Dream Team (law)

The "Dream Team" refers to the team of trial lawyers that represented O.J. Simpson in his trial for the murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman. The team included Robert Shapiro, Johnnie Cochran, Robert Kardashian, Barry Scheck, F. Lee Bailey, Carl Douglas, and Peter Neufeld.

The "Dream Team" lawyers

Robert Shapiro

Robert Shapiro joined Simpson's defense team shortly after the beginning of the trial when Howard L. Weitzman withdrew from the case stating that his workload was too heavy to continue as chair. ^[1] As defense chair, Shapiro was called the "architect" of the Simpson defense for building the high-profile defense team that would later be dubbed the "dream team." ^[2] Shapiro led the defense team through much of the trial before Johnnie Cochran took on the lead of chair.

Shapiro is currently a senior partner in the Los Angeles-based law firm Glaser Weil Fink Jacobs Howard Avchen & Shapiro, LLP.^[3] He is also the co-founder of LegalZoom. ^[4]

Johnnie Cochran

Cochran joined the Simpson defense team and later took over as chair of the team during the trial. During closing arguments, Cochran famously uttered the phrase, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," referencing the fact that the glove that the prosecutors alleged Simpson wore during the murder did not fit Simpson's hand.

Cochran was diagnosed with a brain tumor in December 2003 and subsequently passed away in his home in Los Angeles on March 29, 2005.^[5]

Robert Kardashian

Robert Kardashian was a close friend of Simpson. In fact, Simpson stayed in Kardashian's house to avoid the media while the investigations and subsequent media fallout concerning the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman unfolded. When Simpson failed to turn himself in on June 17, 1994, Kardashian read a letter written by Simpson to the media that had assembled outside of his house.

Kardashian ended up reactivating his license to practice law, which he had let lapse prior to the Simpson case, to join Simpson's defense team.

Kardashian was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in July 2003. He passed away less than eight weeks after his diagnoses at the age of 59 on September 30, 2003.^[6]

Barry Scheck

Barry Scheck, a law professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City, is a forensic and DNA evidence expert. He joined the "Dream Team" to help the team harness the power of forensic and DNA evidence to assist in Simpson’s defense.

Scheck is also known for his work as co-founder and co-director of the Innocence Project, a non-profit organization that uses DNA evidence to clear the names of wrongfully convicted inmates.^[7]

F. Lee Bailey

F. Lee Bailey joined the defense team prior to the preliminary hearing and handled many of the defense team’s press conferences. Bailey’s most notable contribution to the defense was his cross-examination of LAPD investigator Mark Fuhrman. ^[8] In a press conference leading up to his cross-examination of Fuhrman, Bailey said, "any lawyer in his right might who would not be looking forward to cross-examining Mark Fuhrman is an idiot." During the cross-examination, Bailey was able to get Fuhrman to plead the Fifth in response to key aspects of the case including planting evidence, thereby undermining Fuhrman’s credibility as a witness. This cross-examination is believed by many to be one of the keys to Simpson’s acquittal.

Carl Douglas

Douglas was widely considered as one of Johnnie Cochran's top lawyers, later becoming the managing attorney of the Law Office of Johnnie Cochran Jr. before leaving the firm in 1998 to form The Douglas Law Group (now known as Douglas / Hicks Law).^[9]

Peter Neufeld

Neufeld joined the Simpson defense team to assist with undermining the prosecution’s DNA and forensic evidence. He is perhaps best known for destroying the credibility of the blood trail between Nicole Brown Simpson's body and Simpson's car. ^[10]

Neufeld is a co-founder of the Innocence Project along with fellow "dream team" member Barry Scheck.^[11] Neufeld is currently a partner at Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP in New York. ^[12]

Verdict

After four hours of deliberation, a jury found Simpson not guilty on both murder counts on October 3, 1995, at 10:00 a.m. News of the verdict disrupted all facets of life and business throughout the United States and abroad, with an estimated 100 million people worldwide watched or listened to the verdict announcement.^[13]

Before the verdict was read, President Bill Clinton was briefed on potential security measures if rioting occurred following the verdict.^[14] The United States Supreme Court received message of the verdict during oral arguments, with the justices passing the note to each other while listening to the attorney’s presentation.

Portrayal in film and television

The Dream Team's success has been portrayed in multiple documentaries and docudramas.

In 1995, Fox premiered the TV movie The O.J. Simpson Story (1995).^[15]

In 2000, 20th Century Fox produced An American Tragedy, starring Ving Rhames as Johnnie Cochran, Christopher Plummer as F. Lee Bailey, Ron Silver as Robert Shapiro, and Raymond Forchion as O.J. Simpson.

On February 2, 2016, FX premiered the first season of the anthology series, American Crime Story, titled, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. The cast included Sarah Paulson, Courtney B. Vance, John Travolta, and David Schwimmer.^[16]

In June 2016, ESPN premiered O.J.: Made in America, a 5-part, 8 hour documentary by Ezra Edelman on the trial.

References