OJ Simpson acquitted on road rage charges

(25 Oct 2001)
1. Wide shot OJ Simpson entering court house
2. Wide shot court room
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Yale Galanter, Defence Attorney:
"This is a man who wants to play cop as opposed to being a cop. He wants to play cop instead of calling a cop."
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Abbe Rifkin, Prosecuting Attorney:
"I submit to you that the story you have heard on the stand is brand new."
5. Wide shot Abbe Rifkin, prosecuting attorney
7. Wide shot jury
8. Defence attorney
9. Simpson listening to verdict
10. Wide shot reaction from prosecution
8. Simpson hugging attorney
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Yale Galanter, Defence Attorney:
"I mean this case was argued like it was a death penalty case and it wasn't even close to that."
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Abbe Rifkin, Prosecuting Attorney:
"Well you know everybody (is a) Monday morning quarterback, but the fact of the matter is, is that this is the type of case that is filed every single day. Most people admit their anger."
11. Simpson leaving courthouse
STORYLINE:
A Miami jury has acquitted O.J. Simpson of a road-rage attack that could have landed him in jail for up to 16 years.
After Wednesday's verdict, Simpson put his hand to his chest and mouthed "Thank you" as he nodded toward the jury.
He then hugged his lawyers.
The 54-year-old Simpson faced up to 16 years in jail had he been convicted of auto burglary and battery over last year's dispute with Jeffrey Pattinson in their suburban Miami neighborhood.
It was alleged he reached into Pattinson's car, scratched his face and tried to grab his glasses.
The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes.
Pattinson was not in the courtroom.
Juror Ernesto Diaz said the jury decided there wasn't enough evidence to prove Simpson reached into Pattinson's car, the basis for the burglary charge.
He also said prosecutors should have called Simpson's young children, the only other witnesses, to testify.
Prosecutor Abbe Rifkin said the verdict indicated she didn't prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, not that Simpson was innocent.
The two men had offered vastly different accounts of what happened.
Pattinson said Simpson ran a stop sign, then acted like "a madman" as he sat in his locked car with the window partly rolled down.
Simpson accused the other man of "sitting on his horn."
He said he thought Pattinson was seeking an autograph or was trying to tell him about a problem with his car.
He denied reaching inside Pattinson's car to take the glasses and said the two men confronted each other outside their vehicles.
Simpson offered no explanation for the scratch on Pattinson's face but explained his thumb print on the glasses by saying it must have happened when he brushed them away as he broke off the 30-second confrontation.
During closing arguments, Rifkin did everything but call Simpson a liar, saying the actor came out in him as he testified.
Defence attorney Yale Galanter said Pattinson chased down Simpson to provoke a confrontation after Simpson turned in front of him at a stop sign.
Simpson was cleared of criminal charges in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, but a civil jury later ordered him to pay $33.5 million for their deaths.
He moved to Florida last year.
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[@949123]

Every not guilty verdict they seem to have trouble saying the verdict

[@benicia21]

conflict free life

[@weirdnomad8868]

This whole trial was incredulous, it was a small tiff between two men. The guy honked at him, they argued, and he grabbed his glasses, and they were trying to give him 16 years for that! This is what your tax dollars go folks...

[@fizzm289]

O.J = Trouble maker

[@aggpp9622]

this is the same defense lawyer in Vegas that never told him of the plea deal and allow him to go to jail

[@octoman511]

Where does it say that?

[@Master-cf2vl]

1:05

[@johnfenner5550]

OJ failed to do the following: Find the real killers Find the real road ragers Find the real DirecTV pirates Find the real armed robbers