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October 3, 2015, marks the 20th anniversary of one of the most controversial jury decisions in American legal history. Former pro-football (gridiron) player O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. The trial received unprecedented media coverage, the major courtroom personalities achieved instant celebrity status, and opinions on the case were starkly divided along racial lines.

Simpson’s legal team consisted of some of the finest defense attorneys in the U.S. Although prosecutors appeared to have a significant amount of physical evidence linking Simpson to the double murder—convincing many on both sides of the racial divide of his guilt—over the course of the eight-month trial, the defense painted a picture of police misconduct and incompetence. Ultimately, many were left with the impression that the Los Angeles Police Department had unsuccessfully tried to frame a guilty man, and the verdict was celebrated by some as a rebuke to a corrupt law enforcement regime.

In a 1997 civil trial, Simpson was found liable for the two deaths and ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages. In 2008 Simpson was found guilty of armed robbery and kidnapping in connection to an unrelated incident and was sentenced to 9 to 33 years in prison.

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Michael Ray
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acquittal, in criminal law, acknowledgment by the court of the innocence of the defendant or defendants. Such a judgment may be made by a jury in a trial or by a judge who rules that there is insufficient evidence either for conviction or for further proceedings. An acquittal removes all guilt in law. An acquittal “in fact” occurs when a jury finds the defendant not guilty. An acquittal “in law” occurs through the mere operation of law. For instance, if the principal in a case is acquitted, an accessory also is deemed acquitted in law.

Acquittal has other meanings. In the Middle Ages it was an obligation of an intermediate lord to protect his tenants against interference from his own overlord. The term is also used in contract law to signify a discharge or release from an obligation.