Sometimes I think it might be a curse to have not only been involved in both the Menendez brothers and the O.J.Simpson cases and all of their trials, but to have such extensive behind-the-scenes knowledge.
First, I saw this story:
ESPN profits off black culture, does not stand by black employees views’
which contains this paragraph:
“This incident reminds me of the dynamic between Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden during the OJ Simpson trial. The white Clark brought Darden, a black man, onto the prosecution team, yet ignored his plea to not use white supremacist Mark Fuhrman as their primary witness in the case. In the FX dramatized rendition of the case, once Fuhrman’s racist background dominates the trial, Darden angrily tells Clark, ‘You put me on this trial because you wanted a black face, but the truth is you never wanted a black voice.'”
While I think it was no secret that the Simpson prosecution wanted an African American on its team, I thought it was a micromanaging DA Gil Garcetti who assigned Darden, not Clark. Although, I have no reason to believe they weren’t on the same page with each other.
Also, I have no idea whether such an exchange between Darden and Clark even occurred. If it did, I got no wind of it during the trial, and so much fiction about the trial and its participants and behavior have swirled about since, it might just be a fabrication of someone’s imagination.
But the biggest bone I have to pick is with the writer of this article is referring to Mark Fuhrman as a white ‘supremacist’. Mr. Price and everyone who uses that misnomer needs to understand that there is no such thing. Individuals who self sort into anything called that are nothing but white racists.
That, however, is a subject for another blog.
Then I saw this story:
Law & Order: The Real Story Behind the Menendez Brothers’ Claims of Abuse
which contains this paragraph:
“He later added that the current District Attorney in Los Angeles was desperate for a win after the Rodney King and O.J. Simpson trials, so there “were major mitigating circumstances” in the Menendez case that the average viewer may not know about.”
What seems strange is that Menendez prosecutor Deputy District Attorney David Conn gave DA Gil Garcetti that win with the convictions and life sentences of both Menendez brothers for the shotgun murders of their parents, then demoted Conn and exiled him to some nether office, but rewarded losing Simpson prosecutor Clark with with an obscenely generous bonus — only to have her turn around quit her job with the District Attorney’s Office.
It is, indeed, a crazy world.
Anatomy of a Trial blog 
Did you note it was Judge Lance Ito who arraigned the Menendez brothers on the grand jury indictments and assigned the case to Judge Weinberg?
Sent from my iPhone
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I should have noted that, but had forgotten that at the time the Menendez brothers case entered Los Angeles Superior Court, Assistant Supervising Judge of the Criminal Courts was presiding in the Master Calendar Court and assigned the case to Judge Stanley Weisberg. Thank you for the reminder!
The Menendez NBC program had a scene showing Judge Ito assigning the case to Judge Weisberg.
The scene just before has Gil Garcetti wanting the trial held downtown on the theory a “majority black jury” would convict the Menendez brothers with no hesitation.
I’m obviously not watching the Menendez show. 🙂
The Law and Order “True Crime” series is thankfully over. Bad, bad, bad. Not much more “true” than Wolf’s fictional TV fantasy land.
Yet, most critics took it as absolute truth. They believed the “molestation” without question.
In the Oziel tapes, the brothers NEVER said anything about being molested.
The TV show had Jose Menendez stand up in a menacing fashion when his sons burst in with shotguns. In fact, Jose and Kitty were sitting down eating strawberries and watching TV.
And the kill shot on Jose was in the back of the head, not from the front.
The series played down and/or ignored the Menendez brothers committing several burglaries before killing their parents.. In one, they cleaned out a house $100,000 worth.
The exception was a piece (https://newsline.com/the-7-biggest-lies-in-law-order-true-crime-the-menendez-murders/) by Shelley Ross, a producer for ABC News, titled “The 7 Biggest Lies in ‘Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders.”