Famous Acquittals
Famous Acquittals, 20 years after Lorena Bobbitt Not only do we never forget these famous court decisions, but often they change the way we look at our society. That was the case 20 years ago this week, when Lorena Bobbitt was acquitted by reason of temporary insanity after she sliced off her husband's penis. From Andrea Yates to George Zimmerman, here is a look at some famous acquittals.
George Zimmerman
George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges in the shooting of Trayvon Martin on July 13, 2013. The death of the black teenager, who was unarmed, touched off a nationwide debate about race and self-defense.
Guess what Zimmerman's latest brush with the law has been, since his acquittal.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Strauss-Kahn gained notoriety when a maid at a hotel alleged that Strauss-Kahn sexually assault her. The charges against the ex-IMF chief were dropped (why?) on Aug. 23, 2011.
Strauss-Kahn was due to be tried for another illegal activity.
Casey Anthony
Casey Anthony was acquitted on July 5, 2011 of the murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, who disappeared from their Orlando, Fla. home. The trial was broadcast live nationwide.
But she was found guilty of lying to investigators. What was it she told them that prompted a nationwide search?
Basshunter
Swedish DJ, Basshunter, was found not guilty of sexual assault on June 14, 2011 after being charged following an incident in a Scottish nightclub. His most popular song (which one?) has over 140 million video views.
Price, Zaborsky, and Ward
Joseph Price, Dyland Ward and Victor Zaborsky were acquitted of all charges in the murder of Washington lawyer Robert Wone on June 29, 2010. The judge in the case believed the three men knew who killed Wone, but was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that they committed the crime.
R. Kelly
In a case that took nearly six years, R&B performing artist R. Kelly was acquitted of all charges against him on June 13, 2008.
Andrea Yates
Texas mother Andrea Yates confessed to drowning her five children in the bathtub of her suburban home near Houston. But on July 26, 2006, the jury in her retrial found that Yates was not guilty.
Robert Blake
A jury acquitted Robert Blake of murder in the shooting death of his wife Bonnie Lee Bakley on March 16, 2005, bringing an end to a case that played out like pulp fiction.
Three months later, Bakley's three children filed a civil suit against Blake. Blake was found liable for the wrongful death of his wife, and because of the amount owed in damages, he filed for bankruptcy.
Michael Jackson
The parent of a child who had been involved in sleepovers with other children at singer Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch made some sensational charges about what went on. In the resulting trial, lasting nearly half a year and ending on June 13, 2005, Michael Jackson was found not guilty on fourteen counts, including molestation and extortion charges.
Robert Durst
Robert Durst, the son of a real estate mogul, was a fugitive before he went on trial for the murder of his Galveston, Texas neighbor, Morris Black. Durst admitted dismembering Black's body, but the jury found him not guilty of murder.
Lorena Bobbitt
Lorena Bobbitt gained worldwide notoriety when she severed her husband's penis with a knife and threw it into a field from a moving vehicle. She claimed spousal abuse and rape. The jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity.
John Bobbitt attempted to generate money from his notoriety by forming a band.
Snoop Dogg
Rapper Snoop Dogg was acquitted of first- and second-degree murder charges in the shooting death of a gang member on Feb. 21, 1996 at a California park.
O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson was tried for murder but acquitted in Los Angeles for the 1994 killing of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. His lawyer gained notoriety through his now famous quote about bloody gloves supposedly used in the murder. Since his murder trial, Simpson has had other run-ins with the law.
John Henry Carpenter
John Henry Carpenter was accused in the murder of a famous actor, who is remembered most for his portrayal of a comedic colonel. Carpenter, a salesmen in video technology, was acquitted of all charges in 1994.
LAPD Officers in Rodney King case
Four Los Angeles Police Department officers were involved in a videotaped incident involving a motorist named Rodney King. The video shows LAPD officers beating Rodney King after a high-speed chase while he was on the ground outside his car. On April 29, 1992, three of the four officers were acquitted of the charges. The acquittals triggered riots in Los Angeles, which led to numerous deaths and injuries.
William Kennedy Smith
William Kennedy Smith, a physician and member of the Kennedy family, was acquitted in 1991 of a charge of raping a woman he had met at a Florida bar. In 2004, Smith resigned from the Center for International Rehabilitation, a humanitarian network he founded, after new allegations.
John Landis
John Landis was charged with involuntary manslaughter when a helicopter crashed and killed a man and two children who were on the set of a movie. After a nine-month trial, Landis was acquitted of the charges.
T. Cullen Davis
T. Cullen Davis, an American oil heir and one of the richest men in the country at the time, was acquitted of two separate murder charges after a shooting spree at a Fort Worth mansion. In 1976, he was found not guilty in the murder of his estranged wife's boyfriend and her daughter. In 1978, he was arrested for allegedly hiring a hitman to murder his wife, Priscilla, but he was acquitted again.
J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant
Emmett Till was murdered at age 14, allegedly because he flirted with a white woman in Mississippi in 1955. Two white men were charged in the killing, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam, but they were acquitted by an all-white jury. They confessed to the killing in a 1956 Look magazine article. Till's case became a pivotal event in the movement for civil rights.
Lizzie Borden
Lizzie Borden's father and stepmother were killed in 1892 in Fall River, Mass. The subsequent murder trial of Borden became one of the most famous in the United States, partly due to the circumstances and the brutality involved.
George Zimmerman
George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges in the shooting of Trayvon Martin on July 13, 2013. The death of the black teenager, who was unarmed, touched off a nationwide debate about race and self-defense.
Guess what Zimmerman's latest brush with the law has been, since his acquittal.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Strauss-Kahn gained notoriety when a maid at a hotel alleged that Strauss-Kahn sexually assault her. The charges against the ex-IMF chief were dropped (why?) on Aug. 23, 2011.
Strauss-Kahn was due to be tried for another illegal activity.
Casey Anthony
Casey Anthony was acquitted on July 5, 2011 of the murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, who disappeared from their Orlando, Fla. home. The trial was broadcast live nationwide.
But she was found guilty of lying to investigators. What was it she told them that prompted a nationwide search?
Basshunter
Swedish DJ, Basshunter, was found not guilty of sexual assault on June 14, 2011 after being charged following an incident in a Scottish nightclub. His most popular song (which one?) has over 140 million video views.
Price, Zaborsky, and Ward
Joseph Price, Dyland Ward and Victor Zaborsky were acquitted of all charges in the murder of Washington lawyer Robert Wone on June 29, 2010. The judge in the case believed the three men knew who killed Wone, but was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that they committed the crime.
R. Kelly
In a case that took nearly six years, R&B performing artist R. Kelly was acquitted of all charges against him on June 13, 2008.
Andrea Yates
Texas mother Andrea Yates confessed to drowning her five children in the bathtub of her suburban home near Houston. But on July 26, 2006, the jury in her retrial found that Yates was not guilty.
Robert Blake
A jury acquitted Robert Blake of murder in the shooting death of his wife Bonnie Lee Bakley on March 16, 2005, bringing an end to a case that played out like pulp fiction.
Three months later, Bakley's three children filed a civil suit against Blake. Blake was found liable for the wrongful death of his wife, and because of the amount owed in damages, he filed for bankruptcy.
Michael Jackson
The parent of a child who had been involved in sleepovers with other children at singer Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch made some sensational charges about what went on. In the resulting trial, lasting nearly half a year and ending on June 13, 2005, Michael Jackson was found not guilty on fourteen counts, including molestation and extortion charges.
Robert Durst
Robert Durst, the son of a real estate mogul, was a fugitive before he went on trial for the murder of his Galveston, Texas neighbor, Morris Black. Durst admitted dismembering Black's body, but the jury found him not guilty of murder.
Lorena Bobbitt
Lorena Bobbitt gained worldwide notoriety when she severed her husband's penis with a knife and threw it into a field from a moving vehicle. She claimed spousal abuse and rape. The jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity.
John Bobbitt attempted to generate money from his notoriety by forming a band.
Snoop Dogg
Rapper Snoop Dogg was acquitted of first- and second-degree murder charges in the shooting death of a gang member on Feb. 21, 1996 at a California park.
O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson was tried for murder but acquitted in Los Angeles for the 1994 killing of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. His lawyer gained notoriety through his now famous quote about bloody gloves supposedly used in the murder. Since his murder trial, Simpson has had other run-ins with the law.
John Henry Carpenter
John Henry Carpenter was accused in the murder of a famous actor, who is remembered most for his portrayal of a comedic colonel. Carpenter, a salesmen in video technology, was acquitted of all charges in 1994.
LAPD Officers in Rodney King case
Four Los Angeles Police Department officers were involved in a videotaped incident involving a motorist named Rodney King. The video shows LAPD officers beating Rodney King after a high-speed chase while he was on the ground outside his car. On April 29, 1992, three of the four officers were acquitted of the charges. The acquittals triggered riots in Los Angeles, which led to numerous deaths and injuries.
William Kennedy Smith
William Kennedy Smith, a physician and member of the Kennedy family, was acquitted in 1991 of a charge of raping a woman he had met at a Florida bar. In 2004, Smith resigned from the Center for International Rehabilitation, a humanitarian network he founded, after new allegations.
John Landis
John Landis was charged with involuntary manslaughter when a helicopter crashed and killed a man and two children who were on the set of a movie. After a nine-month trial, Landis was acquitted of the charges.
T. Cullen Davis
T. Cullen Davis, an American oil heir and one of the richest men in the country at the time, was acquitted of two separate murder charges after a shooting spree at a Fort Worth mansion. In 1976, he was found not guilty in the murder of his estranged wife's boyfriend and her daughter. In 1978, he was arrested for allegedly hiring a hitman to murder his wife, Priscilla, but he was acquitted again.
J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant
Emmett Till was murdered at age 14, allegedly because he flirted with a white woman in Mississippi in 1955. Two white men were charged in the killing, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam, but they were acquitted by an all-white jury. They confessed to the killing in a 1956 Look magazine article. Till's case became a pivotal event in the movement for civil rights.
Lizzie Borden
Lizzie Borden's father and stepmother were killed in 1892 in Fall River, Mass. The subsequent murder trial of Borden became one of the most famous in the United States, partly due to the circumstances and the brutality involved.
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