The O.J. Simpson case, they had no understanding of that DNA evidence, and didn’t want to. – Joseph Wambaugh
When I wrote The Onion Field, I realized that my first two novels were just practice. – Joseph Wambaugh
I certainly believe it’s over for the jury system, but we won’t admit it for a while. – Joseph Wambaugh
The serial arsonist is the most difficult to apprehend because the evidence is burned up. – Joseph Wambaugh
The Onion Field made a real writer. And then I knew it was over, I couldn’t be a cop anymore. – Joseph Wambaugh
If you take 67 brush fires times 10 years, that’s almost 700 right there. Those brush fires are incredibly dangerous, all those homes going down proved that. – Joseph Wambaugh
I’m sure I took some licks at the system, and at trials and lawyers in general. I’ve seen enough of them for so many years both as a cop and a defendant in defamation cases. – Joseph Wambaugh
No one I know of has ever had this experience-where you had to sit and wait and wait for a DNA test to come back just so you can write the last page of the book. – Joseph Wambaugh
The Onion Field, that one got pretty close to me because I was a cop when it happened. I saw some of the indifference that my police department showed to the surviving officer. – Joseph Wambaugh
You’ve got people who are looking at DNA evidence and other evidence like that and they’re ignoring it. – Joseph Wambaugh
What is it about the component of fire? People have written about it. People have wondered about it. – Joseph Wambaugh
What I didn’t know was that if I didn’t stand with my back to the wall, Hollywood people would unscrew my ass and sell it down the river. – Joseph Wambaugh
Jury selection is strictly an emotional process. They’re looking for people they can manipulate. Both sides are. – Joseph Wambaugh
I enjoy doing the research of nonfiction; that gives me some pleasure, being a detective again. – Joseph Wambaugh
As a cop, I dealt with every kind of bum and criminal. They all have more integrity than some Hollywood people. – Joseph Wambaugh
When I interview people accused of capital offenses, I never even ask if they did it. I would consider that unprofessional. – Joseph Wambaugh
Today, lawyers are attacking more; they’re attacking everything. A good example is the O.J. Simpson case. – Joseph Wambaugh
