OJ verdict stuns US

In a stunning upset for the United States legal system, a Los Angeles jury yesterday found OJ Simpson, one of America's most admired black celebrities, not guilty of double murder. He was released immediately.

The verdict, brought by a jury including nine blacks, has divided the country along racial lines and is likely to cause a white backlash that could result in harsher legal restrictions for defendants.

As the verdict was read, Mr Simpson gasped in astonishment, took a deep breath and broke into a smile. He hugged his lead defence counsel, Johnnie Cochran, and clasped a hand of the lawyer and friend, Robert Kardashian. He waved at the jury and mouthed the words, "thank you".

The sobbing of the families of the murder victims - Mr Simpson's former wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ronald Goldman - could be heard in the packed courtroom.

Outside the court, a jubilant crowd cheered, while the congregation at a black church in the South Central ghetto area fell to their knees and prayed. Mr Simpson was driven home in a white van pursued by media helicopters and vehicles, a bizarre echo of the freeway "chase" leading to his arrest 16 months ago.

In a statement read by his family, Mr Simpson said: "The killer or killers are still out there and I intend to pursue them."

The jury's verdict, reached in less than four hours, was a climactic ending to the nine-month "trial of the century".

President Bill Clinton watched it on television in a room next to the Oval Office. He said in a written statement: "The jury heard the evidence and rendered its verdict. Our system of justice requires respect for their decision. At this moment our thoughts and prayers should be with the families of the victims of this terrible crime."

Mr Cochran transformed the prosecution's mass of circumstantial and forensic evidence into a trial of the LA police for racism and incompetence.

Fred Goldman, the father of Ronald, who lashed out against Mr Cochran's "disgusting" exploitation of race, said: "The prosecution did not lose today. The country lost. Justice was not served."

Mr Cochran denied the charge. "Race plays a part in everything in America and we need to understand that, but this story about playing a race card is preposterous."

Robert Shapiro, however, the defence team lawyer displaced by Mr Cochran, said he was ashamed his side had played the "race card". He added that he would never work with Mr Cochran again.

The Los Angeles police chief, Willie Williams, described the verdict as a blow to the department. "We have been pulled a little bit apart," he said.

Opinion polls have shown a majority of whites believe Mr Simpson guilty while two-thirds of blacks have insisted on his innocence, 83 per cent expressing a distrust of the legal system. Although lawyers hastened to defend the system, the verdict brought demands for reforms.

As the trial unfolded it was clear the prosecution's "mountain of evidence", including the latest DNA blood tests, was being overshadowed by racial animosity. The detective, Mark Fuhrman, was revealed as a white supremacist who had boasted about fabricating evidence against blacks.

"I think we did the right thing," said one juror returning home after eight months in a Los Angeles hotel. "I know we did."