Jailed For Life

For several months in 1995, the trial of Rosenthal James Simpson, better known as OJ Simpson, for the murder of Nicole Brown, his ex-wife and Ronald Goldman, her friend, held a global audience captive. It was an opera without equal, as it turned other highly rated and crowd-pulling shows across the United States of America into back-up options. For some, the jury which pronounced a non-guilty verdict on him was nothing but ‘a great trash novel come to life’, while others felt it was a ‘Daniel come to judgment’. For now, the former American football icon may spend the rest of his life in a tiny cell, following a court verdict that he is guilty as charged of armed robbery and kidnapping in Palace Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas.

Fresh troubles began for the 61 year-old Simpson when he was arrested in company of Clarence Stewart, for a 13 September attack on two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel. The duo were said to have been armed with guns and other dangerous weapons. Simpson who was slapped with a 12-count charge was, among others, charged for two counts of first degree kidnapping; two counts of robbery with deadly weapons; burglary while in possession of deadly weapons; two counts of coercion with use of deadly weapon; conspiracy to commit kidnapping; conspiracy to commit robbery, and conspiracy to commit a crime. The penalty for the first charge is a possible life in prison or at least 15 years, depending on the judge’s discretion. In addition, he could end up spending an additional one to 20 years behind bars for use of deadly weapon. He will not be eligible for parole until he has spent at least five years on the count.

On the second count, Simpson will, in addition to a possible one to 15 years, spend a mandatory two to five years behind bars for use of weapons. While he will be in prison for two to 15 years and two to 12 years on counts three and four, he will be without freedom for one to six respectively on each of counts five, six and seven. Cumulatively, he will not be eligible for parole until he has served at least, 12 years of the sentences.

Stewart, Simpson’s co-defendant was also found guilty on all 12 criminal charges. Significantly, numbers three and 13 appear to have an affinity with Simpson. On 3 October 1995 he was let off the hook on the murder charges. The same date 13 years later, he got guilty verdict on other charges and the judgment came after a four-week trial and a 13-hour deliberation by an all-white jury comprising three men and nine women. Though Simpson complained about the constitution of the jury, which he described as racist, his complaints were however turned down. “We have been painted as an all-white jury who hates OJ. That is not true,” Dora Petit, one of the jurors said.