To the Daily:

O.J. Simpson has benefited by an ancient Anglo tradition of criminal jurisprudence that favors wrongful acquittals to wrongful convictions. The defendant has no obligation to prove his innocence, and the prosecution has an obligation to prove the defendant's guilt by an extremely high standard of evidence. This is as it should be. Were the system any different, every individual's liberty would be decreased. O.J. Simpson has had the finest legal representation available in our republic, and he, like many other criminal defendants, was found not guilty by a jury.

But let there be no mistake. Simpson is not innocent of brutally murdering Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown. An acquittal is merely a statement by a jury that the prosecution did not prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. It does not mean that the jury thinks that the defendant is innocent of the crime.

Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman were not murdered by rogue drug dealers. Simpson was not framed. If the system was out to get Simpson, it would not have shamefully coddled our football hero after he beat his former wife. The evidence against Simpson in the murder case was so strong that it would have been sufficient to convict any person of any race or gender, and it would probably would have taken less than two weeks for the trial to be over.

Certainly Mark Fuhrman is a slimy racist, and any evidence he found should have been disregarded by the jury. However, the other evidence in this case was more than sufficient to convict almost any non-millionaire. Simpson, however, is a millionaire, and like many other rich men throughout the ages, he was able to use lawyers to gain his freedom. And if the Sixth Amendment is to have any meaning, this is a price society must pay.

Although many people will criticize the lawyers and the criminal justice system for Simpson's unjust acquittal, the system functioned as well as it could. If anyone is to be blamed it should be the LAPD for historically tolerating racism. Simpson was not a victim of racism, but lots of people have been. Maybe this acquittal will finally bring an end to it.

Some measure of justice will be realized, however, when Simpson inevitably has to give up the remains of his fortune as wrongful-death damage awards to the families of his victims. Civil lawsuits have lower standards of evidence than criminal trials, and there is no way Simpson will prevail there.

I still believe in our system, but I cannot help but cry for those two victims of Simpson's wrath and the families that mourn them. Simpson may not have been convicted of murder, but he is a murderer, and someday he will have to face God's justice for his actions.

Jeremy R. Boby

Third-year Law student