AP WAS THERE: OJ Simpson’s murder trial acquittal
If there was ever a murder case perfectly suited for media and public consumption it was the O.J. Simpson murder trial
LOS ANGELES (AP) — EDITOR’S NOTE: If there was ever a murder case perfectly suited for media and public consumption it was the O.J. Simpson murder trial. The Los Angeles court spectacle was dubbed “Trial of the Century.”
The trial lasted almost a year and was covered in its entirety by AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch, now retired. She had reported many sensational trials — Charles Manson, Robert F. Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan, Patty Hearst and the officers charged in the Rodney King beating — and so it wasn’t a surprise that a judge made her the pool reporter. She appeared on television every day to summarize what had transpired.
After the trial ended, Simpson tracked down Deutsch while she was vacationing and called to give his side of the story. It was the first of several exclusive interviews over the ensuing years.
After Simpson died Wednesday at 76, the AP is making available Deutsch's story from Oct. 3, 1995, the day he was acquitted.
