Inferring and Explaining

133 O. J. Simpson Paul Tagard ofers a quick and dirty summary of the prosecution’s case in the O. J. Simpson trial. At first glance, the evidence that O. J. Simpson was guilty of the murder of his ex-wife was overwhelm- ing. Shortly after the time that the murder took place, he caught a plane to Chicago carrying a bag that disappeared, perhaps because it contained the murder weapon and bloody clothes. Police who came to Simpson’s house found drops of blood in his car that matched his own blood and that of Ron Gold- man. In Simpson’s back yard, police found a bloody glove that was of a pair with one that was found at the scene of the crime, and they found a bloody sock in his bedroom. Simpson had a cut on his hand that might have been caused by a struggle with the victims who tried to defend themselves. More- over, there was a plausible motive for the murder, in that Simpson had been physically abusive to his wife while they were married, and was reported to be jealous of other men who saw Nicole after the divorce. 6 Te state’s evidence looks like this: e 1 . The plane fight and missing bag e 2 . The blood in Simpson’s car matching his and Ron Goldman’s e 3 . The bloody glove and sock at Simpson’s house e 4 . Matching glove at the murder scene e 5 . Simpson’s history of jealousy and abuse And of course, they are asking the jury to accept their explanation of all this data: t 0 . O. J. Simpson murdered Nicole and Ron Goldman. Simpson’s attorneys get their say, as well. Te frst task of the defense lawyers was to generate an alternative explanation of who killed Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman. Based on Nicole’s known history of cocaine use, they hypothesized that she was killed by drug dealers . . . In order to explain the circumstantial evidence linking O. J. to the crime scene, including the bloody car, gloveand sock, thedefense contended that the itemshadbeenplantedbyLosAngelesPoliceDepartment ofcers determined to frame Simpson for the crime. 7 Tey ofer some additional evidence: eVIdenCe, exPlanatIon, and narratIVe e 6 . Nicole’s history of cocaine use e 7 . Mark Furman’s history of racist behavior And they propose a rival explanation of all the evidence. t 1 . Drug dealers murdered Nicole and Ron Goldman, and ofcers for the Los Angeles Police Department framed O. J. Te jury gets the complete case: e 1 . The plane fight and missing bag e 2 . The blood in Simpson’s car matching his and Ron Goldman’s e 3 . The bloody glove and sock at Simpson’s house e 4 . Matching glove at the murder scene e 5 . Simpson’s history of jealousy and abuse e 6 . Nicole’s history of cocaine use