The verdict, coming 16 months after Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman were slashed to death in the front yard of Mrs. Simpson's condominium and after 9 months of what often seemed like interminable testimony, sidebars and high-priced legal bickering, was reached in the end with breathtaking speed. When it was read, much of the nation, President Clinton included, stopped work to listen to it. And with the Simpson verdict, as with the Simpson case, the nation once more divided -- largely along racial lines. So, too, did defense lawyers, with the onetime chief of Mr. Simpson's legal team, Robert L. Shapiro, criticizing his successor. "Not only did we play the race card, we dealt it from the bottom of the deck," Mr. Shapiro told Barbara Walters tonight in an interview on an ABC News special.

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Persons: Orenthal James Simpson, Nicole Brown Simpson, Ronald L, Goldman, Clinton, Simpson, Robert L, Shapiro, Mr, Barbara Walters Organizations: ABC