The People v. O.J.
(For TV recaps ofThe People v. O.J.
Simpson,click here.)
Credit: Heidi Gutman/ABC via Getty Images
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:Your fifth novel,Blood Defense, comes out next month.
As a storyteller yourself, can you appreciate the novelistic quality ofThe People v. O.J.
Its like a big, textured, modern Charles Dickens book.
Heidi Gutman/ABC via Getty Images
MARCIA CLARK:I know, isnt it amazing?
Thats a Dickens specialty.
Its all true and the truth can be a pretty strange thing.
FX; Pool/AFP/GettyImages
So this is kind of like the end ofTitanic.
We all know whats going to happen, but that doesnt make it any less thrilling.
And theyve done such a nice job of getting the dynamic right.
Ive been very impressed with that.
Its not easy to do and I didnt really expect it.
I cant resist seeing how its all going to end.
Do you feel redemption?
Well, I dont know if I would use that word.
That makes me seem like a criminal.
[Laughs] But I know what you mean.
I will say that its pretty incredible to feel finally somewhat understood.
Lets go back to October 2, 1995.
You got word that the jury had reached a verdict after just four hours of deliberations.
Did you think it was a guilty verdict?
No, not really.
That night I was with [deputy district attorney] Cheri Lewis and Chris [Darden].
He was the limo driver?
Yes, the limo driver who drove O.J.
to the airport on the night of the murders.
And he was a very strong witness for us.
Which, of course, made us wonder, because he was one witness that the defense couldnt touch.
They couldnt undermine him or discredit him.
And then he saw a figure Simpson walking across the driveway and into his house.
Meaning Simpson was out and about.
Meaning the glove was dropped by him.
Meaning it was Simpson who caused the bang on Katos wall.
Meaning everything rolled back from that point.
MORE ONTHE PEOPLE VS. O.J.
No, just that they asked for it.
But even the judge was saying, Well, I can read the tea leaves as well as anybody.
This is a great question for the jury to ask.
And for a moment I thought, Could it possibly be?
After months of feeling like Ive been beaten to a pulp, emotionally.
And it didnt matter who anybody on the defense side.
Thats true, but we experienced it every day.
And after watching that for months, you kind of get a feeling that things are not going well.
But, yeah, after hearing that they asked for Alan Parks testimony, I got excited.
And Cheri said, Marcia, come on.
Remember how the jury acted every day?
And I realized that I didnt know what I was thinking.
And that was my crusher moment.
So you were braced for impact when you walked into court the next morning?
I was in a real special mood that morning, as you’ve got the option to imagine.
Then something interesting happened.
I was very surprised when I saw Johnnie [Cochran] that morning and he looked sick and upset.
He came up to me and he said, Nice case, Marcia.
And I said, Johnnie, why are you upset?
And he said, Oh, I dont know, Marcia, I just dont know.
He told me he was very worried about the outcome.
Seems crazy now to think that he was having such doubts?
But remember that the pundits, the legal analysts, everybody was predicting a conviction.
It was kind of a universal opinion.
You know, the evidence and our performance.
And others keep you up.
Hes still going around saying that O.J.s innocent.
[Laughs] Oh, isnt that wonderful.
Hes not doing himself much credit.
Are there any mistakes in the case you presented that still gnaw at you?
In terms of what we did no.
We gave everything thorough consideration, so I dont have those qualms.
And I dont know if our decisions had been made any differently, if it wouldve made any difference.
Youve been asked what you thought would happen if the same trial were held today, in 2016.
I mean, look at what we can see.
Look at whats going on.
I think it would be very iffy.
What about the Mark Fuhrman situation?
They had to frame up somebody and it had to be Mark Fuhrman because he found the glove.
So I got all that.
But it was a ridiculous defense because there was no way Fuhrman could plant it.
Twenty officers were on the scene before him.
And also Fuhrman couldnt have known that O.J.
would even be home.
Right, thank you.
Or even in Los Angeles.
This civil-rights firebrand that was O.J.
Have you interacted at all with Fuhrman since the trial?
Which is a good thing.
That is a very good thing.
The show seems like it hasnt returned to Kato Kaelin again after the first couple episodes.
Did you really want it to?
[Laughs] Im just asking.
Well, kind of.
I wonder if viewers are missing out on what an absurd stooge he was.
I gotta tell you this.
This was really incredible to me.
A year and a half ago was the 20th anniversary of the murders andDatelinedid this big anniversary thing.
And I did not take part in it.
But when the FX show startedDatelinecame back to me for an interview and I sat down with them.
I told him, Kato, youre a witness!
What are you doing with a lawyer?
And he stonewalled and he danced and he played around.
I had to get a judge to order him to testify and then he took the fifth.
In what world is that cooperative?
And its a shame because he had crucial information.
And much of it was about the domestic violence evidence, which he witnessed and which he withheld completely.
He told the defense everything.
Me, not so much.
So, yeah, I guess he was cooperative with the defense team.
What do you think will be final images we will see of O.J.
Thatll be an interesting directorial choice on Ryan Murphys part.
Itll be so interesting to see how the show deals with that.
But you know what I think it could be?
I have this memory of one witness Ive been thinking about lately.
And she heard him on the phone, arguing loudly.
It was an angry tone and it was clear he was talking to Nicole.
So I wanted her to come in and talk to me but instead her husband showed up.
And he said, Im not going to let her take the stand.
And you cant win this case.
Theres no way youre going to win, so its not worth doing that to her.
But trust me, hes going to get punished by us at the very least.
Oh, so this guy was in a small way responsible for getting O.J.
ejected from the country club?
From the way he was talking, not in a small way.
In a big way.
But sure enough, what happened?
Does it bother you that the show has taken a more ambivalent stance about O.J.s guilt or innocence?
It feels to me like theyre kind of assuming hes guilty, doesnt it?
Though maybe thats the prism Im seeing it through.
You understand I have a pretty subjective lens here.
[Laughs]
You met O.J.
Simpson a few years ago, didnt you?
I was covering his robbery case in Las Vegas forEntertainment Tonight, the hard-hitting news agency that it is.
And I was sitting in the cafeteria and Simpson walked by.
Hi, Ms. Clark, he said.
And I said, Mr. Simpson.
But that was it.
We acknowledged each other.
And, I mean, what could you possibly say?
Were not going to catch up like old friends.
Do you see the Kardashian family around Los Angeles?
I never see them.
They were so young during the trial and Kris never brought them to court.
Why would she do that?
But during the trial I saw Kris and I saw Caitlyn Jenner.
And Kris was very helpful in helping me out with the domestic violence witnesses.
She really wanted to testify that Nicole told her that Simpson had said he was going to kill her.
And Im not sure Kris ever fully understood why I couldnt use it as evidence.
Believe me, I would have loved to.
All while her ex-husband was on the defense.
The show depicts Robert Kardashian as having doubts about O.J.s innocence.
Did you ever speak to him about it?
Well, in court we talked all the time, but not about the case.
He couldnt do that because basically everything he thought was privileged.
Wed fight over the dark chocolate and the candy that people sent in.
I really liked him, actually.
He was a very good guy.
Did you see him after the trial?
Id see him at various restaurants and wed exchange pleasantries and smile.
And two weeks later he passed away.
I said goodbye to him that day and I didnt even know I was saying goodbye forever.
I felt terribly for him.
Oh, it was so raw.
It was such a horrifying, miserable day.
You spoke, though, and told people not to lose faith in the justice system.
Yeah, I really wanted to have a go at speak to everyone at the same time.
As well as all of the people out there.
I needed them to know that this was an anomaly.
Id been watching the justice system work for 14 years, really pretty well, all things considered.
[Laughs] Thats definitely one way of putting it.
Its kind of a disgusting image but, well, anyway.
