O.j. Simpson Case - an Example of The Flaws in Criminal Justice System

I believe that we do have a criminal justice system, however flawed it may be. Our system has become unique to each individual, in the different ways each situation is handled. This countrys criminal justice system has structured itself to our œcapitalistic society. Because in our society, money does talk. The fact is, one cannot just go out and pay a fee to commit murder and then its over with. However, an individual that has a lot of money can afford the best attorney that money can buy and they can take all precautions necessary, that they can by spending money, to ensure they do not go to jail. An example of this is the O.J. Simpson case.

The O.J. case was again unique to his situation. He bought one of the best lawyers money can buy. Then in turn that lawyer(Robert Shapiro) went out and made a team that could rival any defense team ever put together. Money in this case was the key to keeping O.J. out of jail. Almost all of the evidence collected put O.J. at the place and time the murder occurred. Now this is one thing the defense couldnt dispute and they knew that. But when you have a team of lawyers that is the best money can buy, you can be sure they will do everything in their power no to win necessarily, but keep you out of jail. That is exactly what they did, at the end of the case O.J. Simpson was not found to be innocent, but rather not guilty. Now the fact is, if this person on trial was a garbage man in New York City, he probably would be in jail right now. If he was assigned a public defender, his chances of staying out of jail drop dramatically. Public defenders are always over booked and understaffed, so that will limit your chances automatically. But if he hired his own lawyer, he wouldnt be able to pay for a high profile lawyer suck as Robert Shapiro.

So, obviously we do have a criminal justice system and in can provide justice at times. But it is most definitely flawed. As shown in the Simpson case, money does buy you a verdict. Perhaps our justice system is suited for lesser crimes and cannot be applied to celebrities and athletes or politicians. It seems whenever someone with money go into a court room, they come out unscathed. But when a lesser crime is committed by someone who does not have as much money, our system seems to provide justice in the appropriate manner. For a certain case to be double jeopardy, it means a person would have to have goneto trial twice and have been convicted of the same criminal act both times. There are three examples that are argued to be double jeopardy, the O.J. trial, the police officers accused of beating Rodney King and the Miranda trial. All of these cases were not double jeopardy. Some people may argue that they were. But in every case, the first time the person or party went to trial, they were not convicted. O.J. was acquitted in a criminal court however he lost in a civil case.

So, he won the first time and lost the second trial. The officers in the Rodney King beating, they were acquitted for undue force, but they were convicted in federal court for violating civil rights. Last but not least, the supreme court threw out the Miranda case because a confession was inadmissable. However, Miranda was later convicted for the same charges in another trial. So, it is impossible for these cases to be double jeopardy when nobody was convicted in their first trial appearance.