O.J. Simpson Going to Jail, 13 Years Too Late

Acquitted-but-not-innocent double murderer O.J. Simpson may spend the rest of his life in jail after being convicted in a bizarre armed robbery.

The jury reached the verdict 13 years to the day after O.J. Simpson was acquitted of two murders.

Former gridiron great O.J. Simpson was found guilty Friday of all 12 counts in the armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas, Nevada, casino hotel last year. Simpson, 61, and his co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart, 54, were charged with a dozen offenses stemming from the sports memorabilia heist. Stewart was found guilty of the same charges as Simpson.

Simpson sat quietly and showed little emotion at the defense table as courtroom clerk Sandra Jeter read the verdicts.

After the verdicts were read, deputies immediately handcuffed Simpson and led him out of the courtroom.

Simpson and Stewart could spend the rest of their lives in prison for these convictions. Clark County District Judge Jackie Glass set sentencing for December 5.

Noteworthy here was a different jury demographic than he faced in his murder trial:

The jury of nine men and three women, none of them African-American, reached its verdict after 13 hours of deliberations Friday. Jurors heard from 22 witnesses over 12 days of testimony. Chief among the witnesses were seven of the nine people inside Room 1203 of the Palace Station Hotel and Casino for the September 13, 2007, confrontation.

The evidence included testimony from the two dealers, four co-defendants who cut plea deals and cooperated with prosecutors, and hours of often-profane, crackling, secretly recorded audiotapes.

A truly odd case all around, with Simpson apparently robbing some rather seedy characters to get back things which belonged to him but rightfully belonged to the families of his victims, who successfully sued him in civil court for damages resulting from the double homicide.

And, yes, this trial ended 13 years to the day from his infamous acquittal.

FILED UNDER: Law and the Courts, Popular Culture, ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. sam says:

    Maybe the wheels justice grind slowly at times, but at times they grind exceedingly fine.

  2. DL says:

    The arrogance of evil is thinking that just because you get away with murder that you can get away with real bad things like a small time robbery. This isn’t justice, but a window of the shame our system of justice has deteriorated into, by letting an obvious murderer off the hook because of PC.
    I’m afraid that PC will also elect our first pro-infanticide solialist president.

  3. Boyd says:

    But, but, but…

    They can’t lock him up! How will he ever find Nicole’s killer if he’s in prison?

    Noooooooo!!

  4. Eneils Bailey says:

    A truly odd case all around, with Simpson apparently robbing some rather seedy characters

    You gotta love sometimes, how justice is served.

    When a seedy character’s right are violated by a known killer, you just have to rejoice that justice was served off the bottom of the legal platter.

  5. Eneils Bailey says:

    Just think about the suffering and misery this piece of sub-human debris has brought.

    His ex-wife’s family, the Goldman family, and his children.

    He is a vile creature.

    Send this animal to a Nevada State prison. Maybe he will expire on the exercise yard; to be hosed off into a the sewerage ditch of unrepentant criminals.

  6. mike says:

    Hey, hey, hey, goodbye.

    It is a good day to be an American.

  7. Wayne says:

    American justice systems looses again. I’m not an O.J. fan and if he was struck down by lightning I wouldn’t loose any sleep. However this trial was a travesty. If he was anyone else he wouldn’t have even been brought up on many of these charges. One of our fundamental principles of our justice system is that a person is not guilty of a crime because he was perceived guilty of committing a previous crime. O.J. was targeted and convicted by vigilante emotions.

    The fundamentals of our justice system are more important than any one crime or case. Our justice system took a hit in the first O.J. case, his civil case and now this case. I will admit that on rare occasions I believe vigilante justice is just but it is very risky and should be done by individuals not mobs and certainly not our justice system. It greatly disturbs me that so many otherwise honorable people are so gleeful about vigilante justice carried out by our justice system. It is no wonder why our government and justice systems are so corrupted.

  8. Floyd says:

    So… let me get this straight…. It’s all the people who claim that we can’t trust the justice system who are now claiming that they got it right?

    Or is it more like…. If at first you don’t succeed, LYNCH THE BASTARD!??

    Or maybe… One bad trial deserves another?

    I guess the majority would prefer the “mAlice in Wonderland” approach…. No trial for the accused, just “OFF WITH HIS HEAD”
    Perhaps a different Queen would have been more sympathetic??[grinz]
    I guess it just wasn’t in the cards?[lol]