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

Prosecution witness Brenda Vemich, a glove buyer for Bloomingdale's department store in New York City, identified the expensive brand and size—extra large—of the bloody gloves. Prosecutor Darden asked the defendant to put them on. Wearing latex gloves (to protect the evidence), Simpson pulled and squeezed, then held up both hands with the obviously too-tight gloves only partway on. Critics declared a major prosecution blunder. Defense attorney Cochran said the trial was as good as over because of four words: "The gloves don't fit."

FBI agent William J. Bodziak, a shoe print expert, testified that the bloody print at the crime scene had been traced to a $160-a-pair Italian designer brand, Bruno Magli. They were Simpson's size, and only 299 pair had been distributed in the United States. When cross-examiner F. Lee Bailey proposed that professional assassins had left the imprints, the witness replied, "Ridiculous."

Prosecution witness Richard Rubin, a former executive of the glove manufacturer, Aris Isotoner, testified that moisture could shrink the gloves 15 percent. Prosecutor Darden presented a brand-new, extra-large pair of the same gloves. Simpson easily put them on.

Douglas Deedrick, of the FBI's hair and fiber section, testified that hairs on the ski cap matched Simpson's. Prosecutor Clark evinced testimony that the glove found at Bundy, which had only one of Nicole's hairs, probably fell off the murderer's hand early in the crime, whereas the glove found at Simpson's Rockingham estate stayed on and picked up hair from both victims.

The FBI witness said his microscopes revealed "fibers with knobs," resembling a child's set of jacks, found on the Rockingham glove and the Bundy cap. In analyzing thousands of samples over 17 years, he added, he had never seen such fibers. They matched those from the carpet of Simpson's Bronco.