The looming murder trial of O.J. Simpson became one of the most anticipated public events of the mid-90s. And in the second half of 1994, even before the trial began, tension continued to be ramped up by the elongated jury selection process, which fascinated the millions who were by then raptly following the case, all aided by extensive media coverage.
The intrigue began when it was revealed that Simpson would be tried in downtown Los Angeles, where the prosecution filed their case, instead of Santa Monica, where the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman occurred. That decision affected the racial composition of the jury, at a time when reaction to the case was split among race lines; most white Americans believed Simpson was guilty of murder, while most Black Americans believed he was innocent. Because of the sensational nature of the case, presiding Judge Lance Ito (pictured) excluded any jurors who had been exposed to mass media, while the prosecution and defense teams provided queries for a huge questionnaire that potential jurors must answer to reveal any biases one way or another. The process took two months, initially settling on eight Black, two Hispanic, one half-white, half-Native American, and one white juror.
Since the trial, several jurors have spoken publicly about their experiences and their thought processes as the trial progressed, revealing that tensions sometimes ran high. Serving as a juror on the O.J. Simpson trial turned out to be life-changing for many of those involved, and they remained recognizable to many Americans for long afterward.
