Locked up.. Won’t let me out…. Classic Crimes Locked up.. Won’t let me out….

Oj Simpson (A) at 10 a.m. PST on October 3, Judge Ito's clerk read the jury's verdict of "Not Guilty," 91% of all persons viewing television were glued to the unfolding scene in the Los Angeles courtroom. Exactly what happened sometime after ten o'clock on the Sunday night of June 12, 1994 is still disputed, but most likely a single male came through the back entrance of Nicole Brown Simpson's condominium on Bundy Drive in the prestigious Brentwood area of Los Angeles[LINK TO MAP]. In a small, nearly enclosed area near the front gate, the man brutally slashed Nicole, almost severing her neck from her body. Then he struggled with and repeatedly--about thirty times--stabbed Ronald Goldman. Ronald Goldman was a twenty-five-year-old acquaintance of Nicole's, who had come to her condominium to return a pair of sunglasses that her mother had left earlier that evening at the Mezzaluna restaurant.

Lizzie Borden (B) The jury deliberated an hour and a half before returning with its verdict. The clerk asked the foreman of the jury, "What is your verdict?" "Not guilty," the foreman replied simply. The state's case rested largely on the argument that it was impossible for anyone else to have committed the crime. For the Borden jury that, and a few other suspicious actions on Lizzie's part (such as burning a dress), turned out not to be enough for a conviction. Had the defendant been a male, some speculate, the jury might have been more inclined to convict. One of the defense's great advantages was that most persons in 1893 found it hard to believe that a woman of Lizzie's background could have pulled off such brutal killings.

Zamora (C) 22 youths would be indicted on murder charges and placed on trial. People v. Gus Zamora became the largest mass trial in California history with 17 defendants. Three of the defendants were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, and nine defendants were convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced “five-to-life.” The other five defendants were convicted of assault. Five additional defendants received separate trials and were all acquitted.

Zamora continued…. On October 2, 1944, the Second District Court of Appeals overturned all of the Sleepy Lagoon verdicts, and the case of People v. Gus Zamora was dismissed. All 17 defendants were released with their records cleared. Officially, the murder of Jose Diaz remains unsolved. However, before her death in 1991, Lorena Encinas confided to her children that her late brother Louis was the one who beat and killed Jose Diaz that night during a party near the Sleepy Lagoon. She chose to serve time in jail herself rather than have her brother sent to San Quentin.

Galileo Trial (D) The verdict of the Inquisition was forced to renounce his beliefs in Copernican theory and the motion of the earth. The original verdict condemned him to life in prison, but was amended the following day to house arrest, a sentence that remained in force until his death.

Zimmerman (E) After Judge Nelson offered instructions on what the jury must find in order to return a verdict either of second-degree murder or (the lesser included charge of) manslaughter, the jury commenced its deliberations. According to later statements by two members of the jury, the jury was initially split. At least three jurors were firmly convinced that Zimmerman was not guilty of either murder or manslaughter, while the other three preferred to find him guilty on at least one of the two charges. After sixteen hours of debating the evidence, the jury returned its verdict of "not guilty."