Kriti Mehrotra
As a documentary series delving into the investigation and trial of a case that has long become a cultural phenomenon, Netflix’s ‘American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson’ truly lives up to its title. That’s because it incorporates not just archival footage but also exclusive interviews with almost everyone close to the matter to really underscore these baffling public events of 1994-1995. Amongst those to thus be mentioned significantly throughout this original production was none other than Marcia Rachel Clark (née Kleks, formerly Horowitz), the lead prosecutor in this trial.
Marcia Clark Developed a Passion for Law Following a Personal Tragedy
Although born in Alameda, California, as the daughter of Rozlyn Masur and Abraham Kleks into a traditional Israeli Jewish household, Marcia grew up all across the US. Her father was actually a chemist for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As a result, he often had to relocate with his loving family almost every single time. Hence, the then-young girl ended up calling several states, like California, Michigan, Maryland, and New York, her home at different points in her life before eventually choosing to settle down.
According to records, Marcia graduated from a public institution named Susan E. Wagner High School in Staten Island before later enrolling at the University of California, Los Angeles. It was while she was looking forward to her future, though, that her world completely turned upside down during a trip she had taken to Eilat in her homeland of Israel at the tender age of 17. After all, she was sadly violently raped by a man at least 10 years older than her after they met by chance at a cafe where he worked, only for it to remain in her subconscious despite her trying to block it out.
Marcia has candidly expressed she never told a soul about her assault until years later, but she does believe it greatly influenced her decision to pursue a career as an attorney, particularly as a state prosecutor. This is even backed by her background, considering she graduated from the University of California with her Bachelor’s in Political Science in 1976 before resolving to pursue a Juris Doctorate. She earned this degree from the Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, California, in time, without any issues, subsequently driving her to join the State Bar of California in 1979.
Marcia Clark Gave Her All in the O.J. Simpson Murder Case
While it’s true that Marcia kickstarted her career in private practice before evolving into a defense attorney, she found her calling as a prosecutor for the city of Los Angeles not long after in 1981. In fact, she landed the role of Deputy District Attorney, enabling her to not only take on many high-profile cases but also establish a reputation as a no-nonsense yet caring lawyer. Some of her most well-known cases have been her 1991 prosecution of Robert John Bardo for the murder of television star Rebecca Schaeffer and the 1995 trial against O.J. Simpson for the double homicide of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald “Ron” Goldman.
It was in between this period that Marcia was reportedly told to soften up her look so as to better appeal to her jurors, especially considering her command of the room as a lawyer, but it wasn’t seamless. She became well-known for being a lawyer who broke bounds, but it was soon overshadowed by everything that went on during the 1994-1995 trial itself. Moreover, as per the aforementioned show, she allegedly made some errors in the proceedings – like not objecting to certain claims by the defense or having possibly unreliable witnesses testify – and it is believed to have played a role in O.J.’s acquittal on October 3, 1995.
According to the show, the prosecutor’s analysis team had made it clear through their questioning that people of color may be the worst jury pool to have for this matter. However, since Marcia had previously won cases with them, she didn’t mind it, and the jury ended up being made up of ten women and two men, of whom nine were black, two were white, and one was Hispanic. The fact she didn’t raise objections in several instances when her co-prosector thought she could have also didn’t do them any favors, but Marcia has always maintained she did her best.
Marcia Clark Has Since Grown Into a Public Figure
While Marcia has long since maintained she gave the O.J. Simpson murder trial her all, she resigned once it came to a close owing to the publicity of the matter and the added stress it gave her. Instead, she then chose to spread her wings as an author and co-wrote a memoir titled ‘Without a Doubt’ alongside author Teresa Carpenter to detail her experiences in this case in 1997. It was in this book that she also mentioned her past trauma publicly for the very first time, asserting the incident had come flooding back to her after years when she was prosecuting a case for a fellow young rape survivor.
As per Marcia’s own statements, it was only following this that she began dealing with her internalized pain and decided to move towards healing, all the while continuing her career as a writer. We say writer because, once the deal for her first book was allegedly closed at $4.2 million, she expanded her scope by penning not only entertainment projects but also true-crime books. She started out by writing a pilot script for a show called ‘Borderland’ that would essentially be a dark version of the DA’s office, but it never got made despite FX purchasing the rights to it.
Marcia continued down this path to sell various projects to different networks across the nation, like CBS, Lifetime, NBC, and VH1, all the while also contributing to various publications as a freelance reporter. Then, by the time the early 2010s rolled around, the former Deputy District Attorney had evolved into a fiction writer with the Rachel Knight series, which also revolves around a prosecutor in the Los Angeles district attorney’s office. The first book (of 6) of this series was adapted into a drama series on TNT in 2014, but it sadly didn’t pan out in the way that was expected. So, Marcia began working on her second series, the Samantha Brinkman series, which centers around a defense attorney. It has four books as of now, but Marcia’s most recent work is another non-fiction, titled ‘Trial by Ambush: Murder, Injustice, and the Truth about the Case of Barbara Graham’ (2024).
Marcia Clark Prefers to Keep Her Personal Life Away From the Spotlight
Despite the fact Marcia is quite a well-known public figure, not much is known about her personal experiences since she prefers to keep them well away from the limelight. However, we do know the true-crime expert, ‘Informants: Lawyer X’ podcast host, special high-profile trial correspondent, as well as a guest attorney on ‘Power of Attorney,’ is a twice-divorced mother of two. Her first marriage with Israeli professional backgammon player Gabriel Horowitz came to an end following four years in 1980, with them having no children as they were quite young at the time. However, it has been alleged that he sold topless photos of his ex-wife to the National Enquirer during the O.J. Simpson trial for a quick cash grab.
Coming to Marcia’s second marriage, she tied the knot with Gordon Clark the same year her divorce from Gabrial was finalized in 1980, following which they welcomed two sons into this world: Kyle and Travis. But alas, after 15 years, their marriage crumbled apart too, resulting in a custody feud wherein the father of two went as far as to allege he should have full custody since his ex worked long hours as a prosecutor. In response, the then-prosecutor reasserted her commitment to her children before the man whose last name she still carries for making their struggles public. In the end, it appears as if they shared custody of their then-3 and 5-year-old, with Marcia moving to Calabasas to lead a quieter life. That’s where she reportedly still remains to this day.
Read More: Carl E. Douglas: Where is OJ Simpson’s Defense Attorney Now?
You must be logged in to post a comment.