Like it does now, only OJ would have completed his plea deal [voluntary manslaughter] Shapiro initially proffered that would have him released in 11 years or 2005, and there wouldn't have been a trial. So it was all for naught, and OJ is a picture of bloating desiccation in a Nevada desert prison.

His ex-wife said as much. And he didn't want to know, or didn't care, that his clients were guilty. He only wanted to win and not be bogged down by doubt or guilt defending a client.

good observation, but not a coincidence. It came out in early episodes they were cast with that in mind, kinda meta.

If nothing else, the trial served as an exercise in self-serving motivations on EVERYONE'S part. As seemingly well-meaning and high-minded she is, it even comes out in Marcia's admission that she was raped which is why she leaned so heavily on DV and the expectation of the sympathy of an almost all female jury. It…

Really. Like, almost apologetic to the jury to even be there at all at that point. Totally defeatist and yes, verrrry exhausted. Too bad.

I daresay, Cochran helped make things worse, or at least his misguided motives, backfired.

That is the misunderstanding about Taking the 5th: it falsely implies guilt.
Further, his [lack of] testimony was not seen by the jury, so it could not be entered into their deliberations.
Yet… it did via Cochran's constant press conferences and the jury's conjugal visits.

Nicole's haunting words to Kris Kardashian:
"He's going to kill me, and he's going to get away with it."

Ugh, yes the real summations were horrifyingly long. The prosecution's was a snorefest. The defense's was fire and brimstone. So I don't think the writers represented that polarity well with the few moments they had - in fact they neutralized them - since summations were criticized so much IRL. But also I know writers…

He sure did. Just awful. Defeated. Even Marcia was truly half-asleep during her own summations. She said after stumbling, "I'm so tired."

Very true, see above.

sigh… the circus of reality TV that hyper media coverage gave birth to during the OJ trial. Many articles on the parallels to this year's election.

He's so blinded by his own son - who probably supplied OJ with tiger blood [but I digress] - it's not surprising he'd be blind about this too. Loyalty and belief in lieu of reason and critical thinking does strange things to the best of people.

…well said. And the pendulum swings…

There's much to laugh about and learn. No shortage of material that's for sure!

Now that it's all over… imagine it WITHOUT internet news/review/talk sites, let alone twitter and FB. We barely had dial up.
During the trial coverage, mostly all you could do was be an 'audience caller' and hear yourself on TV. If you got thru. All else was newspapers, radio and water cooler speculation.

He is only briefly troubled by the fact he conned people who supported and released him - the community he disassociated himself from back in the robbery and project days of his SF youth.

Thank you, AMB. Life altering indeed.

Yes! Followed by Garcetti's head spinning.

Death to all butterfly ballots and hanging chads!