Could you explain why OJ Simpson was found not guilty of murder in a criminal trial?

And why he was found liable in a wrongful death action for the deaths of his ex-wife and the pizza delivery guy?

Based on the following information:

O.J. Simpson trial, criminaltrialof former college and professionalgridiron footballstarO.J. Simpson, who was acquitted in 1995 of themurderof his ex-wifeNicole Brown Simpsonand her friendRonald Goldman.

O.J. Simpson (centre) and his attorneys F. Lee Bailey (left) and Johnnie Cochran reacting to the not-guilty verdict at Simpson's criminal trial, Oct. 3, 1995.

On the night of June 12, 1994, Simpson's ex-wife and Goldman were stabbed to death outside her condominium inLos Angeles, and Simpson quickly became the prime suspect. Rather than surrender topoliceafter being notified of impending charges, on June 17 Simpson hid in the back of a sport-utility vehicle driven by his friend A.C. Cowlings. After being told that Simpson had agunto his own head, law-enforcement officers followed the vehicle at low speeds for more than an hour. The attempted "escape" was televised live nationallyseen by an estimated 95 million viewersand hundreds of Simpson's fans lined the streets in support of him. It ended at Simpson's home in Brentwood,California, where he was placed under arrest and taken into police custody.

Simpson was formally arraigned on July 22, 1994, entering a plea of not guilty. The trial began on January 24, 1995, withLance Ito as the presiding judge. The Los Angeles district attorney's office, led by Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden, emphasized thedomestic violencethat had occurred prior to and after the Simpsons' 1992 divorce as a motive for the murders. The attorneys representing Simpson, known as the "Dream Team," includedF. Lee Bailey, Robert Blasier, Shawn Chapman Holley,Robert Shapiro, andAlan Dershowitz;Johnnie Cochran later became the defense team's lead attorney. The Simpson defense was based largely on the grounds that evidence had been mishandled and that many members of theLos Angeles police departmentwere racist, particularly Mark Fuhrman, a detective who allegedly found a bloody leather glove at Simpson's home. The defense team argued that the glove could not have been Simpson's, because it appeared too small for his hand when he tried it on in the courtroom. In addition to the glove, the defense claimed that other important evidence had been planted by the police to frame Simpson. During the trial, which lasted more than eight months, some 150 witnesses testified, though Simpson did not take the stand.

On October 2, 1995, the jury finally began deliberating and reached a verdict in less than four hours. Ito, however, delayed the announcement until the following day. On October 3 Simpson was found not guilty of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. After the verdict, polls of public opinion continued to break down along racial lines. Whites were largely dismayed by the jury's decision, whereas the majority of African Americans supported it, seeing Simpson's acquittal as a victory in a legal system that systematically discriminated against blacks.

Although Simpson was acquitted in the criminal case, he was also sued by the victims' families for wrongful death, and the civil trial began in October 1996. Less than four months later, that jury found him responsible for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and awarded their families $33.5 million in damages.