This document summarizes two high-profile murder trials in the United States - the OJ Simpson trial and the Casey Anthony trial. Both trials resulted in controversial acquittals that highlighted the power of juries to nullify charges despite evidence. The OJ Simpson jury acquitted him of murder charges related to the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman despite DNA evidence. Similarly, the Casey Anthony jury acquitted her of murdering her daughter Caylee, though she was found guilty of lying to police. Both verdicts emphasized the juries' ability to disregard instructions and evidence to reach their own conclusions.

1. Two Trials of the Century
Landmark Successes For The American Judiciary
O.J. Simpson Casey Anthony

2. Ron Goldman & Nicole Brown-Simpson Casey Anthony With Caylee
O.J. Simpson Accused of Double Murder Casey Anthony Accused of Murder

3. “We the jury
find Orenthal
James
Simpson
‘not guilty.’”
“As to the
charge of 1st
degree murder,
we find the
defendant,
‘not guilty.’”

4. "There had never been any trouble at the house, even
when Casey and her older brother, Lee, were at the
height of their teenage years. The Anthonys seemed
the definition of blissful suburbia, especially with the
addition of the angelic, bright-eyed baby girl,
{Caylee}.” -- Asst. Prosecutor, Jeff Ashton

5. The O. J. Simpson jury nullified
the California law against murder

6. "We must hold firmly to the doctrine that in the
courts of the United States it is the duty of juries in
criminal cases to take the law from the court, and
apply that law to the facts as they find them to be
from the evidence.”
Sparf v. U. S. 156 U.S. 51 (1895) --

7. There is “an unreviewable and irreversible power in
the jury, to acquit in disregard of the instructions on
the law given by the trial judge”
United States v. Dougherty, 473 F.2d 1113, 1132 (D.C. Cir. 1972)

8. “We can’t encourage the jurors to violate their
oath. Neither the court nor counsel should
encourage jurors to violate their oath.”
United States v. Trujillo, 714 F. 2d 102, 106 (11th cir. 1983)

9. “The power of juries to `nullify' or exercise a power of
lenity is just that -- a power; it is by no means a right or
something that a judge should encourage or permit if it is
within his authority to prevent."
United States v. Thomas, 116 F. 3d 606 (2d Cir. 1997)

10. .
“There are no other laws that apply to this case. Even if
you don’t like the laws that apply, you must use them. For
two centuries we have lived by the constitution and the
law. No juror has a right to violate rules we all share.”
Florida Criminal Jury Instructions

11. Florida Supreme Court
“Jury nullification as a right is without legal foundation;
it requires a jury to violate its oath and ignore the court’s
instructions on the law.” Sanders v. State, 946 So.2d 953, 957-58 (Fla. 2006)

12. “A jury must be given a fair opportunity to
exercise its inherent ‘pardon power’ by returning a
verdict of guilty as to the next lower crime.”
State v. Montgomery, 39 So. 3d 252 (Fla. 2010)—
Florida Jurys’ “Pardon Power”

13. “Due process requires an impartial jury, free
from outside influences.”
Pennekamp v. Florida 328 U.S. 331 (1946) --

14. 4 policemen charged in Rodney King beating
LA Riots Rodney King Beating

15. Defense attorney F. Lee Bailey:
Did you plant evidence during your investigation of O.J.
Simpson?
Detective Mark Fuhrman:
“I refuse to answer under my fifth amendment rights.”

16. CNN Anchor: How was it that with all this evidence against O.J. that he's set free?
Juror: Some of that stuff was planted. And when some of it was planted, {I asked myself}
“what was and what wasn't?”
CNN Anchor: How did Mark Fuhrman play a part in your decision when it came down to the
verdict?
Juror: Quite a bit. Because everything that he had anything to do with it pretty much got
thrown out. I knew he was dirty. After a while you get a sense of people.
CNN Anchor: Do you truly believe that the police, the detectives, the criminologists were as
incompetent as the defense had made them out to be?
Juror: Yeah. I think so.
Judge Lance ItoJuror David Aldana

17. {The court recognizes} “the undisputed power of the jury
to acquit, even if its verdict is contrary to the law as given by
the judge and contrary to the evidence. If the jury feels that the
law… is unjust…for any reason which appeals to their logic or
passion, the jury has the power to acquit, and the court must
abide by that decision.” U.S. v Moylan, 417 F.2d 1002,1006 (1969)

18. 100 criminal cases were reversed.
$100 million was paid to defendants in damages
DOJ Consent Decree:
Patterns or practices of excessive force, false arrests,
and unreasonable searches/seizures by LA police.

19. Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton
stepped down in 2009 after 7 years
The Los Angeles police force is better trained, more
diverse, better disciplined and better led than the one
that betrayed the city's trust in 1990’s.” LA Times

20. A court proceeding attentive to the idea of justice

21. “The Social Media Trial of the Century.”
Time Magazine

22. Evidence of “consciousness of guilt?”
Zanny the nanny
Worked at Universal Studios as event planner,
“I can feel Caylee is close.”

23. “Acts of concealment by an accused are competent to go to the jury as
tending to establish guilt, yet they are not to be considered as alone
conclusive, or as creating a legal presumption of guilt; they are mere
circumstances to be considered and weighed in connection with
other proof…” Hickory v. United States, 160 U.S. 408 (1896).

24. “attempts on the part of the accused to suppress evidence, to
suggest false and deceptive explanations, and to cast suspicion
without just cause on other persons…tend somewhat to prove
consciousness of guilt, and when proved exert an influence
against the accused.”
Hickory v. United States, 160 U.S. 408 (1896)
(citing Commonwealth v. Webster, 5 Cush. 295, 316 (1850)).

25. Two people were home together June 16, 2008, the
day two-year-old Caylee was killed. Each reacted
differently to her death.

26. “She was not an abusive or negligent parent. So if
there was a homicide, it would be out of character for
her.”
Psychologist Dr. Harry Krop on Dr. Drew show.

27. Assistant prosecutor Jeff Ashton: “Is there any
reason to not believe her story {about parental
abuse}?
Forensic psychiatrist: “No.” {I have no reason to
not believe her}.

28. The jury decides: a landmark success
for the American judiciary