Trial & Error! The 5 Craziest "Not Guilty" Verdicts Of The VIBE Era
The Case: People of the State of California Vs. Orenthal James Simpson
The Outcome: After the media-branded "Trial of the Century," O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her boyfriend Ronald Goldman in October 1995.
The Outrage: Though this trial went way deeper than just "guilty" or "not guilty," there's no denying that the not guilty verdict that was rendered sparked a ton or controversy back in '95—even more controversy than this current Casey Anthony case is generating. After the prosecution appeared to bury O.J. underneath his jail cell with everything from his blood at the scene of the crime to Nicole Brown's blood on his clothing to blood on the inside of his infamous Bronco, he still managed to beat the case. And people are still talking about it today.
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The Case: People of the State of New York Vs. Gescard Isnora, Marc Cooper, and Michael Oliver
The Outcome: Back in April 2008, Oliver, Isnora, and Cooper—the three NYPD police officers accused of shooting and killing NYC resident Sean Bell in November 2006 on the night before his wedding—were found not guilty on eight separate charges.
The Outrage: Immediately after the not guilty verdict was rendered, Bell's friends and family as well as those Bell supporters who had gathered at the Queens Supreme Court stormed out of the courthouse and chanted "Murderers!" and "Guilty!" The decision also inspired a wave of support from the hip-hop community, who expressed outrage over the role that police brutality played in Bell's death through songs.
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The Case: People of the State of Illinois Vs. Robert Kelly
The Outcome: After prosecutors waited more than six years to get their chance to take Kells to trial on child pornography charges—stemming from a videotape that was found in his possession in 2003 that allegedly showed him having sex with an underage girl—the R&B singer was found not guilty in June 2008 because jurors could not clearly identify him or the girl on the tape.
The Outrage: For the most part, the huge lapse in time between the original police findings and the outcome of the trial softened the blow. But shortly after the trial, several jurors admitted that they did think it was Kelly on the tape, which only made the verdict that much more outrageous.
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The Case: People of the State of California Vs. Robert Blake
The Outcome: Despite the fact that two men testified against the actor and said that he tried to hire them to murder his wife Bonnie Lee Bakley in 2002, Blake was found not guilty of the crime in March 2005.
The Outrage: While some of Blake's fans actually celebrated his acquittal at the last restaurant that Blake and Bakley ate at before the murder, the Los Angeles DA called the jurors "incredibly stupid" after the case. Blake was later ordered to pay Bakley's three children $30 million after a civil suit and that same DA vowed to issue an appeal in the criminal case as a result of it.
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The Case: People of the State of California Vs. Johannes Mehserle
The Outcome: After Mehserle was brought up on involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder, and voluntary manslaughter charges after shooting and killing Oscar Grant on a Bay Area Rapid Transit platform on New Year's Day 2009, the BART officer was found not guilty of the more serious charges in July 2010.
The Outrage: Like the Sean Bell case, Oscar Grant's murder sparked a ton of controversy, so when Mehserle was found not guilty of murder, a handful of riots broke out in Oakland. The controversy kicked up again recently when he was released from prison in June after serving out just a portion of the two-year sentence he earned after being found guilty on the involuntary manslaughter charges. Crazy, to say the least.
