THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 4, 1995 TAG: 9510040538
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 218 lines
JUST DISGUSTED
At 12:30 p.m., Roger Mosley helped hoist a co-worker some 35 feet above 19th Street in Virginia Beach.
The sun glared off the white ``bucket'' truck as the two worked steadily, trying to shift telephone cables from one pole to the other.
They'd been working on the site for an hour, hoping to finish before the verdict was announced at 1 p.m. They didn't know where they'd be when the news came out, but the boss had promised to come by.
For Mosley, a stocky man with long blond hair and a tattoo that reads Rebel, the verdict puts an end to what he called a year long ``travesty of justice.''
Mosley, a telephone lineman for the North Landing Co., said he monitored the trial over the months, catching glimpses of it.
He said he'd been drawn to the story because of Simpson's career as a football player.
Now, he said, he's just disgusted by the system.
``If he was you or me, he would have been sentenced within two months,'' said Mosley, 24, who lives in Virginia Beach.
``Because he had money, he got to take up the court system. It shows the people with the money can do what they want.''
- Kerry DeRochi
``YES, YES''
Every one of the vinyl stools was taken at the bar in Buoy's restaurant in Virginia Beach.
Customers peered from behind wooden booths to get a glimpse at one of two television sets.
Those who couldn't see changed tables and sat with strangers.
An eerie quiet settled over the room as the jury returned to the courtroom. A waitress whispered, ``tuna salad or chicken?''
When the not guilty verdict was announced, there were sharp gasps and the words, ``I can't believe it.''
In one corner, her back turned to the television set, Lisa Chambers cheered, ``Yes. Yes.''
``Guilty or not guilty, the justice system did its job this time,'' Chambers said. ``I felt they should let him go.
- Kerry DeRochi
FREE HAIRCUT
It's 10 minutes before the O.J. Simpson verdict is scheduled to be read and Bill Taylor, a regular customer at Princess Anne Plaza Barber Shop, pops into the hair cuttery keyed up with anticipation.
``They gassed up his vehicle last night because he's walking,'' says Bill Taylkor, a regluar, sliding into a chair. ``O.J. Simpson will party tonight.''
Shreey Koltan, the shop's owner, is incredulous and bets Taylor a free haircut that Simpson will be convicted.
Meanwhile, Koltan literally has chill bumps on her arms as she hurriedly finishes a haircut and shave before the verdict.
``You don't want me to have razor in my hand when they say if he's guilty,'' Koltan apologizes.
A native of Turkey, Koltan has watched the O.J. ordeal unfold with disgust and disappointment.
``In my country, this wouldn't drag on this long,'' she said.
Convinced of the celebrity's guilt, Koltan said that if Simpson committed this crime in Turkey, he'd be a dead man, one way or another.
If he were tried and found guilty, he would be hung in a public square. If he were found innocent and freed, he would be killed on the streets.
``Justice would be done,'' Koltan said.
Silence falls over the barber shop, as three employees and two customers stare at the small color television in the corner as the not guilty verdicts are read.
``Now I know there is no justice in this country,'' Koltan said. ``I think in the U.S. money buys everything.''
A stunned silence lingers as the TV drones on.
Just then, an exuberant Taylor briefly pops his head back into shop, shattering the solemn mood.
``I'll be back for my free haircut,'' he promised.
- Debbie Messina -
``O.J.'S FREE!''
Outside the Dazzle Hair Design boutique on West Washington in Suffolk, two black men in a car chanted ``O.J.'s free!'' as they raised clenched fists.
Inside the salon, an old black-and-white TV sitting near a hair dryer buzzed with reactions to the verdict. Stylist La Marionette Lowther , who is black, said the verdict will help society understand that racism is real and will also empower many blacks not to stand for police brutality.
``That blindness is open now,'' said Lowther. ``It's going to be a lot of people not taking brutality.''
But about five miles away at the Wal-Mart, reactions varied - even among family members.
Joyce Phillips, 44 and her sister-in-law Karen Cornett, 36, both of Kentucky, were visiting relatives in Suffolk.
Phillips, who is white, said she thought Simpson was innocent all along.
``The evidence was too fishy,'' Phillips said as she shifted through a rack of baby clothes. Yet Phillips had cynical views about whether justice was truly served. She said Simpson's celebrity status helped him afford good lawyers:
Her sister-in-law, Cornett thought the former football pro was guilty due to the ``overwhelming'' evidence. But Cornett said racism also spurred the jury to reach its decision.
``I do think racism played a part. I don't think it's going to help (race relations). But either way, whether they ruled guilty or not guilty, everyone would have been upset.''
Outside, George L. Goodman of Sunbury, N.C., sat on a bench with a friend, reflecting on the decision. Goodman, who is black, said he's tired of the news media making an issue over whether Simpson bought justice by hiring an expensive defense team.
``I've been walking on this Earth for 69 years, and I go back to Emmett Till. People knew who hung him and they (the accused) walked. So what about the justice system then?''
- Terri Williams -
``I'M SURE HE'S HAPPY''
Two passengers told Francine Grant about the verdict as they climbed onto her Oceanfront trolley.
She didn't know what to make of it.
She stood in the sun on the corner of 19th Street and Pacific Avenue, waiting for relief.
``I guess in his case, it worked out for him, I'm sure he's happy,'' Grant said. ``I feel for the family, though. I don't think justice was done for her, for her family, or for her kids because it's still unsolved.''
Grant said she did not get to watch much of the trial, but said the whole case took ``far too long'' and ``cost too much money.''
``I don't know whether to be happy or not,'' Grant said. ``It's been a long process. Everybody's exhausted. If he didn't do it, I'm happy for him. If he did do it, I guess it's between him and God, now.''
- Kerry DeRochi -
THE TV TRIAL
The clippers inside Penny's Barber Shop near Witchduck Road in Virginia Beach clicked off. All focus was on a small black and white television.
Before the verdict was read, a quick poll was taken among the shop's six occupants. That O.J. would walk was the consensus.
``Boy, boy, boy,'' said barber Sam Warren, waiting for The Moment. A man walked in the shop, breaking the tension, wanting just a little trim. As he slid into Marie Willis' barber chair, the verdict was read.
Whoops rang out and high-fives were exchanged.
``Word up,'' said Sam Warren exclaimed. ``Cochran goes undefeated!''
Warren Gonzalez, 33, said despite the trial's racial undercurrent, justice was served.
``The state's case was circumstantial and weak,'' said Gonzalez, who also works in the shop. ``It reaffirmed that the system can work.''
Sam Warren responded: ``It can work when it's on TV.''
- Larry Brown -
``IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.''
The verdict was in and for one awkward moment at Chi-Chi's Restaurant near Lynnhaven Mall, no one spoke. They just sat there amid pinatas and Mexican posters, staring at the television.
``It's unbelievable. It's just unbelievable,'' Brad Hobbs, a 27-year-old manufacturer's rep, finally said. ``With all the forensic evidence they put forth, we thought for sure they would find him guilty.''
A few moments later, his business associate, Blaine Streett, said softly, ``In this country, to do something like that and not be guilty of it. I believe he did it.
``The big shock is that the case is over and no one will be brought to justice for two murders.''
Larry Sunshine summed up the feelings of every person interviewed at the restaurant.
``I'm just shocked,'' he said.
After they spoke, the men sat around the table and stared at their empty dishes.
Across the room and near another large-screen television, Chris Gallagher, a district manager for Chi-Chi's, offered his opinion.
``I hope this verdict does not send the wrong message - that money can buy innocence,'' Gallagher said. ``I'm surprised but I would not say shocked. I had expected they would find him guilty. ''
Gallagher thought the testimony of Detective Mark Fuhrman contributed to the jury's decision to acquit Simpson.
``There were just too many things in this case that created a reasonable doubt,'' he said.
- Tom Holden
``I KNOW WHO DID IT. KATO.''
At Cox High School, a knot of students crowds around a Wet Tunes shower radio tuned to the live coverage of the trial.
John Reed, a 15-year-old freshman, sticks his head in the door and shouts, ``Is he guilty? Do you have the TV on?''
His questions meet with hissed pleas for silence.
As Judge Lance Ito's voice is heard, ``Mr. Simpson, would you stand and face the jury?,'' there's a collective sharp intake of breath in the room.
``Not guilty,'' says the voice on the radio.
The teens in the room jump in the air and cheer.
At the second count of, ``Not guilty,'' some in the crowd show their disgust by turning their backs on the radio. But they don't leave.
``Yes, yes, yes,'' chants Tiffany Weems, 16. ``He's not guilty. I know who did it. Kato.''
- Krys Stefansky -
O.J. BY SEA
Wherever their jobs happened to put them on Tuesday, Americans were determined to watch the Simpson verdict. But for the 5,000-plus sailors and airmen aboard the aircraft carrier Independence, deployed in the Persian Gulf, getting the news required a bit of ingenuity.
Communications satellites routinely allow U.S. ships around the world to watch live broadcasts. But just as the verdict was to be delivered, the Independence lost its CNN signal.
Desperate, the ship's public affairs officer telephoned the Navy Office of Information in Washington. The verdict was in by the time he made the connection, but an officer in the Pentagon held the receiver up to a TV set so that a CNN replay could be piped into the ship's public address system.
- Dale Eisman - ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Roger Mosley
KEYWORDS: O.J. SIMPSON VERDICT REACTION by CNB