By Karma catches up with the former NFL star 13 years after being found not guilty of his wife’s murder.
LAS VEGAS – Thirteen years to the day after being acquitted of killing his wife and her friend in Los Angeles, O.J. Simpson was found guilty of robbing two sports-memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room.
The 61-year-old former football star was convicted of all 12 counts late Friday after jurors deliberated for more than 13 hours. He released a heavy sigh as the charges were read and was immediately taken into custody.
Simpson, who went from American sports idol to celebrity-in-exile after his murder acquittal, could spend the rest of his life in prison.
His attorney said he would appeal.
Many people considered the four-week trial justice delayed. Simpson was cleared in 1995 of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, in one of the most sensational trials of the 20th century, but was later found liable for the deaths in a civil case.{Associated Press}
OJ’s defense attorney is already saying the verdict was payback for what he was accused of doing 14 years ago. Maybe, but it couldn’t happen to someone more deserving.
I will say this- Life in prison would seem extreme for the crimes Simpson was convicted of.
11:19 pm on October 3rd, 2008 1
Everyone let me welcome long time reader Bill to the ROK Drop. Bill also has his own blog you can checkout below:
http://thefloridamasochist.blogspot.com/
As well as contributing to Wizbang:
http://wizbangblog.com/author/Bill%20Jempty
Bill will be posting on mostly sports related events especially golf and again welcome aboard.
As far as OJ, it is justice delayed but I think he did do what he is accused of anyway. It will be interesting to see what his sentence will be.
5:07 am on October 4th, 2008 2
Every Dog has it's day…and I can hear the murderous Simpson baying wildly as he is led away.
9:41 am on October 4th, 2008 3
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5:41 pm on October 4th, 2008 4
Didn't you just remind us several posts ago that it's innocent until proven guilty? He was found innocent in his criminal trial for murder, so we should keep the snark toned down.
4:41 am on October 5th, 2008 5
Simpson has NEVER been innocent…he just played the race card in his first trial, with high priced lawyers and an incompetent prosecution team, and walked out of the door.
Won't be walking out of this door though…off to the pokey with him…
10:12 pm on December 6th, 2008 6
The United States has many laws but little justice.
I don't know if O.J. murdered his wife and her "friend" but that doesn't have any relationship to this current crime.
What O.J. did was foolish and emotional but is society (and the taxpayer) truly served by caging him for 9 to 33 years?
Does anyone believe that O.J.'s actions and motivations were anything more than to retrieve stolen personal property? Did he commit the "robbery" while trying to hide his well-known identity? Was he expecting a ransom for his "kidnapping"? Did he truly intend to harm anyone?
No. He got caught up in a chain of events where each step seemed like the right thing to do at the time but, as a whole, was the wrong thing. If you have not been in a similar (though, hopefully smaller-scale) situation, you spend way too much time in front of the TV.
Does he deserve to be punished? Certainly. As we are a nation of laws, he should have reclaimed his property through legal action in a civil court (although it is easy to understand why he could believe confronting the thief might lead to a hasty return of the stolen property without the expense, publicity or complications of a lengthy civil action with hard-to-prove ownership claims).
Does he deserve 9 to 33 years? No. For proof of this statement, one only needs to look at the sentences of violent criminals with truly evil intent.
This all occurred to me after I read about a guy who shot up a Chicago train in a murder-for-hire plot on a guy's ex-wife. When he found she hadn't been killed, he returned two days later and tried it again. Although the promised payment was $500, he settled for $30 and some crack.
Innocent people were injured. Average citizens were traumatized far beyond anything in the O.J. case. A train was shot up twice. The cost to society and the taxpayer was far greater and there is a much greater need to remove this offender from society for as long as possible.
What was his sentence? It is expected to be around 11 and a half years.
12:21 am on December 7th, 2008 7
OJS may have been found innocent of murder by a jury of idiots but the jury of the majority of the American people have found him guilty. Even his so called book was a confession of his guilt and a snub at justice.
The original jury should be charged with a crime – they bear some of the blood.
I feel sorry for his kids and the Goldman family.
3:17 am on December 7th, 2008 8
Pete,
That may or may not be true but it has no effect on the present crime. If we wish to maintain a fair and just legal system, it CANNOT have any effect.
6:10 am on December 7th, 2008 9
"…fair and just legal system???"
Kind of a moot point now…he will more than likely die in prison anyway.
"What goes around Comes around…"