It doesn’t exactly seem like yesterday afternoon but pretty close to it, when I stood in an LAX cocktail lounge that erupted in cheers as jurors in O.J. Simpson’s murder trial announced they’d found him not guilty of killing Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. That was October 1995. Friday morning the Juice got squeezed for at least nine years by Vegas Judge Jackie Glass. A quick look at the date, December 5, shows how often Simpson has managed to remain in the news during the holiday season, even if only as a reference or subconscious public memory.

Dec. 5, 1994: Lawyers prepare to question alternate jurors for the trial, which would begin in January 1995.

Dec. 5, 1995: Following his acquittal, CNN’s Greta Van Susteren boasts she’s clinched the first TV interview with Simpson. “He wants to have an interview that has a level of credibility,” Van Susteren was quoted as saying. “I was adamant about no ground rules, and so was he.”

Dec. 5, 1996: Plaintiff lawyers begin resting their case in the wrongful-death civil suit, which Simpson will lose.

Dec. 5, 1997: NBC announces its appeal of a $2.5 million jury award to an Agoura Hills production company over a dispute involving O.J. Simpson, the Interview.

Dec. 5, 1998: Sports pages across the country note the 25th anniversary of Simpson’s breaking Jim Brown’s NFL rushing record.

Dec. 5, 1999: Sports pages across the country begin noting the 15th-anniversary week (Dec. 9) of Eric Dickerson’s shattering of Simpson’s NFL rushing record.

Dec. 5, 2000: A Miami motorist accuses Simpson, during a traffic stop, of grabbing his glasses and scratching his face.

Dec. 5, 2001: Simpson’s Miami home is searched by federal agents during an investigation of an Ecstasy drug ring.

Dec. 5, 2002: An E! Entertainment TV special about O.J. is announced as a finalist for the channel’s True Hollywood Story of the Year.

Dec. 5, 2003: CNN’s Anderson Cooper asks Jesse Jackson, “Is America becoming increasingly racially divided?” after citing a survey showing 88 percent of blacks polled believed Simpson to be innocent, compared to 41 percent of whites.

Dec. 5, 2004: Simpson’s name begins appearing in weeklong listings of Rose Bowl Most Valuable Players.

Dec. 5, 2005: Simpson is named the country’s biggest liar in a survey commissioned by Write Stuff Enterprises to promote the book All Men Are Liars.

Dec. 5, 2006: Outrage continues to fill the media over Simpson’s If I Did It book and interview deals, even after they’ve been terminated.

Dec. 5, 2007: The Project for Excellence in Journalism reports that Simpson ranked among the top personalities in its list of “leading newsmakers” — along with George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton — between July and September.

Read more observations on Los Angeles from Mikulan and other L.A. Weekly staffers as news breaks on our L.A. Daily blog.

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