Getting Away With Murder

O.J. Simpson's recent appearance in court had me thinking about old times. Like, when a hero athlete is done in by love. You know, we have all been there. Losing someone close to your heart and soul. You can't imagine life without them. So, naturally, you viciously murder that loved one, along with an innocent bystander....... Here are the facts in the case: June 12, 1994. O.J. Simpson claimed he was in his Brentwood home waiting for a limousine to take him to Chicago for business. TIMELINE--- 6:30 pm. Nicole Brown Simpson, her children and several other people go to dinner at Mezzaluna restaurant..... 8pm. Nicole and her children leave the restaurant and stop for ice cream on the way home..... 9:15pm. One of Nicole's sister calls the restaurant and says that their mother left some glasses there. Ron Goldman, a waiter and aspiring actor, offers to return the glasses to Nicole's house... 9pm-9:30pm. Kato Kaelin, a friend staying at O.J. Simpson's house, and O.J. decide to go to McDonald's.... 9:45pm. Kaelin and Simpson return to house...... 9:50pm. Ron Goldman leaves the restaurant for Nicole's house to return the glasses....... 10:15pm. Pablo Fenjves, a neighbor of Nicole Simpson, hears the cries and constant barking of a dog...... 10:25pm. Limo driver Allan Park arrives at O.J.'s house to take him to the airport..... 10:40pm. Kaelin hears three loud thumps on the outside wall of his room..... 10:40--10:50pm. Driver Park buzzes intercom several times but gets no answer..... 10:55pm. Park calls his boss and says that Simpson is not home. He is told to wait until 11:15 since Simpson is chronically late...... Shortly before 11pm, Park sees a black person, six-feet, 200 pounds, walking across the driveway towards the house...... 11pm. Kaelin goes to the front of the house to check on the noise. He spots the limo driver at the front of the gate. Seconds later, Park buzzes the intercom again and Simpson responds. He says he had overslept and just got out of the shower..... 11pm--11:15pm. Simpson puts his bags in the limo and limo leaves for airport, where it arrives at 11:35pm.... 11:45pm. Simpson boards the plane headed for Chicago....12:10am, June13, 1994, the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman are discovered. Police soon arrive..... At the crime scene, police discover the horror of murder. Blood, lots of blood, has been streaming from both the victims. Nicole Simpson has been so deeply stabbed that her head is almost decapitated. The police notice bloody footprints at the scene. Along with a bloody glove..... In any murder case, the foremost suspect is the spouse. At least, at first. When the case is pieced together, then other potential assailants emerge. But, mostly, police turn to the person most likely to kill. And, in crimes of passion, which this one quickly was determined to be, the husband was instantly a suspect..... For 5 days after the murder, police zeroed in on Simpson. The evidence-- and, his alibi--- led them to believe he did it. On June17, 1994, a warrant was issued for his arrest. And, well, we know the rest, as the entire world followed a man trying to escape...... The evidence eventually presented against him was overwhelming. The bloody glove. The shoe prints at the scene matching identical shoes that O.J. wore. Blood found at the scene contained Simpson's genetic makings. Simpson had a cut on his left middle finger when interviewed by the police the day after the killings. Asmall spot of blood found near driver's outside door handle of Simpson's Ford Bronco. Other blood found smeared inside on console, door, steering wheel, and carpeting. DNA tests showed some of the blood apparently a mixture with genetic markers of Simpson and the victims. And, you also had a man who had a history of domestic violence...... That O.J. Simpson murdered his wife is a foregone conclusion. The evidence was overwhelming. When Simpson's first attorney, Robert Shapiro, took on the case, by his own admission, he knew the only recourse to take to defend him was to put forward some type of plea-bargain. There was no way around O.J.'s guilt. But, there was........ The murders became secondary when high-priced lawyers  Johnny Cochran and F.Lee Bailey joined the Simpson defense team. They must have known that the case was a loser, here was clearly a guilty man. So, they did what any good defense lawyer does when they are behind the eightball: they changed the focus to a hotter topic to divert a jury from the true facts. In this case, they tapped into America's long struggle of racial divide and deep prejudices that rule society. They claimed that O.J. Simpson, prominant athlete and hero to the black community, was unjustly being framed for murder because he was a high-profile black man who was married to an attractive white woman. The defense argued that the long abuses of the black community in Los Angeles were because of the LAPD targeting blacks and using racial discrimination against them. This was a hot topic in 1994 because only two years earlier, several LA cops were acquitted in the famous Rodney King beating, therebye starting the riots in L.A. And, one of the officers at the crime scene in the Simpson case was a veteran cop named Mark Fuhrman, who had a history of using negative racial slurs. All of the history of racial discord was seized upon by the Simpson defense team. And, say what you want about their tactics and exploiting a very real problem among the races, they did their job brilliantly......... I remember when O.J. Simpson was a genuine American Hero. He was exciting as hell to watch play football, with his moves and ability. He may not have been the greatest running back of all time--- that would be Jim Brown----or, have the all-around talent of Walter Payton---- but, O.J. Simpson was a beauty to behold. Off the filed, you had a good-looking, charismatic black man, who appealed to all ethnic groups[ always a most welcome thing]. And, he seemed like a fun guy to be around. The camera loved him, as did the public. Especially, the ladies. The fact that a professional athlete cheats on a wife is a story as old as the beard on the face of Moses. O.J. married young, but, it did not stop his bachelor fun. As the stats in his football career racked up, so, did his way with the women. He swam in the sea of infidelity, which ultimately ended his marriage. But, the public always loved him. He was the perfect pitchman, Many of us remember his ''Hertz'' commercials running through the airport [ ''Go, O.J., Go'']. When his career in sports ended, we still wanted more of him and he turned to sports commentary and flirted with movies. A retired athlete can sometimes be sad to watch as they do not want to give up the spotlight, but, O.J. was always welcome in people's homes....... In 1977, he met Nicole Brown and soon they were married. The marriage produced two children. Even though he was out of the spotlight, he still was a beloved figure. And, from a distance, this marriage seemed quite good. Not marriage or relationship is flawless, as we all know, but, things seemed to be clicking well on the Simpson homefront. We know now that it wasn't. O.J. was apparently beating Nicole on occasion. One famous 911 call to the police came over New Year's in 1989. On the recorded conversation you can hear the fear in the voice of Nicole as her husband is ranting in the background. The police arrived, and, soon, everything settled down. But, the violence was still there, awaiting to spring forth again......... The trial became a three-ringed circus. Media coverage went through the roof, as everyone had an opinion and why. Comedians made fun of the spectacle, as did everyday folks. Jokes about the case became rampant. Also, the lawyers and the victim's families became instant celebrities. You had rumors and fights. The prosecution team of Marcia Clark and Christopher Dardin, in their joy of becoming public figures, botched an easily winnable case. Had they just stuck to the facts in the case they could have brought back a conviction. But, they went, instead, to playing to the audience watching and trying theatrics, such as the bonehead move of having Simpson try on the glove in front of the jury. And, the defense shredded the testimony of Mark Fuhrman by playing up his negative history towards the black communty. Last, but not least, you had a jury that was completely overwhelmed by the difficult evidence that the prosecution was giving them, such as DNA. When a jury is picked for a long trial, it usually is filled with people who are not the cream of the crop in the world. Ask yourself this: can you take 8 months out of your life, away from your job and family, and sit on a murder trial? Of course you cannot. Most of us have lives that we cannot put on hold for that duration. So, lawyers, knowing this, pick and choose people who may be easily led astray and not very bright. That is the problem with the jury system. The wrong twelve people decide the fate of the accused. That is why I have always thought we should have professional, qualified jurors. That would be their job, sitting on a jury. It would be made up of law school attendees, along with law clerks, retired lawyers and judges and police men and women. You stack a jury with people who know the law inside and out and who can easily see when a lawyer is slanting the facts of the case. There would be very little tricks allowed with a professional jury. They would judge a case like it should be: just the facts, ma'am.......  The lengthy trial ended in October, 1995, as O.J. Simpson was found not guilty. I remember watching the verdict in a bar with a co-worker. Most of the bar was white, but, a couple of customers were black. When the verdict was read, the reaction in the bar was sadly similar to the reaction across the country. Whites were stunned, blacks were elated. I remember feeling sick to my stomach for two reasons. One, because an obviously guilty man was set free. Two, because this case showed, once again, how far our culture is from truly understanding each other and getting along with our fellow man and woman. The divide will always be there, I realized. And, I felt horrible about it....... So, O.J. Simpson went free, where he stayed until 2008 when he was convicted on a separate charge of stealing sports items. That is why he is in court now, trying to have his conviction overturned. He probably will still be jailed for several more years, but, you never know with the legal system...... On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were murdered. This was almost lost during the trial and all the madness in this case. From their graves they must have been crying out for justice. Well, maybe, with O.J. being in jail for another crime, justice was served. But, it still does not feel right. A man walked away from murder. Even though he is behind bars, I still have the feeling that Nicole and Ron are still crying out for justice from their graves........

Layla

Eric Clapton looked around the studio. The other players were ready. He had the best studio men in the business with him. Also, a guitar legend, who like himself, was self-destructive in life-style, and, played the guitar with the demons riding alongside his soul. These were rock musicians, yes, but, also men of soul and emotion, who could wring the emotions of the heart by their very instruments. They called themselves, ''Derek and the Dominoes'', but, in reality, they went by the names: Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, and Duane Allman. As Clapton counted down to the start of the take of his new song, he had with him men who were also wounded in the game of love. They would know to let the heart play the song. And, the song he would record was his anthem to lost and impossible love, ''Layla''......... There is an old poem from the 12th century written by a Persian poet named Nizani Ganjavi. He composed a poem called ''The Story Of Layla/ Layla And Majnun''. It was a poem about a simple man who had fallen in love with a princess he was never to have. This poem, obviously, was the tale of heartbreak and broken dreams. It remained all but forgotten until the rock era, when one of its prince's in music, Eric Clapton, was told about it by a friend who was in the process of converting to Islam. The poem and story touched Clapton. A young, talented, handsome romantic, Clapton had grown up idolizing the bluesmen from America who played music from their nervous systems. Blues, as the name implies, is virtually the music of the down and out, the forgotten, the people who wallow in missed chances in life. Blues was also the music for failed love affairs. The woman who broke your heart and ran off with someone else. Blues was where you turned to when you willingly wanted to wallow in your pain. Eric Clapton had the music of the blues--- and, all of its meanings--- swirling around his soul. He brought out his emotions when playing the guitar, for the guitar spoke in sound what he could not say in words. It is no wonder that he fell in love with the story of Layla. He had a Layla in his life. She was married to his best friend...... George Harrison met Pattie Boyd on the set of The Beatles 1964 film, ''A Hard Days Night.'' She was one of the extras in the train scene at the beginning of the movie. George fell for this blonde, blue-eyed angel right away. After several days of saying no to Beatle George, she decided that she did in fact find him interesting beyond his immense fame. They quickly became a couple and moved in with each other. In 1966, they became husband and wife and were the epitome of the fashionable ''Swinging London'' crowd. Naturally, Pattie became part of the circus that was the world of The Beatles back then. Of all the early wives and girlfriends of the Fab Four, she seemed the best adjusted to that life. She and George were inseparable and shared everything with each other. Be it music or mysticism, George and Pattie had one of the best relationships going during this time. They had a wide circle of friends. Besides the other Beatles, the one person that George considered a close friend was his fellow guitar star, Eric Clapton....... Exactly when Eric Clapton fell in love with Pattie Boyd has never been established, but, it must have come quickly after their introduction to each other. Eric fell head over heels for her and she was not unaware of how he felt about her. Pattie was used to the attention men paid to her because she had spent her young life as a model. Fighting off the attractions of panting young men was nothing new. But, this was different. Those unknown men just wanted to have sex with her. Eric Clapton was completely in love with her, body and soul. George Harrison also was not unaware of how his friend felt about his wife. It was, remember, a different time in the culture. Free love was everywhere. George, like his fellow Beatles, was notoriously unfaithful, whether married or not. Women threw themselves at these famous men and all of the rockers in this time took advantage of it, including Eric Clapton. Swapping partners was common. Still, George and Pattie stayed married, with Eric as the faithful friend of the couple. As painful as it was to him, Eric Clapton remained at a respectful distance away. He would never do anything to infringe on this relationship, but, if the couple looked like it was having problems, Eric wanted to be there for them. Especially Pattie....... By 1970, things semed to be changing everywhere. The Beatles broke up and George Harrison was suddenly on his own career-wise. Eric Clapton had gone through several groups during the 60's like, The Yardbirds, and Cream. He was exalted as a guitar master whom kids would salute by painting ''Clapton Is God'' on walls all over the world. Eric was very self-effacing and genuinely shy about the attention he was receiving. He enjoyed it, but, always put it in perspective. He was not ''God''. Just someone God had tapped to play the guitar like no one else alive. His guitar playing could be rip-roaring fast, but, his best playing was slow, as if each note he was drawing out on the guitar was a statement that needed to be savored by the listener. He still played his beloved blues, but, made his fortune and reputation with Sixties ''Acid Rock.'' At the start of the 1970's, he was at his peak creatively......... But, not personally. He still was a ladies man. Women were never the problem for him. Except, for the woman he could never have. He still had Pattie Harrison in his heart. The three of them still saw each other socially, but, that was all. Until, that is, when cracks started to develop in George and Pattie's marriage. Rumors of George and his wandering eye had reached Pattie on more than one occasion. With The Beatles over, and, George starting work on his first post-solo Beatles album, ''All Things Must Pass,'' he was more distant than ever. He had become obsessed with religion and God's teachings [ which, he apparently overlooked when being unfaithful] and changed as a husband. He started paying less attention to Pattie. And, she suffered also. Soon, she was turning to a comforting confidant who would understand her problems....... One night in the summer of 1970, George came to a party at producer Robert Stigwood's home. He knew Pattie was there and he was just stopping to pick her up and take her home. When he arrived, Pattie was nowhere to be found. Embarrassed guests finally informed George that the last time they had seen Pattie she had gone off walking alone with Eric Clapton. Furious, George stormed out of the party and on his was to his car he saw in the distance Pattie and Eric walking holding hands. He confronted them and told them that under no circumstances were they ever to see each other again. Then, George grabbed Pattie and drove her home....... Around this time is when Eric Clapton read his Layla poem. He was due to make an album and was composing songs. In the true romantic tradition of an artist he transfered his pain and longing for Pattie Harrison into song. Pattie became his Layla......... He also started shooting heroin. Like his fellow rock stars from this era, Eric took his drugs. First pills, then pot, LSD, cocaine, and whatever else was hip as the rock scene became the drug scene. By the time of his passion for Pattie he had become a stone-cold junkie. With the effects of heroin, another level of pain was added to his emotional state. Love lost [ or, love never gained], plus, the suicidal impulses that heroin brings on brought him to a shattered state of being as the song began recording........ The beginning of the song is a raver. A marvelous, unforgettable guitar riff that announces that this song must be listened to. Then, Duane Allman glides alongside Clapton's guitar with his smooth slide guitar. Its as if these two masters are in a guitar duel. Then, Eric Clapton begins to sing. Always an underrated singer, he spits the words out to the song, expressing right away that he is a shattered human being who longs for his love. This woman, Layla, has him down on his knees. He is begging for one more chance and to please take him back. He admits that he was a fool to fall in love with her, but, as in all-consuming love, common sense is worthless when all of your being is in love with the impossible one for you. The lyrics are short, as is the first half of the song. It should be. Clapton has screamed his pain and loneliness fast and furiously. The guitars take over to play out one last duel for love. Then it slows down almost to a stop before the piano kicks in....... The piano part, played brilliantly by Jim Gordon [ with drops of Bobby Whitlock] is the leader for the second half of the song. If Clapton and Allman are mirror twins for the first half, then Gordon and Clapton make another couple of duelists. The sound of the ''Coda'' is mournful, sad. The blazing guitars have been put away. Now it is time for the musicians to begin crying with their instruments. The piano plays along like a best friend for the solo guitar. Clapton is playing his soul, aching for his love, wondering if he will ever have her. The guitar almost sounds like it is spilling tears, whimpering in self-pity and lack of love. The others playing along: Carl Radle on bass, Gordon on piano and drums, Bobby Whitlock on piano and organ, and Duane Allman with his sweet notes of sympathy, all breath life with their leader. They are sympathically playing along with his longing, as friends do in conversation. But, they have an added magic of playing their instruments to help him ease his pain. When the end of the song does come, it does not with a bang, like in the opening, but, rather with a whimper. You can just picture them, after the last note, quietly put their instruments down, spent, with nothing more to say. The song is for HER........ When the album, ''Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs'' was released in November, 1970, the album did ok. The single of ''Layla'', peaked at a disappointing number 51. The album was critically well-received. It was not the biggest album during this time, though. The biggest album was George Harrison's ''All Things Must Pass'', which had among its many musicians playing on it, a guitar hero named Eric Clapton...... From 1970 until 1973, Eric Clapton licked his pain behind the four walls of his mansion in England. He was using heroin non-stop for these years and his friends deeply worried about whether he would survive. One of these friends was George Harrison, who despite the Pattie situation, deeply cared for his friend and tried to help him into treatment. Finally, after years of seclusion, Clapton came out of his house and found treatment and started to make music again. He got clean [ well, he shifted, as many addicts do, from one drug to another. In this case, he became an alcoholic]. And, around this time, without any interference from Eric Clapton, the marriage between Pattie and George Harrison began to fall apart. Finally, when the marriage was all but over, Eric went to George and asked him if now would be ok if he, Eric, could start seeing Pattie. George gave his blessing, as he said he would rather see them together than her with ''some dope''. George would soon fall in love with his soon-to-be second wife, Olivia. And, Eric and Pattie fell in love with each other, fulfilling the love from Layla...... They would marry in 1979. They held a big reception in London, where everybody who was anybody showed up. Including George and Olivia who remained on good terms with the newlyweds throughout the years. Pattie and Eric would remain married until 1989. The reasons why it ended remain somewhat hidden, but,, Clapton did father children with another woman during this time---- one of which, Connor, would sadly fall to his death at the age of 4 in 1991, inspiring another song from a broken heart '' Tears In Heaven''. Pattie and Eric never had children together...... In the aftermath of all this, Pattie and Eric still seem to be friendly with each other. George, of course, died in 2001. The legacy from these relationships is the song ''Layla''. Heard now over forty years later, it still rings the bell as, perhaps, the most impassioned rock love song of its time. The backstory is still fascinating. But, the sign of a great song is how the audience puts its own stamp on the meaning and feelings found in it. ''Layla'' will always be the song for love lost........ Or, deep, longing for the love that will never be.