O.J. Simpson’s murder trial unfolded nearly 30 years ago. Where are the key players now?

The murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman on June 12, 1994, provoked what is known as the “Trial of the century” this culminated in OJ Simpson’s acquittal of the murders. Thursday’s announcement that Simpson is dead brought renewed attention to the closely watched trial and the fascinating cast of characters who played a role in the case.

Here’s a look at their current situation.

The defendant

Two years after Simpson’s acquittal in 1995, a civil court jury found him responsible for the deaths of his ex-wife and Goldman and ordered that he pay $33.5 million to their survivors. He found himself in a series of minor legal troubles ranging from a road rage incident in Florida in 2001 to racing his boat through a Florida manatee protected area in 2002; he was acquitted for the first and fined for the second.

However, his most serious transgression occurred in 2007, when he and five others burst into a Las Vegas hotel room with guns and seized property belonging to souvenir dealers that Simpson claimed possess. He served nine years in a Nevada prison and was released on parole in 2017. In recent years, Simpson lived quietly in Las Vegas, where he played golf and sometimes posed for selfies with those still enamored of his celebrity.

He is dead Wednesday from Prostate cancer.

Families of the victims

Ron Goldman’s sister, Kim, was 22 and burst into tears when the not guilty verdict was read. Since then, she has counseled troubled teens as executive director of a Southern California-based nonprofit, The Youth Project, until its closure during the COVID-19 pandemic. Best-selling author and speaker Kim Goldman has also launched several podcasts, including “Confronting: OJ Simpson” and, more recently, “Media Circus.”

Fred Goldman, Ron’s father, relentlessly pursued Simpson in civil courts, claiming it was the only way to get justice for his son. Goldman’s family captured some of Simpson’s memorabilia, including his 1968 Heisman Trophy awarded to the best player in college football that year. The family also took the rights to Simpson’s films, a book he wrote on the murders and other items to satisfy part of the $33.5 million judgment that Simpson refused to pay. Goldman told NBC News on Thursday that Simpson’s death was “not a great loss to the world.”

Denise Brown, Nicole Brown Simpson’s sister, has remained Simpson’s most vocal critic, although, like the Goldman family, she refuses to speak his name. The former model became a victims’ rights advocate and speaker, urging women and men to end abusive relationships. She said she overcame her anger at God for the murders, but never forgave Simpson and would not watch any films or documentaries about them.

The legal “Dream Team”

Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., Simpson’s lead attorney, died of brain cancer in 2005, at age 68. His refrain to jurors – “If it doesn’t suit you, you must acquit” – sought to emphasize that the bloody gloves found at Simpson’s home and at the crime scene were too small for the football legend when he tried them on . in class. After the trial, this phrase became a national slogan. Following the trial, Cochran expanded his law practice to 15 states and frequently appeared on television. He also became the inspiration for Jackie Chiles, the bombastic lawyer character on the television sitcom “Seinfeld.”

Another key member of the defense team, Robert Kardashian, died of esophageal cancer in 2003 at the age of 59. A longtime friend of Simpson, he renewed his law license specifically to represent him at trial. Between the time of the murders and his arrest, Simpson stayed at Kardashian’s home. When Simpson fled authorities in a white Ford Bronco on June 17, 1994, Kardashian read to reporters a rambling message that Simpson had left behind as a historic highway chase unfolded on national television. Since his death, Kardashian’s fame has been eclipsed by that of his ex-wife Kris and his children Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Rob, thanks to their reality TV show “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” Caitlyn Jenner, a former Olympian and reality TV personality who was previously married to Kris Jenner, wrote Thursday after Simpson’s death: “Good riddance.” »

Robert Shapiro, the first member of Simpson’s defense team, continues to practice law. In 2005, he created a foundation that provides college scholarships to young people ages 11 to 18 to stay sober after his 24-year-old son died of an overdose.

Barry Scheck is the lawyer who introduced the science of DNA to jurors and undermined the prosecution’s forensic evidence by attacking the collection methods. He and fellow defense attorney Peter Neufeld co-founded the Innocence Project in 1992. It uses DNA evidence to exonerate the wrongly convicted.

F. Lee Bailey was the attorney who played a key role in expose racist statements made by one of the prosecution’s main witnesses, the police detective. Mark Fuhrman, which undermined his credibility. When he joined the defense team, Bailey was already famous for his role in some of the most high-profile cases of the 20th century, including that of heiress-turned-bank robber Patricia Hearst. Bailey was disbarred from the Massachusetts and Florida bars in the early 2000s for misconduct in handling a client’s case. He died in 2021.

Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus of law at Harvard, also helped Simpson obtain an acquittal and was consulted on the scientific aspects of the case. Since then, he has sparked controversy by helping late hedge fund manager and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein get a lenient sentence for abusing underage girls. He was also part of President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team that ended in his acquittal.

“He had a very complicated legacy,” attorney Carl E. Douglas, who was part of Simpson’s legal team during the murder trial, told CBS News. He said Simpson’s legacy includes his accomplishments on the football field and his successful transition from track and field to being a highly sought-after pitcher.

“Before Michael Jackson, before Tiger Woods, there was OJ Simpson running around airports and highways selling cereal, cars and rental car agencies,” Douglas said.

The prosecutors

Marcia Clark, the lead prosecutor in the trial, left law after the trial, although she appeared frequently over the years as a television commentator during high-profile trials. She received $4 million for her 2016 memoir, “Without a Doubt,” and went on to write a series of crime novels.

Chris Darden, the co-prosecutor, was criticized for asking Simpson to try on the bloody gloves in the courtroom without first making sure they would fit properly. He is now a defense attorney himself. He represented the man accused of murdering hip-hop mogul Nipsey Hussle before withdrawing from the case, saying his family had received death threats. Darden also taught law, appeared on television as a legal commentator and wrote about the Simpson trial in the 1996 book “In Contempt.” Currently, he is a candidate for Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge.

The judge

Lance Ito retired in 2015 after presiding over approximately 500 trials. Simpson’s trial made him such a household name that “The Tonight Show” briefly featured a comedy segment called “The Dancing Itos,” in which lookalikes performed in court robes. After the Simpson trial, he had to remove his nameplate from his courtroom door because people kept stealing it. Ito has never publicly discussed the trial, citing judicial ethics.

The guest

Brian “Kato” Kaelin, a struggling actor living in a guest house on Simpson’s property, said he heard a “bump” during the night of the murders and went outside to find Simpson in the yard. Prosecutors later said Kaelin’s testimony showed Simpson sneaking home after the killings. Mocked on talk shows as America’s most famous guest, Kaelin has appeared on reality shows, as well as small roles in television sitcoms and movies, and launched a loungewear line .