The O.J. Simpson trial may be thousands of miles west of here, but even in a state supposedly rooted in down-home values and common sense, many Iowans find themselves enamored with “Juice Mania.”

The “Trial of the Century” has no doubt taken the nation — indeed the state of Iowa included — by storm. But could the O.J. hoopla happen here, or is large-scale courtroom drama pure Californian?

Local officials say the Midwest is in no danger of being invaded by O.J.-style justice.

“It would surprise me if anything in this state could reach the magnitude of the Simpson case,” said Jeff Stein, a Marshalltown lawyer and journalism instructor at Iowa State.

Stein said the closest regional comparison to the Simpson case was the Drake Diner incident a few years ago. The difference being, Stein said, is that in the Drake Diner case, the defendants were not recognized worldwide.

In 1992, the diner, near the Drake University campus in Des Moines, was the site of a multiple murder.

Ames Mayor Larry Curtis, a lawyer and ISU professor, said the Simpson case was “pretty unique” to California.

Curtis called the environment surrounding the case a “different world,” especially when paralleled with other high-profile cases like the Susan Smith trial held in South Carolina. There was less media hype surrounding the Smith case, and the trial only lasted a couple of weeks.

The Simpson trial bears “no reflection on a normal court case,” Stein said. “It is an example of the best and worst that the judicial system has to offer. It has all of the technology and expert witness testimony, but it also exposes the abuses and excesses of the judicial system … which makes it a great case study.”

Both Stein and Curtis said part of the responsibility for the courtroom chaos rests with Judge Lance Ito.

“Judge Ito is to blame,” Curtis said in regard to the length of the Simpson trial. “If Ito had taken control early on, the trial would be less of a spectacle.”

John Sarcone, Polk County district attorney, agreed.

“The court hasn’t had total control of the courtroom,” he said. “Our judges here would have pushed it through by now.”

Judges have a lot of discretion and latitude in trials, Sarcone said.

But at this point, there isn’t much Ito can do to speed up the trial, Stein said. After Ito let the prosecution carry on for so long, he can’t be prejudiced with the defense by cutting their time, Stein said.

Cameras in the courtroom, comments by the lawyers on pending cases and the pretrial publicity of the Simpson case have all given people the wrong impression of the judicial system, Sarcone said. Sarcone said the public can learn about the trial through what is in the public record, and the rest should be left to courtroom discussion.

Curtis said part of the problem with the Simpson case is ulterior motives.

“Those involved in the case are interested in making money out of it, and the tragedy has been lost in the process,” Curtis said.

With a price tag in the $10 million range and the book and film potential of the trial, money has become a serious issue.

However, we cannot “put justice in terms of dollars and cents. It is a human life at stake,” Sarcone said.