The jury that acquitted OJ Simpson in the 1995 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman had nine members who were black. That is all that one needs to know about the case to infer the verdict. The prosecutor’s argument and evidence, including the bloody glove, were beside the point. The verdict was preordained the moment that the jury was chosen. It says a lot about our jury system, but it says even more about a society in which blacks view justice through a racial lens.
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I experienced it firsthand when I sat on a jury determining the guilt of a black former felon who was standing trial for possession of a gun. Officers had found a gun near his pants leg that had fallen out while patting him down. He was subsequently arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a gun.
The jury was composed of eleven white members and one older black woman. I got to know her well and found her to be a very sweet lady. However, no argument from her fellow jurors could persuade her to find the defendant guilty. I got the sense that she had a fatalistic attitude toward crime. That it was a phenomenon akin to the weather for which one had no control. I also sensed that the defendant reminded her of her own son.
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Karmelo Anthony, a black teen, was arrested last year and charged in connection with stabbing a white teen, Austin Metcalf, during an altercation at a track meet at a suburban Dallas high school. A conviction seems in order, but a black juror could derail it. However, it may be different in this case because it is reported that there are no black jurors. Justice may be served with Karmelo Anthony after all.
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