O.J. Simpson was an American football legend. After his Hall of Fame playing career, he maintained his celebrity status by acting in movies, commercials, and working as an analyst on NBC Football broadcasts. For these, and many other reasons, the murder of his wife, Nicole Simpson, and a friend, Ron Goldman, in June 1994 dominated the news for more than a year. The trial, which lasted nearly a year, was broadcast live on television. There were several key pieces of evidence linking Simpson to the crime, among which was the presence of a bloody glove behind Simpsons Rockingham estate, which was found by LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman. The glove matched one found at the scene of the crime and videos from NBC football broadcast showed Simpson wearing the same type of gloves in the past. Aside from this, blood in Simpsons car and house matched blood at the scene and, as the prosecution pointed out at trial, Simpson had a history of abuse toward his wife. Despite this evidence, Simpson was found not guilty. During the trial, the defense lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, refuted the relevance of Simpsons previous abuse by claiming that only one in a thousand abusive husbands eventually murder their wives. In other words, Dershowitz suggested that the chance that Simpson was guilty of the crime was quite small, only 1 in 1000; therefore, no reasonable person should find him guilty based on this evidence alone. 1. Is Dershowitzs claim only one in a thousand abusive husbands eventually murder their wives relevant in this instance? If yes, explain why. If not, explain why not. In 1994, there were about 100 million women in the United States, of which 5000 women were murdered, 1500 by their husbands. Further, crime statistics reveal that about two-thirds of the women who are murdered by their husbands are abused by them prior to their murder, and that about 1% of all other women are abused by their husbands. Based on these data, 2. Calculate the probability that, if a woman is abused, her husband will murder her. Is your answer consistent with the statistic cited by Dershowitz? 3. Calculate the probability that, if an abused woman gets murdered, her husband is the murderer..

1. O.J. Simpson was an American football legend. After his Hall of Fame playing career, he
maintained his celebrity status by acting in movies, commercials, and working as an analyst on
NBC Football broadcasts. For these, and many other reasons, the murder of his wife, Nicole
Simpson, and a friend, Ron Goldman, in June 1994 dominated the news for more than a year. The
trial, which lasted nearly a year, was broadcast live on television. There were several key pieces of
evidence linking Simpson to the crime, among which was the presence of a bloody glove behind
Simpsons Rockingham estate, which was found by LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman. The glove
matched one found at the scene of the crime and videos from NBC football broadcast showed
Simpson wearing the same type of gloves in the past. Aside from this, blood in Simpsons car and
house matched blood at the scene and, as the prosecution pointed out at trial, Simpson had a
history of abuse toward his wife. Despite this evidence, Simpson was found not guilty. During the
trial, the defense lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, refuted the relevance of Simpsons previous abuse by
claiming that only one in a thousand abusive husbands eventually murder their wives. In other
words, Dershowitz suggested that the chance that Simpson was guilty of the crime was quite
small, only 1 in 1000; therefore, no reasonable person should find him guilty based on this
evidence alone. 1. Is Dershowitzs claim only one in a thousand abusive husbands eventually
murder their wives relevant in this instance? If yes, explain why. If not, explain why not. In 1994,
there were about 100 million women in the United States, of which 5000 women were murdered,
1500 by their husbands. Further, crime statistics reveal that about two-thirds of the women who
are murdered by their husbands are abused by them prior to their murder, and that about 1% of all
other women are abused by their husbands. Based on these data, 2. Calculate the probability that,
if a woman is abused, her husband will murder her. Is your answer consistent with the statistic
cited by Dershowitz? 3. Calculate the probability that, if an abused woman gets murdered, her
husband is the murderer.