Today we are joined by private investigator Pat McKenna and legendary attorney F Lee Bailey for a discussion of OJ and the criminal justice system. We begin by discussing some of the recent media reports about OJ that have come out in the tabloid press. The three of us address these bogus claims that OJ was thrown out of the Cosmopolitanism hotel in Las Vegas. Lee also tells us about his background in the Marine Corp and how he became one of the most famous trial lawyers. We then move onto some new research by Brian Heiss looking at a forgery in Nicole Simpson’s dairy. We discuss how Fred Goldman helped lobby California’s legislature to allow the diary and the forgery into the civil trial. Lee gives us his legal perspective about the civil trial and the ways in which it was conducted. He talks about the numerous instances in which false information was introduced as evidence, and how this has convinced many that the civil trial was the “good trial.” We explore how the media treated the criminal jury and how this influenced the civil juries verdict. Later Lee and Pat discuss the criminal trial itself. Lee talks about his cross examination of Mark Fuhrman. He talks about the moment he knew he had caught Fuhrman in his own web of lies. Pat and Lee also touch on how Judge Ito wouldn’t allow several witnesses who were willing to testify that Fuhrman was a virulent racist.
In the second hour Lee and Pat discuss their book project which deals with both OJ’s criminal and civil trials. They talk about how their book will differ from the plethora of OJ related books. Lee in particular touches on several important aspects that will be included in the book that were not widely know during the trial. Lee and Pat discuss the continued importance of truly understanding this case, and their hopes for the future generation. Lee also talks about his own theory as to the motive of the murders: a drug killing that meant to target Faye Resnick. Later Pat and Lee discuss the school they have founded for teaching investigative skills. Lee talks about the need for teaching trial lawyers how to turn facts into evidence, and how many lawyers are not fully equipped to carry out investigations. Pat talks about a similar problem facing private investigator’s and what he will be teaching. We also talk about the role that Hollywood has played in crafting our understanding of criminal justice. Lee talks about the problem that show’s like CSI have had on the criminal justice system. We round out the show by talking about some of the problems with forensic evidence. We talk about things like shoe print analysis and how that played a role with OJ and the infamous Bruno Magli shoes. We also touch on the problems with hair and fiber analysis.
Frequent guest Brian Heiss joins me for an in depth discussion of the current state of the media, and their continued legacy of manipulation and deception. We begin our conversation by dissecting the bogus news story that OJ Simpson is set to make a reality TV show with Casey Anthony. Brian and I discuss now the genesis of this story is a TMZ article that determined that an OJ reality show was actually impossible to make at this current time. Brian describes how this TMZ article became the source for numerous mainstream media articles making the false claim that the reality show indeed happening. We dive into how this fake news became a viral and is now entirely accepted as fact. Brian and I then move onto how the OJ trial built the foundation for this trend in media. We talk about several lies about the trial that have become accepted fact because of peoples emotional desires to believe something that fits their world view. We discuss productions such as The People vs OJ Simpson and OJ: Made in America and how they have continued to exploit lies in order to craft their own version of the truth.
In the second hour we expand out on this topic and look at the ways in which the media manipulates crime both here and abroad to fuel ratings and revenue. Brian and I use the OJ trial and the false allegations by people such as Jill Shivley as an analogy for the current push for war in Syria. We examine how emotions and not evidence drive both the public’s opinions about OJ and Bashar al Assad. Brian and I also look at the increased number of true crime documentaries that knowingly manipulate our emotions with lies and how this is affecting our entire criminal justice system. We speak about this rush to judgment and trial by media circus and it’s relationship to events such as the recent chemical attack in Syria.
Porkins Policy Review 