PROSECUTOR CHRISTOPHER DARDEN, ALONG with Marcia Clark, said that O.J. was their only suspect. They tried to make it appear that there was no rush to judgment and they looked at others. Now, seventeen years later, we know that is not true.
Christopher Darden appeared on several national television talk shows in December 2006 in response to the forthcoming O.J. special about O. J.’s book titled If I Did It. The last show on which Darden appeared made me mad. I had always had a great deal of respect for Christopher Darden, maybe not so much for Marcia Clark because I knew too much about her and her past. To me, Christopher Darden was different.
Now I feel totally different. As Christopher Darden talked about how disgraceful it was that O.J. was coming out with this so-called book confessing to the murders, knowing he could never be tried for the murders again, I could see and feel the disdain in his voice and face. As the show came to a conclusion, I heard Christopher Darden’s last words, “If anyone believes O.J. Simpson did not commit the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman, they are idiots.” I took total offense to what Christopher Darden was saying. I wanted to say to Christopher Darden, face to face, Mr. Darden, “I am no idiot.”
As I walked away from the television, I remembered something that very few, if any, knew. Christopher Darden had subpoenaed Jason Simpson’s medical records. Why would he have done this? And no one ever followed up with the question: Why?
When I purchased the contents of the box that Jason Simpson had placed into Public Storage, there was an envelope at the bottom of the box. On the outside of the envelope was stamped Superior Court of Los Angeles and it was dated January 10, 1995. I remember removing the contents of the envelope: a search warrant served on December 21, 1994, on Carl Jones, the attorney who had been hired by O.J. Simpson to represent his son, Jason Lamar Simpson. It had strengthened my investigation when I determined that O.J. had hired Carl Jones to represent Jason the day after the murders. Now six months later, the prosecutor, Christopher Darden, had issued a search warrant for Jason Simpson’s medical records.
If Jason Simpson was not a suspect, then why would Christopher Darden issue a search warrant for Jason’s medical records? What happened to the medical records obtained? Why had Jason Simpson never been interviewed by Christopher Darden, Marcia Clark or the Los Angeles Police Department investigators? With very little effort, they could have learned how critical Jason Simpson’s medical records were to solving their case. The medical records showed that Jason Simpson had attempted suicide three times, had been in a mental institution, and was on probation for assault with a knife at the time of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman’s murders. Most importantly, both Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden had said the assailant was suffering from rage. Who suffered from rage? Who checked into Cedars-Sinai Hospital just months prior to the murders, indicating to the doctors, “I am out of my Depakote medication and I’m about to rage.” Didn’t they say this was a rage killing by an amateur?
Their investigation should have indicated to Christopher Darden and Marcia Clark that they were overlooking a major suspect; a suspect who fit perfectly the criteria surrounding the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman. Did they drop the ball or were they trying to cover up what they had uncovered. Someday I hope to ask Christopher Darden just that!
