One of the most interesting things about the O.J. Simpson trial was all of the personalities associated with it. From defense attorney Johnnie Cochran and prosecutor Marcia Clark to temporary celebrities Faye Resnick and Kato Kaelin, these are names that everyone still knows. One name that received a ton of backlash during the trial was LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman. Simpson's defense claimed that Fuhrman was racist and planted evidence against Simpson, which Fuhrman denied in an interview with The Seattle Times, calling the idea that he planted evidence "a ridiculous accusation." Quotes from Fuhrman after the trial show that he has continued to defend himself against such accusations. And in ESPN's docuseries O.J.: Made in America, Fuhrman has some interesting things to say about his involvement in it, though this isn't the first time he's spoken out.
Fuhrman appears throughout the five-part docuseries, but is an especially big presence in parts three and four, when the investigation and trial are at the center of the series. As the documentary goes through Fuhrman's testimony and the defense's accusations against him, he gives his thoughts on the process. Here's what Fuhrman has said about the Simpson case in O.J.: Made in America and other interviews since the trial of the century made his name known to people throughout the country.
"They found a flaw in me and then they made up a nexus..."
When Fuhrman's 1983 pension appeal and accusations of racism come up in O.J.: Made In America, he claims that Simpson's defense team took a small ember of something wrong with him and transformed it to fit the case. "They found a flaw in me and then they made up a nexus, a connection to the flaw to the case," he said. "I mean, I had a bad couple years. But I came out better, I came out of it."
"I am angry and bitter because the truth is a massaged reality..."
In 2016, Fuhrman told the New York Post , "I am angry and bitter because the truth is a massaged reality. Let’s play grown-up for a while. This is not about me. There will be another O.J., and what we have learned is that political correctness and stupidity trump justice." I disagree with his lamenting of "political correctness," especially as part of the Simpson case, which was much more complex than that.
"I was so fair. Beyond, beyond all scope of what you had to be..."
Speaking of his time in the LAPD, Furhman defends his abilities as a police officer in O.J.: Made In America, saying, "I was so fair. Beyond, beyond, all scope of what you had to be ... I didn’t use tasers, when I fought a suspect I fought straight-up. I was fair on the street. There was a time that I was pretty violent, but that was long before I was in the police department."
"You have no idea how little I care."
When asked by the New York Post if he is bothered by his public perception, Fuhrman replied by quoting the movie Monte Walsh, "You have no idea how little I care.
"For you it’s a documentary, for me it's the end of my life."
In O.J.: Made In America, Fuhrman reflects on the impact the trial has had on his life. "For you it’s a documentary, for me it's the end of my life," he said. Though Fuhrman has done other things since the Simpson trial — including writing a true-crime book about the case called Murder in Brentwood and becoming a forensics and crime expert for Fox News — he will always be best known for his involvement in the trial of the century, and will likely be asked to speak about it for years to come.
