On this day, Oct. 3, in 1995, a jury found former football star O.J. Simpson not guilty of the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend Ronald Goldman. The 252-day “Trial of the Century” had a carnival-like atmosphere.

Simpson’s “dream team” of lawyers painted him as a victim of a racist and incompetent Los Angeles Police Department. The defense was aided by audiotapes of Detective Mark Fuhrman using racial epithets.