LSU Law Library--O.J. Simpson

Making Book on O.J.
Recent Writings on the O.J. Simpson Trial And Its Aftermath

[The Lawyers] [The Defendant] [The Witnesses] [The Jurors] [The Trial] [Analysis][Aftermath][The Civil Trial] [Parodies and Humor] [Fiction]

At last count nearly a hundred authors had tried their hands at recounting the events surrounding the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and the trials of O.J. Simpson for their murders. While the flood seems to have abated, we will undoubtedly see more nonfiction and fiction accounts of the tragedy and its aftermath, which began June 16, 1994.

Last updated 04/17/2003

First Person Accounts

The Lawyers

Clark, Marcia, Without a doubt (NY: Viking, 1997).

Reviewers have criticized Clark's book as self-serving and neglectful of the positive contributions of other members of the prosecution team.

Cochran, Johnnie, Journey to justice (N.Y.: Ballantine Books, 1996).

Darden, Christopher A., In contempt (NY: ReganBooks, 1996).

Law Library GV 939 .S47 1996

Darden was one of the prosecutors in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. His book received generally favorable reviews.

Dershowitz, Alan M., Reasonable doubts : the O.J. Simpson case and the criminal justice system (NY: Simon & Schuster, 1996).

Dershowitz, a noted Harvard Law School professor, obtained the reversal of Claus von Bulow's conviction and unsuccessfully defended Mike Tyson.

Goldberg, Hank M., The prosecution responds : an O.J. Simpson trial prosecutor reveals what really happened (Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group, 1996).

Like Darden and Clark, Goldberg felt compelled to defend the prosecution's record. His book received less attention than either of theirs, however.

Shapiro, Robert L., The search for justice : a defense attorney's brief on the O.J. Simpson case (NY: Warner Books, 1996).

Uelmen, Gerald F., Lessons from the trial : the people v. O.J. Simpson (Kansas City, MO: Andrews and McMeel, 1996)

Uelman is the dean of the Santa Clara Law School and another member of Simpson's "Dream Team."

The Defendant

Browne, Larry, Juice : the O.J. Simpson tragedy (1994).

O.J. Simpson (A& E Home Video, 1995). Originally aired as an episode of Biography (1994).

Rantala, M. L., O.J. unmasked : the trial, the truth, and the media (1996).

Simpson, Orenthal James, I Want to Tell You (Boston, Mass: Little Brown, c1995).

The Witnesses

Eliot, Marc, Kato Kaelin: the whole truth : the real story of O.J., Nicole, & Kato (1995). Sound recording, read by Eric Conger.

Fuhrman, Mark, Murder in Brentwood (Washington DC: Regnery Publishing, 1997).

Law Library HV 8079 .H6 F84 1997

Fuhrman is the police officer who claimed to have found the "bloody glove", a major piece of evidence presented as proof of Simpson's guilt. His credibility was severely attacked by the defense.

Resnick, Faye D., Nicole Brown Simpson : the private diary of a life interrupted (Beverly Hills, CA: Dove Books 1994).

The Jurors

Kennedy, Tracy, Mistrial of the century : a private diary of the jury system on trial (Beverly Hills, CA: Dove Books, 1995).

Law Library KF 224 .S485 K46 1995

Knox, Michael, Private diary of an O. J. juror : behind the scenes of the trial of the century (Beverly Hills, CA: Dove Books, 1995).

Analyses of the Police Investigation, Trial Tactics and the Aftermath of the Criminal Trial

Bosco, Joseph, A problem of evidence : how the prosecution freed O.J. Simpson (NY: W. Morrow and Co., 1996).

Law Library KF 224 .S485 B67 1996

Bugliosi, Vincent, Outrage : the five reasons why O.J. Simpson got away with murder (NY: W. W. Norton & Co., 1996).

Law Library KF 224 .S485 B84 1996

Bugliosi was an L.A. prosecutor for many years. Among his most famous successes were the murder trials of Charles Manson and his "family". He has written many books describing his cases including Helter, Skelter, describing the Manson trial, And the Sea Will Tell, and Until Death Us Do Part.

Dershowitz, Alan, Reasonable doubts: the O.J. Simpson case and the criminal justice system (NY: Simon & Schuster, 1996).

Southern University Law Library On Order

Deutsch, Linda, Verdict: The chronicle of the O.J. Simpson trial(Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews and McMeel, c1995).

Elias, Tom, The Simpson trial in black and white (LA: General Publishing Group, 1996).

Middleton Library KF 224 .S485 E43 1996

Freed, Donald, Killing time : the first full investigation into the unsolved murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman (NY: Macmillan, 1996).

Gibbs, Jewelle Taylor, Race and justice : Rodney King and O.J. Simpson in a house divided (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996).

Law Library KF 220 .G53 1996

Hutchinson, Earl Ofari and Dennis Schwartzman, Beyond O.J. : race, sex, and class lessons for America (LA: Middle Passage Press, 1996).

Justice, Loretta, Trial of the century : obstruction of justice : viewpoint of a trial watcher (Boston: Branden Publishing, 1997).

Law Library KF 224 .S485 J87 1997

Kennedy, Randall, Race, crime and the law (NY: Pantheon Books, 1997).

Lange, Tom, Evidence dismissed : the inside story of the police investigation of O.J. Simpson (NY: Pocket Books, 1997).

Law Library KF 224 .S485 L363 1997

MacCoun, Robert J., The verdict on the verdict : interpreting the public's reaction to the Simpson trial (Chicago: American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, 1997).

Schiller, Lawrence, and James Willwerth, American Tragedy (NY:Avon, 1997).

Comprehensive account of the Simpson criminal and civil trials. Provides an excellent look at defense trial tactics and the infighting among "Dream Team" members.

Schmalleger, Frank, The trial of the century : people of the state of California vs. Orenthal James Simpson (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996).

Toobin, Jeffrey, The run of his life : the people v. O.J. Simpson (NY: Random House, 1996).

Law Library KF 224 .S485 T66 1996

Toobin reported on the trial for the media. His book is regarded as one of the best on the murder trial.

Weller, Sheila, Raging heart: the intimate story of the tragic marriage of O.J. and Nicole Brown Simpson (NY: Pocket Books, 1995).

Southern University Law Library
Civil Rights GV939.S47 W45 1995

The Trial

Douglas Linder's Famous Trials website: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Simpson/simpson.htm

Linedecker, Clifford L., O. J. A to Z: The Complete Handbook to the Trial of the Century (1995).

The Trial begins (CNN Video, dist. by Turner Home Entertainment, 1995)(The People versus O.J. Simpson, part 2).

Trial transcripts (criminal and civil)

Civil Trial Index (from USA Today)

Analysis

Association of American Law Schools. Meeting (1996 : San Antonio, Texas), Evidence: learning from the Simpson trial (1996). Two audio cassettes.

Constantine, Alex, The Florida/Hollywood mob connection, the CIA and O.J. Simpson (1995)(The Constantine Report).

Hutchinson, Earl Ofari, Beyond O.J. : race, sex, and class lessons for America (1996).

Journalism & justice: the media and the O.J. Simpson case (1994). Video recording. Moderated by Charles Ogletree. Other panelists: Gregory Favre, Paula Fass and David McCormick.

Keeler, Barbara, Media Treatment of the O. J. Simpson Case: Major Story or Meaningless Distraction? (1995).

Merchandising murder: the O.J. Simpson industry (First Run/Icarus Films, 1994).

O.J. Simpson, the interview, the answers so many didn't hear, the facts so many didn't see (H & K, 1996). One videocassette.

The O.J. Simpson trials: rhetoric, media, and the law (1999).

Postmortem : the O.J. Simpson case: justice confronts race, domestic violence, lawyers, money, and the media (1996).

Town meeting: the Simpson verdict : where from here? (ABC News Productions, 1995). An ABC News Nightline episode.

Viewpoint: the media and the trial (ABC News Productions, 1995).

Aftermath

Figueroa, Ana, O. J.'s New Defense, Newsweek, February 28, 2000.

The Civil Trial

O. J. Simpson Civil Trial Index

Parodies and Humor

Butcher, Jack, The O.J. Simpson Joke Book (1994).

I know you really want to tell me, but I really don't want to know: alternate answers and letters to OJ : a parody (1995). Sound recording.

Katz, Alan and Chris Wrinn, The Cat Not In the Hat! A Parody By Dr. Juice (NY: Penguin Books, 1997).

The courts have temporarily issued an injunction against publication of this take off on the trial. For a discussion of the legal issues see Michael I. Rudell, Parody, Satire, and Fair Use, N.Y.L.J., May 23, 1997, at 3.

OD'd on O.J. : freshed-squeezed pulp from the world's great cartoonists (Jerry Robinson and Jens Robinson eds.; 1995).

O.J.'s Legal Pad (NY: Villard Books, 1995).

Vaughn, Jeff, Find O.J. : the Juice is loose : the last laugh (1996).

Fiction

Bender, David, The confession of O.J. Simpson (NY: Berkley Publishing, 1997).

Bender, an editor at George magazine, wrote this novel which has received uniformly negative reviews.

Dunne, Dominick, Another City, , Not My Own: A Novel in the Form of a Memoir (1997).

And Haunt Your Bookstores For...

Kato Kaelin's The Sixteenth Minute (tentative title), a "weird and wacky" tale by the former Rockingham resident, who told Marcia Clark that DNA stands for Dude Needs Apartment⁽¹⁾ and O.J. niece Terry Baker's book asserting that his mother believed he killed Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman.⁽²⁾ True crime writer Clifford L. Linedecker's O. J. A to Z: The Complete Handbook to the Trial of the Century was supposed to be published by St. Martin's Press in 1995; it may yet appear.

At least one film has also aired a docudrama on the O. J. Simpson and the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The O. J. Simpson Story aired on Fox Television before the trial ended (although after the jury was sequestered)⁽³⁾ and did not come to any conclusions about Simpson's guilt or innocence. The British network L!VE TV also produced an expensive (300,000 English pounds worth) documentary on the trial using real trial footage for a "gloves-off examination of the facts of the case."⁽⁴⁾ And E! TV reenacted portions of the civil trial nightly as it occurred on its series The O.J. Civil Trial.⁽⁵⁾

Christine Corcos

Last updated 04/17/2003

Back to the LSU Law Library Home Page
Legal Research, Writing Assistance & CALI
Disclaimer

1. Jonathan Nesvig, Ready for another O.J. Book? News Tribune, June 11, 1997, at A3.

2. Keith Kelly and Marilyn Beck, Simpson niece questions his innocence, Milwaukee J.-Sentinel, April 20, 1997, at 14.

3. David Zurawik, Docudrama Becomes a Rush to On-Air Judgment, Baltimore Sun, February 10, 1997, at 1D.

4. Gloves Are Off for O.J., Daily Mirror, June 12, 1996 (NEWS Library, CURNWS File).

5. Evette Porter, Imitation of Life, Village Voice, December 10, 1996, at 100.