'If it doesn't fit, you must acquit': How a pair of blood-stained gloves saved OJ Simpson in the 'trial of the century'
12 April 2024, 08:32 | Updated: 12 April 2024, 08:33
This is how a pair of gloves led to former American football star OJ Simpson's controversial acquittal of double murder.
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OJ Simpson died aged 76 on Wednesday following a short battle with cancer.
The former NFL star was controversially cleared of the double murder of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman in 1995.
The pair were found stabbed to death outside Brown's home in LA in 1994, with Simpson quickly emerging as a suspect.
However, despite orders to surrender himself to police he instead fled in his white Ford Bronco, which resulted in a slow car chase and his arrest.
The case and its televised trials led to a media frenzy, but one key piece of evidence is still remembered for having helped to acquit the former NFL star - a pair of gloves.
The pair of gloves were alleged to have been worn by the killer of Simpson’s ex-wife Brown and Goldman.
However, when tried on by OJ Simpson during trial, they did not fit his hands which weighed heavily in his favour in his subsequent acquittal.
Read more: Controversial life of OJ Simpson: From NFL star to murder suspect in 'trial of the century'
Each glove was found in a separate location following the murders. The left-handed glove was located outside Brown’s home, the right-handed glove was recovered with blood stains outside Simpson’s estate.
The right-handed glove was considered sufficient evidence to issue an arrest warrant.
Hair and clothing fibres consistent with Simpson, Brown and Goldman were all found on the right-handed glove, as well as fibres from a 1993-1994 Ford Bronco and Brown’s Akita dog.
But at trial, when made to try the gloves on Simpson struggled to get them to fit, which the defence argued meant he could not have committed the crimes.
However, the prosecution expressed concern about this argument during the trial as they knew that Simpson suffered from arthritis which he took anti-inflammatory medications for.
This led to concerns that Simpson may have purposefully skipped his medication so his hands would swell and no longer fit the gloves.
But this was later disproven by an LA County Jail doctor, who confirmed that Simpson had taken his medication every day on record.
“If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit” was later touted by Simpson’s defence attorney Johnnie Cochran over the pair of gloves, which eventually became one of the most memorable statements from the trial.
His defence argued that the glove had been planted.
An estimated 100 million people nationwide tuned in to watch or listen to the verdict in 1995.
Despite his acquittal, Simpson was later found responsible in a civil trial and ordered to pay more than $33m in damages to the families.
He went on to be jailed following an armed robbery in Las Vegas in 2007 and served a lengthy sentence before being released in 2017.
He was discharged from parole in December 2021
Simpson’s family announced that he had died in a statement on Thursday, saying: "On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer.
"He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren.
"During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace."
