The Rise and Fall — and Fall Again — of OJ Simpson
"If It Doesn't Fit, You Must Acquit"
A jury acquitted Simpson of double homicide on Oct. 3, 1995, after O.J.'s defense team cast doubt on all the evidence, suggesting it had either been contaminated by bungling lab technicians or planted by police trying to frame Simpson because of his race. Critics contend the prosecution's single biggest mistake was in asking Simpson to try on a pair of bloody gloves: the left-handed one had been found outside Nicole Brown Simpson's house and the right-handed one on O.J.'s estate. In the courtroom, the gloves appeared to be too small for his hands. Prosecutors argued that the gloves, having been drenched in blood, had shrunk. But defense attorney Johnnie Cochran told jurors, "if it doesn't fit, you must acquit."