Cours Anglais Juridique L2

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- Rodney King called for calm: « People, I just want to say, can we all get along? »

This time 2 of the 4 officers were sentenced to 32 months in prison for violating King’s civil rights. King sued the city of LA and was awarded 5,5 million in damages (2 millions de dollards de frais de justice).

He became a national symbol of civil rights and of the fight against racial discrimination and police brutality.

Lecture 3: The OJ’s Simpson Case

Orenthal James Simpson: former football star, an equivalent of Zidane.

He was also considered a role model and was in a lot of advertisments.

After his carreer, OJ Simpson became a sports commentator, and played in a few movies.

His wife was white (Nicole Brown) and they were the darlings of the media. They were seen as a model of race relations.

1985: OJ and Nicole got married

They had 2 children

1992: they got divorced

However, OJ apparently had a dark side:

- 1989: domestic violence charge, he pleaded no contest (violence conjuguale)

- 1993: Nicole called the police and said that her ex-husband had it her

There were a total of 19 allegations (accusations) of wife-beating, name-calling, harassing …

What happened on June 13, 1994?

Early un the morning, a couple found a dog with blood on his paws (pattes), which led them directly to Nicole’s home and they found Nicole’s lifeless body.

They called the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and they found Ronald Goldman’s dead body, Nicole’s friend.

Both victims had been brutally stabbed on the evening of June 12.

It wasn’t a clean execution, it was very amateur and everything in the crime was referring to OJ.

The evidence against OJ was overwhelming:

- a bloody glove found outside Nicole’s home matched one found at OJ’s house

- a trail of blood going from the dead bodies to OJ’s car

- victim’s DNA on OJ’s socks, in his car … (evidence jamais au pluriel: 2 pieces of evidence)

The LAPD believed they had enough material to arrest OJ, he took very good lawyers to protect OJ’s image so they negotiated that OJ directly goes to the Police office but on the day he was surrender to the police, OJ disappeared with one of his friends: AAC Cowlings.

OJ left a suicide note, which his lawyers read to the press, saying I’m sorry for my children’s, I deserve to suffer but without saying he was guilty.

OJ and AC were soon located on the LA freeway (autoroute). So a slow-speed chase, which was televised from helicopter cameras happened, 95 million people watched it live, the interrupted NBA to watch it.

In the end, OJ was finally arrested at his house.

What crime was OJ Simpson accused of?

When you kill someone, there are several crimes you may be charged with:

- murder

- manslaughter …

What’s a murder?

California Penal Code, section 187(a): Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought

Malice: evil evidence

Aforethought: previously in mind

Malice aforethought different premeditation

It’s a broader than premeditation: it’s when a person does something, knowing well that it puts the other person’s life in danger.

First-degree murder: an unlawful killing that is willful and premeditated after planning or after lying in wait for the victim.

Manslaughter: unlawful killing of human being without malice, there are 3 kinds: voluntary, involuntary, vehicular

Voluntary manslaughter: when a person is killed in a “sudden quarrel” or “in the heat of passion” ,

example: Dan comes home to find his wife in bed with Victor, je grabs his gun shoots Victor and kills him on the spot.

Involuntary manslaughter: an unintentional killing that results from recklessness or criminal negligence, or from an unlawful act that is low-level felony

Example: Dan finds his wife in bed with Victor. Dan heads to a local bar and, after five drinks, drives homes at twice the speed limit, hitting and killing a pedestrian.

What’s a second-degree murder?

An intentional killing that is neither premediated, not committed inn the heat of passion …

Dan comes home to find his wife in bed with another man and goes downstairs. One hour later, his wife joins him, they talk about what happened, then they start fighting. Dan grabs his gun and kills her.

What are the penalties for murder in California?

Death, life imprisonment without parole (liberté conditionnelle), imprisonment for 25 years to life

What are the penalties for manslaughter in California?

Voluntary manslaughter: imprisonment in the state prison for 3, 6 or 11 years

Involuntary Manslaughter: imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3 or 4 years

Back to OJ’s Case: The police writes a report which goes to the prosecutor (procureur, a procurer = un macro) …

In the OJ Simpson trial, Marcia Clark was the main prosecutor.

The concept of Grand Jury: if the prosecution