Really? No OJ announcement?

[Double_G]

Damn, Newsbot, step your game up.

[Newsbot]

Code: Select all

Simpson planned acquittal party

O.J. Simpson was so confident that he was going to beat the rap again that he had an acquittal party planned, it was learned.

Simpson associate Thomas Riccio, after an in-studio interview Friday with radio talk-show host Anthony Crivello and retired Las Vegas police detective Phil Ramos, invited them to join O.J.'s entourage at an undisclosed location.

"That's how certain he was," Crivello said during an interview on Saturday, a day after Simpson and co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart were found guilty on all counts, including armed robbery and kidnapping with a deadly weapon.

"He's been predicting a hung jury," said Ramos, who attended the trial and provided expert commentary on Crivello's show, "The Sicilians" on Fox Sports Radio KBAD-AM, 920.

"The first thing that popped into my head," Ramos said, "was Sandy Murphy." He was referring to Murphy's overconfidence the day the jury began deliberating in 2000 when she and Rick Tabish were accused of killing casino operator Ted Binion in 1998.

While getting ready to return to jail, Murphy called out to her attorney John Momot, "See you at Piero's tonight, John," a reference to her favorite restaurant.

She had to eat her words when the jury came back several days later with guilty verdicts for her and Tabish, her lover. They were convicted of killing Binion in 1998. Three and a half years later, the Nevada Supreme Court overturned her and Tabish's convictions for murder.

Riccio had arranged Simpson's meeting that led to the September 2007 holdup of two memorabilia dealers at Palace Station.

Las Vegas resident, Buffalo Bills fan, and vynsane.com forum member Rogue II was looking forward to the festivities.

[Newsbot]

Code: Select all

Simpson isolated in jail, focuses on future appeal 

 LAS VEGAS - O.J. Simpson is being isolated from other prisoners for his own safety but continues to hope for a new trial and a strong bid to reverse his conviction for kidnapping and robbery, his lawyer said Sunday.
ADVERTISEMENT

Attorney Yale Galanter told The Associated Press that Simpson will be living a lonely life, advised by his lawyers to do no media interviews and allowed to see only family members and a few friends placed on a special list at the jail.

Simpson will be held in the Clark County Detention Center until his Dec. 5 sentencing and then is expected to be moved to state prison. Galanter said he will pursue a request for Simpson to be released on bond during the appeals process.

But because of the seriousness of the charges, Simpson would probably remain in jail during an appeal. Galanter said an appeal cannot be filed until after sentencing.

"He is in isolated custody and being protected from other inmates," Galanter said aboard a plane as he prepared to return to his Miami office. "The jail is taking very special precautions to make sure he is safe."

Galanter said that will make for a difficult incarceration for the gregarious Simpson, because "it limits his contacts with other humans."

The attorney said Simpson was OK during a jail visit Saturday during which they discussed plans for the case. "He's disappointed and a bit melancholy," he said.

The 61-year-old Hall of Fame football star was convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery and 10 other charges for gathering five men a year ago and storming a room at a hotel-casino to seize Simpson sports mementos — including game balls, plaques and photos — from two collectors. Prosecutors said two of the men with him were armed; one testified Simpson had asked him to bring a gun.

Galanter said he believes Simpson has a strong argument for reversal of his conviction because of legal errors made during the trial, beginning with the jury selection process.

He said issues to be raised on appeal will include the elimination of all African-Americans from the jury and the inclusion of jurors who believed that Simpson should have been convicted at trial in Los Angeles in 1995 of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Juror Fred Jones acknowledged to the Los Angeles Times that he thought Simpson killed his ex-wife and her friend but said he put that aside when considering the Las Vegas case.

"We went out of our way not to mention that," Jones said. "That was never, never in our thoughts."

Jury foreman Paul Connelly said the murders "really didn't come up" as the jury deliberated.

"I honestly believe in my heart of hearts that it did not" affect the verdict," Connelly told the Los Angeles Times.

Lawyers for Simpson's co-defendant, Clarence "C.J" Stewart, have said they also plan a strong appeal with focus on their claim that he was prejudiced by having to stand trial with Simpson. They had filed numerous severance motions, claiming that Simpson's notoriety would infect Stewart's case.

[Newsbot]

Code: Select all

O.J. Simpson's luck runs out after 13 years

 LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - O.J. Simpson, who more than a decade ago stunned much of America by beating murder charges, found himself in a Las Vegas jail on Saturday, facing the possibility of life in prison after a jury found him guilty of kidnapping and robbery in a dramatic late-night verdict.
ADVERTISEMENT

The former football star who walked away from his "Trial of the Century" a free man amid widespread views he had stabbed and slashed his ex-wife and her friend to death, was handcuffed and led to jail on Friday night after he and a co-defendant were convicted of robbing a pair of sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel.

A court clerk quickly rattled off a dozen guilty verdicts against him and co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart that jurors returned after 13 straight hours of deliberations, 13 years to the day after his October 3, 1995, acquittal in Los Angeles.

Simpson's family members were left sobbing in the front row of the courtroom and his sister, Carmelita Durio, was treated by paramedics after collapsing.

Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass summarily rejected requests by lawyers for Simpson, 61, and Stewart, 54, that they be allowed to remain free until the December 5 sentencing.

Both men, who were found guilty of conspiracy, burglary, kidnapping, robbery and assault, face mandatory minimum penalties of five years in prison but could end up with life terms.

While Friday's courtroom scene was emotional, it did not grip America and attract the millions of viewers who watched live in 1995 when Simpson was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

On Saturday, Ron Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, told CNN, "We're absolutely thrilled to see that the potential is that he could spend the rest of his life in jail where that ... belongs."

The Brown family on Saturday issued a terse statement asking for privacy.

FEW SCREAMING HEADLINES

In contrast to the murder case which riveted much of the world, divided Americans sharply along racial lines and ushered in a new age of celebrity journalism, Simpson's three-week Las Vegas trial generated few screaming headlines and none of the circus-like atmosphere.

But prosecutors told jurors during opening statements that the armed confrontation at the Palace Station hotel and casino grew out of grudges Simpson had nursed since his murder trial and civil case, and suggested that they could right a wrong by convicting him.

"You will be able to write that final chapter, the chapter of arrogance and hypocrisy and that will be the true verdict. The verdict you can feel good about," prosecutor Christopher Owens said at the time.

Witnesses said the former star athlete once known as "The Juice" and five sidekicks stormed into Room 1203 of the Palace Station and held sports memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley at gunpoint, making off with thousands of dollars in collectibles.

Defense lawyers argued that much of the property belonged to Simpson and that he wasn't aware that two of his cohorts were carrying guns. Four of Simpson's accomplices that day agreed to plead guilty and testified against him at the three-week trial.

On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were found stabbed and slashed to death.

Simpson was quickly charged and after a trial that lasted for more than a year was acquitted on October 3, 1995.

A civil court jury later found Simpson liable for the deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages to the victims' families, a judgment that remains largely unpaid.  

How will he ever find Nicole's killer now?

[Newsbot]

5 O.J. Simpson jurors disagreed with 1995 acquittal

Code: Select all

Jury questionnaires released Saturday revealed five of the jurors in O.J. Simpson's Las Vegas, Nevada, robbery trial said they disagreed with the 1995 verdict where he was found not guilty of two murders.
Jury questionnaires released in O.J. Simpson's robbery trial reveal diverse work and life backgrounds.

Jury questionnaires released in O.J. Simpson's robbery trial reveal diverse work and life backgrounds.
more photos »

All 12 jurors had previously heard about Simpson and all but one knew about his acquittal 13 years ago in the Los Angeles, California, stabbing deaths of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

One juror said he agreed that Simpson was not guilty while four said they were unsure. Another said she had "no feelings. It is history." One juror did not answer the question.

The nine women and three men on the jury said in the questionnaire they would give Simpson, 61, a fair trial on his latest charges.

After 13 hours of deliberation Friday, the jurors found Simpson guilty on 12 charges of armed robbery and kidnapping in connection with the 2007 attempted heist of memorabilia he said had been stolen from him. The verdict came 13 years to the day after his acquittal in Los Angeles. 

I hope that is enough coverage for Double_G.  

[vynsane]

meh. some amount of years too late.