Naman Shrestha
When O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her acquaintance, Ronald “Ron” Goldman, were found brutally murdered in the former’s Los Angeles apartment in 1994, the NFL star was suspected of being involved in the double homicide. In a few days, he was arrested and charged with the murders, after which he assembled a team of competent defense attorneys, known as the Dream Team, for his trial. A part of the team was William “Bill” Thompson, who also features in Netflix’s ‘American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson,’ a four-part true crime docuseries that revisits the infamous murder trial of the century.
Bill Thompson Was One of the Key Members of the Dream Team During the O.J. Simpson Trial
William “Bill” C. Thompson was a part of the Dream Team that included the likes of Robert Shapiro, Carl E. Douglas, Peter Neufeld, F. Lee Bailey, Robert Blasier, and more. During the trial of the NFL star O.J. Simpson, who was accused of being responsible for the double homicide of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald “Ron” Goldman, Bill requested the judge to stop the prosecutors from asking personal questions from the scientists as it was irrelevant to the case itself.
He told the judge, “In this case, we’re dealing with very complex scientific issues. If we’re going to get to the bottom of these issues, the scientists must know that they can come into court and tell us what they know without having their personal lives scrutinized and their good names dragged through the mud.” Working on the case as a consultant, he was also kept on the team because he was an established DNA Specialist. Just like the rest of the defense attorneys on the team, he also contributed to getting OJ Simpson acquitted after a months-long trial.
Bill Thompson is an Experienced Academic and Part of Various Committees Today
After the O.J. Simpson case, William “Bill” Thompson received exposure that catapulted his professional career. As a lawyer, he has been an integral part of various high-profile cases that involved scientific and statistical evidence. Besides practicing law, Bill is also widely recognized as a well-established academic with several years of experience under his belt. Having his research funded by the National Institute of Justice, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), he has published multiple pieces on the subject of scientific and statistical evidence in the courtroom and how the jurors react to such type of evidence.
While serving as the Chair of the Human Factors Committee of the Organization of Scientific Advisory Committees (OSAC), Bill is also a member of the Human Factors Subcommittee of the National Commission on Forensic Science. Moreover, with a PhD to his name, he serves as a Professor of Criminology, Law & Society at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). He also deals with Psychology, Social Behavior, and the School of Law at the same university. Given his extensive knowledge of the subjects, he went to the University of Lausanne and the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge as a visiting scholar.
Being a member of the Maryland Attorney General’s Audit Design Team, his job is to dig deep into the allegations of racial and pro-police bias in the medical examination system of Maryland. At some point in his career, he also served on the Royal Statistical Society panel. Thanks to his report on the scientific status of STRMix, he was able to help out in a Daubert hearing, making him a Special Master for the United States District Court, District of Minnesota. From what we can tell, Bill currently works at Bio Forensics as a Senior Research and Development Scientist. As for his familial life, it seems that he prefers to keep it private and away from the limelight.
Read More: Barry Scheck: Where is OJ Simpson’s Defense Attorney Now?
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