O.J. Simpson Acquitted in 1995 Double Homicide Trial

On Oct. 3, 1995, a Los Angeles jury acquitted former NFL star O.J. Simpson of the 1994 double murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. The televised trial drew an estimated 150 million viewers, and jurors returned a not-guilty verdict after less than four hours of deliberation. The case exposed deep racial divisions and sparked lasting debates over celebrity, police conduct, domestic abuse and DNA evidence. A civil jury in 1997 found Simpson liable and ordered $33.5 million in damages. Simpson was later convicted in 2008 of kidnapping and armed robbery and served time in prison; he died in 2024, and the 1994 murders remain officially unsolved. Thirty years on, the trial’s cultural imprint endures in photos, podcasts and commentary, with many observers saying it would play out differently in today’s social-media era.