Verdicts: Trial D. The Church banned his Dialogue. The book remained banned for the next 200 years.

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1 Verdicts: Trial A By the time closing arguments began in the Simpson case, the trial had already broken the record set by the Charles Manson case as the longest jury trial in California history. The jury had been sequestered for the better part of a year and was showing signs of strain and exhaustion. Judge Ito was under attack for the allowing the trial to drag on and his seeming inability to keep lawyers under control. The jury spent only three hours deliberating the case that had produced 150 witnesses over 133 days and had cost $15 million to try. As America watched at 10 a.m. PST on October 3, 1995, Ito's clerk, Deidre Robertson, announced the jury's verdict: "We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder." Simpson sighed in relief, Cochran pumped his fist and slapped Simpson on the back. The Dream Team gathered in a victory huddle. From the audience came the searing moans of Kim Goldman, Ron's sister, and the cry of his mother Patti Goldman, "Oh my God! Oh my God! In November 2006, ReganBooks (an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) announced that it was publishing a book by O. J. Simpson, If I Did It. Publisher Judith Regan told the Associated Press, "This is an historic case, and I consider this his confession." In the book, Simpson describes angrily confronting Nicole and Ronald Goldman at Nicole's condo on the night of the murder, knife in his hand. Then he writes, "Something went horribly wrong, and I know what happened, but I can't tell you exactly how." He continues, "The whole front of me was covered in blood, but it didn't compute."

2 Verdicts: Trial B After Hosiah Knowlton's able summing up of the prosecution's evidence, Justice Dewey charged the jury. According to one newspaper report, had the judge "been the senior counsel for the defense, making the closing plea in behalf of the defendant, he could not have more absolutely pointed out the folly of depending upon circumstantial evidence alone." It was, the newspaper said, a "remarkable" charge--"a plea for the innocent." Justice Dewey told jurors they should take into account Lizzie's exceptional Christian character, which entitled her to every inference in her favor. 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. Lizzie let out a yell, sank into her chair, rested her hands on a courtroom rail, put her face in her hands, and then let out a second cry of joy. Soon, Emma, her counsel, and courtroom spectators were rushing to congratulate Lizzie. She hid her face in her sister's arms and announced, "Now take me home. I want to go to the old place and go at once tonight."

3 Verdicts: Trial C

4 Verdicts: Trial D In 1616, Galileo had agreed not to teach the Copernican theory (the theory that the Sun is at rest near the center of the Universe, and that the Earth, spinning on its axis once daily, revolves annually around the Sun). Church officials interpreted his Dialogue as a violation of that agreement. Galileo disagreed, but his position on the subject hardly mattered. Facing serious charges, Galileo was detained. Sister Maria Celeste - Galileo's daughter - learned about his difficulties. Found guilty, he was "condemned" to imprisonment in the "Holy Office." Given a chance to recant, so he would not have to spend the rest of his life in a dungeon, Galileo did so. At the time, he was 70 years old. Wearing the robes of a penitent, he told Church officials that he cursed, and detested, any heresies which he may have ever espoused. The Church banned his Dialogue. The book remained banned for the next 200 years. Galileo thought Pope Urban VIII would help him, because they were friends, but the Pope was fighting the Protestant Reformation at the same time as Galileo faced his accusers. The Pope, in other words, had bigger issues to face than those involving his friend. Six months after his conviction, Galileo was allowed to return to his Tuscan home. Although in his own house, he was confined to the premises. He could neither teach nor travel without the Church's permission. Resenting his circumstances, Galileo began to sign his letters: "From my prison."

5 Verdicts: Trial E