Most Americans who followed the murder trial of NFL legend O.J. Simpson in the mid-1990s got a glimpse of the Los Angeles courtroom where he stood trial through their television set.
But one woman who got to watch it all unfold in person was Linda Deutsch, an award-winning Associated Press court reporter who for decades had a front-row seat to many of the nation’s most sensational and high-profile cases. They included the Simpson trial, dubbed by many the “trial of the century.”
Simpson, an American football legend-turned Hollywood actor who died Wednesday, April 10, after battling cancer, was accused in the mid-1990s of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman. He was acquitted in 1995 in a criminal trial but later found liable in a separate 1997 civil trial.
On Thursday, Deutsch, who had appeared on television daily throughout the Simpson trial to report what she’d witnessed in the courtroom – and who went on to land exclusive interviews with Simpson in subsequent years – recalled the fallen sports hero as “charming.”
“You couldn’t really get to know him without liking him. That had been a big part of his success after he left football,” Deutsch said in an interview. “He was a national (football) hero. … He became a TV commentator of sports, he did all those Hertz commercials. … He was also a good-looking guy and photographed well. As far as celebrity, he was the perfect celebrity. He really transcended the racial categorization – both Blacks and whites loved him.”
Simpson was the first celebrity whose trial was broadcast on network television, and it captivated audiences around the world.
“The whole world – at least the country – became very invested in it. It was like (the public) were all part of the jury,” Deutsch said. “The trial brought America closer to the justice system. They could see how exactly it worked. … Even though it was such a bizarre trial, it gave you an idea of how justice was served in this country.”
Deutsch said certain memories from the trial will forever be seared in her memory – from Simpson emphatically declaring his innocence during his arraignment to the “not guilty” verdict, and memorable witnesses like Kato Kaelin, the tenant who lived in Simpson’s guest house, and Mark Fuhrman, the Los Angeles police detective caught on tape making racist remarks that became important to Simpson’s defense team.
“It was like a giant drama. The outcome was pretty much expected,” Deutsch said.
The retired AP reporter said she never decided if Simpson was guilty, saying it was not her job to make that call. But she recalled an incident near the end of the trial when lead prosecutor Marcia Clark came to her office and asked if Deutsch thought Clark’s team had a chance of winning the case.
“I said ‘only if you get a hung jury.’ … They (prosecutors) just didn’t prove it,” beyond a reasonable doubt, she said of Simpson’s guilt.
As for her relationship with Simpson, Deutsch said he reached out to her after the trial to offer her an interview. The two subsequently became “constant phone buddies,” and Simpson would call her whenever he wanted to give an interview to the media.
But he stopped returning her calls about a year ago, Deutsch said, adding that she was not aware that he was sick.
She recalled meeting up with Simpson and his daughter for dinner in Las Vegas following his release from prison in 2017.
He spent nine years behind bars after being convicted of armed robbery and other felonies in a case separate from the murder trial. The incident that landed him in prison stemmed from a confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in Vegas. Simpson later told a parole board that he was simply trying to retrieve sports memorabilia and family heirlooms that had been stolen from him.
Simpson told her he taught some prisoners how to read and played dominoes with them, Deutsch recounted.
Her last interview with Simpson was after his release from prison – when he told her that he’d never talk again about the murder trial.
Asked how she thought Simpson would be remembered, Deutsch summed it up this way: “He will always be remembered as a football hero and personality. … But his being recast as a pariah added to his fame — and he became much more famous because of that.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that O.J. Simpson was found liable in a 1997 civil case for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
