Court
A part of being a celebrity is getting into trouble. It seems as though it is a part of the Hollywood rulebook to go out and get a DUI, get caught with drugs, or assault somebody. Luckily for them, they have the money in the bank required to hire great attorneys. If it were not for the quality of the attorneys representing them, half of Hollywood would be rotting in prison at this point. It might not seem fair that these elite attorneys are getting celebrities out of trouble on a daily basis while the everyman gets a ten year sentence, but that is the way the world works. Part of the allure for attorneys to represent these spoiled movie stars and socialites is that they also get some time in the spotlight. Here are the top celebrity court cases, one of which bringing the attorneys along into the public eye for the ride.
1. O.J. Simpson Trial – This made Simpson’s team of attorneys household names. O.J. Simpson’s large team of attorneys consisted of Johnny Cochran, F. Lee Bailey, Robert Kardashian, Robert Shapiro, Alan Dershowitz, Gerald Uelman, and Carl E. Douglas. Simpson was charged with a double homicide in 1994 for the stabbing deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. Because of the competence of his attorneys, O.J. was acquitted on the murder charges to many people’s shock and chagrin. In 2007, Simpson found himself back in court for a completely different set of charges, this time being sentenced to nine years in prison.
2. Anna Nicole Smith Inheritance Case – After her husband of one year, billionaire oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall, passed away from natural causes, a very heated and long battle went on for nearly a decade for the inheritance. The two opposing sides were widow Anna Nicole Smith and J. Howard Marshall’s son, E. Pierce Marshall. The younger Marshall believed that Smith only married his father for the money, while she contended that they were in love and that J. Howard promised her half of his estate. None of the attorneys gained much fame after this case, but it had been a media circus while it was going on. Since the famous case ended, both E. Pierce and Anna Nicole have died.
3. Bill Clinton’s Sex Scandal – The biggest celebrity of all, the President of the United States, had his fair share of infamy after being accused of having an affair with his intern Monica Lewinsky. This became a very hotly debated subject, and this time instead of the attorneys, the intern and her friend Linda Tripp who had broken the news to the public were the ones in the public eye.
A famous court case can be very interesting to follow. You can find yourself choosing sides and making judgments on whether you think the defendant is guilty or not. You have the option of being judge and jury right from your couch.