O.J. Simpson Trials: 1995 & 1996-97

That evening, nearly every television station interrupted their regular programming to go live from a helicopter above a Los Angeles freeway. Approximately 93 million viewers watched the scene as the helicopter followed a Ford Bronco. Below, Simpson's friend, Al Cowlings, reported by phone that O.J. was in the car with a pistol to his head, intent on suicide. Police cars and ordinary traffic were moving slowly behind them.

After 90 minutes, Cowlings drove Simpson home, where he was arrested. On Monday, June 20, the Los Angeles County grand jury charged O.J. with the murders. He was held without bail.

At Simpson's arraignment, his attorney, Robert L. Shapiro, was joined by America's perhaps best-known African-American trial lawyer, Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Simpson declared that he was "absolutely, 100 percent not guilty."

Chief prosecutor Marcia Clark, a deputy district attorney, was highly proficient in trials involving circumstantial evidence and testing for DNA—deoxyribonucleic acid, a molecule that blueprints inherited traits in every living cell. Assisting Clark was Deputy District Attorney Christopher A. Darden, an African-American prosecutor widely experienced in murder trials. By December 8, 1994, Judge Lance A. Ito had seated the jury and 12 alternates, including 15 African-Americans in all.

O.J. Simpson (right) in court with two of his attorneys, Robert Shapiro and Johnny Cochran. (Archive Photos)