OJ Simpson’s longtime lawyer says Simpson privately felt Mark Fuhrman’s actions helped blow up prosecutors’ case in the 1995 double-murder trial—while also seeing Fuhrman as a racist after his repeated “n” word use was revealed in court.
OJ Simpson didn’t just remember Mark Fuhrman as the detective at the center of his 1995 double-murder trial—his former lawyer says he also believed Fuhrman was quietly responsible for his freedom.
Malcolm LaVergne, OJ’s longtime lawyer and executor of his estate, said Simpson was “privately… very thankful for Mark Fuhrman” because “Mark Fuhrman blew up the case for prosecutors” during the trial over the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in Los Angeles.
LaVergne described Simpson’s mindset in blunt terms: Fuhrman was seen as OJ’s “get out of jail free card.” Even with that gratitude, LaVergne said Simpson didn’t like Fuhrman at all. In his view, Fuhrman was a racist after repeated use of the “n” word was revealed during the trial.
What mattered in court was the credibility collapse.. OJ’s defense team played a tape showing Fuhrman said the racial epithet dozens of times. and it also caught him in a lie about not using the word during the prior 10 years.. LaVergne said that evidence destroyed Fuhrman’s credibility as one of the primary detectives in the case—helping lead to Simpson’s acquittal.
LaVergne also addressed the backlash that followed the verdict. He said Simpson “received a lot of hate from people” because much of the public believed OJ was guilty of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman’s murders despite the jury’s decision.
In LaVergne’s opinion, the anger should have been aimed elsewhere. The public, he argued, should have been angrier with Fuhrman for being a “dirty cop” who destroyed the prosecution’s case.
Fuhrman’s death brought the story back into focus.. The former LAPD detective died from throat cancer on Monday in Idaho. where he had moved after retiring from the Los Angeles Police Department in August 1995.. LaVergne said that if OJ had still been alive. he would have treated Fuhrman’s death with respect because Fuhrman was a “class act.”
Simpson died in 2024 after a battle with prostate cancer.
OJ Simpson Mark Fuhrman Malcolm LaVergne Nicole Brown Simpson Ron Goldman 1995 trial acquittal LAPD throat cancer Idaho racism “n” word