PORT CITY STUDIOS:
SCROLL THROUGH THE ONLINE GALLERY OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ART ON A REMARKABLE JOURNEY.
The late Johnnie Cochran entering the Los Angeles County Courthouse at the OJ Simpson murder trial, February 1995. Photographed by Port City Studios.
Documenting the Decade
Port City Studios is featured in the New York Times, with a photograph from Baghdad, Iraq regarding the capture of
Saddam Hussein, December 2003.
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At the OJ Simpson trial, 1995.
OJ Simpson's trial and aquittal in 1995 for acts of violence against his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman, who may have only come by to deliver a pair of glasses left at the nearby Mezzaluna, transfixed much of the nation, changed the way television covered the news, educated the country on the ways of the court, widened rather than healed racial divisions, and created household names and new language.
Bundy Drive, crime scene, alibi witness. The Glove. Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro, F. Lee Bailey - initially laughed at by the press, called "Perry Mason," until it became apparent that he had brilliantly set up Detective Mark Fuhrman and destroyed his credibility. The introduction of the N-word; Barry Scheck, the battling DNA expert; Robert Kardashian and that damned suitcase. Marcia Clark and Chris Darden, the embattled Assistant DA's. Fred Goldman, Ron's dad, furious - seething with anger, it seemed, at Mr. Simpson for his son's murder. Judge Lance Ito (headline in a New York tabloid when Ito's stepping down was a possibility: IS ITO FINITO?) Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran the Coroner, (and now, Michael Jackson's Coroner as well.) A dog, an Akita, perhaps the only living thing to witness the murder short of the murderer himself. Kato Kalin, "the world's most famous houseguest." Jill Shively, who allegedly witnessed OJ Simpson fleeing the crime scene in his Bronco, only to sell her story to a tabloid, ending her opportunity to testify with impunity. So bizarre are the memories that they cloud the clear concept of justice.
This trial, a toxic mixture of money, fame, race, and startling levels of publicity, played out on live television. The trial seemed to overwhelm the court system and resulted in uncertain justice. In the end though, what remains is that the Los Angeles County District Attorney could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that OJ Simpson committed these two murders. And that, as they say, is American justice.
Footnote: history will remember that a knit cap was found at Bundy Drive, the scene of the two murders. Lab tests revealed that the knit cap contained carpet fibers unique to the carpet in Mr. Simpson's Ford Bronco as well as hair similar to his own. Similar fibers were found on Ronald Goldman. The smoking gun? No - due to a technical error on the part of the Los Angeles County District Attorney, the jury was not permitted to learn of this remarkable link of evidence.
At the OJ Simpson Trial: Camp OJ - 1995
The OJ Simpson trial in 1995 changed the way television approached and covered the news. For months on end Los Angeles tv stations provided beginning to end trial coverage, and "expert" commentators became fixtures on tv, convinced that OJ Simpson would be found guilty. This photograph of what came to be known by the media as "Camp OJ" shows the media area across from the Los Angeles County Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. From this period on television news coverage would be all inclusive and, in some cases, all invasive. Black & white, available in 8x10". Matted at no extra charge.
- $45.00
At the OJ Simpson Trial:
Johnnie Cochran - 1995
One of the ironies of the 1995 double murder trial of OJ Simpson is that the trial was originally set to be heard in a courtroom in staid West Los Angeles, not far from the scene of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti requested that the trial be moved to downtown Los Angeles, perhaps to accommodate the media, perhaps to use the high profile case to his political advantage. Well, Garcetti got his publicity, but the knife cuts both ways. In this classic image, Simpson lead attorney, the late Johnnie Cochran, makes his way into the courthouse through a media gauntlet. Black & white, available in 8x12" full frame. Matted at no extra charge.
- $65.00
At the OJ Simpson Trial:
F. Lee Bailey - 1995
An iconic American attorney exiting the Los Angeles County Courthouse at the OJ Simpson trial in March 1995. Appearing like a carving out of Mt. Rushmore, F. Lee Bailey has through his long career defended an extraordinary list of persons of sorrow: Anthony DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler; Dr. Sam Sheppard, accused of murdering his wife and, possibly the basis for The Fugitive; Patricia Hearst, accused of bank robbery with the very group that kidnapped her. The choices he made, the fame achieved through publicity, was not earned free of charge. And the currency of fame with its high exchange rate is: credibility. Black and white, available in 8x12" full frame. Matted at no extra charge.- $65.00
A two photograph set: Simpson Trial, Child Reporter - 1995
As the OJ Simpson murder trial began in January 1995, words still mattered. It was still possible in those lazy days to not know everything. Windows '95 would not be launched until August of that year; Google didn't exist anywhere outside of Stanford University. So when the Simpson trial began introducing terms such as crime scene and alibi witness, it was a revelation, seemingly Dragnet come alive. Who better then to interpret these words than a seven year old child. The photographer asked his son to draw a picture for each term and photographed his drawings. Crime Scene, Alibi Witness: words matter. A two photograph set. Color, available in 8x10". Matted at no extra charge.
- $65.00
We acknowledge the writings of Lawrence Schiller, and Bill Boyarsky of the Los Angeles Times in shaping our opinions of this remarkable event.
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