Term Paper on "OJ Simpson vs. Scott Petersen Trial"

Term Paper 5 pages (1894 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Scott Peterson trial has provoked as much debate around America as OJ Simpson's trial did a few years ago. The similarities between the two cases are remarkable. However, there are also important differences: OJ caught his wife with her lover, while Scott Peterson killed (or so it would seem) his pregnant wife to be with his mistress. They both committed a double murder, but the decisions of the two juries were opposite. This fact was caused by multiple factors.

People often talk about OJ Simpson's color, the legitimacy in 'punishing' his wife or about Scott Peterson's gruesome act. However, one thing that many forget is that they have almost certainly committed the murders for which they had to face justice, and that, no matter under what circumstances a crime is committed, the person who has committed it must be held liable, in a way or another. It is still surprising that, although OJ Simpson was never convicted, he had to pay damages to the families of his victims. How is that possible, only the jury knows... One other difference between the two cases is that Scott Peterson was convicted based on circumstantial evidence, while OJ Simpson got away, although the evidence against him were concrete and overwhelming.

A brief analysis of the cases could shed some light on the issue. The media has often said that, in order for Peterson to be found guilty, the jury will have to base its decision solely on circumstantial evidence: "a small hair found in Peterson's boat, missing concrete mix that the prosecution thinks he used to make weights to sink Laci's body in the Bay, and the fact that the bodies surfaced right where Peterson said he fished." Still, what prosecutors managed to prove, and that was really a heavy blow for Peterson, is that he had a habit of lying. By playing secretly-taped phone calls between Peterson and his mistress, Amber Frey, they demonstrated that Peterson was not even telling Frey the truth: "Most notably, Peterson, in a phone call with Frey, told his then-mistress that he was in Paris at a New Year's Eve party at the Eiffel Tower. Jurors learned that Peterson was actually calling Frey from a candlelight vigil in Modesto."

Peterson's lies do not stop here. As CNN.com reports, "Testimony that Scott told Amber (or the friend who introduced them) that he was a widower before Laci died could also be powerful evidence for the prosecution. But I do think the jurors will prove more than able to separate evidence about Scott's admitted infidelity -- and all the various lies and multiple cell phone calls that accompanied it -- from evidence as to the key question of whether he murdered Laci."

Julie Hilden, a FindLaw columnist for CNN.com argued that "Married men tell all kinds of lies to get women to sleep with them, and jurors will doubtless be aware of that. That Scott first claimed he was a widower, then later actually became one, may be more a sick coincidence than a self-fulfilling prophecy."

The web of lies Peterson got himself caught in was still no evidence, and the defense pointed that out, by arguing that this boorish behavior is no evidence that he actually murdered his wife. The only physical evidence that the prosecutors had was the hair found in Peterson's boat, and not even that managed to elude the wave of questions. The district attorney had a very hard time trying to prove that the hair was actually Laci's, but the defense attorney answered that there are numerous ways in which that could have landed in the boat.

The defense also claimed that Laci often wore Scott's coats while walking the dog, so the hair could have stuck in the fabric. The prosecution also claimed that Laci was not aware that her husband had a new fishing boat, but a witness had told police that Laci had went to Peterson's warehouse on December, the 20th.

Another piece of evidence was obtained after several experts expressed their opinions on the gestational age of Peterson's unborn child. Dr. Greggory DeVore, an obstetrician-gynecologist, testifying for the prosecution, argued the Petersons' fetus died on December the 23, 2002. This date was certainly favorable for the prosecution's murder theory. He measured the fetus' bones compared to Laci's ultrasounds to arrive to that conclusion. The defense brought to the stand Dr. Charles March, a fertility specialist, who testified that his study found that the fetus could have died no sooner than December 29th, 2002. Peterson was at the time under surveillance, so the defense argued that he could not have committed the murder, since at the time the fetus was still alive. However, the prosecutors gave March a hard time, by dismantling his theory piece by piece. He even asked prosecutor David Harris to "cut him some slack," so his credibility instantly vanished.

However, beyond the overwhelming circumstantial evidence, there is really not concrete proof that Peterson did it. Still, this would be just another murder case, as so many before it. The media transformed it into a national phenomenon, just like it did with the OJ Simpson case a few years ago. The Los Angeles Times presents the subject as quite common across the United States: "Like "Nicole and O.J.," "Monica and Bill" and "Chandra and Gary" before them, "Laci and Scott," have become standard conversational fare in households across the nation. Many of the same celebrity lawyers, former prosecutors and talk-show hosts who popped up regularly during the O.J. Simpson trial have returned to analyze the Peterson case nightly on cable TV, with some of them even becoming main players in the unfolding drama."

The OJ Simpson case was also a landmark in America's legal history. There is need to remind that the evidence the prosecutors had at the time against OJ were much more than what they had in the Peterson trial. However, OJ must be considered not guilty, since this is how the jury found him to be. The American judicial system looks more like a circus than a trustworthy social institution. Here are some opinions expressed by representatives of the legal system about the current state of events: "It all puts a really terrible face on our legal system and the way it handles high-profile cases," said former San Mateo County prosecutor Chuck Smith. "And if the jury arrives at a verdict, one way or the other, it is going to be tainted by all these episodes of chaos."

Goldman, the law professor, believes the state has proven its case. "If the jury believes in the prosecution's witnesses and evidence... there is enough to convict 10 guys," he said."

This case wants to be another O.J., in that it tries to generate as much publicity as it can," said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School. "In a post-O.J. world, some trials don't just occur inside the courtroom -- there are spin artists inside, as well as outside," she said.

Robert Pugsley, professor of criminal law at Southwestern University School of Law, was more blunt: "The media has become an intruder in legal processes, and explodes public awareness -- and lurid interest -- in trials that should be settled in courtrooms, not television studios or the streets of the city in which the case is being held." "We should care because it corrupts justice," he said, "by turning trials into TV game shows or reality television, when, in fact, they involve life-and-death matters being decided by ordinary people doing their best to reach a verdict without being influenced."

There were some questions on whether the community of Redwood City would respond favorably to the media attention. It would seem that it didn't, at least from Peterson's point-of-view. The pressure on the jury was so high that: "In the week and a half since they started, the deliberations have become so contentious that two jurors, including the foreman, have been booted off the panel. Some jurors were scolded by the judge for experimenting with evidence and admonished not to let biases get in the way of their work. "

What are solutions for avoiding such situations? How could people like OJ or Peterson be convicted only based on the evidence made available during the trial, and not because of the media pressure? Should future juries distinguish between concrete and circumstantial evidence when convicting a person? And what about the "guilty beyond any reasonable doubt" principle, fundamental for the U.S. criminal law? Well, perhaps that the best way to solve this problem is by way of Government intervention. Perhaps the House of Representatives and the Senate could pass a bill that would impede the media focusing its attention on a particular trial, or to limit the number of TV and radio talk-shows on such a subject. After all, a trial should be treated in a more dispassionate way.

Another very important issue that legislators (or the Supreme Court, for that matter) need to solve is… READ MORE

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