O.J.: It's Almost Over

SANTA MONICA, Calif.: After four and a half mind-numbing days of accusation and counter-accusation, summations in the O.J. Simpson civil trial ended Tuesday, leaving a weary jury to sift through a tangled evidence pile of hair fibers, bloody gloves and Bruno Magli shoes. Unlike the rules of a criminal trial, where any reasonable doubt precludes jurors from finding a defendant guilty, in the civil trial jurors can find Simpson guilty if they decide that he probably murdered his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her companion, Ronald Goldman. Only nine of the 12 jurors need agree on the verdict. In his closing statement, Daniel Petrocelli, the lawyer for Ronald Goldman's father, delivered a string of snide accusatory one-liners that kept the audience chuckling. Key to the case's outcome are charges by the defense that evidence against Simpson was manipulated by Los Angeles police and the prosecution's last-minute presentation of 30 photos showing O.J. Simpson in Bruno Magli shoes similar to the ones that left bloody prints at the scene of the crime. While plaintiffs attorney Tom Lambert told the jury that the Simpson defense was based on "deception, desperation, dishonesty," Robert Baker, the former football star's lead attorney, dismissed evidence supplied by the prosecution as "not trustworthy." Damages will be determined for Goldman's parents if Simpson is found guilty. Contrary to claims by Simpson that he is broke, a TIME/CNN investigation placed his net worth at more than $3 million.