The impact of O.J. Simpson’s trial on local defense attorneys

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - In our continued coverage of O.J. Simpson’s death, we looked back at the infamous trial of the century that changed the perception of Simpson from hailed hero to accused murderer.

Nearly 30 years after he was found not guilty of killing his ex-wife and her friend, we spoke with one local defense attorney about the lasting impact of O.J. on the courtroom.

Many of you may remember where you were when the infamous verdict came down. Some were huddled around TVs and radios, others, like western Mass attorney Jared Olanoff, were in school the moment O.J. Simpson learned he wouldn’t spend a day behind bars for the death of Nicole Brown-Simpson.

“This case impacted me, it sort of really got me interested in the law,” Olanoff said. “I was a teenager at the time of when this case was going on and it was basically my introduction into criminal defense.”

The case brought the court to couches across the country; people were glued to their TV’s to see Simpson face murder charges surrounding the death of his ex-wife Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

The case holds more than our fascination, it has a spot in legal history.

“This case was so unique, in that it dealt with so many different issues at a trial like race, like DNA, it was like one of the first DNA cases that was public, really in history,” Olanoff explained.

While the glove helped to acquit him in the end, O.J. still paid the price, quite literally, for their deaths, as the former NFL star was ordered to pay more than $33 million in restitution.

As we look back at this moment when court captivated our community, in some ways, it was also a classroom.

“You could watch this trial from start to finish, I mean, a lot of the days, I was in school, but you could come home afterschool and watch the trial happening. They were three hours behind in L.A., and you could see how a trial worked, you could see witnesses testify.”

You may remember, O.J’s legal woes followed him into the next decade he spent nearly decade behind bars starting in 2007 for his role in an alleged raid of a Las Vegas hotel room where he and his friends stole some of his sports memorabilia.

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