Photo: Vince Bucci/AFP/Getty Images.When O.J. Simpson was charged with the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown, and her friend Ronald Goldman, in 1994, Robert Kardashian was by his side. When Simpson was on trial for nine months, he stood by his side. Then, when Simpson was acquitted of the crime on October 3, 1995, Kardashian remained planted where? By his side.
However, by October of 1996, Kardashian had not only left Simpson's side, he also about-faced, telling Barbara Walters on 20/20 that he had his doubts about Simpson's innocence.
"Do you yourself have doubts about O.J. Simpson's innocence?" Walters asked, point blank. "I have my doubts," Kardashian replied.
A bold statement to say when he spent the better part of two years defending his longtime friend. An even bolder statement to say on television, and as Simpson's former legal counsel.
In episode eight of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, we see David Schwimmer as Kardashian show the same inklings of doubt. This really did happen, and as Kardashian told Walters, as early as the day of the Bronco chase.
To Walters, Kardashian also explained how Simpson failed every lie detector test because his heart rate sky-rocketed whenever Brown's name came up. He also gave more details about the near-suicide attempt by Simpson in his daughter's room.
He said he offered up a couple spots where Simpson could have killed himself if he so wished to. "I said, 'Why don't you do it right here,' knowing for some reason that he probably wouldn't," Kardashian said. "And he said — looked up at the sun and said, 'I can't do it here, I'll be baking in the sun.' I said 'O.J., you're not going to be here, your spirit's going to be gone. What do you care!' "
Kardashian also said that Simpson told him he thought he would go to hell, which could be translated as admitting guilt.
The two also touch on how the team manipulated the jury, how Shapiro and Cochran might have doubted Simpson's innocence as well, and how the blood evidence still made Kardashian really suspicious to this day. The "trial of the century," indeed.
Watch the 1996 20/20 interview below.
ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
There’s A New Rachel On Friends
The Catch Episode 2 Recap: "The Real Killer"
Peter Dinklage & Gwen Stefani Put On Their Space Pants For SNL