OJ has spent just under a decade behind bars, and tomorrow, he could become a free man. According the Nevada Department of corrections, Simpson’s fate will be placed into the hands of four strangers on the parole board as early as tomorrow’ in the hope of having the remainder of his sentence overturned.
The former NFL star was sentenced to 33 years in a Nevada Prison on burglary and kidnapping charges. A far cry from the so called “trial of the century” that transfixed America following the murder of his ex wife and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.
So where did it all go so wrong for Simpson?
Many fans of NRL and in fact the world, were glued to their television sets, transfixed on 61 year old OJ Simpson, dressed in Prison uniform, walking into a Las Vegas courtroom in 2008 after a lifetime of good fortune, had all but dried up. OJ, was convicted of armed burglary and kidnapping after a bungled memorabilia heist in a Las Vegas hotel room, room 1203. Thirty three years in a Nevada Prison, the judge said “the sentence fits this crime” and made it perfectly clear, her decision was not influenced at all by the death of his ex-wife and friend.
Simpsons crooked path to the burglary began nearly a dozen years earlier with one of the most controversial acquittals in history. Simpson was represented by a very high-profile defense team (also referred to as the “Dream Team”), which was initially led by Robert Shapiro and subsequently by Johnnie Cochran. The team also included F. Lee Bailey, Alan Dershowitz, Robert Kardashian, Shawn Holley, Carl E. Douglas, and Gerald Uelmen. Two additional attorneys who specialised in DNA evidence, Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld were also added. Then came the result, “NOT GUILTY” of murdering ex wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman in June of 1994. It was a “Not Guilty” verdict that kept Simpson out of prison, but it didn’t shield him from being snubbed by his friends and slagged off by his many adoring fans after the trial.
Simpson actually believed that if he was found not guilty, he could just go back to his life and move on, but the people of Brentwood weren’t as forgiving and made it abundantly clear. Now rejected by “white America” he turned to the black community, attending various churches. He also started attracting friendships with unsavoury types, because to them, they wanted to hang with the ultimate “bad guy”. The OJ before the trial was a man in demand, a NFL legend, now, he was turning more into “The Godfather”.
Now the Goldman’s, start squeezing the man, once known as “The Juice”. The victims familie’s sue Simpson, and the criminal case goes very differently. No cameras were allowed, and this time, for the first time, Simpson is force to testify. Once Simpson opened his mouth, his story quickly began to fall apart, and this time the jury finds Simpson liable and awards the grief stricken families, a wrongful death judgement to the amount of a whopping 33 and a half million dollars. Finally justice for Ron and Nicole. Even though Simpson has continually denied any involvement in the murders, his career suffered immensely.
Then the judge in the trial ordered Simpson to hand over 100 items including, the 1968 “Heisman Trophy”, his golf clubs, collectables and various price fetching memorabilia. The sheriff sent moving trucks to Simpsons mansion, but Simpson got wind of this the day before, and had family and friends enter the property, grabbing what they could and taking to their various homes. Simpson made sure he wasn’t home and was out on a golf course, “deniability”.
The “Heisman Trophy” would later be sold at auction for a quarter of a million dollars, however other items made there way to a Las Vegas hotel room, Room 1203 where the cops and what some might call Karma are about to catch up with Simpson.
It’s now September 13, 2007 and Simpson, now a tarnished celebrity is back on the Vegas strip. He is heading off to a chapel where he would play the role of best man at a friends wedding, but thats not the only reason he is excited.
Thomas Riccio, co-owner of the auction house “Universal Rarities” is said to have alerted Simpson to a collector Al Beardsley who had obtained various items of Simpsons, hoping to on-sell them a great profit. It was agreed that Riccio would set up a meeting with the collectors under the guise that he had a private collector interested in buying the items in a hotel room.
Riccio would later authenticate the items with Simpson, who was unaware that Riccio likes to record all his conversations for legal purposes. Simpson tells Riccio the items are not memorabilia, they are in fact personal items that were stollen from him.
Simpson checks into the Palms Resort and poolside catches up with Riccio and some other unfavourable buddies, strategising on how to get back his stuff. OJ wanted to come across as intimidating as he could, so he asked two of the men separately if they could get hold of a gun. One of the men, concerned asked Simpson, “What if they call the Police”, to which Simpson replied “Fuck the Police, what are they going to do? Arrest me for taking my own stuff”.
The stage is now set. Together with his motley crew, Walter Alexander (gun) Michael McClinton (gun) Charles Ehrlich, and Thomas Ricco, they head to the hotel room to meet with the memorabilia collectors. Before arriving, they recruit two more guys. The plan was to send in two dummy buyers first. But that plan was thwarted when all the men came together in the hotel lobby. No-one knew anyone as they made their way up to the room. A simple knock on the door and all men, two with guns barged into the room. Riccio armed once again with his recorder, secretly taped the whole incident. These recordings would later prove to the court, OJ’s involvement and rash and extreme behaviour.
Simpson gives the order to grab everything, and stuff it into pillow cases from the bed. Before leaving one of the men removed the phone cord and took the two men’s mobile phones, so that they couldn’t call the police.
After Simpson and his crew left, the two collectors made there way to the hotel lobby where they called 911.
Simpson was later arrested and he told the police that the dispute was merely a confrontation with no guns. He said autographed sports collectibles, his Hall of Fame certificate, a photograph with former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and video from his first wedding were all his, and that they were stolen from him and were about to be fenced by unethical collectors. Police were clearly unsure of who owned the memorabilia. But they said the manner in which the goods were taken would come under investigation.
After being whisked away in handcuffs, Simpson was later booked on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy to commit a crime and burglary with a firearm.
The judge immediately ordered Simpson be held without bail.
In court at the sentencing, the former college and pro football star said he was simply trying to reclaim family heirlooms and other personal items that had been stolen from him, and claimed that he was unaware his associates were carrying guns.
For Ron Goldman and Nicole Browns families, news of the arrest brought great illation. When the verdict was finally handed down, both families felt that justice had finally been served.
If Simpson is granted parole, he could be walking free as early as October. Simpson’s age and reports of his good behavior in prison make parole a good possibility. He has served nine years of his 33-year sentence so far.
Since 2008, Simpson has been at Lovelock Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison in a remote desert town of the same name.
I guess we’ll all just have to sit back and wait to see how this all pans out.
