Could OJ Be Innocent Too?

By Keith Boykin, in politics
Thursday, August 17 2006, 10:07AM

Wow!! I'm completely shocked by the news that police have finally arrested a suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case. I'm also shocked to learn that the suspect, apprehended in Thailand, has confessed to the crime (see the video of his confession), although he said her death was an accident. These new developments have happened so quickly that it's hard to believe. Although I've never said it publicly, I had assumed for years that the parents had something to do with the murder of their 6-year-old girl, who was discovered dead in the basement of their home 10 years ago. Apparently I was wrong.

Which of course leads me to O.J. Simpson. I never understood the public's reaction to his 1995 murder acquittal. First, I didn't understand why black people were celebrating a legal victory for a person who had distanced himself from the black community, and I also didn't understand why white people were so "shocked" that rich people can sometimes buy their way out of jail in America (remember Claus Von Bulow?). But that's because I was convinced that O.J. actually did it. Despite his promise to hunt down "the real killer," I never really believed there was anywhere for O.J. to look but in the mirror. But is it possible I was wrong?

I haven't thought about the evidence from the O.J. trial in some time. I'm sure some people remember it well. I'm not planning on revisiting that evidence right now. You see, I still assume O.J. is guilty. But this whole JonBenet Ramsey case does make you realize how easy it is for the media and the police to build a case against someone in the court of public opinion.

For a long time, they had me convinced that the Ramsey parents were murderers who just didn't get caught. I was wrong. That's why this story shocked me so much. It's a reminder that we often make mistakes. Humans are imperfect. Juries don't always get it right. Police sometimes have biases, and sometimes they just make the easy assumptions.

And this case is also another reminder of the importance of that highly regarded but often forgotten judicial principle: All people are innocent until proven guilty.

Comments (24) reveal

Comments conceal

jared
August 17 2006, 10:28AM

wow! this is some news, i for one thought for sure that the mother did this horrible crime, now, it looks like i was worng, but, as they like to say "innocent until proven guilty" in most cases that is.

cmoney
August 17 2006, 10:41AM

I guess we'll be reading about this until another Blonde goes missing in the Caribbean, kills her kids or falls off a cruise ship. Yesterday we questioned whether Blacks could be racist but the fact that we're still talking about this case ten years later removes any doubt that the American News Media is RACIST as hell. How many Black/Asian/Latino women or girls that were killed ten days ago, much less ten years ago are we still hearing about on a daily basis?

monkeypup
August 17 2006, 11:12AM

I feel the same way as you do on this one. Kudos.

nat[TypeKey Profile Page]
August 17 2006, 11:54AM

well like OJ, i thought the parents were guilty until the court TV documentary. we didn't know the facts of the case & after finding them out, i was horrified as to how the police treated the parents. to know they lost everything they had & the mother died of cancer living in a trailer is a shame.
some of the main points brought up by Court TV were that there had been several girls murdered in the the community & most parents don't strangled their kids using a ligature. also people didn't know how massive was their house. it was so huge that someone could easily lived in that basement for a while &nobody would never had known. the basement had several rooms & many huge windows, like the one where the suite case was use to escape leaving a footprint that didn't match the father was located. in conclusion, every case is different, do i think OJ did it, 2 be honest a 48 yr man with bad knees did all of that killing & fighting only to walk away with no scratches & a Small cut on his finger is hard 2 believe

h
August 17 2006, 12:14PM

Now you want to hear some real bullshyt. I was on black conservative blogger Lashawn Barber's site and she made this comment about this guy who confessed to Jon Benet's murder:

I’m watching an AP video of this freak, and he seems more like a homosexual pedophile to me. According to this story, Karr was married with children.

WTF???? I spoke up about the homophobic remark and she is defending her ignorance. I think gay males need to give this chic a piece of their mind. I doubt if your comments will be posted, cause she tends to only like to allow comments that agree with her most of the time get posted.

Derrick from Philly
August 17 2006, 12:31PM

I saw an interesting documetary (probably PBS) where most black folks questioned said they believed OJ did it. They were just so angry about years of abuse by police departments around the country and the historical unequal treament of black folks in the criminal justice system--they were so angry that they cheered OJ's aquittal. It was some type of perverse justice, I guess: after all these years of white folks killing blacks and getting away with it, the tables were finally turned--they turned for an idiot, black woman hating, white woman craving, possible on the "DL" black ex-jock nutcase--but nevertheless, the tables were turned.

TG
August 17 2006, 1:23PM

OJ son had an affair with Nicole (she’s a known cokehead and tramp. He was also a chef who work a few miles from the compound. He confronted NIkki about screwing the father still. Heart broken and shattered he killed her out of rage. OJ was scheduled to see Nikki and that’s when the son found out they where still fucking
Poor Ron (Gay) Goldman (Cute/no girlfriend/ just a male best friend) was a waiter and a coke dealer making a drop off... Who got there before OJ and him son went off on poor Ron too....Then OJ shows up... DRAMA... What the hell...

Go wake up Miss Kalin (OJ jump off from ways back) they to help clean this shyt up.

The son went to work (don't most chefs have there own knives).

The SON... Was a suspect early on? OJ shifted the focus.

The BRONCO CHASE... Diversion/ Focus on me ...Hollywood at it's best.

The GLOVE ..don't fit cause there his sons.
GOOD FOR A MOVIE AT LEAST

raskl
August 17 2006, 2:13PM

You can never know what happened this story is still developing. This guys ex-wife says that he was in Alabama when the killing happened.

kili
August 17 2006, 2:15PM

Give me a break that skinny assed white boy got busted in thailand with his pants down and was facing prison in Thailand, He made a choice to confess and be extradited to the Us where he will at least has a chance of being a white mans bitch.

We will never know the truth about oj thanks to the lapd and la prosecutors, No weapon, no witness and a bad back again give me a f**king break

-G-
August 17 2006, 3:17PM

I believe O.J. did it. But he was given a trial where they could not prove that he did the murder, and he got off. GOOD...The fairest trial a black man ever received, and the evidence did not add up, and he got off. If the dam glove did not fit, then acquit! But who cares, I don't!

C. Baptiste-Williams
August 17 2006, 3:32PM

Whether he did it or not our good ole boy judicial system found him not guilty. And that is what matters.

ReganDuCasse
August 17 2006, 3:35PM

No Keith, you were right the FIRST time. OJ IS guilty as charged and sin.

This new situation with the Ramsey case, points to one thing.
This is a sick man. A publicity whore who wants to ingratiate himself into the case.
He's writing a book, he's obsessed with JonBenet. He is a pedophile. He is sexually attracted to children and he was in a country notorious for sexual exploitation.

But look at how Patsy Ramsey put her little girl on display in the worst way.
It would ATTRACT sickos like this!
This child was killed right on or just after Christmas Day.
He has a family that can account for his whereabouts at that time.
His obsession has turned into confessing to something he didn't do.
Just so he can feel closer to this girl. He's probably CONVINCED he did it.

In direct opposition to OJ Simpson's response. OJ is convinced he DIDN'T kill his ex-wife and her friend.
He's broken all his vows of looking for the 'real killer' and ALL evidence pointed to Simpson and no one else.


castiron
August 17 2006, 4:25PM

Cmoney,

We must be twins who were separated at birth. You're commentary always resonates so clearly with me.

alicia banks
August 17 2006, 4:55PM

smile
what is gwb up to that this is headline news?

i am still convinced that oj and the ramseys are guilty!

ie
john ramsey is subdued
&
we have no proof of anything yet

criminals confess to crimes they have not committed daily..for many twisted reasons...like the attn he has instantly won globally...

pedophiles lie online daily...

can anyone tell me how this man could spend hours in their home, share pineapple with jb, change her clothes, hunt a pad and pen, compose a letter to leave behind, beat her, rape her, stage a crime scene...and never even wake a soul?...

this "confession" also does nothing to erase all the lies and antics by the ramseys....ie burke on the 911 call, the everchanging alibis, the contaminated crime scenes, the refusal to cooperate with police re clothing/polygraphs etc...

oj and the ramseys may never be found guilty
but they will also never be found innocent

we may find he was only a 3rd party to the ramseys...
i will post a column asap

peace
ab

r

cmoney
August 17 2006, 5:38PM

Thanks castiron, but you'll have to be a triplet-I already have a twin! :-)

Dean
August 17 2006, 6:10PM

First let me state that I am a Black man. As for OJ Simpson, the evidence of his guilt is overwhelming for anyone ready, willing and able to fairly evaluate the evidence. The jury that acquitted him lacked those abilities.(By the way, I think that Black people do themselves harm by standing up for Uncle Toms like OJ Simpson and Clarence Thomas simply because they are Black when such courtesys have not been a two way street!)

As for the JonBenet Ramsey little girl, time will tell. Frankly, I never thought that the parents killed her. I didn't see the evidence that conclusively proved that and it's noteworthy that the District Attorney never brought a case against either parent. With regard to the fella who confessed to killing her, he may or may not have done the crime. Inasmuchas his former wife gives him an alibi for the crime, he may be just another sicko publicity hound and not her murderer. Time will tell after a sober examination of the evidence, including DNA evidence.

Steve
August 17 2006, 11:43PM

cmoney - you are dead right (forgive the pun.)
The difference in the JonBenet and OJ situation is there is overwhelming physical evidence to place OJ as the perpetrator. That's why he lost the civil suit. There was not the same evidence with the Ramsey family. If there had been, there would have been just as big a judicial circus.

OJ's a killer, and he's on the loose because he's rich. That's sick.

At least we have JonBenet's killer, or so it appears.

A-Train
August 18 2006, 2:52AM

I didnt know where else to post this. But I really like the flash elements you added to the site. I think they add a lot of energy. If you need any web designers, haller.

http://www.thenurseshow.com/com.html

titi
August 18 2006, 7:43AM

When it come to OJ simpson trial, the case is what it is.It never going to change unless pig fly. The brother is nothing but a psycho killer. I do believe whites and blacks were out of line in this case. Both sides behaved ridiculously.

chris-leo
August 18 2006, 4:45PM

from what i'm seeing, it seems that the biggest difference between O.J. and this guy is that O.J. killed his ex-wife and her friend, and this guy DIDN'T kill JonBenet Ramsey.

p.s.: but T.G. makes a compelling tv movie. hey, T.G., remember when the bronco drove up to O.J.'s house and the son broke thru the police and tried to approach his father and was smacked away???

Derrick from Philly
August 18 2006, 6:01PM

You're right, Chris-leo, T.G. has a great synopsis for a screenplay. He could demand big money to option it. Who would we get to direct? Spike Lee, John Singleton? Lee Daniels? or maybe, Barbra Striesand! What do you expect? I'm REAL, and it's a Friday evening, child. Have a good weekend.

chris-leo
August 18 2006, 11:05PM

well, derrick,

it's been a minute, but i've been known to put on a director's hat as well. maybe i could get greedy, direct AND be cinematographer and collect two checks.

how do you feel about henry simmonds as O.J.?? that is, if i can pry him away from those tyler perry productions. LOL.

cheers!!

Ty[TypeKey Profile Page]
August 19 2006, 10:45AM

I NEVER THOUGHT: THE RAMEY'S committed such a horrific
tragedy to take the life of their beautiful daughter. They were too an elitest American surbubia family. It was media, who profited milions from The Ramsey's elite status in building this fictious scenario.

I NEVER THOUGHT: O.J. did it. It was extremely difficult to believe he could murder two persons especially if the LA Judicial system didn't allow Johnny Cockran's testimony of the underground drug dealings Nicole Simpson and her boyfriend were involved in. Their deaths were drug related killings as many experts at the time said but we never heard this in the media. It was media, who profited millions from OJ celebrity status in building this fictious scenario.

theeunuch
August 23 2006, 10:24PM

This is obviously a continuing saga. With each passing day it is doubtful that John Mark Karr killed JonBenet. We may never know who did.