In the latest recap for The People vs. OJ Simpson, Marcia Clark gets prosecuted in the court of public opinion and F. Lee Bailey goes for the jugular in his cross examination of Mark Fuhrman….
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer @DamonMartin
Well if there was any question about Sarah Paulson earning an Emmy for her performance on this show, the latest episode titled ‘Marcia, Marcia, Marcia’ should seal the deal.
Paulson takes command of this episode from start to finish as Marcia Clark really sits in the spotlight this week while dealing with a custody battle, the public perception about her clothes, hair and demeanor as well as nude photos published in a gossip rag along with the revelation that she’s been married more times than anyone in her office even knew about. Add to that a growing attraction to her co-counsel and oh yeah, the fact that she’s trying the most highly scrutinized case in American history (to this point), and it’s clear Marcia Clark was juggling a lot in the air at one time while doing her best not to let any pins fall to the floor.
While Marcia is the centerpiece of this episode, there are also a few other key elements that are also revealed including Johnnie Cochran’s own history of domestic violence, a defense witness than ends up as a monstrous bust and the damning testimony of Mark Fuhrman that goes from pristine to extremely problematic in a matter of about three questions. Plus the trial of the century officially becomes the standard for daytime reality shows across the nation.
With that said, let’s recap the latest episode of American Crime Story: The People vs. OJ Simpson titled ‘Marcia, Marcia, Marcia’….
Marcia Clark on Trial
So the biggest part of this latest episode focuses on all the ways Marcia Clark became a central focus for the media in the OJ Simpson case despite the fact that she was a prosecutor and not actually on trial for anything on her own.
In the midst of the biggest case of her life, Marcia is dealing with a custody hearing with her ex-husband that turns more volatile by the day. He’s arguing that because she’s so busy with the Simpson trial that their kids are being raised by a babysitter rather than just staying with their father. The most infuriating part about the entire situation is that Marcia is a highly competent lawyer, but she has to leave the maneuvering up to her own attorney as she tries not to explode on her ex-husband during ever proceeding.
Outside the courtroom, Marcia is also dealing with television shows and magazines running stories on her daily that make fun of her hair, mock her clothes and just about everything in between. She tries to play it off as best she can, but no matter how much confidence she attempts to exude, Marcia is getting crushed under the weight of it all.
The final straw gets broken when Marcia goes in for a makeover and her hairstylist assures her that the next time she walks into that courtroom, audience members, attorneys, judges and even jurors will be stunned.
Well, the hairstylist is correct but when Marcia arrives with a similar hairdo — except shorter, more compact and with tighter curls — she draws more comparisons to Rick James than Farrah Fawcett, which is inexplicably who she was supposed to mimic with this new style.
The only moments of levity she gets during this entire period, which involves several crucial witness testimonies, is a little down time spent with Chris Darden, who tries to lift her spirits with some Isley Brothers, a slow dance and a near kiss in the district attorney’s office.
But Marcia’s few smiles are far outweighed by the tears left streaming down her face after nude photos surface in the National Enquirer, released to the press by an ex-husband that nobody knew she had in the first place. Marcia finally crumbles in the courtroom and Judge Ito is forced to take a day long recess to give her time to compose herself again.
The fact is Marcia is being held to a different standard throughout the trial because she’s a woman and there’s no hiding the fact that sexism played a huge part in how she was treated during the entire ordeal.
The toughest part about this whole situation is that Marcia Clark is the arm of justice expected to bring down OJ Simpson but right now it’s all she can do just to prop herself up from day to day during a trial where she’s being executed in the court of public opinion.
Key Witnesses
Witness testimony in the trial began this week with several key people being questioned and then cross examined by the defense.
Denise Brown — sister of Nicole Brown Simpson — revealed disturbing details about how Simpson treated her sibling like she was his property including grabbing her crotch in public and more or less stating ‘this is mine’. She broke down in tears several times during questioning and because she was the last witness on a Friday, Chris Darden sees this as a big win because the jurors will be left with the thought of a grieving sister for an entire weekend. Johnnie Cochran doesn’t agree and actually sees Denise as an actress who is crying on command and the jury will recognize that.
Detective Philip Vannatter — who testified about discovering the grisly scene where Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were found butchered and then later went to Simpson’s home to inform him of his ex-wife’s death. The problem was Vannatter made a bee line to Simpson’s house just minutes after discovering the crime scene and the defense painted him as a cop who already found a prime suspect in the case before any actual investigating had been done.
Detective Tom Lange — another lead detective on the case, who was not only crucified for living in Simi Valley, the same location where the policeman in the infamous Rodney King case hailed from, but he made the colossal mistake of taking Simpson’s shoes and rather than cataloging them into evidence, he left them in the trunk of his car overnight. In 18 years as a detective, Lange had never done this before but the one time he decided to do it, it cost the prosecution in a huge way.
While the prosecution took several hits through those few witnesses, the defense didn’t come away unscathed either.
Johnnie Cochran insisted on getting the testimony of one his key witnesses — a woman named Rosa Lopez, who was a housekeeper working next door who allegedly saw Simpson’s Ford Bronco parked outside when he was supposedly killing his ex-wife and her friend. Now obviously the way trials work is the prosecution presents its case and witnesses and then the defense does the same. Doing it out of order is unprecedented and ultimately Judge Ito allows it, but when Lopez gets on the stand she’s an unmitigated disaster.
She can’t remember what time she saw anything and to make matters worse, Lopez essentially tells the jury that she’ll say whatever Johnnie Cochran tells her to say.
It’s a huge blow to the defense — one that even puts Simpson up in arms to the point where he demands to know everything about every witness who will be testifying in his trial.
Both legal teams took one on the chin during these first few days, but nothing could prepare them for what would come next when Mark Fuhrman swore under oath that he never used the ‘N’ word for the past 10 years.
Tombstone
Following a rough couple of days both in court and out of court — including Johnnie Cochran paying off his ex-wife to keep quiet about domestic violence allegations — it’s time to prep for Detective Mark Fuhrman, who is set to testify the next day. Marcia Clark believes this one is a slam dunk. Fuhrman is a pro on the stand, he says all the right things and he handled all the evidence and discovery like the veteran detective that he was at the time.
But the defense has a different approach led by F. Lee Bailey.
He’s going to call into question Fuhrman’s past where he’s allegedly used racial slurs on several occasions towards African-Americans. He’s going to use the ‘N’ word and he’s going to use it liberally. The point being that all Bailey has to do is paint the testimony with that vile word so much that even if Fuhrman isn’t lying (which he was), that’s how they are going to associate him for the rest of the trial.
He may have done everything by the book on paper, but what if his racist tendencies led him to framing Simpson for a brutal crime?
When Bailey begins his questioning, he fires at Fuhrman with both barrels and keeps shooting until the jury and the audience at home are gasping for air. Fuhrman denies it all but as we all know when the truth comes out, his testimony more or less sinks the prosecution’s entire case in one fell swoop.
