'Crates and Crates'
Despite many Harvard students' self-professed lack of interest in the case, several Harvard Square merchants report brisk sales of Simpson paraphernalia.
Peter Freilinger '95, a sales clerk at Out of Town News, says the Harvard Square kiosk has sold "crates and crates" of magazines related to the upcoming trial. Margaret DeRosia, clerk at Harvard Book Store, says that in four days her store sold all seven of its copies of a Simpson biography published after the murders.
"It sold out right away--it really did," DeRosia says. "Students primarily bought them."
T-shirts have been a different story, Andrei H. Cerny '97 says he came close to buying a Simpson t-shirt this summer "for the freak value of it." But sales of "Canned Juice" shirts and Simpson buttons at Newbury comics have been negligible, says salesperson Noelle Thomas.
"They're not selling," Thomas says "People look at them and laugh."
Guilty or Innocent?
Prosecutors and defense attorneys in Los Angeles will begin their search today to find 12 impartial women and men to serve on the Simpson jury. That job promises to be difficult, for many members of the public, including Harvard students, have already formed strong opinions about Simpson's guilt or innocence.
"He's guilty," says Michael A. Cress '97. "I don't like his defense lawyer because he's such a slime. He'll take up anyone's case. He's the reason I'm not going to Law School."
"I think he got framed," says Aarort T. Peterson '96. "I know there's plenty of evidence against him, but I couldn't see him killing anyone."
But Prosser, a defense specialist, says it is dangerous for people to decide Simpson's fate before the trial. Facts disseminated through the media may differ significantly from the reality of a courtroom trial 3,000 miles away she says.
"I would hesitate to give an opinion on guilt or innocence at this stage," Prosser says. "People who are not lawyers or who do not work in the criminal justice system probably have a lot of misinformation about the trial process."