HISTORY'S Moment in Media: Chasing Juice on June 17, 1994

Orenthal James Simpson was a household name decades before he was accused of that infamous doublemurderamp160 A star running back for the USC Trojans he won the Heisman Trophy in 1968amp160 He then spent 11 years in the National Football League primarily playing for the Buffalo Bills where he became the only player to rush 2000 yards in a 14game seasonquotJuicequot as he was nicknamed had further spread his fame as a spokesman for Hertz a color commentator for football and as an actor making appearances in the movieamp160The Towering Inferno and the TV miniseries RootsHis private life was not so smoothamp160 He married Nicole Simpson in 1985 but four years later pleaded no contest to a domestic abuse chargeamp160 In 1992 the couple divorced citing quotirreconcilable differencesquotOn June 12 1994 Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman were found stabbed to death outside her Brentwood homeamp160 OJ Simpson was immediately a suspectEventually the case would obsess Americaamp160 The nation would cleave largely along racial lines as to whether OJ was guilty or being railroadedamp160 But on June 17 the police were just getting their first taste of the impending media circusSimpson39s lawyer Robert Shapiro had told the police his client would surrender for questioning and an arraignment at 11 amamp160 But OJ got his friend Cowlings to take him out of a home in an undisclosed location where he had been lying lowamp160 By noon the LAPD realized that Simpson was not coming in voluntarily and at 150 pm the department39s commander David Gascon announced that Simpson was a fugitiveAt a 3 pm news conferenceamp160district attorney Gil Garcetti apparently trying to pressure Cowlings announced that anyone helping Simpson to flee wouldamp160be prosecuted as a felonamp160 quotWe will find Mr Simpson and bring him to justicequot he saidTwo hours later Shapiro held his own press conference during which Simpson39s longtime friend Robert Kardashian read a letter from Simpson quotDon39t feel sorry for mequot ended the noteamp160 quotI39ve had a great life great friendsamp160 Please think of the real OJ and not this lost personamp160 Thanks for making my life specialamp160 I hope I helped yoursamp160 Peace and loveamp160 OJquotLess than an hour later Simpsonamp160reportedlyamp160made a 911 call from a cellular phone in the Ford Broncoamp160 This allowed the police to trace his location to the Santa Ana 5 Freeway in Orange Countyamp160 He was driving near Lake Forest where Nicole Simpson had been buried a few days earlierFrom there a bizarre almost surreal chase began to unfurlamp160 One wit called it the most famous ride on American shores since Paul Revereamp160 With Cowlings at the wheel Simpson moved slowly along the Artesia 91 Freeway and then onto the San Diego 405 Freeway in Torranceamp160 The chase was carried live at this point at least in part by ABC CBS CNN and NBC so crowds started gathering on the roadway and overpasses to watch the Bronco as it passedBy the end an estimated 95 million had tuned in only a few million less than had watched President Clinton give the State of the Union a few months earlierFinally at 8 pm Simpson and Cowlings returned to Simpson39s Brentwood home and negotiations for surrender beganClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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HISTORY'S Moment in Media: Chasing Juice on June 17, 1994

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HISTORY'S Moment in Media: Chasing Juice on June 17, 1994

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