I was a big fan of OJ growing up, and I lived in Detroit during the whole trial. Watching the reactions of everyone in my office was eye opening as much of it was very dependent on the race of the individual. Black employees cheered when he was found not guilty and most of the rest of the employees just shook their heads. When the civil case found him guilty the black employees were upset and most the others said "See! He was guilty and should be in jail!"
The criminal prosecution was awful and didn't prove the criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt. There was definitely a greater than 50% likelihood he did it, so he lost the civil case.
Courts did what they do and both cases were decided correctly...even though we all know he most likely did it.