Race and the O.J. Simpson Case

First came the explosive charge. The defense team in the O.J. Simpson murder case, it was leaked, was planning to accuse one of the police investigators, Mark Fuhrman, of being a "racist" cop who may have planted the bloody glove found in the area behind Simpson's guest house the day after the brutal slayings of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Then came the disclaimer. "Race is not and will not be an issue in this defense," said Robert Shapiro, Simpson's lead attorney. "The only thing we are looking at is credibility of witnesses."

Maybe for Shapiro. But for nearly everyone else last week, the race issue emerged front and center in the Simpson case. After first focusing Americans' attention on the issue of domestic violence, the Simpson drama is being transformed into a national teach-in on the gulf that exists between black and white attitudes toward America's criminal-justice system. The shift came in a flurry of news leaks and public announcements. In raising questions about Fuhrman, the defense team unearthed a 1983 lawsuit, brought by the Los Angeles detective seeking disability benefits, in which he admitted to harboring hostile feelings about blacks and other minorities. While Fuhrman denied charges that he planted evidence, Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti spent nearly two hours with black city leaders, trying to assure them that Simpson will get a fair trial. The civic leaders, in turn, urged Garcetti to integrate the all-white, all-male, eight-member panel that in coming weeks will recommend whether or not the prosecution should seek the death penalty for Simpson.

The defense team, meanwhile, was doing some integrating of its own. Just before Simpson was formally arraigned on Friday (asserting confidently that he was "absolutely, 100% not guilty"), the previously all-white team was joined by Johnnie Cochran, the prominent African-American trial lawyer who represented Michael Jackson against charges of child molestation. Cochran's arrival was regarded by some in the district attorney's office as a defense coup. "Johnnie Cochran is a better trial lawyer than the entire defense team put together," asserts one prosecution source. "Now add the race card. With Cochran in, you're going to have a hell of a time trying to find a black juror who will convict. All you need is a holdout."

The disparity between the races on the Simpson case is stark. In a TIME/ CNN poll, 63% of whites said they believe Simpson will get a fair trial; only 31% of blacks felt the same way. While 66% of whites think Simpson received a fair preliminary hearing, just 31% of blacks found the proceeding fair. And 77% of whites called the case against Simpson "very strong" or "fairly strong"; 45% of blacks judged it the same way.