O.J. Simpson meets the Nevada penal system
Who knew that jurors arriving at dramatic late-night guilty verdicts didn't die out with the Brothers Karamazov? I wish I had been there. Some hard workers were present including the LA Times' Ashley Powers, who offered an accounting of what happened in the room as Simpson's fate was announced.
Even Dostoyevsky would be confounded by the truly bizarre timing of this conviction on robbery and kidnapping charges on the very anniversary of Simpson's acquittal 13 years ago on double murder charges.
After the announcement of the guilty verdict, as the defense lawyer and retired judge Dayvid Figler had predicted to me back at the start of the trial, Judge Glass immediately ordered Simpson directly to jail pending sentencing. She did not have to do that: Glass could have let him stay free on bail until sentencing. One assumes she will keep Simpson incarcerated through the appeal process as well.
After the controversy over jury selection (the jury, excluding alternates, had no African American members) guaranteed at least one appeal by the defense if there was a guilty verdict, Figler, like the other defense attorneys I spoke to on the topic, told me that the standard wait for the Nevada Supreme Court to hear and decide an appeal is about 2 years. But the Nevada Supreme Court can take as long as they want to take and often take longer.
So, now, even if Simpson were to succeed in appealing the jury verdict and have that verdict vacated by the Nevada Supreme Court, those two or so years will likely be spent behind bars. Even then, under a best-case scenario, if Simpson emerges victorious and the verdict on every charge is vacated by the Nevada Supreme Court, the decision on whether Simpson would stay in jail pending his new trial would be in the hands -- in all likelihood -- of Judge Glass again. No obvious scenario plays out that allows Simpson to walk free after last night's conviction in the short term.
So, as of now, Simpson is no longer a free man, and that will be the case for quite some time. Simpson will stay in jail until sentencing in December and then he will be sent to prison in Nevada. These are likely to be very hard years for Simpson. Nevada's prison system is not meant for celebrities. Because of the seriousness of the charges, there is the real possibility he will ultimately have to be sent to Nevada's maximum security prison in Ely. And there Simpson would likely spend years totally isolated from his fellow prisoners for his own safety.
I reached Figler early this morning to find out how long Simpson is likely to be sentenced by Judge Glass, and ask what Simpson's chances are on appealing the verdict. Figler noted that judges in Nevada have a very wide discretion for sentencing. Simpson could get anywhere from a few years to a possible life sentence. If a gun had not been involved in the case, Figler says, even probation would have been a possibility.
As for the jury verdict and the appeals, Figler noted: "The kidnapping is a hyper-technical finding and I expect that to have a good chance on appeal." But that is only one of the charges, and Figler believes the reality at this point is that that the 61-year-old Simpson could spend many of his remaining years in the prison system of Nevada.
(Photo: Daniel Gluskoter/AFP/Getty Images)
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There will be no successful appeal. A defendant is not entitled to jurors who share his ethnicity. Las Vegas has a very small percentage of black people and it appears that the prosecution was able to exclude them all with either pre-emptory challenges or for cause. If anyone thinks that will be a successful issue you better think again.
Posted by: Rick Baker | October 04, 2008 at 09:28 AM
God works in mysterious ways, but he gets the job done in the end.
Posted by: RN | October 04, 2008 at 09:30 AM
Not having a mixed jury, white , black, hispanic etc., I would expect an unfair verdict. There is no denying that racial issues can and likely did have a say in this. The court was obviously aware of this and a conspiracy to incarcerate is a possibilty since if the jury was of a mixed race the likelyhood of a guilty verdict was lsim . Therefore the only guarantee of locking up Simpson enven temporarily pending an appeal was to use an all white jury. Unfair ? Absolutely. But the system operates tha way !
Posted by: Rick | October 04, 2008 at 09:32 AM
God works in mysterious ways, but he gets the job done in the end.
Posted by: RN | October 04, 2008 at 09:30 AM
___________________________________
Lets see if you are equally as enthused when your own verdict is read.
Posted by: saveoursouls | October 04, 2008 at 09:34 AM
How fitting. 13 years to the day. 13 hours to convict. 12 Jurys with 1 Judge = 13 and finally God does work in His own ways. But the point is. No one can even if you do own or think that you own something, take the law into your own hands.
Anyone who thinks different, then imagine if you thought that a bank had taken your money or your home (whether it is right or not) and you walked into the bank with a guy and 2 thugs to get back that which you think is yours. Same thing. No one in our society can be allowed to take the law into their own hands. PERIOD.
It does not matter what happened therefore 13 years ago. This is today and he is guilty of this crime so pay the price.
Posted by: Dexter | October 04, 2008 at 09:40 AM
Grist mills of the Lord...it's about time, O.J. Don't drop the soap...
Posted by: frankt | October 04, 2008 at 09:41 AM
Many who come to Las Vegas think it's a wide open town where anything goes. This is a severe misapprehension. So many people come here with bad intentions and this case may help to convince all you out there to watch your step. This place may look like a fake Italian palazzo but there is a lot of "Old West Mentality" here. Sleep well Mr. Simpson.
Posted by: Mary Langford | October 04, 2008 at 09:47 AM
How will OJ look for the killers of Nicole if he's in prison?
Posted by: Joe Sixpack | October 04, 2008 at 09:57 AM
nevada is the state that knows how!
Posted by: cereal killer | October 04, 2008 at 09:58 AM
Las Vegas/Clark County is well known for it's kangaroo courts, O.J. picked the wrong town to pull this stunt, he could of easily walked or been convicted, or even copped to a lessor plea, depending if he knew the right people and had the right money.
Look's like O.J. got what he deserved, and he's not quite as smart and above the law as he thought he was.
Posted by: Raul X. Garcia | October 04, 2008 at 10:01 AM
I guess it is true...what goes around....comes around. It was inevitable. If someone learns that they can avoid the consequences of the law, they will eventually break the law again. Nevada did a much better job than California.
Posted by: Cari | October 04, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Poetic justice at its best. Riccio should be going to jail with him....
Posted by: notaplaya | October 04, 2008 at 10:04 AM
Blacks were not excluded from the jury - there were two black alternate - that's 2 out of 16 on the jury in a state where only 1 out of 16 is black - so Rick Baker (above) is way wrong. Get you facts straight bozo.
Posted by: Cromag | October 04, 2008 at 10:06 AM
This was long over due! I am at peace with this piece of &^%$. I am so happy the families and friends of the victims can finally rest. He is not a good person by any means and the past did catch up to him. I hope he burns inhell
Posted by: Kevin | October 04, 2008 at 10:08 AM
There will not be a successful appeal beyond perhaps one or two counts and he will be in jail for many years. And-there will be no outcry from the African American community that championed and stood by OJ in the mid Nineties, and who he completely ignored once he was cut loose.
Posted by: Rick A | October 04, 2008 at 10:08 AM
So much for the Goldmans making money off of Simpson. I always thought the odds being pretty high for young but six foot and muscled Ron to have said the N word to supposedly over the hill Simpson standing there pathetically on Bundy on foot. Now there won't be earnings outside the NFL retirement to attach.
Posted by: Tony S. | October 04, 2008 at 10:11 AM
I am happy that the jury found OJ guilty and after December 4 i am hoping that we never see OJ on the tv again. He thought he thought he was above the law but this time he was wrong.
In regards to CJ Stewart, he should have taken a plea deal and be a witiness for the DA now he is facing a life sentence in jail. CJ you rolled the diced and it did not turn in your favour this time.
Posted by: John | October 04, 2008 at 10:15 AM
Not ok on the liberal San Francisco site to call another poster a Bozo. Cromag's lucky his post is to a place down south aways...
Posted by: Tony S. | October 04, 2008 at 10:17 AM
ALL OF YOU DO GOODERS OUT THERE KNOW THAT O.J. WAS CONVICTED BEFORE HIS FEET EVEN TOUCHED THE COURT ROOM FLOOR.
Posted by: HARRY O. | October 04, 2008 at 10:20 AM
OJ has been hated by the white community every since his murder trial. I think the punishment in store for his current circumstances is likely to be harsh and excessive. I do think he's lost touch with reality and I feel sorry for his children--Nicole's children. A normal rational person would recognize how vulnerable they were after what OJ has been through. They never would have chanced the involvement OJ set out upon by entering that hotel room. OJ is a presently a threat to himself and others, but I don't believe that threat is justly reflected in all the charges they levied against him. Still, if the judge harbors a suspicion OJ was factually guilty of Nicole's murder, she may believe the deeper she buries OJ, the safer the public will be. Given all that, I have my doubts about OJ's mental acuity. And, no, I don't feel sorry for him. It's just that I hate seeing a black man cast as the boogie man.
Posted by: pinbalwyz | October 04, 2008 at 10:22 AM
"God works in mysterious ways, but he gets the job done in the end.
Posted by: RN | October 04, 2008 at 09:30 AM"
Well using this adage then it's a safe bet that this country will pay for its long history of sins....
Posted by: ConradDobler | October 04, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Mind-boggling to me the guy actually thought he could get away with waltzing in on people with his hired thugs and guns. Vegas is wild and crazy, but NOT that wild and crazy! And if I were a black person I'd be more than a little annoyed by the suggestions that blacks on the jury would have automatically meant a different verdict. The guy was way out of line, whether he was black, blue or Martian. Why would not a black juror see it the same way? Race was not an issue here. Extremely stupid judgment was. Personally, I think there was some part of OJ that maybe felt like he wanted to push the envelope, out of a sense of guilt from before? I wonder. Anyway, the envelope pushed back this time. I just hope some red-neck guy named Buford doesn't spout off with, "Can't vote a black man like Obama because of this stuff"
Posted by: pat | October 04, 2008 at 10:45 AM
I'm confused. One person here stated that if there were blacks on the jury that the verdicts would have been different. I think the person was implying (or flat out stating) that black people think differently and should be held to a different standard. From my understanding the facts of the case were not in dispute. What was in dispute was whether or not OJ knew people werer bringing guns and his role in that. Are black people to be held to a different standard simply because of their race? Don't forget that OJ lived most of his adult life in a white community with white friends. Is it okay to use guns to settle a dispute if you are black and not if you are white? Is it okay to break into a hotel room to take stuff if you are black and not if you are white? I just don't understand. I thought people are people. Laws are laws. Facts are facts. Our justice system is supposed to be color blind, but rarely is. Why the outrage over no black jurors?
Posted by: Craig | October 04, 2008 at 10:54 AM
This was a straight forward case of robbery/kidnapping/burglary. Nothing more.
Forget the race card stuff. That was the past. That didn't have anything to do with this. A jury of O.J. Simpson's peers found him, and a co-defendant, guilty of all charges related to a serious crime. It had nothing to do with something that happened 13 years ago. He can appeal with that basis from now til doomsday. It has no bearing on this case. Casinos in Las Vegas don't take kindly to people coming in there with dangerous firearms, waving them around, threatening people and disrupting everything. Just the way it is. A straight forward robbery case.
Just last week, O.J. Simpson was at some restaurant here in Las Vegas, standing there smiling, shaking hands, hugging, kissing babies. Like he was a politician or something. Now that circus is put to rest. We don't have to look at that stupid stuff no more.
Only one good thing came out for O.J. Simpson. A few days ago, he stated he was contemplating moving to Nevada and establishing residency in Las Vegas. Well, part of this desire has been granted. The living in Las Vegas part can't though. It's more likely going to be a Nevada State prison in the desert well north of here.
Posted by: ColinFromLasVegas | October 04, 2008 at 11:07 AM
I lived and worked in Vegas. It's a tough law enforcement town. Many of the Casino security are ex-police. Security consultants-ex FBI.
Cameras everywhere; and I mean EVERYWHERE.
Frontier law HAHAHAHAHAHA More like '1984'.
They keep a 'Black Book' that keeps the Mafia out.
Did I say cameras were everywhere?
Have a good time.
Posted by: Tempest | October 04, 2008 at 11:08 AM