Law Humor

O.J.'s "Acquittal Suit" to Go On Display in Washington

By Kevin Underhill

Sources report that the suit O.J. Simpson was wearing when he was acquitted of murder will be going on display at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.  Officials said they hoped the tan Armani suit would be ready for display by October, which would be the 15th anniversary of the acquittal.

The suit has been in the custody of Simpson's former manager, Mike Gilbert, for almost the entire 15 years, and was the subject of a years-long legal battle between Gilbert, Simpson, and Fred Goldman, the father of one of the two people Simpson officially did not kill.  Apparently, the three finally agreed that the suit should be donated to a museum.

As you may recall, they first offered the suit to the Smithsonian Institution, and officials there pretended to spend almost a day thinking about the offer before declining.  But the Newseum, which you will be surprised to learn is a "museum of news," was pleased to accept the item.  There, it will join exhibits dealing with subjects ranging from the Berlin Wall and 9/11 to "First Dogs: American Presidents and Their Pets."  (It seems Calvin Coolidge had 12 dogs and a pair of raccoons.)

The Newseum also previously hosted the Unabomber's cabin, which the government had confiscated, along with bomb-making materials and Ted Kaczynski himself, in 1996.  Mr. K unsuccessfully objected to that exhibit about the same time he unsuccessfully tried to get back the rest of his stuff, a request the government denied for the excellent reason that some of it might still blow up.

According to Newseum vice president Susan Bennett, O.J.'s outfit will be in a collection that includes press passes, newspapers, and "the mute button that Superior Court Judge Lance Ito used when he wanted to shut off the microphone in court so lawyers could talk privately during the trial." I'd get in line for tickets right now because the line to see that mute button is going to stretch around the block.

Simpson himself remains on display at a public facility in Nevada.

Link: CBS News

Full post as published by Lowering the Bar on May 05, 2010 (boomark / email).