defense attorney in the O.J. Simpson trial. Scheck is best known for directing the Innocence Project, which utilizes newly found DNA evidence to free those who have been wrongfully convicted. As of Sept. 1, 2006, more than 180 individuals have been freed due to the work of the project. Scheck’s cross examination of LAPD criminologist Dennis Fung over a period of eight days in the Simpson trial led to doubt among the jury about the credibility of the DNA evidence that had been collected.
Nicole Brown Simpson – O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife, murdered at her home in Los Angeles on June 12, 1994, along with her friend Ron Goldman. Brown Simpson was married to Simpson for seven years and had two children with the former football star, until the marriage ended in 1992, when she cited “abusive relationship” as the reason for divorce. Although Simpson was not found guilty of Nicole’s murder in the criminal trial, he was found guilty in a civil trial held in 1997.
Robert Shapiro – A defense attorney in the O.J. Simpson trial. In addition to defending O.J. Simpson, Shapiro has appeared on behalf of a number of high-profile celebrities including Darryl Strawberry, Jose Canseco, Linda Lovelace and Johnny Carson. In 2005, Shapiro’s son Brent died of an apparent drug overdose. On April 30, 2007, allegations were made against Shapiro claiming that he improperly removed $6 million in cash from a client’s home when the assets had been seized by the presiding judge.
